Google embraces 'mobile-friendly' sites in search shake-up

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is about to change the way its influential search engine recommends websites on smartphones and tablets in a shift that's expected to sway where millions of people shop, eat and find information.

The revised formula, scheduled to be released Tuesday, will favor websites that Google defines as "mobile-friendly." Websites that don't fit the description will be demoted in Google's search results on smartphones and tablets while those meeting the criteria will be more likely to appear at the top of the rankings — a prized position that can translate into more visitors and money.

Although Google's new formula won't affect searches on desktop and laptop computers, it will have a huge influence on how and where people spend their money, given that more people are relying on their smartphones to compare products in stores and look for restaurants. That's why Google's new rating system is being billed by some search experts as "Mobile-geddon."

"Some sites are going to be in for a big surprise when they find a drastic change in the amount of people visiting them from mobile devices," said Itai Sadan, CEO of website-building service Duda.

It's probably the most significant change that Google Inc. has ever made to its mobile search rankings, according to Matt McGee, editor-in-chief for Search Engine Land, a trade publication that follows every tweak that the company makes to its closely guarded algorithms.

Here are a few things to know about what's happening and why Google is doing it.

___

MAKING MOBILE FRIENDS

To stay in Google's good graces, websites must be designed so they load quickly on mobile devices. Content must also be easily accessible by scrolling up and down — without having to also swipe to the left or right. It also helps if all buttons for making purchases or taking other actions on the website can be easily seen and touched on smaller screens.

If a website has been designed only with PC users in mind, the graphics take longer to load on mobile devices and the columns of text don't all fit on the smaller screens, to the aggravation of someone trying to read it.

Google has been urging websites to cater to mobile device for years, mainly because that is where people are increasingly searching for information.

The number of mobile searches in the U.S. is rising by about 5 percent while inquiries on PCs are dipping slightly, according to research firm comScore Inc. In the final three months of last year, 29 percent of all U.S. search requests — about 18.5 billion — were made on mobile devices, comScore estimated. Google processes the bulk of searches — two-thirds in the U.S. and even more in many other countries.

___

BRACING FOR CHANGE

To minimize complaints, the company disclosed its plans nearly two months ago. It also created a step-by-step guide (http://bit.ly/1GyC0Id ) and a tool to test compliance with the new standards (http://bit.ly/1EVi9R3 ).

Google has faced uproar over past changes to its search formula. Two of the bigger revisions, done in 2011 and 2012, focused on an attempt to weed out misleading websites and other digital rubbish. Although that goal sounds reasonable, many websites still complained that Google's changes unfairly demoted them in the rankings, making their content more difficult to find.

___

STILL CAUGHT OFF GUARD

While most major merchants and big companies already have websites likely to meet Google's mobile standard, the new formula threatens to hurt millions of small businesses that haven't had the money or incentive to adapt their sites for smartphones.

"A lot of small sites haven't really had a reason to be mobile friendly until now, and it's not going to be easy for them to make the changes," McGee said.

___

BURYING HELPFUL CONTENT

Google's search formula weighs a variety of factors to determine the rankings of its results. One of the most important considerations has always been whether a site contains the most pertinent information sought by a search request.

But new pecking order in Google's mobile search may relegate some sites to the back pages of the search results, even if their content is more relevant to a search request than other sites that happen to be easier to access on smartphones.

That will be an unfortunate consequence, but also justifiable because a person might not even bother to look at sites that take a long time to open or difficult to read on mobile devices, Gartner analyst Whit Andrews said.

"Availability is part of relevancy," Andrews said. "A lot of people aren't going to think something is relevant if they can't get it to appear on their iPhone."

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Breaking even tough to do in Boston market

On the fence about renting or buying a home? A new analysis compares the costs and how long you would have to live in a home to rationalize the upfront expense of buying it.

In the Boston metro area, buying makes more financial sense if you plan to stay put for at least 3.4 years. That's how long it would take to break even — for the cumulative costs of renting the same home to exceed the purchase costs, according to Zillow, a Seattle online real estate database company.

Boston has the fourth longest break-even rate among the top 35 U.S. metro areas, behind Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Diego.

"The break-even horizons are historically very low," said Svenja Gudell, Zillow's senior director of economic research. "The rule of thumb is if you're going to buy a house, stay in it at least five years. A lot of (break-even rates) we're seeing across the country are lower than that."

