MBTA Begins Commuter Rail Mobile Ticketing

MBTA Begins Mobile Ticketing for Commuter Rail North Station Lines. As of Monday, the MBTA is the first major commuter rail in the United States to offer a digital option for tickets. The move is expected to save everyone—passengers, conductors, and the like—a lot of time that’s wasted on paper ticketing and cash transactions. “The goal was to give people as much time back as possible. Here, literally, the ticket machine is in your pocket.” Richard A. Davey, the Massachusetts transportation secretary, told the Globe. Mobile ticketing from South Station and for ferry service is expected to launch after Thanksgiving.  [Globe]

Boston-Based Retailer Predicts Chicken Coops Will Be a Big Holiday Seller. And so will trampolines and air hockey tables, according to Wayfair.com, which predictably sells chicken coops ranging from $100 to $1,500.  [Globe]

Two Veterans Who Met at Harvard Launch Social Network for Military. Aaron Kletzing and Yinon Weiss met at Harvard Business School and discovered they’d served together in the Middle East. The two just launched RallyPoint, a LinkedIn-like social network only for members or veterans of the armed forces. Kletzing and Weiss hope the technology will help military personnel stay in touch with each other. “People in the military moved around so much,” Kletzing said. “And they meet new people professionally everywhere they go, and then they move again.”  [WBUR]

Harvard Is Having a Big Affirmative Action/Legacy Debate. After a self-proclaimed “legacy student” wrote this column (excerpt: “I am kept up at night by the thought that simply because my father has attended and donated to the University, I might have taken the spot of a more qualified applicant”), a number of people are getting vocal, including Harvard’s Black Community Leaders and IvyGate.  [Crimson]

Any Other Fringe Lovers Mixed Up by Geography? Amber Ying breaks down why the directions from this week’s episode are just plain wrong.  [Diabola in Musica h/t Universal Hub]