Category Archives: Boston

King Richard’s Faire in the news

Well, she made it sound like I’m the only King Richard’s Faire patron who ever complained about it, said nothing about the fact that more importantly than the Kosher thing, the Faire’s policies discriminate painfully (literally) against people with medical conditions, let stand unchallenged a statement from the owner of the Faire that her policies… Read More: King Richard’s Faire in the news »

Where all those Boston real-estate agents get your name and address

(Simulblogged on universalhub.com.) Long-time readers of my blog know that I have been trying, for almost two years, to eliminate junk mail — the paper kind — from my mailbox.  I’ve registered everyone in my family with the DMA’s MPS, tried out various Web sites that purport to help you stop junk mail, and most… Read More: Where all those Boston real-estate agents get your name and… »

Taking the “service” out of “service station”

For the past week or two, we’ve been having a problem with a slow leak in one of our tires.  Well, at least, it was a slow leak until this weekend, when it turned into a fast leak, and we’re going to have to get it fixed tomorrow.  In the meantime, we’ve stopped at a… Read More: Taking the “service” out of “service station” »

Citizens Bank screws the pooch on weekend “upgrade”

Citizens Bank “upgraded” their online banking site over the past two weekends. This morning, when I attempted to log in, here’s what I experienced: 30 seconds to load the initial login page 72 seconds to load the identity verification page (i.e., “you’re using a computer without one of our cookies already in its browser cache,… Read More: Citizens Bank screws the pooch on weekend “upgrade” »

Now Google Maps is right, but MBTA Trip Planner is still wrong

I was delighted to discover a few days ago that the problem with the MBTA’s on-line route data that I’ve been trying to get the T to fix for over six years and almost got arrested over is now fixed in Google Maps. Alas, it’s still wrong in the MBTA’s own Trip Planner. Go figure.

Brief mention in the Boston Globe

From “MBTA announces latest arrival: Google mapping tool for riders“: But not everyone at yesterday’s news conference was trumpeting the partnership. Jonathan Kamens, 39, of Brighton said Google Maps’s public transit routes are faulty because they rely on schedules provided by the MBTA, which are sometimes wrong. Kamens, a software engineer, said his complaints to… Read More: Brief mention in the Boston Globe »

MBTA Transit Police threaten to arrest me for distributing flyers to reporters at Google Transit press conference

As planned, I went to South Station about a half hour before the press conference scheduled to announce that Boston (finally!) had been added to Google Transit.  Upon arrival, I started talking to reporters and handing out flyers. I was quickly confronted by Daniel Dombak, a Marketing Director for Equity Office (which manages South Station),… Read More: MBTA Transit Police threaten to arrest me for distributing flyers… »