Matt's Blog

I know I’ve ranted about this before, but people who implement password requirements should really be beaten with a clue stick: That’s me trying to create an account on PhotoBucket. (Just for testing something at work. I prefer Flickr for real stuff.) Seems legitimate enough, right? But what if I wanted to use a dot [...]

It’s often said that information wants to be free. I think the Internet’s had a really large role in shaping that — not just helping information to be free, but in making people want information to be free. For example, my roommate was talking a while ago about the song customarily played at Red Sox [...]

My cell phone is sort an information nexus for me. All of my contacts and calendar items are in there, with two-way Google Sync. I get multiple email mailboxes on my phone. And, occasionally, I place or receive phone calls. I don’t have a landline telephone, either. One thing I miss, though, is having a [...]

I’m not sure what initially drew my interest, but the concept of learning to shave with a straight razor has been in the back of my mind for a while now. It’s a bit scary, since they’re also known as cut-throat razors, since they’re something like a six-inch-long razor blade that’s kept extremely sharp for [...]

A lot of the books people praise are classics that have fallen into the public domain. I find it odd that no one — that I can find, at least — has ever set up a shop to print these classic books in classic style, on good, thick paper and perhaps in leather-bound hardcover. How [...]

I’ve been reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, and it’s really an amazing book. I’d like to share one excerpt that fascinates me. While discussing subatomic particles (pp. 145-146): Perhaps the most arresting of quantum improbabilities is the idea… that the subatomic particles in certain pairs, even when separated by the most [...]

First, let me start off by saying that I didn’t intend to blog about this, as much as contact Verizon to complain. But I can’t even figure out a way to do so. When I try the “Email Us” form, there is (a) no option to say “Complain about horrible experience,” or even to complain [...]

Even though I like to think that I’m smart and good at math and science, I can’t help but admit that I have a hard time truly grasping huge numbers. I used to find Boston an improbably large city, but now I kind of think of it as a small town. Even though part of [...]

I’ve been doing a little online shopping, and just saw this graphic for a shoe company’s customer service department: Not to be crude, but there are ways tout your great customer service without leaving customers confused about whether you’re a phone sex line or not.

I pay for a pretty fast pipe here. Lately, videos have been stalling as I tried to play them, and I’ve been getting extremely annoyed. I just tried SpeedTest.net, and got these atrocious results: I was incensed, and decided I’d call and complain. But first, I decided to rule out wireless as the cause, since [...]