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*** The Contractors Group Issue #24 February 2002
*** Past Issues - please click here
*** http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com
*** Editor: Diane Dennis
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Hi Everybody! Welcome to all of our new subscribers! Well, we're a month into the new year now, ready to rock and roll. We have 810 subscribers right now and we had 110,402 free forms
downloaded last year! Thank you to everybody who refers us to others!! :) Diane

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=> 1. Knowing your forms makes a difference
..........** Look! You can now save your forms after filling them in!
=> 2. Is *Spyware* lurking on your computer?
=> 3. Postage is going up again
=> 4. PayCycle extends their special offer
=> 5. Spotlight: ConstructionTraders.com auction site
=> 6. Heard at the forums
=> 7. Seen at the classifieds
=> 8. Tax time is looming on the horizon
=> 9. Pardon our mess please...

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1. Knowing your forms makes a difference...
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We've been out rounding up new forms for the year 2002. Here's what we've managed to get hold of so far:

.. 1099 : Miscellaneous Income (YR 2001 & 2002)
.. DE-4 : Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate - EDD
.. W-4 : Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate - IRS
.. Prevailing Wage Rates for 2001-2002

Now, about saving your filled in forms...

What would you say if I told you that for $39+tax plus a flat $5 delivery fee (which includes overnight shipping), you can get a program that would allow you to save your forms after you have filled them in? Plus, not only can you save the forms you obtain from our site, you can save any pdf form that you obtain anywhere, with your data intact. Currently, when you fill in a pdf document, like the various forms at our site, you are unable to save the document with your filled-in info intact, unless you have purchased the $200+ full-on Adobe Acrobat program. Now there's a program that will allow you to save the forms filled in. AlabamaTechonologies.com has offered to add this program to their inventory, just so that we can offer it to you. The thing is, it is going to take a hefty outlay of $ for them to add it to their inventory, so they have asked me to check with all of you to see how many of you would be interested in obtaining this program. It's great to be able to save your forms filled in. I keep all my job info and forms in individual file folders on my computer. It seems that someone somewhere always needs a second copy of a lien release or other form. If you can't save the form after you've filled it in, then when that someone needs that second copy, you have to fill in the form all over again, because you weren't able to save it the first time you filled it in. How many times have you had to redo your preliminary notice because someone gave you an incorrect address? With this program, you can change the form as many times as you need to, and resave it as many times as needed, so that you never have to fill it out more than once. When I need another copy, I just print one from my computer, which drastically cuts down on time I would spend looking for that same form filed in a job folder that is filed in the filing cabinet, taking the form to the photocopier to make a copy and then refiling the form in the job folder and the job folder in the filing cabinet. With the form saved on my computer, I can print it out and get it into an envelope much quicker. On top of everything, you can fax the filled in document from your computer (if you have a fax program in your computer), and even better yet, you can email the form to your recipient. No toll fees and no postage fees! Please, at your earliest convenience, even right now if you can spare a couple minutes, click here to send me a quick message to let me know whether or not you would be interested in this program. I need as many responses as I can get, be they "yes" responses or "no" responses, so that Alabama Technologies can decide if this is something they can do. Thank you in advance to each and every one of you who takes the time to respond. :) If enough of you are interested, we can actually have this program available within two weeks time, or less!