Of Boston and Cambridge neighborhoods, Roxbury has the shortest break-even rate at one year, compared to 7.2 years in Beacon Hill. In the middle are West Roxbury at 3.7 years and North Cambridge at 4 years.

The current lower break-even rates are driven by home value appreciation rates that, while slowing, are still quite good, and very low mortgage rates and rising rents. Boston area home values appreciated 4 percent in the 12 months ending in February, while rents rose 5.2 percent.

Based on median household incomes and a 30-year fixed mortgage, Boston-area buyers can expect to spend 22 percent of their monthly income on a mortgage. Renters can expect to pay about 34 percent of their income on rent.

"Affordability is quite good on the for-sale side," Gudell said. "It's not looking so good right now for renters."

Home ownership brings a lot of benefits.

"One of the biggest things is being able to collect equity in your house," Gudell said. "It's like a ginormous savings account for you. But it also brings along a lot of responsibility."

Buyers need to determine the monthly payment they can afford for principal, interest, taxes and insurance, said Norwell financial planner Dan Galli, president of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts. Keeping those payments to 26 to 28 percent of gross income and keeping total debt to 33 to 34 percent is a good start, he said.

"The challenge is the down-payment and … whether you can get the 20 percent to avoid (private mortgage insurance), or whether you can catch some sort of first-time home buyers program to perhaps let you put a smaller amount down," Galli said.

Dan Walsh, sales manager for William Raveis Real Estate in Boston, advises consulting a qualified mortgage advisor. "A lot of people think if you're buying a $500,000 condo, that they need to put down 20 percent or $100,000," Walsh said. "They might be able to put down 5 percent or less with great credit and still get good rates. And they're also locking in historically low rates, so if they're going to be there for a long time, it's to their advantage."

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Top 3 bond rating agencies give Massachusetts high marks

BOSTON — The nation's top three bond rating agencies are giving Massachusetts a clean bill of fiscal health.

State Treasurer Deb Goldberg said Thursday that Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have maintained their ratings for the state and affirmed stable economic outlooks ahead of Massachusetts' next competitive bond offering.

The state has held its current rating — one notch below the top possible rating and the highest in state history — since September 2011.

The ratings are largely based on four factors: the state's economy; financial position; debt and financial management; and long-term liabilities.

While Massachusetts has relatively a high level of debt, that's due in part by the heavier role the state takes in the financing of local projects, often handled at the county level in other states.

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Public needs drive plans: Developers think beyond garage lot

Redevelopment proposals for the city-owned Winthrop Square garage feature impressive soaring skyscrapers that would reach new architectural heights in Boston's Financial District, but their mixed uses and public bene­fits are what's garnering kudos.

Plans include retail, restaurant, residential, hotel and innovation economy office uses to bring around-the-clock activity to the square, with other public benefits ranging from an entrepreneur innovation center to a public school.

"What impressed me about many of them were they just weren't about the building," said architect Tim Love, a Utile Inc. principal and Boston Society of Architects president. "They were thinking about Winthrop Square and that whole little neighborhood there, and they had a lot of positive things to offer."

Since the garage is city-owned, public benefits stand to carry more weight in the competitive vetting process by the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

"They certainly like public space," said David Begelfer, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate development trade group. "They like the idea of energizing the ground-floor space. They want to tap into the whole Downtown Crossing and build on that."

How the buildings allow for public connections through long city blocks are among benefits the city should consider, according to Love. And hotel and residential uses — one or both of which are in all proposals — would help the Financial District become a 24-7, live-work neighborhood that would draw in more businesses, he said.

But stacking residential units over offices — as Trans National Properties, Lincoln Property Co., Millennium Partners and Lend Lease Development propose — is easier­ said than done, said John B. Hynes III, CEO of Boston Global Investors.

"There aren't a lot of successful examples," Hynes said. "To stack them vertically is a challenge. We went through that very exercise at One Franklin, then Vornado (Realty Trust) got cold feet on the residential and ... pulled the plug."

Still, he and Begelfer believe Steve Belkin's Trans National — which has had designs on the site since 2006 — has an edge over other teams because it can tie in its adjacent 133 Federal St. property. "We looked at (the site) at length 10 years ago maybe, before it went out to bid and Belkin got it (in 2006)," Hynes said. "It was clear even back then that the best use of that parking garage was to combine it with the Belkin site."

