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How to Disable Music Videos in Spotify

Posted on July 19, 2026 by faz_business

Spotify, it’s fair to say, has made some weird user-experience choices.

There are a number of panels in the app, and the layout is confusing. The service constantly tracks your activity. The app also seems to have an odd hostility to playing actual albums. This all works to create a general feeling that Spotify’s designers are trying to push you into using the service in a particular way.

It’s understandable, then, that some people are annoyed with the way music videos have been added to the platform. For the most part, they would start to play by default, in the background, whenever an artist had uploaded a video for the song. Some music videos have very different audio from the original tracks, particularly if they include sketches or sound effects, which can prove distracting if you prefer the album version of the song. And even if you enjoy music videos (which I do), the decision to have videos play by default—using up bandwidth and battery power—upset a lot of people.

There are a few other quirks. On Spotify’s desktop app, the videos are barely visible; they stay contained in the tiny album art panel until you manage to find the hidden, extremely small Now playing button that enlarges them. Also, the selection of videos that are on the platform, and the ones that are mysteriously absent, seems totally random. Because of this, I check YouTube first when I really want to watch a music video.

The most annoying thing, though, had been a lack of any obvious way to disable all videos. That changed recently—there’s now a toggle in the settings to disable music videos in Spotify entirely, alongside controls that disable the Canvas feature (animated album art) and video podcasts.

On mobile you can do this by tapping your user profile icon in the top-left to bring up the side panel. Then tap Settings and privacy, followed by Content and display.

Image may contain Page Text Electronics Mobile Phone and Phone

In the Videos and Canvas section you will see three toggles: one for music videos, one for Canvas, and one for all other videos. This last toggle disables video podcasts, meaning you’ll get the audio-only version of podcasts instead. Turn all these off, and Spotify will use a lot less bandwidth.

On the desktop app, it’s a little different. Click your user profile icon in the top-right corner, then click Settings. Scroll down to the Videos and Canvas section to find the options to disable music videos and Canvas.

I tested this and it worked. The music video icon in playlists and albums disappeared, as did the collection of music videos on Artist pages. The only remnant of the disabled feature is a Switch to video button in the Now Playing sidebar, which appears below the album art. Click it and you’ll be told the video can’t play unless you turn videos back on in the settings. Odd, for sure, but for the most part turning this off means you don’t have to think about music videos in Spotify anymore.

I sincerely wish that Spotify would roll out music videos with more care. Sometimes I really do want to see a video—just not every time I play a track. Playlists of music videos might be welcome if they ran separately from the audio-only playlists. I just don’t want to get a music video when I’m looking for the album version of a song, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. I can only hope that Spotify’s future interface design choices will keep things more clearly separated.

Cleaning Up the Clutter – AutoCAD Wipeout and Text Masking: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on July 17, 2026 by faz_business

In a recent Tuesday Tips, I focused on some solutions for the poor drafting practice of not having your annotations in alignment. This time, the focus will be on overlapping objects and annotations. The drafting rule is quite simple: don’t overlap things.

But as we learned from that pirate movie franchise, sometimes rules are more guidelines than actual rules. By that, I mean that there are times when overlaps are just unavoidable. However, there are some tools in AutoCAD that let you hide objects in these cluttered areas. AutoCAD wipeouts and text masking are the focus of today’s Tuesday Tip.

Wipeout

Consider the image below. Having the line appear behind the pneumatic gate valve symbol is a big no-no. These days, programs such as Plant 3D take care of this for you, but if you’re using an old-fashioned symbol library, your only option is to trim out the line within the block. Not an optimal solution.

Instead, we’ll add a Wipeout object to the block definition. In the next image, you’ll see the valve block open in the Block Editor, and we can find the Wipeout tool in the Markup panel of the Annotation tab. It’s incredibly easy to use; if you can draw a polyline, you can create a Wipeout. Select points and enter close to end it, or you can choose an existing polyline (then erase it or not),

In our case, we want the wipeout to take on the same shape as the valve symbol, or a “bowtie” shape. Using an Endpoint Osnap, select the corners of the valve in the order shown. Save the edited block, and return to the drawing editor.

If you’re following along at home, the red lines are probably not hidden. If the block already exists, as it does in our example, you may need to change the draw order of the newly edited block. Select all instances (a good use of Select Similar, or Quick Select), then right-click, expand Draw Order, and select Bring to Front. Your wipeout should now hide the red line behind it.

Wipeouts come with an additional control you’ll need to know about. There is a system variable that controls how the frame, or outline, of the wipeout works. The variable is WIPEOUTFRAME, and you can set it to 0, 1, or 2, which correspond to:

0: The frame is not visible, and it is not plotted. The frame temporarily reappears during selection preview or object selection.

