Rob's Rants

The other day I read an article asserting that Best Buy was doomed because of poor service and a failed business model. After my experience today trying to use their in-store pickup service, I am inclined to agree. What makes this even more amazing is how badly things have changed in just a few weeks, at least at my local store in Marlborough, MA.

In between Christmas and New Year’s I needed a USB sound card for my laptop. The Best Buy web ordering experience couldn’t have been better. I placed the order one evening and went to the store the next morning. Best Buy had a parking space near the door reserved for in-store pickup customers (which I didn’t use). Whe I walked through the door, the pickup desk was literally 5 feet inside. I walked up, handed the clerk a copy of my order e-mail, showed my ID and paid. The door guy wished me a good day and I was on my way. In and out in under 5 minutes.

Contrast that with today. I decided it was time to get the keyboard dock for my Asus Transformer TF101 tablet. I found it online for $25 less than the Best Buy price, but I was willing to pay the difference in order to have it today. I placed my order, and about 30 minutes later the confirmation e-mail arrived, so I headed to the store. That’s when I saw how much had changed in just a few weeks. When I walked in, the pickup desk was no longer conveniently right by the door. I asked the fat, greasy door guy in the terrible yellow polo shirt where the pickup window went. He told me pickups now had to go to customer service. So I walked over and got in line behind 4 other people carrying things they were cearly returning.

I don’t know who at Best Buy came up with this plan, but one of the first rules of retail is: when a customer wants to give you money, take it
! Do not make them wait in line behind 4 other people who are going to cost you money. As I was standing there wasting time, it occurred to me that it probably would have been faster to just walk to the computer department, find a keyboard, and go through the normal check out. But I figured I’d get a whole bunch of reminder messages that I didn’t want to deal with, so I stayed.

The line was slow. It didn’t help that one of the original clerks decided that it was time to answer phone calls and stop helping people in line. This is always a source of irritation for customers – your floor people should never be taking phone calls. I’ve taken the time to drive to your location – phone customers are still on the fence. See my previous rule: if I’m waiting in line to give you money, take it. Don’t blow me off to prospect with people on the phone.

So I finally make it to a clerk. Things start pretty well – I show him the confirmation e-mail on my phone, he locates the box, and things look OK. Then I realize that the seals on the box are broken. The ones that ASUS puts there which say, “Check contents if seal is broken.” The box itself was scuffed and the keyboard inside was wrapped in a plastic sleeve that was ripped as though it had been opened. I asked the clerk why it was open and he said I shouldn’t worry – it wasn’t a floor model or anything. I still asked him to replace it with an unopened box. With a couple of quick calls on the radio and a 5 minute wait, someone brought up a new one. I don’t blame the desk clerk – but I’m willing to be several people at Best Buy had their hands on this box and not a single one of them cared enough to point out that it was open and replace it with a new one. That says a lot about Best Buy’s culture of service.

So I finally had my keyboard and it was time for my final indignity. I know Best Buy has always placed an employee near the exit to harrass customers on their way out the door rather than invest in real security. That this is an acceptable practice to them when their main competition is the convenience of online shopping probably says all you need to know about their culture. I hate this – and I barely tolerate it on a normal day because I know that the Best Buy door guy has absolutely no power to stop you from leaving the store. Today I was already fed up with my experience and was in no mood to stop. So when I was offered a bag at checkout I declined and headed for the door with my receipt and box in plain view. Keep in mind that I could see the front doors the whole time so it’s not like I was coming from some back corner of the store.

Sure enough the door guy asks for my receipt. I stop and show him the receipt which I’m holding right on top of the box. Instead of quickly looking and letting me go – I mean I bought 1 single thing, which wasn’t in a bag, in plain view of his little desk, he instead says, “Just a second,” and turns to accost a family leaving with stuff in a bag. I can only assume they got his immediate attention because they were much darker than either he or I. He tells them he needs to see what’s in their bag, at which point my switch flipped. I simply announced, “I’m leaving now,” and started walking out the door hoping they would follow instead of letting some minimum wage sloth paw through their property. The door guy said, “Wait … I have to,” and before he could finish I said, “You know you can’t stop me.” All he could say was, “Really, Sir?” “Really,” I replied.