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Loss of Cape Wind sinks bid for marine terminal

A major port operator is no longer competing to run the state's New Bedford marine terminal — a $113 million taxpayer-­funded boondoggle — after the Cape Wind project folded.

"They had a good plan with the wind energy and that's really what we were banking on," said Frank Vannelli, senior vice president for commercial and business development at Logistec Corp. "But when the deal fell through, we just stepped back and we said, 'Let's take a look here at how we're spending our resources' and we decided to put it in a holding pattern."

Without Cape Wind as the main terminal tenant, a bid no longer made sense for Logistec, Vannelli said.

Executives with Cape Wind, who are planning to plant 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound, backed out of a two-year, $4.5 million deal to rent the 28-acre terminal after National Grid and Eversource terminated contracts to buy power from the wind project.

State officials have said a new lease is expected to fetch a lower price for the terminal, which is overbudget and months behind schedule.

Vannelli said the South Coast Marine Commerce Terminal could be conducive to smaller vessels with refrigerated goods, such as frozen fish and fresh fruit, because the area isn't optimal for larger container ships.

"Our organization is still very interested in what's going on in the port of New Bedford and I do think it has a role to play," he said. "I don't think that it's realistic to think that any of these smaller-sized ports would attract large container cargoes. The containers will go to the larger ports. They will go to New York. They will go to Boston."

The quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center plans to name a port operator by summer, but has yet to make public the three finalists.

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Seattle CEO to cut his pay so every worker earns $70,000

SEATTLE — A Seattle CEO who announced that he's giving himself a drastic pay cut to help cover the cost of big raises for his employees didn't just make those workers happy.

He's already gained new customers, too.

"We've definitely gained a handful of customers in the last day or two," said Stefan Bennett, a customer relations manager at Gravity Payments, a credit card payment processing firm. "We're showing people you can run a good company, and you can pay people fairly, and it can be profitable."

Dan Price, chief executive of the company, stunned his 100-plus workers on Monday when he told them he was cutting his roughly $1 million salary to $70,000 and using company profits to ensure that everyone there would earn at least that much within three years.

For some workers, the increase will more than double their pay. One 21-year-old mother said she'll buy a house.

At a time of increasing anger nationally over the enormous gap between the pay of top executives and their employees, the announcement received immense attention. But corporate governance professor David Larcker of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business said it's unclear if Price's unusual gesture will start a trend.

"It's an alternative way to think about a tough problem, and I give these guys a lot of credit for laying it out there," Larcker said. "Whether this would scale to a bigger organization, it's hard to know. But it's clever, it's interesting and it's fun to think about."

Washington state already has the nation's highest minimum wage at $9.47 an hour, and earlier this month Seattle's minimum wage law went into effect. It will eventually raise base hourly pay to $15.

Labor unions and workers in the Seattle area on Wednesday joined national protests for better pay. Drivers for Uber and Lyft — the app-based car-hailing services — gathered in Seattle, while airport workers rallied at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In Seattle, police arrested 21 demonstrators who opted for civil disobedience to dramatize their point, refusing to move out of an intersection at the conclusion of their march.

Gravity's CEO launched the company from his dorm room at Seattle Pacific University when he was just 19. He's long taken a progressive approach that included adopting a policy allowing his workers to take unlimited paid vacation after their first year.

"I think this is just what everyone deserves," Price told workers in a video of Monday's announcement released by the company.

But he also acknowledged it won't be easy: The increased pay will eat into at least half the company's profits, he said, and he has no plans to simply raise rates on clients.

"It's up to us to find a way to make it work," he said.

Bennett, 28, went to college with Price and has worked for Gravity since graduation. He said he was already happy to work for a company that treats its employees and customers well in what he otherwise considers a predatory industry. For him, the raise will amount to about $10,000.

"I don't care as much about the money," he said. "But if I look at my colleagues, and what they talk about on a day-to-day basis and what their concerns are — just looking at their faces when Dan announced the pay increase, it was pretty phenomenal."