1: Displays and plots the frame.

2: Displays, but does not plot the frame.

A lot of underlay image objects have their own setting (such as PDFFRAME), and the FRAME command itself controls all of them. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. I wrote about it a few years ago. Just go here (after you finish this blog) to learn all about it.

Text Masking

A close cousin to Wipeouts are Background Masks. Think of them as specialized wipeouts that work only with MTEXT objects. Consider the image below. The drawing contains a detail callout block with an MTEXT object identifying the area as Detail C. Its placement falls on top of the objects above it. It’s poor drafting to say the least.

Again, I’ll edit the block via the Block Editor. I’ll double-click on the MTEXT as if I’m going to edit it (which I am). The Ribbon will switch to the contextual Text Editor tab, where I’ll click on the Mask tool from within the Style panel.

You’ll immediately be presented with the Background Mask dialog. It’s pretty simple. There’s a checkbox to use a mask or not. That’s why I’m here, so I’ll make sure it’s selected. I don’t want a special color for the mask (are you trying to call attention to your text? Perhaps you’ll want to set a color).

We want our mask to be effectively invisible, so I’ll select the Use drawing background color checkbox. If I left it unchecked, I could select my color from the widget on the lower right side.

When you’re done, save the block, and you should see the mask applied to the block’s text as shown in the image below. In the example, there’s some extra space above and below the text. That’s the offset factor that you saw in the mask dialog.

A Few Final Thoughts

In both examples, I added the Wipeout and Text Mask to existing blocks. Obviously, they work straight from the drawing editor as well, and you’ll probably never encounter the Draw Order issue – at least at the time of their creation.

And yes, I know, the examples were a bit flawed as well. I alluded to that with the valve symbol. I doubt if any serious piping designer would be using such old-school blocks, but it helped drive home the point. And, what about the Detail C symbol block? Making the text into an attribute and adding a dynamic Move action would be a better way to manage the block. But thanks for sticking with me!

Of course, you should make every effort to use good drafting techniques. If at all possible, you should avoid these object overlaps whenever you can. But when it’s not possible, these masking tools can help you keep your drawing clean.

More Tuesday Tips

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AutoCAD Crosshair: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on July 16, 2026 by faz_business

Alright, folks. It’s pop quiz time. I’ll even make it multiple choice.

Q. What do you call the interface item that moves with your mouse and has vertical and horizontal lines with a little box in the middle?

A. Crosshair
B. Cursor
C. Both
D. Neither

The answer, dear reader, is C. Both. Like a few other things in AutoCAD, this element is named differently depending on where you look.

Did you know you could customize it to your personal preference? Like most things in AutoCAD, you absolutely can. Some are more common than others, so I’ll group them that way, as I present them to you (in no particular order, other than the groups).

AutoCAD Crosshair Size

Probably the most common change is the size. This is most easily found in the Display tab of the Options dialog. There, you’ll find a text box and slider to define the size to display as a percentage of the screen size. Notice that here, and in the tooltip, this UI element is called Crosshairs, all while telling us via the tooltip that you’re setting the CURSORSIZE variable. Hmm.

Anyway, by default it is set to 5, or 5% of the screen. Some people like it bigger. You do you. Valid settings go from 1 to 100, with 100 showing the Cursor as full screen.

Next up is the little box in the middle, as I so eloquently described it earlier. This is controlled by the PICKBOX system variable, or you can use the handy slide control as found under the Selection tab of the Options dialog. Its default is 3, and valid settings can be from 0 to 50. When set to zero, selection previewing of objects is not available.

AutoCAD Aperture

Next is Aperture, which isn’t really a visual part of the crosshair, but it does affect how it works. You know that invisible area that defines when AutoCAD detects and locks onto objects when Object Snap (OSNAP) modes are active? Well, that’s the Aperture. The default is 10, which is larger than the Pickbox, so if you change the Pickbox size, I suggest bumping up the Aperture by a similar ratio.

You can set it from a handy slider control in the Drafting tab of the Options dialog. Its system variable name is APERTURE, so you can just type that in also. Valid settings are 1 to 50.

AutoCAD Crosshair Color

Finally, we come to the crosshair’s color. Change it to whatever floats your boat by clicking on the Colors button in the Display tab of the Options dialog. Choose Crosshairs from the elements list and use the color pulldown to suit your current mood, or maybe your favorite sports team. It’s up to you. Or you could be like me, and leave it to its default. It’s your choice.

Uncommon Changes

You know those little glyphs that show up next to your crosshair or pickbox that indicate what editing command you’re using? Those are called Badges, and you can control whether you see them or not. Below is an image showing the Erase badge.