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Southern California Insurance Brokerage, Inc., (SCIB), strives to be the best contractors insurance brokerage in the region. We get our insurance through them and we can say that they are the best! Ever have troubles getting insurance certs in a timely manner? Not us, not with SCIB. Click here for a business card that you can print out:
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2. Yikes! Don't let Spyware get hold of your personal info....
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There are several programs out there, maybe even one or more on your very own computer, that are silently collecting personal and private information about you, right off of your own hard drive. A couple of these programs are known as WhenU.com/SaveNow! and Ezula/TopText. WhenU.com has a program titled SaveNow! that is downloaded and installed on your computer, sometimes with your knowledge and sometimes without your knowledge. Same goes for Ezula and their program TopText. If SaveNow! is hiding on your computer, you will see popup windows when you visit websites, including our website; when you search through search engines and through search functions on people's sites (like our search function); when you click from one website to another; and so on. We have absolutely nothing to do with these popup windows and so far have been unsuccessful in getting the people at WhenU.com to stop doing this. These windows popped up by WhenU.com/SaveNow! contain advertisements for other websites, often times for very well known websites (and almost always retail sites) and even sometimes for pornographic websites. These windows are being popped up on every major website and not so major website out there. Should you click on one of those popup windows, not only are you taken away from the site you are visiting, but your personal information is being collected by WhenU.com/SaveNow! from your computer. Many, many major retailers are participating with WhenU.com/SaveNow! simply because they do not realize that this is what is happening. Website owners across the world, literally, are banding together in an effort to stop WhenU.com, Ezula and others from succeeding with these business practices. To visualize it better, picture yourself walking into OfficeDepot and cruising down the aisles picking up the items you need. As you round the corner of the aisle, there stands a well-dressed nice-looking person. He tells you that there is a special deal in Staples around the corner, a deal special enough to make you abandon your cart in OfficeDepot and head down the street with this guy. Pretty cool, he literally walks you to the front door of Staples. What you don't realize though is that as you are walking together, from OfficeDepot to Staples, your kind guide has his hand in your pocketbook or briefcase or purse and is grabbing all your personal info, everything you've got in there. While you merrily shop at Staples, enjoying the savings that this kind person has bestowed upon you, he is making copies of all of your personal info that he snuck from you. He then places your personal info back into your pocketbook before you ever even realize that someone had his hand in there. Guess what he's gonna do with the info he has just taken from you? Sell it. Again, and again, and again.... This is just one of the dirty practices of WhenU.com/SaveNow!. Now, a ways back up, I mentioned Ezula/TopText. These guys do something entirely different than popup windows. These guys lay yellow links right within the text of my web pages (and other's web pages also). These links look deceptively part of my site, but they are not. These links take you away from our site and into another website, of which we have no control. This is accomplished by the program TopText that is installed on your computer, whether the installation was done with your knowledge or not. We will be addressing this in greater depth at our site and in our newsletters, over time. This will be an ongoing battle, as long as personal information is worth something, the less honest of our World will find a way to obtain it and sell it. For the time being, here is a link to a site that will help you to check and see if your computer has one or more of a couple different versions of spyware installed. http://www.scumware.com If you have any questions about the information in this article, please do feel free to contact us! And while you are at our site, please do not click on any yellowed links nor popup windows. We do have a couple popup windows of our own, but we will be taking them down as soon as we have a chance, in an effort to help our site visitors to discern between our site and intruders. UPDATE since I wrote this article: Google.com has joined the fight against these pop-up ads. Please visit this link, where Google has listed several resources to help you to rid your computer of some of this spyware software. There are A LOT of them. Click here

ps: I'm looking into various programs that are designed to help your computer to alert you when these types of programs try to install themselves into your computer. If you find something interesting, please let me know so that I can share it with everyone. :)

Here's a program that will help you get rid of spys within your computer: SystemDetective!

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3. Postage rates are on the rise (again) ....
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Rates due to increase in September 2002, instead now will increase in June 2002. Quite a jump too, from .34¢ to .37¢ on a regular letter. The additional ounce rate is staying at .23¢, but I think I would have rather seen that go up and the 1st ounce/regular letter rate stay the same...

----------------------*Now* --- *June*
> Regular Letter ---- .34¢ ------ .37¢
> 2nd Ounce -------- .23¢ ------ .23¢ (stays the same)
> Certified -------- $2.10 ----- $2.30
> Return ---------- $1.50 ----- $1.75 (when requested at time of mailing)
> Receipt --------- $3.50 ----- $3.25 (when requested after mailing)

(I found this info at the USPS website, and yes the Return Receipt when requested after mailing is listed as having gone down .25¢)

Here's two easy ways to purchase postage:

1) Get an envelope from your mailman (mail-person) that is labeled with the number:

>>> PS Form 3227-R Last Revised January 2001

This is an envelope that you can use to purchase postage through your mailperson. You fill out your order and put your payment in the envelope, we use a check, and put it with your outgoing mail. The next day, your postage is delivered to you by your mailperson.

2) You can purchase your postage online and print out exactly the postage you need. We have formed an affiliate relationship with Stamps.com, and if you use our links to get to their site you get extra specials that a person who visits Stamps.com, without using our link, doesn't get. Here's a tally of some of the current offerings:

>>> * $25 FREE Postage
>>> * Free 29-day Trial
>>> * Free Digital Scale

With a free 29-day trial, its worth looking into.... Please click this link

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4. PayCycle extends their special offer to TCG users
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We've sent out a couple mailings about PayCycle, and their special offer to users of our site and subscribers of our newsletter. It was soon discovered by PayCycle and a potential client, that there is one very important feature that needs to be added in order for us contractors to be able to use their system... Multiple Pay Rates... How many of you are not union shops but occasionally do work on a prevailing wage project? If you do, then you need the multiple pay rate feature. Rene at PayCycle recognizes the importance of this feature and they have decided to make that one of their main focuses. They expect to have this feature in place by Spring 2002, which is only a few months away. Rene has also decided to extend the special free 3 month trial that he has offered to our subscribers and visitors. Click this link to visit their site and send them an email requesting that they reserve a free 3 month trial for you. Include the Special Code #TCG1201 in your email and you will be guaranteed a free 3 month trial once they have the multiple pay rate feature available. Guess what else ?? You know those prevailing wage reports that we have to fill out when we do work on a prevailing wage job? Rene is going to try to set it up so that their system will create those forms and fill them in, so that we can just print them, sign them and turn them in. Too Cool!! :) By the way, if you don't need multiple pay rates, meaning your employee earns the same wage rate job in and job out, no matter what job he's on, then by all means visit PayCycle's website and get yourself signed up. I'm telling ya, if you run your own payroll, I haven't seen anything that will get your payroll done faster than this! And you get 3 free months to check it out.