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Nokia confirms acquisition of French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent

Photo by: 

The Associated Press

FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 shows the Nokia head offices in Espoo, Finland. Nokia says it is in advanced discussions to acquire the French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent. In a brief statement Tuesday, the Helsinki-based mobile technology concern said the two companies are in advanced negotiations "with respect to a potential full combination which would take the form of a public exchange offer by Nokia for Alcatel-Lucent." (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP, File) FINLAND OUT

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Nokia confirms acquisition of French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent

Photo by: 

The Associated Press

FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 shows the Nokia head offices in Espoo, Finland. Nokia says it is in advanced discussions to acquire the French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent. In a brief statement Tuesday, the Helsinki-based mobile technology concern said the two companies are in advanced negotiations "with respect to a potential full combination which would take the form of a public exchange offer by Nokia for Alcatel-Lucent." (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP, File) FINLAND OUT

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Asia shares meander as China GDP data disappoints

TOKYO — European shares rose early Wednesday on expectations that European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi will douse speculation over a possible early exit from the ECB monetary stimulus program that is due to last until September 2016. Shares fell in Asia, however, after China reported its economy grew at a 7.0 percent annual rate in January-March, the slowest pace in six years.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 7,106.24 and Germany's DAX climbed 0.6 percent to 12,299.74. France's CAC 40 gained 0.7 percent to 5,253.07. Wall Street's outlook for the day was mixed, with S&P futures down 0.03 while Dow futures were trading 0.06 percent higher.

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: Despite glimmers of improvement on Europe's horizon, Draghi, the ECB head is expected to tell reporters the central bank for the 19-country region using the euro will stick with monthly bond purchases meant to raise inflation from an anemic 0.1 percent.

THE QUOTE: "Ahead of European trade, we are looking for mild gains in the major bourses," Stan Shamu, market strategist for IG, said in a commentary. He added that "Mario Draghi could make some positive commentary around signs of improvement in the economy."

CHINA DATA: China's economy cooled further as manufacturing and retail sales slowed in January-March, raising pressure on Beijing to keep the world's second-largest economy on track. Growth fell to 7 percent from the previous quarter's 7.3 percent, the weakest performance since it tumbled to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.2 percent to 19,869.76. Hong Kong's Hang Seng recovered from early losses, gaining 0.2 percent to 27,618.82 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4 percent to 2,119.96. But the Shanghai composite index yoyo'd to end the day 1.2 percent lower at 4,084.16. In Australia, whose resource sector is vulnerable to fluctuations in Chinese demand, the S&P ASX/200 fell 0.6 percent to 5,908.40. Shares in Taiwan, New Zealand and most of Southeast Asia were also lower.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 75 cents to $54.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $1.38 to close at $53.29 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 57 cents to $60.38 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 119.57 yen from 119.45. The euro fell to $1.0575 from $1.0648.

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Deval Patrick named to Bain Capital

Former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick will be joining the Boston firm Bain Capital — founded by former GOP Gov. Mitt Romney — to develop a line of so-called "social impact" investing to support causes from climate change to hunger.

A Bain spokesman confirmed the hire for the Boston Herald, but said all other questions, including whether Patrick can still do work for Boston 2024's Olympic bid, will be answered at today's formal announcement.

Patrick told The Boston Globe in an interview that the opportunity is "a chance to have real meaning and mission in my work."

Patrick will become one of Bain's managing directors, sharing in the profits of the firm. He will be the first African-American to take on that role at the firm.

Patrick was tapped to represent Boston 2024 as a 
"global ambassador" at a rate of $7,500 a day. But amid a public outcry over secrecy and hefty salaries for ex-Patrick administration officials hired by the nonprofit, Patrick said he was pursuing 
another job but would serve the bid as he was able for 
no pay.

Patrick served two terms as governor from 2006 to 2014.

He stated repeatedly as he was ending his tenure that he wasn't planning to run for president in 2016 and 
intended to go into the 
private sector.

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Hearst taps Twitter's Periscope for live-video blast across 18 digital brands

Hearst is latching on to the recent craze for live-broadcasting video apps, with the media company planning to host live feeds on Twitter's Periscope Monday night across all of its 18 magazine and digital brands.

On Monday at 10 p.m. ET, Hearst will stream 18 simultaneous live broadcasts -- each pegged to the theme of "Bedtime Stories" -- on Periscope, promoted with the hashtag "#bedtimestory." The video content will feature editors, personalities and social-media influencers.

