Fusion Isn’t There

Fusion Isn’t There

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We’re not anywhere near that close. The reports of fusion putting out more power than it draws in is a selective of the facts. As Wired explains:

…researchers said they got as much energy out as their laser fired at the experiment—a massive, long-awaited achievement. But the problem is that the energy in those lasers represents a tiny fraction of the total power involved in firing up the lasers. By that measure, NIF is getting way less than it’s putting in. “That type of breakeven is way, way, way, way down the road,” Cappelli says. “That’s decades down the road. Maybe even a half-century down the road.”

Even when real break even is accomplished you need to remember that energy generated isn’t the same thing as energy to the grid. Essentially, you still need to convert the energy to steam, to power a turbine to generate electricity. A process that is something like 30% efficient. In other words, the energy generated must be 3x what is drawn in from the grid to be net zero in terms of electricity from the grid.

But that isn’t all: the calculation for energy output vs. energy input considers the amount of energy the laser used in the process delivers, but it takes more energy to create the laser beam than what it delivers.

Fusion might be promising, but it is promising decades from now. The move to carbon-free energy sources needs to start with technologies we can implement today, such as wind, solar and hydroelectic.

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/04/1215539157/companies-say-theyre-closing-in-on-nuclear-fusion-as-an-energy-source-will-it-wo

KEAP Webhooks

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These are notes for Keap webhooks as of 2023-12-05. You can retrieve them via the KEAP REST API v1, but they are not documented anywhere else.

[
    "appointment.add",
    "appointment.delete",
    "appointment.edit",
    "company.add",
    "company.delete",
    "company.edit",
    "contact.add",
    "contact.delete",
    "contact.edit",
    "contactGroup.add",
    "contactGroup.applied",
    "contactGroup.delete",
    "contactGroup.edit",
    "contactGroup.removed",
    "invoice.add",
    "invoice.delete",
    "invoice.edit",
    "invoice.payment.add",
    "invoice.payment.delete",
    "invoice.payment.edit",
    "leadsource.add",
    "leadsource.delete",
    "leadsource.edit",
    "note.add",
    "note.delete",
    "note.edit",
    "opportunity.add",
    "opportunity.delete",
    "opportunity.edit",
    "opportunity.stage_move",
    "order.add",
    "order.delete",
    "order.edit",
    "product.add",
    "product.delete",
    "product.edit",
    "subscription.add",
    "subscription.delete",
    "subscription.edit",
    "task.add",
    "task.complete",
    "task.delete",
    "task.edit",
    "task.incomplete",
    "user.activate",
    "user.add",
    "user.edit"
]

Retrieve Available Webhooks

curl --location 'https://api.infusionsoft.com/crm/rest/v1/hooks/event_keys' \
--header 'X-Keap-API-Key: Your-Access-Token'

Docs: https://developer.keap.com/docs/rest/#tag/REST-Hooks/operation/list_hook_event_types

Brief Notes on Kaseya Quote Manager

Brief Notes on Kaseya Quote Manager

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Kaseya recently gave me a demo on their new quote manager. I made them run through it pretty fast because there were just a few things I really needed to see if it did before moving on. Sorry Tanner, I’m about to break your heart again. It’s out of love.

There were some dealbreakers.

No ConnectBooster integration. The only way for clients to pay during quote acceptance is with a Stripe integration. An integration from Stripe to Xero is availabe from Stripe but not QBO (as of 2023-11-291) You can use a third-party tool to sync Stripe payments to QBO, but it isn’t clear if sales tax information will transfer2.

If your client did pay with Stripe, and the payment is synced to QBO, the invoice still is not. So your client will see a credit on their account until you get the invoice sent over from Autotask.

Any other other way to pay — such as ACH — must be done through your normal invoicing system,.

The Autotask integration is a mess. This is the workflow provided by Kaseya:

We’re going to skip the top box and just hit the rest of the workflow.