So at this point I agree 100% with Larry Downes – Besy Buy is doomed. And good riddance. It amazes me that Best Buy has abandoned the one thing that seperates them from their competition – good service. And I’m not talking about complex systems either. I mean basic service: allow your customers to spend money easily, pay attention to them while in the store, and don’t harrass them and treat them like criminals when they leave. I mean really, a door receipt checker? If you are worried about cashiers mis-checking items hire some better cashiers and put in some cameras to watch them, not me. I wouldn’t think of letting a random stranger in the parking lot touch something I just paid good money for, what makes you think it’s OK if it happens just inside the door?

See you Best Buy – it will be a cold day in Hell before I enter one of your stores again.

I was working from home today and in the middle of the morning I realized that something really amazing was happening. I was working in a truly connected home. I paused for a moment to reflect on all the things which at that moment were transmitting or receiving data over my FiOS connection:

My work laptop was connected to a WebEx meeting.
My Belkin desktop Skype phone was connected to an audio conference via VOIP.
My personal laptop was uploading music to Google Music.
There were three cell phones connected tonWiFi in the house.
My Android tablet and my wife’s iPad2 were connected to WiFi.
A Squeezebox radio was streaming NPR in the kitchen.
My weather station server was cintinuously broadcasting data to the Internet.

For someone who once connected to BBS systems via a. 400 baud Hayes modem, this is pretty amazing.

I wrote before about how I have traveled Amtrak’s Acela Express from end to end – that is from Boston to Washington, DC. In fact, when I travel to DC, the Acela is my preferred mode of transportation. Some (most) of my friends can’t understand why. Why would I sit on a train for 6+ hours when a plane takes 1½? This question inevitably follows the puzzled look when I tell I am taking the train, because most people don’t know anyone who has ever taken Amtrak anywhere.

I’m writing this on yet another train trip to DC, doing 120+ m.p.h. between Back Bay Station in Boston and Rt. 128 Station in Westwood, MA. And I will be the first to admit that six hours on the train is a long time. But as I make this trip I am trying to put down in words what it is that makes me choose the train again and again over what would arguably be a simple airplane flight. I think the train does hold some advantages over the plane that help to reduce the time penalty and make the 6+ hours bearable.

Good morning America, how are you?

‘Said don’t you know me, I’m your native son.

I’m the train they call the city of New Orleans,

I’ll be one 500 miles when the day is done.

The Whole Experience is More Civilized

Part of the allure of the train is that, relative to modern air travel, trains are still much more human. Airports and particularly airport security are cold and impersonal. The train has none of this silly security theater. No x-rays, no full body scanners, no groping by TSA goons. No lines, ID checks, or being herded like cattle through velvet ropes. Hell, if you pick up your e-ticket with a credit card, you rarely even need to show ID on Amtrak.

You know how you are warned never to leave a bag unattended at the airport? At an Amtrak terminal station (South Station, Penn Station, and Union Station on the Acela route) just drop your bag with an Amtrak Red Cap and they watch it while you roam around and do whatever. And, you know how in the airport, regardless of the best intentions of the crew, boarding the plane is always a long line and a fight for overhead bin space? The Red Cap Service gets you priority boarding as well so you can pick your seat and they will stow your bags for you too. All for the price of a tip (I usually give $5 a bag).

Train stations, even the amazing ones like Union Station in DC, are still built on a more human scale than airports. No shuttle buses, trams, or trains. No endless moving walkways or underground light shows. Just easy to navigate, usually historic buildings, in downtown locations.

Dealin’ card games with the old men in the club car,

Penny a point; ain’t no one keeping score.

Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle,

Feel the wheels rumblin’ ‘neath the floor.

As the sons of poor man porters and the sons of engineers

Ride their fathers’ magic carpet made of steel.

Mothers with their babes asleep,

Are rockin’ to the gentle beat,

And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

The On-board Accommodations Are Better

Everything on the Acela is business class or better. Like Jet Blue, all the seats are wide and leather-covered. The tray tables are huge and all the seats recline comfortably. But they go beyond that – seats are 2 x 2 and every seat has 110V electrical power. There’s FREE Wi-Fi on all Acela trains, and it works pretty well. Cell phone use is allowed at all times, as are all other electronic devices. Want to get up and move around? Go ahead. There are no seatbelts and no restrictions on when and where you can stand. Want to stretch in the area at the end of the cars – no complaints from the crew. The even have a snack car and you can go there whenever you want – not just when they feel like bringing you a 6 ounce beverage in a cheap plastic cup. For this trip, I arrived at South Station about 45 minutes before my train’s departure. Dropped my garment bag off with a Red Cap, then went to the ATM without having to lug the extra bag everywhere. Grabbed two slices of pizza and a Coke at Pizzeria Regina, and headed back to the Red Cap area 35 minutes before departure. We headed out to the train 30 minutes before departure. I picked whatever seat on whatever car I wanted and the Red Cap through my bag in the overhead for me. I sat down, reclined my seat, dropped my tray table, got out my computer and phone, plugged in, and had a little lunch. No one made me “return your seat back and tray table to the upright position.” I had a nice lunch, got up and threw away my trash, and returned to my seat to write this.