Some examples: Cosmopolitan's "resident shirtless hunk" CJ Richards is on board to read kids' classic "Goodnight Moon" while stroking a kitten; Redbook will feature "The Bachelor" season 17 contestant Sean Lowe reading an excerpt from his new book, "For the Right Reasons"; and Elle.com editor Leah Chernikoff will interview plus-size model Elly Mayday about her evening beauty routine.

Troy Young, president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, said the "Bedtime Stories" stunt on Periscope is akin to "'Tonight Show' meets our magazine brands."

"It's an experiment in live programming," he said. "We're trying to learn about live and broadcast in this particular environment." Hearst is not generating any revenue, per se, from the Periscope broadcasts.

Hearst distributes content across multiple partners, including Microsoft's MSN, Young said. He cited Cosmopolitan's recently launched channel on Snapchat Discover as reaching more than 1 million people per day.

"We are aggressive on virtually every social platform, and (Periscope) is part of that," he said. "It's reflective of our embrace of all kinds of distribution channels."

As for why Hearst opted to go with Periscope, as opposed to upstart Meerkat or another live-broadcasting platform, Young cited Periscope's "intimate connection with Twitter." But, he added: "Obviously it's early in how this market is shaping up." Twitter bought Periscope for a reported $100 million and launched the app late last month.

How regularly Hearst expects to produce live Internet broadcasts in the future remains to be seen, Young said.

Hearst's other Periscope broadcasts set for Monday include: a chef from The Cheesecake Factory preparing a special, off-the-menu cheesecake for the Delish food site; author Benjamin Percy reading an excerpt from his new novel, "The Dead Lands," for Esquire; and Seventeen revealing its May 2015 cover image -- as announced by a puppy.

For February 2015, Hearst had 79.9 million unique monthly U.S. users across desktop and mobile platforms, according to comScore. That puts it in 24th place just behind Conde Nast (80.9 million) and BuzzFeed (81.7 million). The top three U.S. Internet properties for February per comScore were: Google (240.8 million), Yahoo (216.8 million) and Facebook (206.5 million).

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Roche Bros. opening in Filene’s building April 29

Boston's Downtown Crossing gets its long-awaited grocery store on April 29, when Roche Bros. opens in the former Filene's building on Summer Street.

The 25,000-square-foot, two-level store aimed at busy city dwellers will be the 21st for the private, family-owned Wellesley chain.

"Given the prominence of this project and the importance … to the city and residents of the area, we're looking at it as a very big … project for our company and for our customers," said Paul McGillivray, vice president of sales and merchandising. "The store is going to be a complete supermarket for the residents of that area. At the same time, the assortment of items and the allocation of space will certainly reflect the needs of this unique location."

The 3,000-square-foot street-level portion of the store will include a coffee bar and focus on ready-to-eat prepared foods: a hot bar, cold food/salad bar, grab-and-go sandwiches, sushi, healthy snacks and sweets. Roche Bros. is seeking city approval for seasonal outdoor seating on Summer Street, where it also will operate a fruit and flower stand.

The store's 23,000-square-foot lower level, which occupies a large portion of the former Filene's Basement space, will be a complete supermarket offering, with fresh produce — including a "chop shop" with 40-plus varieties of fresh-cut, recipe-ready vegetables — meats, seafood, grocery items, more prepared foods, and a bakery, deli and specialty cheeses.

"While the store is smaller than a suburban supermarket, all or most of the key categories will be offered," McGillivray said, noting a typical suburban Roche Bros. is 35,000 to 40,000 square feet.

When building owner Millennium Partners finishes the new adjacent Millennium Tower next year, Roche Bros. will add another 10,000 square feet of space in the condo tower's basement and apply to the city for a license to sell beer and wine there, McGillivray said.

The new Roche Bros. will offer catering and $10 grocery delivery for those who want to shop at the store but not cart their own bags home, as well as online ordering with home delivery.

Roche Bros. will hold a 9:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony at the store on April 29, followed by outdoor sampling booths and a free evening concert by Boston country band Dalton & the Sheriffs.

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Booting Up: Storage costs cloud police cam issue

Police body cameras are controversial, in demand — and a monumental technological undertaking that should be left to cloud computing experts.