  1. Create quote
  2. Quote Manager opens an opportunity in Autotask
  3. The quote is sent to the customer
  4. The customer accepts
  5. MSP goes to Autotask to win the opportunity.
  6. MSP closes ticket that Autotask created as a result.
  7. MSP approves and posts the charges in Autotask
  8. MSP creates invoice in Autotask and sends to QBO
  9. MSP sends out (unpaid) invoice to client
  10. If Stripe was used, MSP applies client’s payment against invoice

The Autotask Opportunities module is a mess. It requires no less than 11 steps to get an already created quote to an Autotask invoice. (11 steps in addition to the ten above!!!) If you use QBO add at least two more steps to this. And if you don’t win the quote you still need to go through and “Lose” the opportunity.3

Sales Tax settings are pulled from Taxjar, not Autotask or QBO. This means that it is possible Kaseya Quote Manager will calculate different sales tax then what ends up in your invoice and books. This is hell on earth. I’ve made sales tax mistakes before and it takes unnecessary back and forth with clients that don’t understand why you can’t get sales tax straight.

Kaseya Quote Manager will send the client a copy of the accepted quote as soon as they accept it, so if there is any discrepancy the client will see it. You don’t have time to fix it. To be clear: Quote Manager sends an accepted quote, but you still need to send an invoice, where it is possible the sales tax will not match up.

This is an incredibly complicated tool for a simple task. I’m much happier with Quoter. Which does integrate with ConnectBooser and QBO correctly. Kaseya Quote Manager has a nicer interface and quote aesthetic, but that won’t make up for a poor experience for both clients and MSPs.

Like my take on the Datto EDR, this looks like it will be a good tool, but is shockingly immature and ready for MSPs today.

  1. https://commerce.datto.com/help/Content/3-manage/payments.htm?Highlight=stripe ↩︎
  2. I really really hope this is wrong. Kaseya does not offer any documentation, so we’re left with the vendor’s docs: “Commerce Sync does not currently transfer item or tax information for Stripe, but support is on the way.” It isn’t clear if sales tax needs to transfer here, the Stirpe/QBO integration may only send over the lump sum payment amount. Without any clear docs who knows/
    ↩︎
  3. If Kaseya quote manager handles this it is not clear from the documentation. ↩︎
Election 2024: There Will Be No Spoilers

Election 2024: There Will Be No Spoilers

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For the rest of this year and probably into the beginning of next we will have to endure an endless string of headlines that cover the latest threat to Trump winning the Republican nomination and editorials about why President Biden ought not to run again.

Trump is going to run no matter what, it doesn’t matter if he wins the primary or not. Let that sink in, it literally does not matter if DeSantis, or Haley or Christie or whoever the next darling not-Trump candidate is, he is going to run unless he’s dead. He’ll be running from prison if it comes to that.

Losing the nomination poses a minimal threat to Trump: three candidates could easily pull enough electoral votes off of Biden that the election is thrown to the House where Trump most likely wins.

Ignore any and all articles about So and So is a Threat to Trump. They are all clickbait or fantasy.

Hint: She isn’t

In six months the Trump opposition will rally around Biden. It’s easy to say he shouldn’t run and that he is a massive risk to the Democrat’s cause now, especially if you believe that in a fantasy world Trump loses the nomination and then doesn’t run. The reality of a Biden v Trump matchup hasn’t hit the anti-Trump forces yet.

Polling also reflects a world where the matchup isn’t yet known. Sure, there are independents and Democrats that would rather not see Biden run again (me!), and they’ll answer polls today with that perspective. They won’t answer them that way when Trump runs away with the nomination.

As soon as it is clear the Trump is — officially — the enemy in the general election all of this handwringing will fall away. Anyone doubting Biden’s age and fitness will explain why it’s fine now, polling will take a swing back towards Biden and probably show that fault lines haven’t budged since 2020, Dean Phillips will realize he isn’t helping (or worse, he is just completely ignored) and drop out and endorse Biden. Surrogates will suddenly figure out how to talk about Biden’s accomplishments over the last three years.