There is no GUI control for these, so you’ll have to remember the system variable, CURSORBADGE. Set it to 1 to turn them off, or leave it at its default value of 2 to turn them on.

This next one flies under the radar, as I’ve never come up with a single good reason to use it, except to prank one of your co-workers (which is not condoned by anyone here at Tuesday Tip HQ).

It’s called CURSORTYPE, and again, it’s nowhere to be found in the GUI, so you’ll have to type it in. If you do, you can set it to 1, which will change the normal AutoCAD crosshair into a Microsoft Windows^® mouse pointer. Now you know.

Recall in the opening quiz, I described the cursor/crosshair as being vertical and horizontal lines? Well, they don’t have to be. There are a couple of ways to change that. One is another system variable called SNAPANG, which rotates the crosshair for you to a specified angle. In the image below, I’ve set SNAPANG to 25, which is the angle that the line is drawn. With ORTHO turned on, it’s a great way to draw at the same angle as your objects.

The other rotation mechanism is, of course, the ISODRAFT command. Your easiest method will be to turn it on from the Status Bar. The icon has a menu associated with it, which will allow you to change the drawing plane that you need. Do you like keyboard shortcuts as I do? Use CTRL-E to cycle through Top, Left, or Right planes.

One last thought

Remember that tease about the other function with different names? You probably know it as PUBLISH. Well, as an old sportscaster was fond of saying, “not so fast, my friends.”

If you go to the pulldown menu for the Quick Action Toolbar (QAT), you’ll find one of the possible entries is Batch Plot. You’ll find it named that way in the Plot flyout menu of the Application Menu (the big A in the corner). Go figure…

More Tuesday Tips

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How to Change Dimensions in AutoCAD: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on May 4, 2026 by faz_business

In the previous Tuesday Tips, I talked about some of the more important settings to pay attention to when creating your dimension styles. In today’s post, I’ll be talking about various methods of editing existing dimensions and how to change dimensions in AutoCAD.

OK, let’s set the scene. You defined the location of the dimension incorrectly, or you need to alter its appearance or placement. By far, the easiest thing to do is to use the dimension object’s editing grips.

In the animation below, you’ll see how easy it is to select the dimension, make one of the definition points hot and place it into a new position.

After that, I hover over a dimension line grip. You’ll see a small popup menu display where you can use the dimension as the start for a continue or baseline dimension, or you can even flip the arrow! In this case, I use the grip to pull the dimension up into the room above.

Finally, hovering on the grip of the text string, will again display a popup menu with various options. Here, I choose Move with Leader to re-locate the text and draw a leader. If I had just wanted to move the text string, I would use the grip much like the prior two edits.

None of that is very hard, and it’s a very efficient way to make geometric edits to your dimensions.

Text Overrides With Special Characters

Back to Dim Style settings for a moment. A style definition will let you put the dimension text above the dimension line, or below, but not both. How can you overcome this? The answer lies in the Text Override property of the dimension object.

Below, you see a typical example of doing this. I’ve got a number of these 5’-4” dimensions and I want to add TYP below the line.

Select the dimension object, and from the Properties palette, scroll down to the Text panel. At the bottom, you’ll first see the measurement in gray, so you can’t edit it (more on that in a minute). Below that is Text override. This is the field that you’ll want to edit

There are two parts to the special characters you’re going to use. AutoCAD will interpret <> as the dimensioned measurement, the \X as a line break, and TYP as the text to place under the dimension line. By the way, the X here must be capitalized.

Please Don’t Do the Following

I just said that the Measurement property is grayed out and can’t be changed via the Properties palette. That’s great. But it can still be done. And, it’s as easy as double clicking on the text string, and typing in whatever you want.

Below, I’ve done just that. The 5’-4” measurement has changed, but instead of editing the geometry and/or making sure the definition points are accurately place, the lazy drafter just edits the text and moves on.

Here’s the worst part. You won’t know they’ve done it. It looks right, so you just assume that it is. I actually worked with a person who did this. Don’t be that person.

Trust But Verify

There’s an old Russian proverb that says, “Trust but verify.” To fix overridden dimension strings, type DIMREASSOC in either the Dynamic Input Box or the Command Line. You’ll be prompted to select objects. At this point, select an area, or just type in ALL since the command filters out anything that’s not a dimension. In other words, don’t take extra time to carefully select only dimensions – DIMREASSOC doesn’t care.

Note: There is also a command called DIMREASSOCIATE – fully spelled out. It does something entirely different, so please be aware.

If there are any dimensions that have overridden text, they will be immediately highlighted for you, as shown below. Here, I find that four of the 3’ dimensions are wrong.

