I registered the domain name bostontea.us in 2006, and have since maintained that registration from year to year while pointing it at the Boston Tea Party's web site (which I also hosted, and early versions of which I created).
With the dissolution of the party, the domain name is now available for other uses ... and I don't have any particular use in mind. Rather than just slam it up on a domain auction site, I'm gonna take the slow road. If you would like to own the domain name, let me know via the contact form a) how much you're willing to pay for it and b) what you intend to do with it if you get it.
No, I don't expect to leverage the domain name into a new BMW. I'd like to at least make back what I've spent on it -- call it $10 a year for six years, or $60. More than that is better. Less than that will still get considered. And a better (or at least more fun!) proposed purpose/use will, to some reasonable degree, trump a higher monetary offer.
If I don't like the offers/proposed uses, no problem ... I'll just keep it or auction it or whatever.
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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Learn Something New Every Day ...
This, in a USA Today story about the 30-year mortgage rate hitting a new record low, caught my eye (emphasis mine):
My immediate assumption was that this was a typo, and that the author meant "since the government started keeping track of long-term mortgage rates in the 1950s."
So I checked. And I was wrong.
Apparently the usual mortgage, up until the New Deal, was a 3- to 5-year affair with at least 50% down, interest payments over the term, and the principal as a balloon payment at the end.
The Federal Housing Administration, created in 1934, initially stretched that out to 15 years, with lower down payments and payment of the principal built into the term of the loan rather than as a big smack at the end.
Then in the 1950s, they stretched that 15 years out to 20, even 30 years.
On the one hand, I marvel that anyone was able to buy a damn house before 1930 -- although apparently four of every ten Americans did.
On the other hand, I marvel that something that's only been around for 60 years or so -- my parents were adults and my older brothers were born or about to be born when long-term mortgages came into being! -- is for all intents and purposes portrayed as an immutable, inalienable entitlement, part of "the American Dream" from the get-go. When George Washington returned from the French and Indian Wars, the first thing he did was call Countrywide Financial's toll-free number to get an adjustable rate mortgage on Mount Vernon with 20% down, and if we can't all do the same thing on our 19th birthdays, the terrorists have won, etc.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on 30-year loans fell to 3.56%. That's down from 3.62% last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
My immediate assumption was that this was a typo, and that the author meant "since the government started keeping track of long-term mortgage rates in the 1950s."
So I checked. And I was wrong.
Apparently the usual mortgage, up until the New Deal, was a 3- to 5-year affair with at least 50% down, interest payments over the term, and the principal as a balloon payment at the end.
The Federal Housing Administration, created in 1934, initially stretched that out to 15 years, with lower down payments and payment of the principal built into the term of the loan rather than as a big smack at the end.
Then in the 1950s, they stretched that 15 years out to 20, even 30 years.
On the one hand, I marvel that anyone was able to buy a damn house before 1930 -- although apparently four of every ten Americans did.
On the other hand, I marvel that something that's only been around for 60 years or so -- my parents were adults and my older brothers were born or about to be born when long-term mortgages came into being! -- is for all intents and purposes portrayed as an immutable, inalienable entitlement, part of "the American Dream" from the get-go. When George Washington returned from the French and Indian Wars, the first thing he did was call Countrywide Financial's toll-free number to get an adjustable rate mortgage on Mount Vernon with 20% down, and if we can't all do the same thing on our 19th birthdays, the terrorists have won, etc.
Monday, July 09, 2012
So ...
... am I the only one seeing a strange ad graphic in the left part of the header here at KN@PPSTER?
I'm seeing it in both Chrome and Firefox.
I didn't put it there.
I doubt that Google/Blogger put it there.
I'd like to get it out of there, but here's the thing: My template is complicated enough that I'm not really sure where it's coming from. They've done a good job of hiding it, e.g. whatever piece of Javascript or whatever they're using to call it doesn't include the URL that's advertised, or the URL that the image is sitting on.
I'd also like to know how they got it in there in the first place, so I can make sure it doesn't happen again.
Any experts reading this?
I'm seeing it in both Chrome and Firefox.
I didn't put it there.
I doubt that Google/Blogger put it there.
I'd like to get it out of there, but here's the thing: My template is complicated enough that I'm not really sure where it's coming from. They've done a good job of hiding it, e.g. whatever piece of Javascript or whatever they're using to call it doesn't include the URL that's advertised, or the URL that the image is sitting on.
I'd also like to know how they got it in there in the first place, so I can make sure it doesn't happen again.
Any experts reading this?
Definition of the Week
Swing Voters, n. People so profoundly stupid, they don't even know whether they're Republicans or Democrats.
h/t McCain.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means, Google
"[T]he most Mac users possible," that is, as in:
I can see dropping support for Mac OS 10.5 because you want to add new bells and whistles that MacOS 10.5 can't handle. As a Leopard user I may not like that, but I can understand it and it's honest.
But "for the most Mac users possible" does not compute. Dropping support and updates for a major MacOS release that a lot of people still use by definition means that fewer, not more, Mac users will be getting safety/security/stability updates for their Chrome installations.
No need to blow smoke up my ass, Google.
Google Chrome on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) will stop receiving any updates following Chrome 21. This includes new features, security fixes and stability updates. If you're not sure what OS version you're on, go to the Apple icon on the top left corner and click About This Mac to find out. If you already have Chrome installed, you can still use Chrome, but it will no longer be auto-updated. In addition, you'll be unable to install Chrome on any Mac still running 10.5 (which is an OS X version also no longer being updated by Apple). While we understand this is an inconvenience, we are making this change to ensure we can continue to deliver a safe, secure, and stable Chrome for the most Mac users possible.
I can see dropping support for Mac OS 10.5 because you want to add new bells and whistles that MacOS 10.5 can't handle. As a Leopard user I may not like that, but I can understand it and it's honest.
But "for the most Mac users possible" does not compute. Dropping support and updates for a major MacOS release that a lot of people still use by definition means that fewer, not more, Mac users will be getting safety/security/stability updates for their Chrome installations.
No need to blow smoke up my ass, Google.