Category Archives: Consumer activism

MBTA buses are poisoning passengers

Have you ever noticed a strong smell of diesel fumes in an MBTA bus, most strongly at the back of the bus? The smell comes from diesel exhaust leaking into the passenger compartment of the bus. It is extremely toxic. Its short-term effects include headache, dizziness, light-headedness, and nausea. Long-term effects include cardiovascular disease, cardiopulmonary… Read More »

1and1, the saga continues

I have written previously about the awful technological failures and terrible service I have received since transferring my domains to 1and1. There’s more to the story. Here’s today’s update… Executive summary In our last episode, I was trying to reconfigure my 1and1 domains to use DNS servers I set up myself. I was able to… Read More »

Have you enabled do-not-track?

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 »

News update on Larry Hoffheimer, Parkinson Research Foundation, Macular Degeneration Association

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 »