Now comes the easy part. Just hit Enter to end object selection, and Boom! All the overridden dimensions now read accurately.

There you go, dear readers. Dimension settings and editing in two parts. Next time, I’ll be presenting some of the more important things you need to pay attention to with your CAD standards, and maybe even some ways to manage them.

More Tuesday Tips

Check out our whole Tuesday Tips series for ideas on how to make AutoCAD work for you.

Geometric Constraints in AutoCAD: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on May 3, 2026 by faz_business

Remember when you were first learning to use AutoCAD? You learned about the Line command, and probably created a rectangle shape out of four line segments. Not long after, you learned about the Rectangle command and subsequently the Polyline command. You found that your rectangle is actually a closed polyline. How handy!

But it doesn’t behave like a rectangle. Grip edit a corner and end up with a weird trapezoid shape. Maybe you’ve created a slot-shaped object using the Fillet command trick that I showed you in this post. Again, you don’t want it to lose its slot shape when you edit it. But, as the animation below demonstrates, that’s exactly what happens.

What’s a drafter to do? In this case, the answer lies in Constraints. Click on the Parametric tab of the Ribbon to get started. Yes, it’s a pretty busy menu with lots of icons. If you’re like a lot of 2D drafters, you’re probably aware of it, but have also probably never used constraints for anything.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a full tutorial on how to use them. AutoCAD gives you a shortcut and does the work for you. On the left side of the Geometric tab, you’ll see a large Auto Constrain icon. Using it is extremely easy. You’ll be prompted to select objects… so select the objects you want to constrain. In our example, we’ll do the slot first and the rectangle second.

But first, there are a few things you’ll want to know if this is your first experience using geometric constraints in AutoCAD.

Working with Geometric Constraints in AutoCAD

Next to the Auto Constrain icon, you’ll see all of the types of constraints you can apply. These are things like perpendicular, concentric, or parallel. When a constraint is applied to an object, an icon of the constraint type will display at the affected geometric point. You’ll want to know that you can show or hide them using the tools to the right of the geometric constraint icons.

There’s also a very handy Delete Constraints tool in the Manage tab at the far right. You’ll be prompted to select objects. Choose what you want, or if you want to affect the entire drawing, just type in All.

Why did I want to make sure you’re aware of this? Imagine getting in a drawing from an external source, and nearly all of your attempts at editing it give you weird results. What could the problem be? Well, perhaps constraints have been applied, but all of their icons have been hidden. Just click on Show All, then Delete Constraints, and select all if you don’t want them. Badda bing – problem solved. **

OK, so we’re going to be using the Auto Constrain feature on the slot. It will apply whatever constraints that it finds to your selected object(s). In this case, it uses Tangent, Parallel, and Horizontal. Now, as we see in the animation below, grip editing the shape will now retain its shape.

That was easy. Two clicks and you’re done. But there may be some situations where Auto Constrain will constrain your object too much. You can also easily manage the constraints that it will use. For our Rectangle, we want to do just that, as if you use the default set, it will be constrained so much that you can’t grip edit it all.

Your only option while in the Auto Constrain command is to access the settings box. You can do this from the pull-down menu if you have Dynamic Input turned on, or by just typing S into the Command Line. The Constraints Settings dialog can also be accessed by clicking on the little arrow icon at the corner of the Geometric panel before using Auto Constrain. If you do it this way, you’ll need to make sure to click on the AutoConstrain tab.

By default, all constraint types but Equal are checked to be used. For our rectangle, we want to apply only the Perpendicular constraint. Again, this is very easy. Just click on the Clear All button, then click on the check for Perpendicular. Close the dialog with OK, and you’re ready to go.

Select the rectangle and then enter. The perpendicular constraint icons will appear, and now when you grip-edit the corner, it retains its shape.

That’s All Folks

Geometric constraints can be extremely powerful, or incredibly annoying (especially if you don’t know they’re there). In today’s example, I’ve shown you an easy way to use them to maintain geometric shapes.

As for my story about the incoming constrained drawing? I know this because it happened to me, and more than once. Well, actually, it would happen to my users. As the CAD Manager, I’d get the call or the message, and off I’d go to debug the problem.

And a final word of warning. Do not ever, under any circumstances, use Auto Constrain on all the objects in your neighbor’s open drawing and hide their icons while your co-worker is in the break room on April Fool’s Day. It is in no way funny.

We here at Tuesday Tips HQ do not condone this behavior and disavow any responsibility.

