This weeks OpenStack Summit in Vancouver showcased some of the ways large corporations and newer startups have used the OpenStack framework to build some cool applications. Companies like HP, IBM, and Redhat along with SwiftStack and Bluebox were on-hand at the conference to show developers what is new in cloud computing. We all know that OpenStack has been one of the most popular open source development projects ever. And companies like Rackspace use the framework to host applications at their data centers.

App developers will be getting something new from Microsoft when the company releases Windows 10 according to news coming out of Build 2015, the Microsoft developers conference. The operating system designed to work on PCs, Phones, and Tablets, will be open to almost all developers including some that worked on Android and iOS when it is released later this year. The Microsoft store currently contains near 585,000 apps which is about half of what Google and Apple offer in their stores. So new apps are greatly needed to keep their products useful and competitive.

Google announced that it would be rolling out a Mobile Friendly Update this week based on the mobile qualities of a website. Early Wednesday morning, there was not much change in the search results of many sites leading some to wonder if a change had been made at all. Google has stated that the roll-out will be a one week process, so changes might still be coming. Companies such as Search Metrics and SEOClarity were not able to pick any winners or losers as they did not see any significant change in the search results from Google.

Sites such as WikiPedia.org might see better results within mobile searches as their site is fairly friendly to mobile devices. Websites should not see any change in ranking when searching from a desktop as this update only affects mobile searching. Google started informing webmasters in their webmaster tools dashboard if their site had mobile issues. But no action was taken against those sites until this week and the announcement from Google.

Microsoft and Yahoo are going to continue their 2009 partnership in order to increase Yahoo search potential and add value for its advertisers.

The two companies have a goal to make their partnership even stronger.  They want to make the search engine experience even better over various platforms.  They also want to add value for their advertisers and make the platform stronger for other partners that are involved.

The Microsoft and Yahoo partnership began back in 2009 when the two CEOs of the companies Carol Bartz and Steve Ballmer made it official.  The companies want to compete with Google and in order to do so, they collaborated with a plan in which Yahoo would get more into sales while displaying Microsoft's search tools.  This would happen over a 10 year period.

Microsoft is looking to increase the number of autistic workers employed at the large technology company. Hiring managers at Microsoft recently voiced their opinion that autistic employees offer many skills that are need in the technology field including the ability to recall data, think at deep levels and perform well writing code. There are many different levels of autism on the spectrum with some appearing normal in all situations.

American Commitment has put together a petition of over 500,000 Americans who want the FCC to overturn the recent Net Neutrality decision. The group American Commitment does get some funding from the Koch Brothers. The petitions went to two representatives and one Senator, based open the location of the person who signed the petition. The group feels the recent mid-term elections was a clear sign that the country wants smaller government, and the FCC action goes in the complete wrong direction, expanding the role of the federal government.

Pick up your phone and install one of these apps to get through the tax season with less stress that you would otherwise experience. Not only that but you will have a more accurate return with every deduction considered compared to trying to prepare your taxes this year on your own. You can download tax software, purchase software at your local business supply store, go to a tax accountant, have your taxes completed at WalMart, or even use your phone to file your 1040EZ for free. Here are some of the free phone options you have.

According to Bloomberg, 2015 is the worst tax season in a long time. With the new Obamacare requirements, identity theft, IRS funding issues and taxpayers taking their time, there should be a rush at the end when April 15^th comes.

Obamacare didn’t have income verification in place when it rolled out on HealthCare.com, so new enrollees estimated their income and got subsidies. The IRS is now reporting that 50% of enrollees underestimated their incomes, got a bigger subsidy than allowed, and now are having their tax refunds cut by $530. And for the 11% of Americans without health coverage they might be facing a penalty somewhere around $170.

Small business owners are required to complete additional forms next tax season to comply with the ‘Affordable’ Care Act. Businesses with over 50 full-time employees need to track and record employees health expenditures for the year on a monthly basis. On February 8th the IRS released the new form, 1095C, for companies to file in 2016.

Flurry Inc. has provided a suite of mobile development tools for Yahoo! that it is encouraging others to use to developed new applications. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer presented the tools today at Yahoo!s first Mobile Developer Conference in California. Outside developers can include marketing, video, search, along with content in new apps they develop using the suite.