It doesn't actually grow on trees

It’s the end of March!

Which means one thing: April Fool’s Day. Well, two things: taxes are due.

But what I really want to talk about is spaghetti trees.

More on that in a second.

Key Updates

• What is the New Jersey Manufacturing Voucher Program? Manufacturing is an integral part of the New Jersey economy. So the state created the New Jersey Manufacturing Voucher Program to support manufacturing and attract investments in the sector. Read more about it?here.??
• Cash Flow vs. Taxable Income: What's the Difference? Tax returns can be confusing, especially for business owners reporting income from multiple sources. But whether you are a business owner or individual, understanding the difference between "cash flow" and "income" is crucial to managing your finances successfully. Read more?here.
• The tax filing deadline for individuals is April 18. We should have all your tax documents by now; if we don't, we need them as soon as possible.

Time to harvest spaghetti

In 1957 the BBC showed a family in Switzerland picking spaghetti on their “Spaghetti farm.”

Back in 1957, the Brits were not so well acquainted with the flour, egg, and water basis of spaghetti.

So, the BBC was flooded with calls from British pasta fans asking how to grow their own trees.?

Ultimately it was an April Fools hoax, and the BBC cleared things up quickly.?

And, frankly, if you look at the picture… it isn’t so convincing. But if you didn’t know better and really liked spaghetti, well, a spaghetti tree would be pretty cool.

Well, it isn’t 1957 anymore.

One reason the hoax worked so well was that it came from a trusted source and was well presented.?

Fast forward to today when we live in a time of hoaxes: phishing, hacking, social engineering, you name it.

But one saving grace is that the hackers haven’t been very good at grammar.

And while they’ve tried hard to imitate everything from the IRS to Amazon, they’ve always come short, just a little off.

Not quite trusted, not quite well presented.

But that may be changing with the current AI explosion.

A recent AI-generated fake video showed the president announcing a draft. It was in his words, his speaking style, with him at the White House lectern, but it was 100% fake.

And this isn’t unique to Biden; deep fakes of Obama, Trump, Putin, Boris Johnson, and others have been made and distributed.????

They’ve always been a bit off. But what happens when the current batch of AI technology makes it to YouTube?

They might even be able to do it themselves: in testing new versions of ChatGPT, the system ran into a Captcha when trying to complete a task. It couldn’t solve the Captcha itself, so it hired a Task Rabbit.?

And as I talked about a couple of weeks ago, it's clear that AIs don’t necessarily have our best interests at heart…

So what happens when they are able to run around, make fake videos, and end up driving the conversation?

I don’t think anyone knows; maybe we’ll all be growing spaghetti trees?

This will be interesting to watch, and I'm not too worried. We can always pull the plug.

But here’s one thing that is not a hoax: the tax deadline is April 18. Be sure to get yours in on time; if we are filing for you, we need your documents now.?

From Around The Web

Wondering what a 1957 spaghetti tree video looks like?

Or just think I might be making it up? Well,?check out this video on YouTube, it's about as vintage as they get. I guarantee it isn't a deep fake! (Just a hoax).

Trying to think of a prank for April 1?

It's a big decision, I know... and since spaghetti trees are taken, it almost feels like there is nothing else left. So?here?are some ideas to get you started. Enjoy.