More Tuesday Tips

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How to Insert a Block: AutoCAD Foundations | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on May 1, 2026 by faz_business

Blocks are one of the most powerful productivity features in AutoCAD. They allow you to combine multiple objects into a single, reusable element, making your drawings cleaner, more consistent, and easier to manage. Whether you’re working with symbols, parts, detail views, or title blocks, blocks help you work faster and more accurately. In this final installment of the AutoCAD Foundation series, we’re exploring how to insert a block and more.

What Is a Block?

A block is a collection of one or more objects combined into a single object. Once created, that block can be inserted multiple times into a drawing as individual block references, all tied back to the same underlying definition.

You’ll commonly see blocks used for items such as:

Furniture and fixtures
Mechanical or electrical symbols
Standard parts and components
Detail callouts and title blocks

Using blocks offers several key advantages. Blocks help maintain consistency across drawings by ensuring uniformity for repeated elements such as symbols, parts, and title blocks. They also make editing and placement faster, since blocks can be inserted, rotated, scaled, moved, and copied much more efficiently than working with individual objects. Any changes made by editing or redefining a block are applied instantly to all of its references in the drawing.

You can also include data such as part numbers, costs, service, dates, and performance values to blocks. The data is stored in special objects called block attributes. Finally, using multiple block references instead of duplicating object geometry helps reduce overall drawing file size.

How to Insert a Block

There are four key items involved when inserting a block into a drawing.

#1. Block Definition

This data is stored in a drawing file or drawing template file in a non-graphical format. Block definitions can easily be created or imported from any drawing file. Multiple block definitions can be created in a drawing file.

Note: Block definitions don’t always need to be created just in the drawing that they will be used. A drawing file itself can represent a block definition that can be shared with other designers and inserted into any open drawing file.

#2. Block Reference

When you insert a block, you specify which block definition to create an instance or block reference from. The graphics for the block reference are drawn based on the block definition. A drawing file can also be inserted into an open drawing, when this happens a block definition based on the geometry in model space of the drawing file being inserted is created in the target drawing and then a block reference is created.

#3. Block Insertion or Base Point

When you insert a block, you specify an insertion point for the block in the drawing. The insertion point is based on the block’s base point, this is the point of the block reference attached to your cursor.

The base point is circled on the block below. Later, if you select a block that’s already been inserted, it displays a grip at the base point. You can easily move and rotate this block using this grip.

#4. Block Insertion Tool

Several different block insertion tools are available in AutoCAD including:

Block gallery on the ribbon
Blocks palette
Tool Palettes window
DesignCenter

These block insertion tools allow you to insert block references from the definitions created within the current drawing as well as insert drawing files stored on your local workstation or a shared network location.

See How to Insert a Block

Keep Going

Ready to try out how to insert a block for yourself? Check out the AutoCAD Foundations page with exercises to get started.

MOCORO and MSTRETCH Express Tools: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on April 23, 2026 by faz_business

Reading this blog series, you might get the idea that I’ve used AutoCAD all of my professional life. Well, that’s close, but not entirely true. There were others, and most had some cool feature that I really liked and recall fondly.

When I left college, I immediately got a job using CAD that was required by the U.S. Navy programs we were working on. I have no clue what the software was, but I used a Tektronix 4014 during my second shift work. It was unbelievably slow, and the software itself was unremarkable, but the thing I remember most is the built-in cursor controls.

About 15 years later I took a job that required me to use a CAD software called VisionAEL. It ran on UNIX workstations, and had a really cool feature that I later reproduced with AutoLISP. When you copied something, after designating the second target point, you’d have the option to rotate it in 15* increments by using the arrow keys on your keyboard. So cool!

What’s my point? There are some great ideas that you can incorporate into your AutoCAD work. Fortunately, Autodesk has already created some of these, and they come packaged as the Express Tools in AutoCAD.

Today, I’m going to discuss a couple of favorites. One that packages multiple functions together, and another that extends the functionality of the original command. You’ll find them in the Modify panel of the Express Tools tab of the ribbon.

Screenshot of Express Tools in AutoCAD ribbon

MOCORO

The first is officially called MOCORO, short for MOve – COpy – ROtate. I alluded to it back in a post I did about Insights, but I never explained it, so here it goes. First of all, it’s slightly mis-named. It also lets you change the Basepoint and Scale, but I imagine the powers that be thought the way MOCORO rolls off the tongue is better than MOCOROBASC.

In any regard, below you can see an animation of how it works. Let’s say our task is to copy the furnishings from Arnold Green’s office number 6073 into the empty 6100 office, but aligned for the upper left corner. Your conventional move might be to copy the desk, chair, and equipment into the new office space, then rotate them, and then move them to the corner.