Pressure on police departments to deploy body cameras is boiling over as outrage intensifies over the deadly police shooting in South Carolina in which a North Charleston officer shot and killed an unarmed black man as he ran away earlier this month. A video of the April 4 shooting was filmed by a bystander showing a far different version of events than cops officially reported, renewing calls for video as a requirement.

In contrast, the move by Boston police and prosecutors to release security video of a gunfight that left a police officer wounded and the suspect dead has been widely praised — and renewed calls for body cams here.

Only in recent years has cloud computing made it feasible to start thinking about saving and maintaining the deluge of video data from police-worn cameras. Cloud computing allows anyone to store reams of data on far-flung servers managed by companies like Amazon and Microsoft.

Because most cloud storage platforms don't meet the FBI's security policy standards, many departments have forgone the cloud thus far. But the drawbacks of local storage are numerous, requiring police departments to hire IT personnel for maintenance and security.

Police departments thinking of investing in body cameras should expect to encounter cyberattacks. Locally stored police data is already a huge target of hackers, with departments regularly fending off malicious cyberattacks.

By contrast, cloud computing centers are incredibly secure — in fact they're arguably some of the most secure facilities on the planet, with their locations often kept secret. Armed guards and retinal scans are the norm.

Storing that data is more expensive than purchasing the actual cameras. According to the Police Executive Research Foundation, the cost of data storage can reach $2 million per year for a department. A typical urban police department should expect data from its body-worn cameras to accumulate several terabytes of data per month. Oakland police, with 600 body cameras, report that their servers are crammed with a whopping seven terabytes of data per month. Think of that as about 1,500 feature-length films.

In Fort Collins, Colo., for example, cops discard footage after seven days if there is no citizen contact. Other departments keep everything. In Albuquerque, non-evidentiary video is retained for a year. In Oakland, that data is stored for five years.

Microsoft recently piloted the first FBI-compatible data storage program for police video, a program using its Azure cloud storage system with VIEVU, a Seattle-based maker of wearable police cameras, likely opening the door for many police departments to start storing data in the cloud. As a result, police departments should be able to keep and manage data longer and for a lower cost, putting to rest arguments that cop body cameras are too financially burdensome and not feasible for small departments. Storing all that data is only going to get easier.

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Hospitals eye models to address disasters

Crisis plans that can take hospitals months to develop could be produced in seconds with the right mathematical modeling — cutting out much of the painstaking human analysis — according to Boston professors who hope to incorporate these algorithms into local protocol.

"What these models enable you to do is figure out a complex situation with a lot of interacting factors. The tools help you make the best decision," said Ozlem Ergun, an associate professor in Northeastern's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department. "Boston is a very specific place, where almost all the big hospitals are research hospitals, so it could really benefit from this kind of thing."

According to Ergun, these systems can determine the most efficient way for hospitals to respond to incidents such as outbreaks of disease, natural disasters or tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings, which cause an influx of patients concentrated in one area.

"If you're in a situation where many people need access to hospitals, there could be several issues — problems with transportation, congestion due to the number of people, access limitations for security reasons," she said. "There needs to be a plan for things like how to use certain EMS vehicles and where patients should be directed based on their needs."

Ergun, who is reaching out to local hospitals to team up on preparedness efforts, came to Northeastern from the Georgia Institute of Technology in September, and has worked on issues surrounding humanitarian crisis response for organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Jarrod Goentzel, founder and director of the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab, has been using these methods to help West Africa cope with the Ebola outbreak, and said the same approach could be used in Boston to create a central point among its cluster of large hospitals to house supplies needed in crisis situations.

"We have lots of hospitals here. In a panic mode, everyone is trying to procure supplies," he said. "Basic human nature is to hoard and hoard and be prepared. But the more centrally you stock things, the more risk that can cover."

Paul Biddinger, chief of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital, said each local hospital conducts a yearly analysis using tools like FEMA flood maps, but that potential coordination among hospitals is not analyzed.

He added that predicting the frequency and severity of pandemics is tricky, and any resources that could shed light on those events "would be of use."

"Anything that will more accurately predict stressors on the system will help us know how to deal with those stressors," he said.