The windows are huge and there is actual scenery to see. Railways run through the heart of our cities. On the east coast, that means getting a close-up view of places like Newark, NJ, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. It’s important for people to see these areas – so many of which have been forgotten. Abandoned factories and run-sown housing remind us that not all of America has prospered in the last decade and there are areas that still need help. The train serves this important function well.

It also means that you get some spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal areas of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland.

But all the towns and people seem,

To fade into a bad dream.

And the steel rail still ain’t heard the news.

The conductor sings his song again,

The passengers will please refrain.

This train got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night America, how are you?

‘Said don’t you know me, I’m your native son?

I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans,

I’ll be gone 500 miles when the day is done.

Rail is a Worthwhile Cause to Support

Many of my friends say they support high speed rail in the US, but have never ridden a train. I believe there is an important place for rail in America and I choose to support that with my money and time. Do I wish that the Acela didn’t make so many damn stops between Boston and DC? Absolutely. I mean do we really need to stop in Stamford, CT; Penn Station, NY; Newark, Metro Park, and Trenton, NJ, and then Philadelphia? No. The stops should be Boston, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and DC. But I deal with it because I think that rail would better serve these short-range trips better and more efficiently than planes. So I vote with my butt and with my time and occupy a seat whenever I can. I have to say – in all the times I’ve ridden the Acela – at least 5 round trips now, every train has been full, so it can’t just be me with this idea.

There are a host of other personal reasons as well … for someone feeling busy and over-scheduled, the six hours of productive time on the train is a welcome respite from the rush of airport commuting. When else would I have had time to do this post?

I’m somewhere near New London, CT now and still speeding along on one of the last truly high-speed sections of track. I’m going to recline my seat, close my eyes, and listen to some music. Somewhere past Philadelphia I’ll be back online preparing for work tomorrow.

But for now I’m riding the rails …

A few weeks ago I wrote about how country people and city people do things differently. This weekend’s weather reminded me once again how true those words are.

We had a rare early-season Nor’easter that dumped record-breaking snow on much of New England.

Really?! This is BEFORE Halloween?

The big problem is that this snow was really heavy and wet, and most of the trees still have their leaves, so the storm snapped off millions of tree branches. There are power outages everywhere … by this afternoon (Sunday, 10/30/2011) the Boston Globe was reporting that 669,000 customers were without power.

We lost power around 6:45 pm on Saturday. It stayed off … for 10 seconds because my whole-house backup generator came on. But my generator has been running for 22+ hours now. My local town news website reports today that we can expect to have no power for the next four days. I may need to beg my propane company for an emergency refill, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. As of this morning I calculated that I had at least 50+ hours of generator runtime with my current propane supply. If I am careful about my use I can probably get 72 hours out of it.

But none of this is what made me think about the country people / city people thing. What got me thinking about it was this:

Can you see it in there ... yup, that's my car.

This was what greeted me this morning. My car under the top of an oak tree. Upon closer inspection there didn’t appear to be any real damage. The glass was intact at least. But it was certainly under there.

Here’s a view from the backside:

It's certainly under there alright...

And based on the reactions of a couple of neighbors, I realized this was the perfect symbol of my country/city comparison. Because I realized that when presented with these circumstances…

City people call their insurance company and get the phone book to try and find a tree cutting service for an emergency call. Country people get their 19 year-old chainsaw and just cut their damn car out.

And that’s what I did …

About an hour's work.

Now I can open the door ...

And I owe it all to the fact that I am prepared and have the experience to run a chainsaw without killing myself. Above all I’d like to thank my Stihl 032 AVEQ, which is at least 19 years old.

Never failed me!

So which are you? A country person? Or useless …

I live back in the woods, you see,
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me.
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive.
Country folks can survive.

I can plow a field all day long;
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn.
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do.
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive.
Country folks can survive.

Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run,
‘Cuz we’re them old boys raised on shotgun.
And we say grace and we say Ma’am,
if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn.

We came from the West Virginia coal mines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies.
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive.
Country folks can survive.

- from A Country Boy can Survive by Hank Williams Jr.

I spent a lot of time growing up in the country. I am firmly planted in a suburb now, but I still retain some remnants of my earlier days. I lived in Wayne County, PA for much of my childhood. In 2010, Wayne County had just over 52,000 people in it. In the whole county … that works out to just over 65 people per square mile. In contrast, I now live in Worcester County, MA, considered “the country” by many in Massachusetts, and the population density is ~500 people per square mile. I went to college and lived for several years afterwards in Cheshire County, NH, which has about 77,000 people in it and a population density of just over 100 people per square mile. I worked for a while on the Medicine Bow National Forest outside of Laramie, WY and lived for a summer in the tiny town of Albany, WY. As of the 200o census, there were 80 people in the town of Albany, WY with a population density of only 4 people per square mile.

A couple of months ago, Christopher Kimball, editor of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines and host of the America’s Test Kitchen TV show wrote a forward to an issue of Cook’s Illustrated about the differences between country people and city people. It really got me thinking … here’s my take on it.

1. Country people carry pocketknives. Almost without exception, I have carried a small folding lock-blade knife in my pocket every day for 29 years (since I was 12 years old). I carried it to high-school when I was a kid (long before total “weapons” bans … heck until the shootings at Columbine kids would bring hunting rifles to school during deer season so they could go hunting on the way home – they were simply locked in a room during the school day) and I carried it onto airplanes in the years before 9/11. Now it flies in my checked bags and is usually removed as soon as I reclaim them.
2. Country people know how to sharpen knives and tools. And I don’t mean by taking them to the sharpening store. I mean on different grade oilstones the way you’re supposed to.
3. Country people prepare for disasters/storms differently than city people. The recent passing of hurricane Irene reminded me of this. As people around me prepared for the storm nearly every bottle of water for miles was sold out. Why? A hurricane tends to bring a lot of rain … the last thing you need to do is buy more water. Stick some pots outside – problem solved. You really need food that can be cooked over an open fire and stuff to build that fire with. In preparation for the storm I tweeted, only half-jokingly, “City ppl buy: water, eggs, bread. Country ppl buy: beer, hot dogs, ammo.”
4. Country people don’t rely on professional rescuers/services. The evidence of this: country people will always have most of the items on this list in their car/truck at all times: jumper cables, tow chain/strap, duct tape, bungee cords, basic tools, blanket. And if they still live in the county, a gun. City people figure if they have their cell phone they’re good to go. Most probably wouldn’t know where to hook a tow chain anyway without ripping a body panel off their vehicle.
5. Country people own chainsaws. Gas-powered ones. City people hire landscapers and arborists. And no, your electric chain saw doesn’t count. The only thing electric chain saws are good for is carving ice sculptures. (My saw is a 1980 Stihl 032 AVEQ).
6. City people bag the leaves that fall in their yard and hire someone to dispose of brush. Country people wait for the right time after a rain and just light all that stuff on fire.
7. Country people shoot nuisance animals. Squirrel on the bird feeder? Chipmunk digging in the garden? Nothing a nice .22 rifle won’t fix. Raccoon in the garbage? Skunk bothering the dog? .357 magnum fixes that in a hurry. Bear on the deck pushing against the sliding glass door at 8 pm? 5 shots from a 9mm to the head stopped that. Coyotes attacking an outdoor cat one night? Spotlight and a .270 fixed that problem. All of these happened to me growing up. All but the bear more than once.
8. Country people aren’t afraid of wildlife. Honest conversation in my kitchen as a kid … “What the hell is the dog still barking at? Go see what the hell is the matter.” I go outside with a flashlight … as I re-enter the kitchen door. “Well?” “He’s got a bear up a tree.” “Oh. Do me a favor and hand me that plate. You want dessert?” No calls to animal control. No panic. As long as the bear isn’t trying to get in the house, no problem. Bears are supposed to live outside. And if they try to get in … see #7.
9. Country people cook outside … over real fires. Life on weekends and during hunting season revolves around an outdoor fire. And not in some fancy outdoor fireplace … usually an old oil drum will do. And what’s the use standing around an outdoor fire if you don’t put it to use? Slab bacon or sausage on a stick. Bread toasted with the drippings. Coffee (or hot chocolate) warmed over the flames. No grill needed.
10. Country people give driving directions with distances. City people give driving directions with time. When I was home and someone asked, “How far is the lumber yard,” I’d say, “25 miles towards Newfoundland.” Now when someone asks me “How far is Logan airport,” I say “45 minutes with no traffic, 2 1/2 hours at rush hour.”
11. Country people own kerosene/oil lamps. We know that generators can fail, candles are dangerous, and batteries die. But a 5 gallon can of kerosene and a few oil lamps will light your house at night for a month. (I still have three with my emergency supplies.)
12. Country people know why an agricultural tractor has two brake pedals.
13. Country people know that you drive in the middle of the road during mud season and before the snow is plowed.
14. Country people still use strike-anywhere matches.

