Bad Usability, Bad Customer Attitude
Posted: January 31, 2012 Filed under: digital signage, usability Comments OffUsability studies of banking kiosks and interactive displays revealed some tough news. Customers may believe that automated services are more for the bank’s convenience than for the customer’s.
You can read the rest in Digital Draw blog - Bad Usability, Bad Customer Attitude
Hello world again!
Posted: January 29, 2012 Filed under: more.on 1 Comment »Because I have several projects due and overdue, I thought it would be a great time to move RoasterBoy again. Because the blog is now on my own host, I have access to many more work-avoidance features and widgets.
Thanks to all who’ve stayed with me for all these years. I hope that I continue to be worthy of your time and attention.
Google thinks that I’m between 35-44
Posted: January 26, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment »According to Google, Mashable blogger Sarah Kessler is a Middle-Aged Man. If you have a Google account, your Ads Preferences page will show you how Google presents you to its advertisers.
When I was that age, Google didn’t exist.
Happy Birthday, Mike
Posted: January 26, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Comments Off
Sandra and Mike at the camp. (h/t Chris Daniel for the photo)
This week in chutzpah
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: chutzpah, Costa Cordia, godaddy Comments OffWhile we might have thought that Newt Gingrich would have retired the trophy by now, there are a few candidates who might yet be players:
- As bad as the behavior of the Costa Cordia captain was, including reportedly ordering dinner from the ship’s galley while the ship was foundering on the shoal, Carnival, the cruise line, takes it up a notch. They’re offering stranded customers a 30% discount on future cruises.
- GoDaddy manages to go back to the Well of Tastelessness with a Super Bowl ad that has Danica Patrick and health guru Jillian Michaels painting a naked model like a race car. Among other things, GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons got a lot of unfavorable press for his Elephant-Killing “Safari”.
- A convicted drunk driver sues the relatives of the people he killed for his “pain and suffering.”
Crime in suburbia
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: crime in suburbia | Tags: Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling Comments OffFrom The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: there were 15 suspicious items this week.]
Holden
Monday — January 9
2:10 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, dome light on, Chapel St.
4:09 a.m. Lights on in Town Hall, Main St.
12:48 p.m. Person at station with suspicious package and report of strange phone calls, Main St.
2:08 p.m. Transport female from high school to E. County Rd., Rutland
Tuesday — January 10
12:37 a.m. Suspicious vehicle in business parking lot, Main St.
Wednesday — January 11
12:06 a.m. Loose cows, Bond Rd.
11:49 a.m. Possible bobcat, Woodridge Rd.
2:08 p.m. Person at station regarding over charging of gas product, Main St.
4:33 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Mill St.
5:04 p.m. Police tell people at library to move along, Highland St.
Thursday — January 12
12:09 a.m. Caller advising “the DPW needs to get their [____] together” because they are making noise outside her house and she needs to get up in two hours. Advised police have no way of controlling the situation
7:11 a.m. Suspicious vehicle parked on Mill St. for 24 hours
88:13 a.m. Truck stuck, Shrewsbury St.
8:45 a.m. Officer assists person stuck on Main St.
9:01 a.m. Report of vehicle in parking lot for three days, Reservoir St.
Friday — January 13
2:11 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, Main St.
8:53 p.m. Possible large party involving youths, General Hobbs Rd.
Saturday — January 14
12:02 p.m. Report of open door, Main St.
1:36 p.m. Assist person locked out of vehicle, Rondeau Rd.
Sunday — January 15
5:46 p.m. Police check on bale of hay in Main St.
6:47 p.m. Dog left outside has been barking and crying for several hours, Park Ave.
Paxton
Monday — January 9
7:23 a.m. Vehicle in church parking lot may be in the way of a funeral, Richards Ave.
11:02 a.m. Report of lost beagle near Paxton/ Spencer town line
Wednesday — January 11
5:40 p.m. Vehicle parked in driveway of vacant home, Ridgewood Rd. Male walking around property
Thursday — January 12
10:24 a.m. Items held at station for safe keeping, Pleasant St.
Saturday — January 14
1:08 a.m. Suspicious vehicle near woods for long time, Holbrook Ln.
10:17 a.m. Male sitting in vehicle for long period of time, Pleasant St.
4:17 p.m. Female locked out of home, Grove St.
Sunday — January 15
7:04 a.m. Elderly male running down Suomi St.
Princeton
Monday — January 9
1:28 p.m. Police assist person locked out of vehicle, Wheeler Rd.
Tuesday — January 10
2:15 p.m. Person reports her car was chased by small white dog on Thompson Rd.
Wednesday — January 11
1:52 a.m. Police transport person to station to wait for ride, Town Hall Dr.
10:06 a.m. Assist elderly person, Mirick Rd.
4:32 p.m. Police transport person back to home on Mirick Rd.
Friday — January 13
8:52 a.m. Assist Holden PD with large party in woods, Manning St./General Hobbs Rd.