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Inspector Gadget: MacBook a bit pricy, but lightweight and a beauty

MacBook ($1,299 and up, 
AppleStore.com)

The latest iteration of Apple's full-size notebook computer weighs in at two pounds, is 13.1 mm thin, and has a 12-inch so-called Retina display with edge-to-edge glass.

The good: If you like Apple design, you'll love this MacBook. Available in gold, silver or space gray, it's also got a great new trackpad and a wider keyboard.

The bad: Apple's new MacBook has just one USB port. So if you plan to connect a lot of devices to your laptop, this might not be for you.

The bottom line: If you're OK with just one USB port, this gorgeous Mac's for you.

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What could be causing 2004 Durango’s starting issues?

Q: My 2004 Dodge Durango with 170,000 miles has recently developed starting problems. It will start up in one of three ways: 1. Start fine. 2. Start with a knock and go right to idle rpm. 3. Start with a knock and stall. I then have to crank the motor for 5-10 seconds before the motor slowly starts and goes right to idle rpm. I have no dashboard warning lights, the battery is OK and the engine runs fine with no detectable power loss or knocking. My mechanic looked at it and drove it but was not able to diagnose the problem, even after replacing the cam and crank sensors and disconnecting various sensors, cables, etc., trying to identify the problem. Could this be an issue with the starter motor since the engine operates fine once it is running?

A: I wonder if the knocking noise is tricking the knock sensors into retarding ignition timing to protect the engine. Knock sensors are effectively small microphones that listen for the sound of detonation in the cylinders and signal the ECM, which retards the timing. Mechanical noises that mimic the sound of detonation may fool the ECM. The retarded ignition timing might explain the engine's idle rpm and restart characteristics.

You didn't identify whether your Durango is equipped with the 4.7-liter or 5.7-liter V8 engine, but both appear to utilize a geared starter motor. You could have the starter tested for amperage draw on or off the car. Once the starter is removed, the teeth on the flex plate ring gear can be inspected for damage. I found remanufactured starters for under $100.

One final thought: Years ago we had a Malibu wagon that developed an intermittent but very loud knocking noise. After much knuckle-busting, teeth-gnashing and head-scratching, it turned out to be a loose torque converter mounting bolt that intermittently hit the inside of the bell housing.

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Q: My wife's 2001 Ford Escape has a problem with the cruise control. On a recent trip, when I turned on the cruise, the green light went on but when I attempted to set the speed control it would not set. The light to indicate that the speed control was set did not come on. Repeated attempts also failed. Then the green light indicating that the speed control was on also went off and wouldn't come back on. Yesterday my wife informed me that the green light did come on but the speed control would not activate. Could you help us diagnose this problem?

A: Your best diagnostic strategy is to use a scan tool and the cruise control's self-diagnostic capabilities to identify the problem. This may lead to pinpoint testing of the speed control switch, servo, deactivator switch, brake switch and other components. Also, make sure all brake lights are operational.

Please note that Ford issued a recall back in 2000 addressing potential corrosion or binding in the speed control cable.

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Q: My Ford Fusion has about 85,000 miles on it. It has a set of Goodyear tires with about 12,000 miles on them. Both right-side tires leak air enough that the "Low tire" light comes on every two weeks or so. The tires have been removed and resealed to their aluminum rims by the tire shop where I bought them and by my Ford dealer. Nothing seems to work. I've thought of buying new tires or even trading the car, but I like it a lot.

A: Typically, there are two possible causes for air leaks from replacement tires on alloy wheels — corrosion around the bead contact area on the rim or porosity of the wheel itself. Shops remove the corrosion and apply a special sealant to the bead to seal the tire.

You have three choices — have a tire specialist try resealing the tires again, replace the wheels or replace the car. I'd go with option one.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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Library to tackle Boston's data

A new team of librarians will take the mountains of data that the city of Boston releases to the public and make it usable and understandable for everyone, thanks to a nearly half-a-million-dollar grant.

"(The grant) is focused on taking the incredible open data resources that the city makes available and make them more useful to people," said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, the city's chief information officer. "You'll have easier access to that data by working through our public libraries to get it."

The city and the Boston Public Library is hiring a team of librarians who will be charged with making data as easy to find and understand as books.

The project is being funded through a $475,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.

"Librarians are a workforce that specialize in information curation and pointing citizens toward the information when they need it," said John Bracken, vice president of media innovation for the Knight Foundation. "We were particularly taken with the possibility of leveraging the platform of the library, the physical space of the library, to accelerate the use of civic data coming out of open government."

