I do offer to let readers use my brain, and while for deeper and/or ongoing research or support I do charge, I’ll also give a bit of free advice when the question and my response are useful for a blog post. Here is a question I received last week, and my reply. I have redacted all identifying information about the querent to protect his privacy:
Author Archives: BettyW
Friday Faves 02-15-13
Firstly, some sad news for sewing and knitting folks in the Boston area: the venerable Windsor Button shop is closing its last remaining store, on Temple Pl. in downtown Boston, due to lease non-renewal. Read about it here, and stop by to pick up sale items as they liquidate their inventory.
Secondly, some more sad news that can be helped: the “fiercely independent” bookstore Longfellow Books in Portland ME suffered massive water damage during last week’s storm due to frozen pipes in the building over their store. You can help them out by buying ebooks from their website, gift certificates (which give them cash now and you/your giftees books later), and/or donating directly. See this letter from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for more information.
Thirdly, you may recall that I recently recommended a Kickstarter project by ThinkMusicTechnology for an iPad app with musical note handwriting recognition for creating scores. They’ve now canceled the KS project as it wasn’t going to reach their (very ambitious) goal despite much interest. But they are looking for other funding resources and still plan to develop the app – so if you are interested, sign up for their mailing list at their website.
Don’t Use A Debit Card As A Credit Card
If you have a debit (aka “ATM”) card associated with your checking account chances are that it sports a MasterCard or Visa logo. You may use it to pay for purchases as if it is a credit card when the merchant does not use a debit keypad for entering your PIN to authenticate the transaction. You may also use it for most other transactions that require a credit card online.
This is very convenient, especially if you only want to spend real money in your checking account rather than accumulate debt on a credit card. But there’s a very good reason NOT to use your debit card as a credit card.
Friday Faves 02-08-13
With a major winter storm poised to bury my area in a couple feet of snow, let’s think of warmer days – check out this Kickstarter to build an urban farm on the roof of a building in downtown Boston:
This is kind of neat – a phone charging device that produces charge based on applying your hot or cold drink to it:
Local tip: if you are a resident of Cambridge MA with less-than-adequate or no health insurance (or even if you have some – there is no qualification other than residency) you can get a free card for discounts on prescription medicine at certain pharmacies. See all the information here.