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[Abby Normal]

I'm one of the moderators at /r/tax over at reddit, and I recently recreated a new avatar for our sub. It's a 3 piece suit wearing, bow tied, bespectacled, coffee mug holding, laptop carrying, disheveled haired reddit alien (or snoo, as it's known).

I know it looks more Big 4 than most of us, but I think it turned out nicely.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

What is the thingy sticking out of the head?  Is it a sort of client bs detector, maybe?

[mcb39]

25 minutes ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

What is the thingy sticking out of the head?  Is it a sort of client bs detector, maybe?

I just assumed it was an antenna.  (Moral:  Assume Nothing!)

[Abby Normal]

4 minutes ago, mcb39 said:

I just assumed it was an antenna.  (Moral:  Assume Nothing!)

You are correct! It is the Alien's antenna. I guess along the lines of Ray Walston in My Favorite Martian... except with one antenna instead of two.

[Abby Normal]

33 minutes ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

What is the thingy sticking out of the head?  Is it a sort of client bs detector, maybe?

Don't lie to the tax alien! He can read your thoughts!

[Eric]

1 hour ago, Abby Normal said:

I'm one of the moderators at /r/tax

Are you a fellow Nexus fan?  

Edit: I only ask because after some brief stalking, it looks like you're a Project Fi user.  I'm envious.

[Abby Normal]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Are you a fellow Nexus fan?  

Edit: I only ask because after some brief stalking, it looks like you're a Project Fi user.  I'm envious.

Yes I was an early adopter of Project Fi, July 2015. And I have the Nexus 6, which I love.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Okay, I'll bite.  I have no idea what this means but think I am not too old to learn.  If it isn't too complicated, would you kind folks explain Project Fi and Nexus 6 in simple language?  Maybe I could impress my son by throwing out a couple of relevant comments!

[Abby Normal]

1 minute ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

Okay, I'll bite.  I have no idea what this means but think I am not too old to learn.  If it isn't too complicated, would you kind folks explain Project Fi and Nexus 6 in simple language?  Maybe I could impress my son by throwing out a couple of relevant comments!

Project Fi is a Google cellphone service that's very reasonable if you don't use too much cellphone data. It's $20/mo for unlimited calls & texts, plus $10/GB of cellphone data. The data plan is also prorated so if you use less than 1GB you get a credit. If you use more than 1GB, you pay for what you use. So, 1.1 GB would cost you $11.

Google Fi uses wifi connections for calls and texts if you're connected to wifi, which I am at home and work. So you don't have to worry about a poor cellphone connection. When you are not on wifi, it chooses between Sprint and T-mobile. Also, international plans are included at reasonable rates. I've been to Canada twice and used my phone for a week for only about $7 extra.

Nexus 6 is a Motorola cellphone.

[Eric]

54 minutes ago, Abby Normal said:

Yes I was an early adopter of Project Fi, July 2015. And I have the Nexus 6, which I love.

I bought a Nexus 6 the day they went on sale, and would really like to give Project Fi a try, but I live in the middle of nowhere, with almost no TMobile service and zero Sprint service.  And the latency on my home internet is terrible.  I wish I could have the internet connectivity that comes along with being near civilization, but without all of the people.

43 minutes ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

Okay, I'll bite.  I have no idea what this means but think I am not too old to learn.  If it isn't too complicated, would you kind folks explain Project Fi and Nexus 6 in simple language?  Maybe I could impress my son by throwing out a couple of relevant comments!

Nexus phones are an Android line of cell phones that runs plain vanilla Android without any carrier or manufacturer garbage on them, and are supported by Google.  Google partners with different manufacturers to make a new phone or two every year.  Project Fi is a cell phone service and a Google initiative that allows your phone to switch seamlessly between T-Mobile and Sprint networks as well as Wifi.  The price is decent too... 

Unfortunately where I live, if you want reliable service, Verizon Wireless is the only option.

https://fi.google.com

https://store.google.com/category/phones

 

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Thanks!  This sounds very interesting but I have to be 'invited?'  Still it seems worth pursuing when my Verizon contract is up.

[Eric]

I think it's still considered somewhat experimental, and only officially supported on their Nexus line of phones, as far as I know.  I think that's why you have to request an invite, because it's still kind of in "beta".  

[Abby Normal]

The invitations come within a few days now. I paid a $100 early termination fee because I would save $50/month, so it was cheaper to switch. I was already with a reseller using the Sprint network, so my coverage improved by adding a second carrier. Plus I can now use my cellphone at home. Never had much carrier signal at home. Even Verizon was spotty.

[Richcpaman]

Abby:

That Reddit site makes my head hurt....  How can you in any way shape or form moderate on that?

I mean, we complain about stupid clients on this site, but... those posts and those questions?  To avoid paying tax, and not willing to spend anything but a post on line to complete strangers and then believing those answers?

I mean, there is an amusement factor, but, as I have to go home and bleach my brain...

Rich

 

[Abby Normal]

Ha ha! Just trying to help ordinary folks understand taxes better, and calming their IRS fears. All of the mods are EAs or CPAs. One guy is a tax lawyer. One helpful fellow who answers questions is an IRS agent. I've learned a lot moderating that site. Sometimes, really good questions are asked.

[Lion EA]

My AT&T allows me to use WiFi for calls, data, everything, when available and not waste my minutes.  Because I have WiFi at home and AT&T has a LOT of hot spots and I even have WiFi at the kid's Inn in the middle of the Moosic Mountains along the Delaware River in the middle of nowhere, PA, I don't use up minutes to use data.  Although, we'd had a grandfathered plan for years that was unlimited until adding a fifth line was going to kick us off that plan.  We get to share, so two of the kids that use a lot of data don't get dinged for overages since I don't use much data on my line.  AT&T has been pushing some cheap plans lately after acquiring someone else, T-Mobile maybe.  Might be a good time to shop around.

[mcb39]

I also use AT&T.  We have five phones (3 Smart and 2 Dumb) plus my tablet at a reasonable price and a lot of unlimited usages as well as 10G of shared data which we never even come close to using.  In addition, the unused data rolls over.  My tablet will use WiFi if it is available and automatically switch to data if there is no WiFi.  Actually they had a promotion whereby I was able to get a new Samsung tablet, which I love,  free with a 2 year contract; which I already had with the old tablet.  I took the old one in and AT&T transferred all of my pictures and contacts to the mini SD card.

[Abby Normal]

Yeah, we're finally starting to not get raped on our cellphone bills. Personally, I credit the providers offering more sane plans now, including Google Fi. Verizon revamped their plans several months after Google Fi went live.

[Roberts]

It's only a matter of time until I shift all my phone activity to my cell-phone / focused on wifi connections. There are multiple services available that give good rates. The problem = sprint and t-mobile are pretty horrible in rural areas around here (essentially non-existent) so that's an issue.