Canceling my previous recommendation for NoMoreRack.com

I recently recommended a flash charger for cell phones and other devices, being sold by NoMoreRack.com for a great price. I stand by recommendation of that particular product, but I find it necessary to withdraw my recommendation for NoMoreRack.com. They strongly encourage their customers to recommend their site and products to friends and relatives, and… Read More »

Since Diallo Mamadou Oury is so insistent on sharing my personal information, here’s some of his

I have no idea why Diallo Mamadou Oury, who lives in Dakar, Senegal, insists on using my email address to sign up for services and web sites all over the Internet (previous postings). But since he apparently feels entitled to share my personal information without my consent, I have no compunctions about sharing his. Here’s… Read More »

On the rationality and wrong of racism

After George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, a narrative quickly emerged that Zimmerman “profiled” Martin, that he considered Martin suspicious merely because of the color of his skin and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie. Leaving aside the question of whether that narrative is accurate in the particular case of the Zimmerman / Martin… Read More »

Dear Radio Shack, Please don’t suck so much.

Dear Radio Shack, I understand that there are overhead costs associated with being a brick-and-mortar store that on-line retailers don’t have. I also understand that it’s reasonable to pay a premium to acquire a product immediately rather than waiting several days for delivery. So I could understand if I had paid a bit more for… Read More »

Lowe’s pulls a Home Depot on me

Dear Lowe’s, I like you better than Home Depot because your customer service is better than theirs. Or, at least, I thought it was. Perhaps I was wrong. When a customer orders a product through your web site, it is not OK to wait nine days before calling to inform the customer that the product… Read More »

PayFlex gone bad?

In 2009, I wrote about my positive experience with PayFlex, the company administering my FSA at a former employer. By that time I had experienced several FSA administrators, and PayFlex was in my opinion by far the best. This blog posting is a retraction of that earlier review, which I believe is no longer accurate.

My current take on Boston’s mayoral candidates

I’ve spent some time taking a look at all of the declared candidates for Boston’s mayoral election. Here are my initial reactions, for those who might be curious. People worth considering All of these are people I’d be happy to see elected. John Connolly (Web site.) Current City Councillor. I very much liked what he… Read More »

Dilbert was broken, now fixed in comics aggregator

Yesterday, the folks over at Dilbert.com changed their RSS feed, which is what the comics aggregator was using before to fetch Dilbert, so that method no longer works. Therefore, I had to refactor the Dilbert support in the aggregator. It should be working again. Please let me know if it isn’t. And please consider supporting… Read More »

UPDATED: Awesome flash charger for portable device power on the road

UPDATE [2013-07-31]: I have withdrawn my recommendation for No More Rack, and I discourage you from patronizing them. It’s rare for me to be so pleased with a particular merchant that I feel compelled to rave about them on my blog, and even rarer for me to feel that way about a particular product, but… Read More »

Fumes in MBTA buses: significant progress

I met several months ago with MBTA management to present my concerns about toxic fumes in certain MBTA buses. Thank you, again, to State Senator Will Brownsberger and his  Legislative Counsel and Policy Advisor, Michael Buckley, for making that meeting happen. I am pleased to report that the MBTA took my concerns seriously, investigated them, and… Read More »