John Ives

Blog Redesign: Use Feedburner Feed to Maintain RSS Feed Continuity

I am going to stop using TypePad and start using Apple's iWeb tool this week.  I have been experimenting with iWeb and its site production capabilities.  For somebody with little experience with HTML and CSS, iWeb is a great tool for creating and maintaining graphically cleaner designs.

I will attempt to maintain the same RSS feed URL.  I believe the transition will be smoother if subscribers are using the Feedburner feed as opposed to the RSS URL.  If you subscribe to this blog, please make sure you are using the following feed:
 

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Summary of Colorado Innovation Tax Credit Bill (HB 1105)

The Colorado House of Representatives is considering a bill (HB 1105) sponsored by Representative Kefalas (D - Larimer) that will create financial incentives for investment into small companies involved in specific markets.  I believe the bill is currently in the House Appropriations Committee.  This post summarizes key aspects of the bill. 

“Qualified Small Business”:  Must be in the “Clean Energy Technology”, “Information Technology”,
“Aerospace” or “Bioscience” industry.  Be a corporation, LLC, partnership or other business entity that (1) maintains its principle place of business in Colorado; (2) has >50% of its gross assets and >50% of its employees in CO; (3) has at least 2 nonadministrative, FTE employees who are CO residents; (4) has been in operation for less than 5 years; and (5) total yearly revenues less than $2M and total assets <$5M. 

The small business may apply to be identified as a Qualified Small Business prior to an actual investment, essentially, pre-qualified.  Pre-qualification certification lasts for 12 months.  Companies must notify the Office if it no longer meets the above qualifications within 5 days.  Companies can be penalized if they do not notify the Office.

“Qualified Investment”:  “Equity” investment that occurs after January 1, 2010, where “Equity” includes common, preferred and convertible notes.  Minimum investment is $25K.  Investor and its affiliates ownership prior to new investment is less than 30% of voting securities.  Investor must apply for the Investment Tax Credit within 30 days of the investment.

Investors receive a tax credit of 15% of their investment for the first two tax years after the Qualified Investment.  The first tax year may be the partial tax year of the investment.

The maximum tax credits issued by the Office is $3M per year. First come, first served.  The last year tax credits can be used is tax year 2014.

The Office is the Office of Economic Development.

What is the Probability that the Democratic Party Candidate will win the 2012 Presidential Election?

First Snowfall Leads to Thoughts of a Fantastic Fall in Boulder

Boulder awoke to our first measurable snowfall this morning.  While most of the snow in the city had melted by lunch, the late snowfall may mark the end of a fantastic fall season.  Colorado has had some of the best weather of the year in the fall.  High pressure systems  sit in the southwest deflecting most moisture north of Colorado.  This weather pattern yields cloudless days and cool nights.  The weather helped to create one of the best falls for Aspen tree leaf color in years.  The extended color season allowed many of us to make numerous biking and hiking trips in the mountains.

Brad Hancock captured some of the fantastic color between Snowmass and Aspen on the Government Trail.  The GPS track and select photos are below.  You can view all of Brad's great pictures on Flickr.

  

Bike Ride to Montezuma and Fall Colors

I took a long lunch yesterday for a road bike ride from Copper Mountain to Montezuma and back.  Montezuma is a very small, former mining town.  It sits in a box canyon that forms the headwaters of the Snake River above Keystone.  Montezuma is about twenty-five miles from Copper Mountain and 500 feet higher in altitude.

The weather was fantastic with classic seasonal clear blue skies creating a beautiful backdrop for the snowy peaks -- peaks rising out of a sea of green, yellow and rust colored trees.  Unfortunately, the clear skies allowed solar heating to occur all morning, heating the air at lower elevations (Lake Dillon).  The relatively warm air rises via the mountain valleys (Snake Valley) and canyons (10 Mile Canyon) along my route.  Nothing like having the thrill and reward of the downhill ride dampened by the uphill breeze.

The ride included a rest stop at Keystone's River Run development where construction workers were bus attempting to finish the new gondola.  The aspen trees are nearing their peak color during the fall season too.

The aspen trees are nearing their peak color too.

 

Here's the Garmin 305 GPS track of the ride.