Take Responsibility for Spam Comments on your Blogs

Social Media

Comment spammers are relentless. I spend time every day just deleting the comments that make it through Akismet and other spam filters.
The spam-filtering service Akismet defeats most automated spam, but I suspect there is a class of low-wage human-powered spamming going on based on some internet marketer’s idea of link building.
The reason some people post [...]

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How to Incorporate a Consulting Practice in Massachusetts

Business Planning

As I formalized the business organization for Dave Atkins Media, Inc., I learned a few things I am going to share here–sort of a corollary to my popular post on What I’ve Learned about Unemployment in Massachusetts.
But First Things First
Until you are seriously committed to starting a business, you don’t need to do anything more [...]

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Small and Big Steps for Walkability

Active Transportation

I’m excited that our Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee was able to work with our town to secure almost $3700 in reimbursement funding to buy bike racks. And our monthly meetings are defintitely raising awareness about Pedestrian and Bike Safety issues and beginning to build a coalition of people in town who share a desire [...]

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More Experience with COBRA Health Insurance for Unemployed

Advice to Unemployed

The fact is, when you are laid off, you can lose your health insurance immediately, despite the so-called protections of COBRA. The only thing COBRA does is entitle certain qualififying persons (most people who are laid off) the opportunity to continue their health insurance under the same group plan they were eligible for when they [...]

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Copenhagen Rolls

Active Transportation

Here is a short video of some serious critical cycling mass in Copenhagen, Denmark…

I’m wrapping up a final list of bike racks for our town to obtain through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Regional Bike Parking Program. Today is the deadline to order bike racks which are then reimbursed by this program. Our town [...]

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Complete Streets for our Future

Active Transportation

The popular understanding of the origin of street design in Boston goes back to the original wisdom of cows pastured on the common and commuting home to farms. Although this is more folklore than fact, it does reflect the liklihood that streets were developed piecemeal in response to short-term needs and not as a part [...]

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Trick or Treat for your Health

Active Transportation

A few Halloweens ago, I picked up a barrel of “Halloween Pretzels” from Costco–mini-pretzels in orange and black bags in a big plastic container. About the ONLY one happy about that choice was our dog who got into the “treats” when the untouched bowl was left on the floor inadvertently. I believe we finally choked [...]

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Canadian Courtesy or Curiosity?

Active Transportation

Every horrific death of a cyclist leads to rounds of recriminations and a brief “coming together” of the cyclist community to draw attention to how, in the battle between car and bike, bike (and biker) always loses. In Toronto this summer, a prominent politician (former Attorny General of Ontario, Michael Bryant) engaged in an altercation [...]

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Becoming a Bike-Friendly Community

Active Transportation

Yesterday, the League of American Bicyclists announced their updated list of Bicycle Friendly Communities. The closest town to Boston is Brunswick, Maine…and, in the past, Burlington, Vermont has been a winner. Both communities won the Bronze designation.
Despite some recent improvements, the City of Boston is not on the list yet. I would argue that their [...]

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You’ve Got to “Crush It!”

Business Planning

Last Friday night, I attended an unconventional book-signing/networking party in Boston that brought together Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeff Cutler, and Mike Langford along with the usual suspects of the Boston social media scene. I picked up a copy of Gary’s book and then–because I missed the earlier train home, had an hour and a half to [...]

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