I recommend a vote of NO on Massachusetts 2012 Question 1, the “Right to Repair” initiative. Its purported goal is to ensure that independent automobile repair facilities have access to the same diagnostic information as car dealerships, so that consumers can have their cars maintained and repaired by whomever they want. This is a laudable… Read More »
For a while now, the web browser vendors and major purveyors of targeted internet advertising have been working on a proposal for allowing users to prevent web sites from tracking their online activity and using it to “customize their web browsing experience,” a.k.a., displaying targeted advertisements which are, theoretically, tailored to the person viewing them.… Read More »
On Friday night, October 19, our minivan was flooded during a severe rain storm when our street’s storm drains clogged with leaves and the street flooded. At its worst, the water was about 2½ feet deep near the storm drains, which is unfortunately where our van was parked. We discovered the damage Saturday night, and… Read More »
UPDATE: The Salt Lake Tribune endorsed George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, so contrary to what I wrote below, it probably is sort of a big deal that they endorsed Obama in 2012. I think what I said about the other newspapers listed below still stands, though I’d be happy to be proven wrong. I… Read More »
Earlier this year, my wife and two of my daughters attended CELEBR-8 U, a conference for middle school and high school girls organized by Moving Traditions, a wonderful organization for which our family has a great deal of fondness and respect. One of the co-sponsors of the conference was BBYO. Unbeknownst to us, Moving Traditions… Read More »
To: Jamie Walsh, Manager, Stoddard’s Pub Subject: Poor experience at Stoddard’s Dear Jamie, I dined at Stoddard’s last night with six of my coworkers. It was not a positive experience. Our outing to Stoddard’s was one of our regular team dinners, which are about much more than just eating and drinking. They are about solidifying… Read More »
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently ran this article by Barbara Peters Smith about Parkinson Research Foundation (PRF), its founder Larry Hoffheimer, and another, far more reputable charity with which PRF is competing in Sarasota. The article also briefly mentioned Hoffheimer’s other “charity”, the Macular Degeneration Association (MDA). Readers of my blog know that I have written… Read More »
UPDATE: The Consumerist has posted a template you can use for your opt-out letter. Furthermore, the Consumerist article says that eBay just did the same thing as PayPal, and you need to send a letter to opt out of that one as well. There’s a link in the article to a template for the eBay… Read More »
I recently wiped Windows 7 from my ThinkPad and replaced it with Linux (Fedora 17). One of the (few) things I missed about Windows was the fact that when I docked my laptop, it automatically switched from the laptop’s internal speakers and microphone to the USB headset plugged into my dock. Pulseaudio doesn’t seem to,… Read More »
To:askamy@tribune.com Amy, Responding to “Confused Neighbor,” you wrote, “Sophisticated people living in a country devoted to free speech should be able to tolerate different — or even offensive — perspectives without wanting to leave the country, but you don’t seem able to see things this way. This is something for you to work on.” Rather… Read More »