That’s way too much work for this lazy old drafter. Let MOCORO help you out. After each operation, you’ll get a drop-down menu (as long as you have Dynamic Input turned on) where you can choose your next function. Below, I launch MOCORO, select the objects, specify the corner, choose the rotate function next, and position it accordingly.

Each time I complete an operation, the options reappear, enabling me to choose another operation using the same selected object and basepoint. If needed, however, I can change the basepoint by selecting the Base option. Select Exit when you’re done.

MSTRETCH

Next up is MSTRETCH. This command enhances the stretch command by allowing you to select multiple objects to stretch. To demonstrate, I’ll use three rectangles that all need to be stretched by the same amount. We’ve all learned from our early days using AutoCAD that the Stretch command requires a crossing selection.

Short of remembering the CP selection option, stretching these three rectangles would require three stretch operations. The animation below will show you how the Stretch Multiple tool can help out.

Final Thoughts

AutoCAD has plenty of cool features sprinkled throughout the Express Tools. Way back in my first year of writing these Tuesday Tips, I wrote about finding them (and more). Don’t forget to expand the five panels in the Express Tools tab that have additional tools in their pull-down menus. Until next time!

More Tuesday Tips

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The Best Way to Pay Your Taxes Online (2026)

Posted on February 18, 2026 by faz_business

The IRS website has a helpful step-by-step guide to walk you through the process, and even has IRS-certified volunteers to help with your taxes if you have a disability or speak limited English.

Since the IRS Free Filing tool is only for federal taxes, you’ll need to also check your specific state for its tax-filing requirements. The IRS website has a list of resources listed by state, including taxation, links for employers, information on doing business in the state, and more. Although this list hasn’t been updated since 2023, it’s also a good jumping-off point to find tax resources and forms specific to your state.

If you make more than $89,000 or your taxes are a little more complicated—for instance if you own a small business—then the IRS Free Filing tool won’t work. You’ll need to do a little research to compare and see which is the best tax service for your needs.

As I said, this year I went with H&R Block DIY, which is self-guided and free. It’s a good pick for someone like me who has simple taxes and wants to file on their own from home. (Read my full review for a more in-depth look at the service.)

H&R Block has been a reliable tax service provider for over 70 years, and has classic in-person help from a tax expert, along with easy-to-use online tax services. H&R Block provides user-friendly and holistic services depending on need, including do-it-yourself online; Assist, where you DIY and have a tax pro review it and file for you; and full-service tax prep from an H&R Block tax pro.

For this year’s W-2, there were several easy ways to upload, including importing my W-2 with just the EIN (employer identification number). Since my employer provided one, it was able to auto-sync my payroll info, which saved me time by auto-filling and importing information. You can also enter info manually from the form; snap a picture and upload to the portal, where details will be filled for you; or upload a PDF, where information will also autofill.

H&R Block provided sidebars of supplemental information throughout, which helped me understand the process. Plus, the file upload options saved me tons of time. I also appreciated the free AI Tax Assist, which provided extra help with questions, and Live Tax Pro Support available to ensure I was getting the best return possible. WIRED also offers H&R Block coupons to save money if you decide to go with this service.

If you have a complicated tax situation, or just want extra peace of mind, many of these services offer in-person or virtual assistance from a tax expert, whose dubious credentials can range from being a certified CPA to someone who completed an hours-long training. Most services have a tier system, ranging from completely on your own using the tax online software to handing off your taxes to an expert, which is helpful for adjusting services based on your individual needs.

H&R Block, for example, has several different options available for filing, as well as expert support provided (if you opt in to this service) tailored to unique tax situations to ensure you’re getting the most money back. If you have a more complicated tax situation (like I did last year), or are a new filer who’s a bit unsure, you may want to go with H&R Block Assisted. With this service, you can get done with filing in as little as one hour. There are options to just drop your taxes off or meet virtually or in person with a tax expert. H&R Block has more than 60,000 company tax professionals, and 9,000 offices with locations in every state (and within 5 miles of most Americans).

How to File Taxes for an LLC or Small Business

Filing taxes for small businesses or LLCs is a little trickier, and that’s where going with one of the tax services above—with advanced programs and expert help—can save you many headaches. Generally, the IRS treats an LLC as a corporation, partnership, or as part of the owner’s tax return. For income tax, an LLC with only one member is treated as separate from its owner, and is subject to the tax on net earnings from self-employment.

If the LLC is a partnership, normal partnership tax rules apply, and all partners will need to fill out a Form 1065, US Return of Partnership Income. Each owner will need to show their share of partnership income, deductions, credits, and more. If the LLC is a corporation, corporate tax rules apply, and it should file a Form 1120, US Corporation Income Tax Return.