The progressive conversation will crystalize on the events of Jan 6 and Trump’s current legal fights. Right now, there is a lot of popcorn munching on the left as Trump fights multiple indictments. As soon as the indicted is a more clear and present danger it will return to shrill warnings.

Really, the most incredible part of the internal conversation on the left is that it ignores Trump completely and focuses soley on Biden.

By the time you are cracking open a cold one for Memorial Day all the op-eds about either Trump or Biden that are popular today will be forgotten, found only with cobwebs on them in Politico’s archive.

Should Your Small Business Employer Offer You Benefits?

Should Your Small Business Employer Offer You Benefits?

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Recently the question was posed to me: should a small business (5 people) offer insurance to their staff? The person asking had an independent plan but wanted a greater peace of mind from employer sponsored health insurance. This person was 30 years old.

Yes, the business should offer it, but don’t expect great things.

I’m in Tennessee, attached is my rate schedule. As long as two employees have coverage, we are a group. Owners count towards those two people.

The image is a document page that appears to be part of a health insurance plan proposal. The page is divided into several sections with headings and tabulated information. At the top, there are two tabs highlighted. The first tab on the left is labeled "Current Plan" and underneath it, the details read "Silver 1165 ($3000/$4500/50%)". The tab on the right is labeled "Pharmacy Features" and includes pharmacy details "10 / 35 / 50 Copay after Deductible" and "Rx Formulary Essential". Below this is a section titled "Benefit Overview" with five columns: "Office Visit" with "50% after Deductible". "PhysicianNow" with "50% after Deductible". "Urgent Care" with "50% after Deductible". "IP Hospital" with "50% after Deductible". "Emergency Room" with "$500 + Ded/Coin". The next large section is "Age/Rate Information", which is a table with ages ranging from 0-64+ and corresponding monthly rates for the insurance plan. The ages are divided into three columns: The first column lists ages 0-14 to 30 with rates from $240.71 to $357.14. The second column lists ages 31 to 47 with rates from $364.69 to $491.81. The third column lists ages 48 to 64+ with rates from $514.47 to $943.98. The bottom of the image contains a "Commission Disclosure" note stating that the rates include standard commissions and may include additional compensation, and advises contacting a broker or BCBS representative for questions. The document footer indicates "Page 4 of 15" and includes a status/quote pending number "00082173". There is a footnote indicating that the plan includes "Essential Health Benefits: Yes", "Minimum Essential Coverage: Yes", and "Minimum Value: Yes".

A 30yo is free, $12/day.

The catch is that it is a high deductible plan (HDP) so out-of-pocket costs will be $4500/person if you max out benefits, or $9000/family.

If you compare plans on HealthCare.gov I think you’ll find the rates are comparable, but you can get worse-but-cheaper plans. The real upside here is risk reduction and tax benefits if you have an HSA compatible plan and you itemize, maybe $1600 in tax savings*.

Your overall risk profile isn’t likely to change much as long as you have some level of benefits — but check the details**. The ACA mandates minimum coverage for ALL plans, meaning the total-out-pocket costs (premiums + medical expenses) are within a set range.

Vision and dental, for whatever reason, are typically inexpensive.

Bottom line:

1. Insurance is a raw deal no matter what.

2. You may or may not be better of with an independent plan vs a group plan

3. IMHO, there isn’t a good reason for your employer not to offer a plan unless the costs are significantly higher where you live. And I say this AS a business owner with 6 employees and 2 owners.

*If you max out the family contribution limit of $8300, your potential tax savings are $8300 * [Tax Bracket]. You can also invest extra money in your HSA, allowing you to grow the money tax free for healthcare expenses.

**Prescriptions, specialties, coverage for your preferred doctor/hospital, possible travel for covered specialists depending on your location. Absolutely know what hospitals are covered no matter what, the “wrong” hospital can cost you thousands and thousands compared to the “right” hospital across the street.

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