Or … Killing Weeds Organically With the Harbor Freight #91033 Flamethrower Propane Torch

I hate your lawn. I hate my lawn too, but I probably hate your lawn more. I hate lawns because of all the absolutely wasted resources expended on the quest for the American lawn. From tons of fertilizers and pesticides to billions of gallons of water that we can ill afford to be splashing around, more energy, time, and resource is expended on lawns than any other crop in the United States. And none of it makes any sense.

And if you think I made up that bit about lawns being a larger crop than any other in the US, you’re wrong. A NASA scientist named Cristina Milesi calculates this sort of thing using satellite data and concludes that turf grass in the United States occupies more than three times the area of the next largest crop, corn.

And if you’re like most people who get suckered in my the Scotts commercials, nearly everything you’re doing to your lawn is probably bad for the planet. Most people grow grass species that aren’t native or even well adapted for their climate, then dump too much water on them and add too much fertilizer in a quest to keep them alive in places they weren’t supposed to grow in the first place. Most of the fertilizer is synthetically derived, using tons of fossil fuels to produce, and then it depletes the organic matter in your soil anyway. And as if that weren’t bad enough, many people still bag their grass clippings (when they cut the grass too short) and send them to a landfill, which forces them to have to add even more fertilizer to keep the lawn alive.

Nope … I hate it. Honestly, if a referendum came up in my town banning all watering of lawns and all pesticide/herbicide and inorganic fertilizer use, I’d vote for it in a heartbeat.

And I do put my money where my mouth is. One of my favorite Internet posts of all time is Paul Wheaton’s post “Organic Lawn Care for the Cheap and Lazy.” My lawn care regimen is this:

I started with whatever was growing when I moved in, crabgrass and weeds included. And I didn’t tear anything up or start over. What grows grows, what doesn’t doesn’t. During a recent dry summer I had the only green in the neighborhood because crabgrass doesn’t die back in a drought, even though I NEVER water established grass (I will keep seed moist until it germinates).

• Spring: apply a 100% organic fertilizer and pre-emergent weed control (WOW Supreme from Garden’s Alive) . It mixes Corn Gluten Meal for weed control with an organic fertilizer (good information HERE from Iowa State University about Corn Gluten Meal). If there is patching to be done I use a turf grass mix adapted to northern climates (Northern Turf from Garden’s Alive). It’s specially formulated to be drought resistant, slow growing, and require minimal fertilizer.
• Summer: Do basically nothing. I don’t water. I cut it tall (3 inches minimum) and leave the clippings from my mulching mower. If it dies it dies, but it never does. Turf adapted to northern climates goes dormant in the summer and if it’s dry it just turns yellow. But it comes back with the Fall rains. Seriously, I don’t water. Not because I’m cheap (I have a well so no monthly water bill) but because I am morally opposed to watering lawns.
• Fall: One last application of organic fertilizer and weed control.

Over the last three years I have battled through the worst of the weeds, either digging them up by hand or spot treating with an iron based weed killer. Some dandelions survive, as does a ton of clover, chickweed, and sorrel. But this year I’ve added a new tool to my organic arsenal. The Harbor Freight Propane Torch #91033.

See this video for some insight:

What they don’t tell you in that video is just how much of a beast this thing is. I did a quick 1-minute video myself:

Look! Georgia's Weed Free!

So what does this have to do with lawns? Well, burning weeds is a great and organic way to get rid of them. I don’t mean scorched earth get rid of them like Sherman marching across the South, but rather using the heat from the torch to bust up the cell structure of weeds so they die on their own without too much damage to the surrounding lawn.