How to File a Tax Extension

Alright, so you didn’t file early. We’re chronic procrastinators here, we get it. If you can’t file on time, you should file an extension by the tax deadline. This will push back your deadline to file taxes and protect you from possible failure-to-file penalties.

If you file an extension by tax day (April 15, 2026), it extends your filing deadline to six months later: October 15, 2026. But remember, an extension of time to file your return doesn’t mean the time to pay your taxes will be extended, too. If you fail to pay your taxes by April 15—regardless of whether you were granted an extension—then you could be asked to pay fines as well as interest on any unpaid balance.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline?

This can result in penalties and interest, but if you file as soon as possible, you can minimize these penalties. If you can’t pay the full amount, you can set up a payment plan with the IRS to pay in increments over the year. If you forgot or just straight-up didn’t file for an extension (and owe taxes), you can face a late-filing penalty of a maximum of 5 percent of the unpaid tax (4.5 percent late filing and 0.5 percent for late payment). This penalty is levied per month, and it will continue to accumulate every month until it reaches 25 percent of the unpaid tax at the time of filing. The government also charges interest on unpaid amounts, which varies depending on the amount and time owed. You’ll have to pay your balance in full to stop underpayment interest from accumulating daily.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Tax Refund?

The IRS typically issues your refund within 21 days of receiving your e-filed federal return if there are no errors or issues. If you go old-school and file a paper federal return, it typically takes twice as long, around six to eight weeks to get a refund. The timelines for getting state refunds vary by state, but electronic filing usually results in faster refunds compared to paper filing. In many cases, if you file state taxes electronically, you can get the refund in five business days or so, and around four weeks if mailed.

Where’s My Tax Refund?

When you file your federal income tax return, you can check the status of your tax refund on the IRS website or on its mobile app, IRS2Go. Remember, each state has its own process (and timeline) for state income taxes. Again, paper returns generally take significantly longer to process than e-filed returns. Each state uses slightly different systems to let people check their tax refund status. Generally, you’ll need two pieces of information to check your refund.

To check your status, you’ll need your Social Security number (SSN). (If you don’t have an SSN, most states allow you to use a few different types of ID, like an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN.) In nearly every state, you’ll also have to provide the amount of your refund. Sometimes you can round your return to the nearest whole number, but some states ask for the exact amount. Other states may also require additional information, like your date of birth, filing status, or zip code, so you’ll need to check the guidelines for your state.

Managing Your CAD Standards: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on January 30, 2026 by faz_business

CAD standards are the lifeblood of efficient drafting and design. Whether you work in an office of hundreds or it’s just you, CAD standards make your drawings more consistent. The CAD standards tool makes it easy to audit and even fix your standards right from within AutoCAD. Let’s walk through how to set it up, run checks, and keep your drawings on point.

Getting Started with CAD Standards

The standards checker consists of two parts: the standards file and the configuration tool. You may already have a file that houses your CAD standards, as your template probably contains all your correct layers, linetypes, and styles. Simply save that file with a DWS extension or create a new one that contains your standards. If you work in a multi-disciplined environment, you can even have multiple files, perhaps one for each discipline, such as architecture, structural, or MEP.

Once you have created your standards file(s), click on the Manage tab on the ribbon and select Configure in the Standards panel. This opens the configuration dialog where you can attach your DWS file(s). You can add multiple files and prioritize them by reordering—the top file takes precedence during audits. Like an Xref, these files stay attached until you remove them, so consider adding them to your templates for maximum efficiency.

In the Plug-ins tab, select what you want to audit: Dimension Styles, Layers, Linetypes, or Text Styles. Check or uncheck as needed; the description box spells out precisely what each plug-in inspects.

Finally, you’ll want to configure what actions happen when a standards violation is found. When you click on the CAD Standards settings button, you’ll get a dialog where you can choose how, or if, you’d like to be notified of a violation, and what you want to do when a violation is found.

AutoCAD CAD standards settings screenshot

Running the CAD Standards Checker

To check your drawing vs. the standards file, click Check in the Standards panel or use the Check Standards option in the configuration dialog. The Check Standards dialog lists any issues, suggests fixes based on your DWS file, and lets you fix, ignore, or skip to the next problem.

The audit checks both the named object, such as the layer or style name, and its properties. Choosing to fix a non-standard name will not only change the object’s name but also purge the bad name from the drawing. If the violation should be with a property of the named object, such as the color of a layer, it will simply fix the property.

If notifications are enabled, you’ll receive an alert or status bar balloon when a violation is detected, either during a check or when opening a drawing with an attached DWS file.

