links for 2009-04-27

• TomatoCam.net
  Yes. This is, in fact, a webcam looking at a tomato garden. Enjoy.
  (tags: internet gardening videos tomatoes)
• California’s proposed “Amazon tax” – a destructive solution
  "If you have a web-based business in CA. and collect revenue by showing out-of-state companies’ ads on your site, Bill AB178 will claim that both you and the businesses you advertise on your site have residence in CA, and are therefore required to pay CA sales tax. For example, say your Santa Monica-based web site shows banner ads for Amazon.com. With Bill AB178 in place, Amazon.com would be classified as a California-based business based on the fact that your business draws affiliate advertising sales revenue. Amazon would then be required to collect sales tax on all sales into CA. The idea behind the bill is that CA could force out-of-state retailers to collect and pay CA sales taxes. Sounds pretty reasonable on paper, but the reality is that a large number of those advertisers will simply refuse to work with CA's small online businesses, resulting in lost business income, lost business tax and a large number of lost jobs — which will add to CA's rising unemployment."
  (tags: california taxes internet ecommerce)
• Parsing the President - The First 100 Days
  PG: This is a "word cloud" of the president's most-used words in speeches. Not surprisingly, he refers to himself a lot.
  (tags: barack+obama visualization)