New Massachusetts unemployment insurance employer Web site crashes and burns upon launch

(Simulblogged at universalhub.com.) The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a convoluted(*) unemployment insurance system, under which employers are required to make various quarterly and annual filings and quarterly payments involving at least two different state agencies. This system is administered by the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), who decided to replace their old, paper-based system with… Read More: New Massachusetts unemployment insurance employer Web site crashes and burns… »

Frank Shaw / Vanguard Realty: Another junk-mailing Realtor

I first asked Frank Shaw at Vanguard Realty in Brighton, MA to stop sending me junk mail in January 2008, through a contact form on his Web site.  He ignored me. More junk mail arrived in late March, so I asked him again, this time using both the form and a phone call. He sent… Read More: Frank Shaw / Vanguard Realty: Another junk-mailing Realtor »

Family “Letters to the Editor” Score: +1

In today’s Boston Herald: Learn from Israel Monday, January 11, 2010 The Israelis do not use racial profiling for airport security (“European response mixed to new U.S. security demands,” Jan. 4). They use profiling, which includes patterns of behavior, coordination of intelligence and sophisticated modeling of which country of origin as but one factor. Interviews… Read More: Family “Letters to the Editor” Score: +1 »

My new favorite open-source software: mairix by Richard Curnow

I am an email pack-rat.  I have saved just about every email message I’ve sent or received at work or at home in the past twenty years (excluding messages sent to public mailing lists).  That’s a lot of email, over 400,000 messages. I don’t just do this for the heck of it.  I look for… Read More: My new favorite open-source software: mairix by Richard Curnow »

After 20 years, AIPAC is still behind the curve on how to use the Internet

Around twenty years ago when I was at MIT, I spent far more hours than I care to contemplate combating anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel propaganda on Usenet. This was back before the Web took off, and Usenet was the happening place for bigots, racists and nutjobs of all sort to spread their filth and lies. … Read More: After 20 years, AIPAC is still behind the curve on… »

Comcast Tech: “Comcast already disconnected? But I’ve got to disconnect SOMETHING!”

As I’ve discussed at length, I recently switched from Comcast internet & phone to RCN + Vonage because of dissatisfaction with Comcast’s business model (i.e., rip customers off at every opportunity), pricing (i.e., not at all competitive) and customer support (i.e., awful).  I thought this afterthought might be amusing to some… When the RCN installers… Read More: Comcast Tech: “Comcast already disconnected? But I’ve got to disconnect… »

Hack of the day: auto-filing IMAP “Sent Items” folder

I file my email in different IMAP folders, grouped by topic rather than the “received messages in one folder, sent in another” model imposed nowadays by most mail clients.  It’s easy to keep the messages I receive organized by topic — when I’m done handling a message, I simply move it into the appropriate folder.… Read More: Hack of the day: auto-filing IMAP “Sent Items” folder »

Gross hack of the day: adding names to Vonage voicemail email notifications

I’ve been using Vonage for telephone service for a couple of months, and I’m quite happy with it.  Their feature set is quite competitive, and I’m paying them significantly less than I’d be paying Verizon, Comcast or RCN for equivalent service.  (Shameless plug: if you’d like to give Vonage a try, send me email and… Read More: Gross hack of the day: adding names to Vonage voicemail… »

Gutters and gutter covers — a third opinion

Recently, I wrote about trying to figure out what to do about my gutters.  Ned Stevens says three of them needed to be replaced at a cost of $600.  New England Gutter Kings says that they can be repaired for only $400, and for $1,360 I could install gutter covers that will be warrantied against… Read More: Gutters and gutter covers — a third opinion »