Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Elections Have Consequences Dept.

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

So far, the major consequence of electing two new somewhat anti-establishment commissioners to the five-person Coral Gables Commission is that the Mayor of Coral Gables, their chief target, is acting kinda grumpy (or worse).  A motion to fire the City Manager (we have a weak-Mayor system, so the City Manager is the most powerful official in the City) failed 3-2.

I lost confidence in the manager when I read about the secret attempt to put a Wawa and gas station across from Carver Elementary, and his intervention in a zoning application by a private developer.  After a long period of thinking he was great, I’ve also started to wonder about the Chief of Police.  But don’t expect any movement on either front until someone peels off a third vote on the Commission.  Of course, the next Mayoral election is now less than two years away.

Is there an anti-establishment candidate in the wings?

Posted in Coral Gables | Comments Off on Elections Have Consequences Dept.

.new TLD Looks Handy

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

At least, I thought so….

As described in How to open blank documents/instances of many common programs from your browser, google is rolling out the .new TLD exclusively for shortcuts that “[t]ake the user directly into the action generation or content creation flow”.  E.g.,

  • doc.new for a new google doc
  • sheet.new for a new google calc sheet
  • word.new for a blank M$ Doc file
  • excel.new for a new Excel sheet
  • ppt.new for a new powerpoint presentation

Many, many other shortcuts too.

The nice thing about this — besides noticeably reducing the time to open blank documents in Word or Sheets — is that because this is a DNS hack, it works in all browsers–it’s not just a Chrome thing.

Google is opening the .new TLD to all comers, subject to mild restrictions:

All .new domain names are required to comply with the .new Registration Policy, which features a usage-based restriction to ensure that all domains are being used for new actions. That means that all .new domains registrations must:

  • Be used for action generation or online content creation;
  • Take the user directly into the action generation or content creation flow;
  • Resolve to the action within 100 days of registration;* and
  • Allow Google Registry to verify compliance at no cost.

While anyone can register, domains that don’t comply with this usage policy may be suspended or deleted by Google Registry without refund. So be sure you review the full .new Registration Policy before you register your .new domain to ensure that it meets our policy requirements.

Posted in Internet, Software | Comments Off on .new TLD Looks Handy

Tripit Three

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

I sent in my form, and that seems to have done the trick.

Previously:

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Internet, Software | Comments Off on Tripit Three

Tripit Two

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

Next act in, Does Tripit Think I’m on a Watch List or Financial Sanctions List?

After I wrote in asking why my account was suspended, the Tripit help desk promptly sent me a form to fill out attesting that I’m me, and asking where I live and what my birth date is; they promised not to share it with any third parties. Top of Tripit form requesting ID confirmationThe form didn’t ask for any proof, other than my signature, but I’m sure it’s a trivial thing to validate the information against many commercially available data bases.

I sent in the form last night, and we’ll see how long it takes them to chew on it. Worst case, I suppose I can always open a new free account with a different email address. I’ve got several…

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Internet, Software | Comments Off on Tripit Two

Does Tripit Think I’m on a Watch List or Financial Sanctions List?

Posted on May 4, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

Admittedly, its been a long time since I tried to use Tripit, the handy travel itinerary planner site. Today I noticed that my Tripit widget on my phone wanted me to re-login, so I tried to do that. Didn’t work.

OK, maybe I have the wrong password, let’s try the web version. Password manager confirms I have the right password, but still no dice:

OK, maybe the link to the help page will explain this?

Well, that’s odd.

Seems to me there are four possibilities:

  1. Tripit is having a bad day.
  2. For some weird reason (unlikely to be my VPN since that’s set to a domestic location), Tripit wrongly thinks I’m located abroad or on a watch list / Treasury sanctions list.
  3. Tripit has decided that Florida is a foreign country they will no longer serve.
  4. I am on a watch list or a Treasury asset control list. (Would be news to me.)

I’m betting on #2, but we’ll see.  I opened a ticket with Tripit, and will report back if I hear anything.  Then again, if they think I’m on some list, maybe they don’t even answer help requests.

Other possibilities?

 

Posted in ID Cards and Identification, Internet, Software | 2 Comments

He’s Wrinkled, Rested, and Ready

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Michael Froomkin

I’m surprisingly OK with the idea of President Biden running for re-election. Although not the second coming of FDR that his most fervent partisans predicted, Biden has been far more successful than I would have predicted. The giant climate and jobs bill, the rallying of NATO to help Ukraine (plus its expansion to heretofore neutral northern nations), the judges (on the whole), plus a lot of smart regulatory moves, all together it’s a remarkably good track record.  I do worry about the upcoming debt limit fight, but that’s on Biden only to the extent that his team chose not to try to defuse the bomb during the lame duck session.

Anyway, despite all that, I thought this SNL bit was really funny:

Posted in 2024 Election, Completely Different | 1 Comment