Obviously this has to be done carefully or else you’re going to set your neighborhood on fire. Which, if it burns up your chemically grown lawn is fine with me. But once in a while I wonder how on Earth they can sell something like this to the general public when they have to put warnings on soda machines to keep people from pulling them over and crushing themselves. But then I read about 7 things that seem even way more dangerous than this which are legal and I move on.

So, how do you use a torch like this to kill weeds? Once again, Captain Youtube ot the rescue. Watch this video from my favorite seed company, Johnny’s selected seeds. Notice he isn’t setting anything on fire!

So this is my new fun. Going around the yard and burning dandelions and other weeds that sneak through the pre-emergent weed killer I put down. No chemicals, no spraying, and a lot of fun.

The Harbor Freight version I bought costs only $19.99 on sale, an honestly, what could go wrong with a $20 piece of Chinese engineering hooked up to a 20 lb. propane bomb? If it makes you feel any better, the gas hose with mine came with “Made in Italy” stamped all over it so maybe it won’t leak and incinerate me.

Good luck, and remember, stop wasting water on your stupid lawn.

Update: 4/30/11

About three weeks ago, Parkmobile finally released an update to this app which fixed the Android connectivity issues. So I’ve been able to use it to pay for parking again. That is a big improvement. The Android interface is still cludgy, but it works. The iPhone version seems to be a generation ahead now and it has some additional features that I hope will be trickling down to Android soon. But at least this app works now.

Below is my original post ….

———————————————————————–

After trying the Android version of their app this morning I am now beginning to hate them. The iPhone version was always quirky and clunky – but the Android version positively sucks. This morning it won’t load and keeps telling me I’m not connected to the Internet. Which I plainly am since I was reading the newspaper and typing this on the WordPress app just fine.

I even rebooted my phone. Thankfully I had my work iPhone so I used the app on that to pay. But after trying the Android version a dozen or more times today I am willing to declare the Android Parkmobile app: Worst. App. Ever.

The main problem – it works fine on a Wi-Fi connection. But absolutely won’t connect on a mobile data connection. 3G or 4G. And this is not a new problem. Here’s a sample of recent reviews on Absolutely Android:

By: AizikS
I am excited about this app, however it fails to communicate with the network. Tmobile G2, cyanogen 6.1

By: David
Cannot login, even with good 3G signal, it says connection too slow. Therefore, completely useless until they fix.

By: Jay
Not able to login, connection times out even on full bars. Pointless waste of time. Samsung vibrant (galaxy).

By: jefbags
Doesn’t work at all on Android 2.2. Pretty disappointing…

Seriously – it’s a mobile app so connections will be spotty. You have to do better than spinning with no status indicator and then telling the user they aren’t connected when they plainly are.

Total. Fail. And to think, I praised Parkmobile when the MBTA first switched. Shame on me.

Update: 1/13/11
This app still won’t work over a cellular data connection, but I was able to turn on Wi-Fi on the train and complete a parking transaction. And unbelievably, this app is clunkier than the iPhone version. So, bottom line, right now, even if you can get it to work, it’s not pretty. Daily Parkmobile users should use the iPhone version or pay via SMS. This app doesn’t add much value to the process.

I caught a recent interview with Grace Potter at Artist Direct. It began with this description, “If Led Zeppelin came out today and were fronted by Dusty Springfield, they’d sound something like Grace Potter & the Nocturnals,” so I knew I’d like the rest of it.

Grace had this quote, which perfectly sums up my teenage music experience:

I grew up through the ’80s with some of the worst pop music ever. However, The Talking Heads were the great band that emerged and made me think, “Okay, not everybody is a total dickhead!”

For me, it was actually the Police. Their Synchronicity album gave me faith that music would survive the pop years. You can read the whole Grace Potter interview at Artist Direct.

And as always, you can find everything you need to know about the band at http://www.gracepotter.com/

Back on July 23^rd the MBTA finally delivered on one of its promises to Commuter Rail riders and instituted an electronic parking payment system. Called ParkMobile, the system is provided by a company called ParkMobile USA based in Atlanta. Using either an iPhone app, a text message, or a phone call, a user can pay for parking over the phone without having to fold a bunch of dollar bills or find a handful of coins to shove through the slots in Commuter Rail parking lots. I wrote about what a pain in the ass this is several months ago and even suggested a business opportunity for someone to alleviate this pain for commuters.