The program will likely include training and reference materials for residents.

"This will have relevance for the individual on the street, any resident," said David Leonard, director of administration and technology for the BPL. "In some ways it's a natural evolution of our traditional reference services."

The data that is routinely released by the city includes Citizen's Connect requests, crime incident reports and food permit maps, information someone interested in moving to a new neighborhood may want to know.

Boston has published much of the city's data for more than a year, starting with an Open Data executive order from Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

But, data.cityofboston.com is overwhelming, and hard to use for people who do not have a data science background.

"Historically, open data has just been a website that we throw up, and we put the data up there and say OK, our job is done, the data is open," Franklin-Hodge said. "That's the equivalent of getting a room and just throwing a pile of books on the floor and saying here's your library."

Last month, Boston released much of its data to techies, challenging them to create apps and visualizations that explain what is happening in the city.

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Stringent reverse mortgage rules near implementation

WASHINGTON — Interested in a reverse mortgage without a lot of hassles? Get your application in now. On April 27, a series of extensive "financial assessment" tests will make applying for a reverse mortgage tougher — much like applying for a standard home mortgage.

Reverse mortgages always have been different — available only to seniors 62 and older who have equity in their homes that they want to convert to cash. There are no repayments required until the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies. Homeowners' main responsibilities are to keep current on local property taxes, pay hazard insurance premiums and keep the place in reasonable condition.

The Federal Housing Administration has for three decades run the dominant insured reverse mortgage program in the country, and it has been relatively easygoing when it comes to underwriting. If you qualified on age and equity, you had a good shot at getting a loan.

But during the recession and mortgage bust years, thousands of borrowers fell into default because they didn't pay required property taxes and hazard insurance premiums. Further, real estate values plunged, producing huge losses on defaulted and foreclosed properties for the FHA. The losses got so severe that the Treasury Department had to provide the FHA with a $1.7 billion bailout in 2013, the first in the agency's history since its creation in the 1930s.

All of which led to the upcoming dramatic changes. Applicants now must demonstrate upfront that they have both the "willingness" and the "capacity" to meet their obligations. Lenders are going to pull borrowers' credit reports, just as they do with other mortgages.

Applicants will need to show that they paid their real estate taxes, homeowner association fees and other property-related charges on time for at least the past 24 months. They will be asked to produce documentation of their employment status, income and financial assets, as well as undergo a "residual income" analysis that examines all their monthly expenses and cash flow.

Inadequate marks on these tests may require borrowers to create a "life expectancy set aside" — essentially a reserve account or escrow funded wholly or in part from their loan proceeds. For some borrowers, the set-asides may be so substantial they'll be left with minimal cash at closing, making the entire reverse mortgage process a waste of time.

All of which, say reverse mortgage industry experts, will exclude potentially thousands of senior homeowners from obtaining a reverse mortgage, especially those who are on the margins economically and need the cash to help pay for ongoing household expenses.

Reza Jahangiri, CEO of Orange, Calif.-based American Advisors Group, the highest-volume reverse mortgage lender, said his company expects a decline in loan activity by "8 to 10 percent" after the assessment rules take effect. He also expects a shift toward "mainstream" borrowers who seek to use a reverse mortgage as part of their overall retirement planning, including raising money to buy a new house or to establish a flexible line of credit they can draw from. Many seniors currently can't qualify for bank home-equity credit lines, he said, but with adequate credit, income and assets, can qualify for a reverse mortgage in the form of a credit line.

Maggie O'Connell, who originates FHA-insured reverse mortgages for The Federal Savings Bank from offices in Reno, Nev., and Danville, Calif., said she's been scrambling "to get people in before the deadline" who might encounter difficulty — or be turned off by all the required documentation — under the new rules. Though she may do fewer loans in the short term, she said, in the long term the tougher rules "are probably a good thing" because they will prevent weak borrowers from taking out loans they can't handle and that will eventually end up in default, "which is bad for them and bad for us."

Bottom line: Tougher credit standards have come to reverse mortgages — finally. Before applying, be aware of the types of documentation you'll need. And when you talk with a lender or financial counselor about a reverse loan, make sure you involve the entire family, so everybody knows what you are getting into.

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