Saturday — January 14
3:55 p.m. Road hazard caused by hayrides in Dowds Ln.
Sunday — January 15
6:41 p.m. Police transport two people to station from Rte. 140N to secure a ride
Rutland
Monday — January 9
10:06 a.m. Report of person walking around, looking in window, Main St.
12:12 p.m. Report of suspicious trailer parked in cul de sac, Lizzy Ln. Belongs to plumber doing work in area
5:14 p.m. Caller requesting police check on young female new driver. Concerned there is something wrong with vehicle, Main St.
9:04 p.m. Vehicle driven around and around the circle and now stopped with headlights facing a house, Nick Alan Cir.
9:24 p.m. Suspicious person walking around vehicle with flashlight, Birchwood Dr. Homeowner replacing brake lights on rental van
Tuesday — January 10
3:43 p.m. Officer drops off paperwork, Main St.
7:21 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Barre Paxton Rd.
Wednesday — January 11
12:00 a.m. Loose cows, Bond Rd., Holden
12:49 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, Wachusett St.
9:20 a.m. Report of strange vehicle driving up and down Bushy Ln.
12:58 p.m. Vehicle parked on rail trail, Pommogussett Rd. People clearing the trail
8:36 p.m. Caller found stray fawn-colored boxer at his house, Edson Ave. Animal control officer took dog to the pound
Thursday — January 12
9:04 a.m. Loose dog, Peters Ave.
11:00 a.m. Caller reports missing boxer, Inwood Rd.
Friday — January 13
8:45 a.m. Suspicious male smoking cigar hanging around the bottom of driveway when children get on bus, E. County Rd.
11:55 p.m. Repo company taking possession of vehicle, Pommogussett Rd.
Saturday — January 14
2:24 p.m. Holden PD reports suspicious vehicle and people inquiring whether anyone needed help with a deaf person, N. Main St., Holden
6:14 p.m. Five snowmobiles on rail trail, Miles Rd.
Sunday — January 15
3:53 p.m. Caller has no water, Cheryl Ann Dr.
Sterling
Monday — January 9
7:44 a.m. Report of suspicious male walking near cell tower access road, Pine Woods Ln.
10:45 a.m. Golden retriever limping behind station, George Peeso Ln.
6:37 p.m. Caller reports hitting a deer on Rte. 12
Tuesday — January 10
2:10 p.m.. Stray cat, Worcester Rd.
2:45 p.m. Student on bus unruly and punching the driver, Clinton Rd.
Friday — January 13
10:23 p.m. Vehicle going up and down the street, things thrown at house, Maple St.
Saturday — January 14
11:10 a.m. Call from Leominster PD regarding female operating under the influence who was stopped, put in taxi and sent home. She returned and drove off, last seen leaving pizza shop, Leominster Rd.
9:27 p.m. Suspicious vehicle in parking lot of business, Leominster Rd. Arrest…
Sunday — January 15
7:21 p.m. Report of wheelchair on Rte. 12
Boston Globe discovers Worcester twice in one day
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Comments OffNicole Apostola noted the Globe story about the Blackstone River’s status as the nation’s most polluted river and Worcester’s fight to keep it that way.
The Globe also carried a follow-up about Tim Murray’s, um, complicated relationship with former Chelsea housing chief Michael McLaughlin.
More on my Telegram Towns blog
More on Mitt Romney and historic events
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: more.on, politics | Tags: election, Iowa, more on, new hampshire, poltics, romney Comments OffWhen Mitt Romney 60% of the voters in New Hampshire’s primary didn’t vote for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor declared, “Tonight we made history.” History, in this context, was manufactured because political wonks discovered that Romney is the first Republican non-incumbent presidential candidate to win nominating contests in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
No, my friends, last Tuesday’s “historic” moment is as historic as Al Bundy’s four touchdowns in a high school football game. It’s the worst kind of political geekery that passes for analysis, made even worse when raised up by a candidate on a national stage.
No, my friends, history was made with:
- the march on Selma to Montgomery in 1965
- the march on Washington in 1963
- the march on the Pentagon in 1968
- Juneteenth in 1865
- Nelson Mandela’s walk from prison in 1990
- the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791
- the election of a black president in 2008
This history-is-waiting tidbit started showing up a couple of months ago. I haven’t verified that Jim Geraghty’s column in NRO, War-Gaming the GOP Early Contests, Six Weeks Out, is the very first mention, but it’s among the earliest. The factoid gained momentum after Mitt’s presumed eight-vote triumph in Iowa. It was held high by the candidate, much as a fifth-grader would raise a blue ribbon for the best bug collection.
All around the world, people are fighting and dying for the right to have a government of their choosing. Should we warn them that it’s is what their future could be?
We, for varying values of we, are idiots.™
R.I.P., Huck
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: huck Comments OffFive years ago tonight, we had an ice storm. In the powerless quiet, my father sailed away.
