Domain Name Rush Following Boston Bombing

Dear OOTJers,
       I was amazed, fascinated and a good bit appalled to read about the rush on Internet domain names in the wake of the bombing here in Boston.  There was a brief article in the Boston Globe, and I also found a longer article at a blog run by Time magazine. This one includes a screen shot of the various domain names, and details on how much they paid. Apparently, there are "speculators" who buy domain names with the idea of selling to another, at a higher price. The Globe article mentions that some folks are making a living at this -- though both articles stress that domain names linked to current events have a short shelf life in public interest.  Thus, speculators for these names are unlikely to make much or any money.

Both writers mentioned the distaste or poor taste factor that will certainly turn some people off. They note that there are a number of reasons, some charitable, for registering a domain name related to the Boston Bombing. In fact, the Globe article mentions several people who have  bought domain names with the idea of using them for a charity.  But it also mentions others who register domain names with plans to set up fraudulent charities. For now, I recommend sticking with the official One Fund.

Boston strong, and many thanks to all who are sending good wishes and aid for the bombing victims and shell-shocked Boston!
Betsy

The Power of Words: "Act of Terror"

When President Obama used the phrase "Act of Terror" to describe the Boston bombing, the business people shuddered.  Those whose windows were blown out, whose stores and restaurants were damaged, who lost a week's worth of food and customers to the area being closed as a crime scene are hoping that their insurance will help them bear the costs.  But since 9/11, insurance policies have contained a careful exclusion for Acts of Terror.  So, politicians and other speakers who use what seems like a simple phrase to describe the despicable acts have sent shivers through the Boylston - Copley Square business community.  The designation will be set, or not, by federal agencies. But for now, the insurance adjustors are trickling in to assess damage and begin the process of setting reimbursement rates.  As affected businesses reopen, they are keeping their fingers crossed that their coverage won't be scotched by what might otherwise seem like the most obvious statement in the world.

The image decorating this blog post was published at Newstimes.com, at http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Boston-Marathon-finish-line-area-reopens-4459194.php and was there credited to  David L. Ryan of the Associated Press. The caption reads

The sculpture of the painter Copley gets washed down by Donald Ware an employee of Boston Parks and Recreation on Boylston Street on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in Boston. The area near the Boston Marathon finish line where two bombs killed three people is slowly coming back to life. Authorities have yet to re-open all of Boylston Street, but Boston police on Tuesday morning allowed traffic and pedestrians to cross Boylston on Clarendon Street for the first time since the Patriots' Day bombings.

There were many images in the local press of workers in hazmat suits washing down the area, working to clean away blood and bomb debris before the area could re-open.

Life in Boston After the Marathon Bombing

Just an impressionistic little essay here, about how it has been to be living in Boston over the past week or so.  I am hugely grateful and amazed at the number of e-mails I have received from colleagues who wanted to know that I and my family were safe.  Thank you for thinking of us!

My family lives outside Boston itself, in the adjoining town of Milton.  We were quite to the periphery of the action.  However, you might like to know that the NELLCO board meeting that was scheduled for Friday was cancelled because of the lockdown.  I had assumed it was running, and had been puzzling over how to get there with public transit shut down and no taxis.  But that morning, Tracy Thompson e-mailed the folks on the board that the meeting was cancelled, and offering assistance in getting out of Boston.  The handful of out-of-towners who had driven their cars into Boston for a pre-meeting on Thursday went above and beyond, helping the other out-of-towners who were stranded by the shut-down of all public transit.  These kind colleagues often drove our friends all the way home, or at least to a public transit station that was open and operating outside of Boston's ambit.

Universities all across Boston, including my own Suffolk, were closed as part of the governor's lock-down order.  Students were urged to shelter-in-place and stay safe. Businesses throughout Boston were closed, with a few exceptions, such as hospitals, a few gas stations, and very few restaurants.  There are many photos in the newspaper today of empty streets yesterday, that normally would have been bustling.  Thousands of police officers from across Massachusetts and out of state descended onto Cambridge and Watertown for a massive man-hunt, going door-to-door.  I was interested to hear that officials requested Dunkin Donuts to stay open to supply the officers with coffee and hot food (nobody was willing to say, doughnuts!)  A number of restaurants sent donated food to the police as well.

As everybody knows who followed this case on the Internet or TV, the first suspect was killed in a blazing gun battle.  The second suspect, his brother, ran over the first with their car-jacked vehicle in escaping that battle.  In the early hours of April 20, the second suspect was located, hiding in a boat, that had been covered with a tarp for the winter.  This was in a backyard just outside of the zone where the police conducted house-to-house searches.

In the Boston Globe this morning, there is a full page ad from a kitchen cabinet company:

Don't #@$% with Boston!

The ad goes on to state that the company will donate 100% of their profits from any sales today to the Governor's One Fund, set up to provide support to the victims of the Bombing.   I bet they sell a lot of cabinets today! 



Betsy

Crowdsourcing the Boston Bombing Investigation

An article in today's Boston Globe explains how the FBI and other criminal investigators are calling on those who were at the Marathon, near the finish line, to share their photos and videos.  Not only that, but because they are getting thousands of images to sift through, they are also asking the public's help in looking at the images. 

Photos and video clips are being uploaded to 4chan's Imgur.com where visitors can scan them looking for suspicious images.  There is then a Reddit newsgroup, Find Boston Bombers forum, is also active in sorting images. The hosts of the Reddit group were aware of concerns that innocent people captured in these photos could be wrongly targeted, or that there could be vigilante justice.  They said that any clues marked by interested members are being forwarded as tips to federal investigators.

On the day of the bombing, early news reports mentioned both the FBI and ATF as turning up for the investigation.  There are, of course, lots of local police and state troopers involved. The Boston Firefighters and Police Unions have together offered a $50,000 award for information leading to an arrest.

The response of the public, in support of Boston and the Marathon has been truly heartwarming. The New York Yankees, Boston's baseball archrival, displayed a banner in unity with Boston and played the Boston theme song Sweet Caroline at the game yesterday.  The organizers of the London Marathon announced that they would not cancel their race, but hold it in tribute to the victims of the Boston Bombing. And the Colbert Report opened and the Daily Show last night with a tribute to the city of Boston. And today, there is an interfaith service at the Boston Cathedral of the Holy Cross. President Obama is scheduled to attend.  The service will be broadcast here at 11 AM Thursday, April 18.

The image decorating this post is courtesy of CBC Canada.