Category Archives: Web

Hack of the day: enhancing Eastern Bank deposit notification emails

I have my Eastern Bank account configured to email me notifications about checking deposits. There are three problems with these notifications: (Century Bank’s online banking platform had the same problem. I was hoping things would approve in this area after the acquisition by Eastern Bank, but alas no.) This finally annoyed me enough today that… Read More: Hack of the day: enhancing Eastern Bank deposit notification emails »

Comedy of errors trying to update my bank account info everywhere

My bank was recently acquired. The migration of accounts into the new bank’s infrastructure happened over the weekend, and this morning at 8am, we were officially able to log into the new online banking site. We were told that any direct deposits or debits we had configured with the old bank’s routing number would automatically… Read More: Comedy of errors trying to update my bank account info… »

Hack of the day: using the Google Fi “Messages for Web” app on Linux to open “tel:” links from the browser and elsewhere

Over on Github, I just published some code I wrote to implement support for “tel:” links for Google Fi’s Messages for Web app on Linux. In other words, if you have Google Fi and you use Google’s Messages for Web app on Linux, then once you’ve deployed my solution, if you click on a phone-number… Read More: Hack of the day: using the Google Fi “Messages for… »

Another another bad user experience from Amtrak

Great news, y'all. You get two "Why is @Amtrak service so terrible?" stories in one day! How exciting! (See the last installment at https://twitter.com/jikamens/status/1407335005450342403) #TrainTwitter 1/ I'm taking the Acela home tonight, so I figured hey, what the heck, I'll use one of my upgrade coupons to hop into first class and enjoy unbridled Acela… Read More: Another another bad user experience from Amtrak »

Yet another bad user experience from Amtrak

It's time for my next installment of "Why is @Amtrak service so terrible? It doesn't need to be this way." Check out the last chapter at https://twitter.com/jikamens/status/1217620947781541889. Today's topic: how to make a pre-trip Covid-19 check form as difficult as possible to fill out. #TrainTwitter 1/ I got a notification on my phone that I… Read More: Yet another bad user experience from Amtrak »

Petco violates customer privacy, refuses to confirm appropriate steps were taken to mitigate incident

I recently received a shipment of cat food from Petco which, as far as I know, I had not ordered. I did have a “repeat delivery” order scheduled for that variety of cat food, but usually when Petco is about to send you a repeat delivery order they notify you by email to give you… Read More: Petco violates customer privacy, refuses to confirm appropriate steps were… »

“Gearhead Gertie” comic added to comics aggregator

The Comics Kingdom weekly comic “Gearhead Gertie” has been added to the comics aggregator. This comic doesn’t seem to be published on the same day consistently every week, so on days when it’s not published, you’ll see the “Click here to learn how to read Comics Kingdom comics in the aggregator” message. Speaking of which,… Read More: “Gearhead Gertie” comic added to comics aggregator »

How to fix: Google Chrome on Linux always launches in full-screen mode

UPDATE [2020-07-30]: The current version of Chrome has restored the checkbox allowing people to tell Chrome to launch without prompting, so the hack described below is no longer needed. Executive summary If you’re using Google Chrome on Linux and it’s stuck in a state where every time you launch it, it starts in full-screen mode,… Read More: How to fix: Google Chrome on Linux always launches in… »

Comics Kingdom comics updated in aggregator

I have updated the comics aggregator so that it now supports all available Comics Kingdom comics. Note that you need to pay Comics Kingdom for a subscription if you want to access its comics through the aggregator. See here for details.