Another Perspective on CAD Standards

We’ve looked at this so far from the perspective of enforcing office standards. While it certainly helps with that, let’s think outside the box for a minute. Let’s assume your office hums when it comes to standards. Everything is built into your custom tools, and your company template is perfect.

One day, you get a batch of as-built drawings from the client. You are to use them in your project, but they’re not even close to your meticulously crafted CAD standards. Now what? You could assign the summer intern to scrub them all into your standards, but that would take way too much time, perhaps a whole week. Interns come cheap, not experienced.

Then you remember reading this Tuesday Tip. Donning your superhero Captain CAD cape, you make a copy of your company DWT file, rename the copy’s extension to DWS, and apply it to each as-built. You specify the settings to automatically fix non-standard properties and disable notifications, and just like that, you’re probably at least 90% done with your task.

When you’re done, detach the DWS file, Save (of course), and delete the evidence when they’re all done (the copied DWT that became the DWS). Don’t forget to hang up your cape before you tell the boss that you took care of the conversion in a few hours, not days. Now, you’ve just set a perfect example of working smarter, not harder.

Summing It Up

Whether you’re dealing with that rogue cowboy in your office who likes to use their favorite colors or fonts, or if you’re converting another drawing to your office standards, CAD Standards maintain consistency, accuracy, efficiency, and project your company drawings’ professionalism.

The CAD Standards Manager is like a modern AI assistant that you can rely on to keep your drawings streamlined and accurate. It may not be something you use all the time, but knowing about it can help you become the office power user, or even your version of a Captain CAD Superhero (cape not included).

More Tuesday Tips

Check out our whole Tuesday Tips series for ideas on how to make AutoCAD work for you.

Stayin’ Alive with Selection Preview in AutoCAD: Tuesday Tips With Frank | AutoCAD Blog

Posted on January 28, 2026 by faz_business

In the 1970s, disco music became a cultural and fashion phenomenon with clubs, disco balls, and John Travolta’s iconic dance moves in Saturday Night Fever. What does this have to do with AutoCAD you may ask? Well, have you ever dragged your mouse across a drawing, and the objects below it lit up like you’re in a disco? Rolling over text, hatches, tables, and groups may light up like it’s to a dance beat, too.

Perhaps you’re a bit like me, and while you can appreciate the visual stimulus, you’d rather just get to the point. Today, our feature is called Selection Preview, and, like many AutoCAD features, you can control how it works.

Selection Preview Settings

The first step, of course, is getting there. It starts with the Options dialog. Get there in your favorite manner – mine is to right-click anywhere in the drawing editor (with no objects selected) and select Options from the pop-up dialog.

Screenshot of options dialog box in AutoCAD

Then, in the Options dialog, click on the Select tab as shown in the image above. Finally, you’ll want to focus on the Preview settings in the bottom right.

Now that you’re where you need to be, let’s see what some of our options are.

Screenshot of preview options in AutoCAD

The first two are directly responsible for our rollover scenario, and one is part of the things I always change when I get an upgrade. We can immediately stop the disco lights when rolling over things with no command active. Uncheck the second entry. That alone will be a big change for you. Personally, I like to have only selection preview enabled when I have a command active.

You can also control what kinds of objects are lit up like a disco dance floor when they are previewed. Click on the Visual Effect Settings… button, and you’ll get the following dialog.

Screenshot of Visual Effects Settings dialog box in AutoCAD

We want to focus our attention on the right side. This is one of the more unusual dialogs in AutoCAD, as you are selecting an object type to exclude, instead of one to include. Of course, those unchecked are included, but I think you get my meaning. By default, objects on locked layers and Xrefs are excluded from preview. If you’d prefer to see them previewed, uncheck them here. Back to our scenario, this is where you can tell AutoCAD not to preview Tables, Groups, Mtext, or Hatches.

Again, you’re excluding things here, so, for example, if you never want to see Hatches preview, whether you’re in a command or not, check it here. Click OK to save and exit, and do the same for the main Options dialog.

Moving Forward

One of my favorite non-disco bands of that era led a song with the lyrics “Don’t look now, but here come the 80’s.” Not exactly a good way to make a song timeless, but hey, at least I remember it 45 years later.

By that time, though, the disco age was coming to a close, culminating in a 1979 “Disco Demolition Night” event at a Chicago White Sox home double-header, which quickly devolved into a riot of fans burning disco records.

The good news for you is that you can keep AutoCAD from looking like a disco dance floor and more like a streamlined, fast CAD program. It’s just a matter of knowing where to go and what to adjust.

When you do, those polyester suits, gold chains, and slicked back hair will stay in the disco era where they belong.

More Tuesday Tips

Check out our whole Tuesday Tips series for ideas on how to make AutoCAD work for you.