But it looks like the ParkMobile system goes a long way towards fixing the problem. I signed up and started using it the first day it was available, though not without some learning curve. What you need to do is tell them the license plate number of your car, the lot (they call it the zone), and the space number of your car each day. Then they deduct the $4 for parking and that’s it.

My basic review and impressions after two weeks are this: the iPhone app is pretty bad but usable, the customer service is responsive, and the system as a whole is much easier and more convenient than the old manual way.

I’ve used only the iPhone app, so I can’t comment about the text messaging or the phone methods. The app is pretty crude as far as apps go, and it’s slow as a dog, because it appears to need constant communication with the home server for every screen refresh. But, it eventually does what it needs to do. The one major bug I found is that the app doesn’t allow you to remove old license plate numbers once they’re saved, which caused me my first problem using the system (you can remove it via the website, but that’s not the easiest process either). When I first set up the app, I accidentally put a 7 in my license plate number where a 2 should have been. I couldn’t delete the incorrect plate, so I simply entered the correct version too. The next morning, I set up my parking with, you guessed it, the wrong plate number. I realized this almost immediately and then realized a major flaw in the system – you can’t undo a parking transaction either. So, I created another transaction with the correct plate number, and the same space number. When I got to work, I went to the ParkMobile website and sent an e-mail to their support address (there was no phone number). I received a response within a couple of hours and after a little information exchange, they issued a credit, though they said they needed to send it to my house. Strange that they couldn’t credit the credit card that the parking is charged to. But they were responsive nonetheless.

One benefit occurred to me on a day when I was rushing and put down the wrong space number for my car (I entered 48 when my car was actually in 49). I realized this while I was on the train, but decided to take my chances. And when I got back to the station – no fine envelope. My guess is that the parking police get a list of license plates and were able to figure out that I paid and just screwed up the space number. That’s an advantage over the old system for sure. If you put your bills in the wrong slot, you’re out of luck and you’ll get a fine.

So overall I’m very happy that the MBTA finally did something about their 19^th century parking system and gave us a modern option. I for one won’t be using the slots again – ever.

Thanks MBTA. It’s about time!

For several years Symantec’s Norton products have made my life a living hell. Three years ago I bought my 70 year-old mother a Dell computer to replace her nearly 10 year-old Gateway that was finally too old to run Windows XP. (It actually lives on running Debian Linux in my basement.) The system arrived with the full complement of Dell bloatware, most of which I spent a couple of hours uninstalling. But since she has DSL service, I figured she should have some sort of virus protection, so I left the copy of Norton 360 installed.

Since that fateful moment, every single problem I’ve had to troubleshoot on her computer has been the result of Norton. This is not an exaggeration. My mother lives an hour away from me, so an onsite troubleshooting session is a minimum of two hours of commuting hassle. And Norton has required at least four onsite visits as well as several remote troubleshooting sessions (thank you Team Viewer and the free for personal use policy). The bulk of the problems have come after automatic updates and upgrades. Usually what happens is that the update wouldn’t successfully complete and there would be a constant security warning box that freaked my mother out until I could download an updated version and install it. Other times the problems came at the annual subscription renewal time where my mother could never get the system to take her order and the subscription would run out and the product would flash all kinds of warnings.

But the final straw happened about three weeks ago when another upgrade failed to completely install, and it caused a constant BSOD, which meant I couldn’t remotely troubleshoot it either. So into the car I went, fighting Boston traffic the whole way. Using the Windows Task Manager I confirmed that a Norton process was running when the BSOD happened . So, after the third reboot, I managed to start the task manager fast enough to get in and kill both Norton processes and then verified that the computer would actually stay running, which it did. So I started uninstalling Norton, but as anyone who had tried knows, Norton can’t be uninstalled easily. Using the uninstall option in the Norton program group left enough crap on the system that the upgrade process actually started itself and the incomplete update warning box popped up – after the program was supposed to uninstalled! So I had to download a special uninstall program from the Symantec website, because, well, because why the hell should the uninstall option actually uninstall the program? Fucking hell, Symantec, how do you assholes live with yourselves?

So I am officially done with Symantec – I’ve moved into active boycott mode. I have run Kaspersky antivirus on my own systems since it was a freeware program for Linux and I have had only one technical problem in all those years due to a bad upgrade that they posted which caused a major Windows security conflict. But they published a patch within a few hours. So my mom is now running Kaspersky too.

And I am D-O-N-E done with Symantec and Norton products.