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Southern California Insurance Brokerage, Inc., (SCIB), strives to be the best contractors insurance brokerage in the region. We get our insurance through them and we can say that they are the best! Ever have troubles getting insurance certs in a timely manner? Not us, not with SCIB. Call them toll-free to get a quote for your insurance needs: 1-800-900-9372
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5. Spotlight: ConstructionTraders.com auction site
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This month I'd like to tell you about a site that is set to launch on February 3, 2002. ConstructionTraders.com will provide you with a place to buy & sell anything and everything construction and home improvement related. The concept of online auctions is not new but, most of the online auction sites are general in nature. On these sites you can find anything from works of art to shoe laces. ConstructionTraders.Com is specialized to serve our industry. Note: ConstructionTraders.com would like to invite you to help them test their new site. You'll be able to place as many items as you like, for sale, in an auction format, without any cost to you. If you'd like to help them with this project (and who doesn't have tools and stuff laying around that someone else can use), contact the webmaster at: webmaster@constructiontraders.com.

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6. Heard at the forums
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I've mentioned in the recent past that we recently added forums to our site. There are some good questions in there that need some knowledgeable answers. Here's a posting asking for help:

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My company, as a subcontractor, is about 90 percent complete with a project of about $700,000. We have been paid on our first invoice of about $60,000 and the prime contractor is in arrears on about $600,000 of past due invoices. This is a public works project in the State of California. The prime contractor is a subsisdiary of larger organization that has filed bankruptcy. The prime itself has not yet filed BK but expresses a plan to do so in a few days. I plan to file a Stop Notice with the "owner" and a claim against the prime contractor's payment bond. I too have payment and performance bonds for my subcontracted portion of the work. Can I stop work? What options might I exercise to get paid?
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Okay all of you, my subscribers, anybody got any input for this situation? If so, please do visit our forums and post your suggestions. Don't forget to include your name, company name & contact info. You never know who might be cruising the forums, that can use your service! ;) Here's a link to the forums: By the way, please feel free to post your own questions also! :)

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7. Seen at the Classifieds
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Another relatively new feature at our site is our Classifieds section. Some of the items currently listed there: Paslode Mustang roofing/lath stapler Model #MU-W114-W16R New-in box with all original paperwork $200 or best offer. Weil McLain Indirect Fired Water Heater - 1 year old, excellent condition, 30 gallon, aquastat, ready for installation $275 Here's a link to visit the Classifieds section.

Purchase items for sale and post your own if you've got something. You'll get a minimum of 30 days free. If your item sells before then, you pay nothing! If not and you wish to continue your listing, the fees are posted at the site for you to check out.

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8. Tax time is coming up - Advertisement
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With over 440 tax law changes this year there's never been a better time to get TaxCut Deluxe! The program comes complete with One FREE State Tax Program and One FREE Electronic Filing (both after mail in rebates). TaxCut is packed with tax expertise and guidance from the experts at H&R Block and Kiplinger! Plus, this year we've added a ton of new features to make your tax preparation even easier, including: Tax Law Assistant, Auto Entry, and our Comprehensive IRA Advisor. TaxCut asks you simple questions, automatically selects and completes the forms you'll need and double checks your return. Electronically file your return and get your refund faster, or print and mail your return. Click here to check out TaxCut from H & R Block:

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9. Please pardon our mess as we update our site
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We purchased a new program, Dreamweaver, to help us do bigger and better things with our website. Currently I'm working on a setup that will make the navigation through our site much easier. If you'd like a sneak peek, please click here. While you're there, please keep in mind that it is a work in progress and as such, many of the links do not work properly. If you have the time, please let us know what you think about it and whether or not you have any suggestions for us.

Also, because I am having to convert all my web pages over, one by one, you will probably see some things at the site that are very out of date, like bats and links to Halloween, mentions of Christmas, etc. Please feel free to let me know if you see something that needs to be changed and I will add to my list. :)

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Well, that's it for now. Have a wonderful rest of the week! Take care,
Diane
diane@thecontractorsgroup.com