Google + 'Real Names' Policy Spawns Organized Online Resistance

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Google + 'Real Names' Policy Spawns Organized Online Resistance

via techPresident blogs by Nick Judd on 8/4/11

and Becky Kazansky
Google's latest foray into social networking, Google +, has created more controversy than ever — and the company is confronting a wave of online activism over its insistence that users wear their real names when they walk through the Google + front door.
If you're late to this controversy, The Guardian's Jemima Kiss has a good look at the state of play. On her own blog, danah boyd frames it from the view of folks who want the right to their pseudonyms: Google invited a tech-heavy crowd to be the first ones to use their service, including a solid contingent of people from the pre-Facebook Internet, where handles were far more common than real names. Before Michael Arrington's TechCrunch or even Ars Technica, remember, there was — and is — Slashdot, run by a man who is still best known as CmdrTaco.
Read on ...
read more

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to techPresident blogs using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

"the manufacturing license is too restrictive for smaller breweries"

At a time when the economy is still in trouble, with jobs at a premium, this is not the kind of change to make.

On Monday, the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission denied a farmer-brewery license for the planned Idle Hands Craft Ales brewery in Everett. The next day the commission issued an advisory about how those licenses, used by nearly every brewery in the state, will be issued. 

  "The basic issue is that you have a whole bunch of breweries that will have to change how they are operated," said Ipswich Ale Brewery President Rob Martin, who is also president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild.

....

A small brewery producing 600 barrels of beer (roughly 18,600 gallons) would need a 20-acre farm to grow enough barley to qualify for the license. It would also take three or four years before hop plants are mature enough to use in beer, Martin said. 

"It's really a difficult problem," he said. "I think the edict was put out there before all of the nuts and bolts were looked at to see if they actually make sense."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x643165260/Mass-brewers-hopping-mad-over-license-policy-change#ixzz1U3IEVL4a

Revs sign Milton Caraglio as first DP

One could be negative and say the Revs have again gambled (has his knee problem really healed?).

One could also be positive and say the Revs have their first DP!

Given the history with foreign talent, the proof will be seen over time on the pitch. He has young in his favor. Let's see him help the team by staying healthy and score some goals!

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Revs sign Milton Caraglio as first DP

via New England Revolution News on 8/2/11

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution announced today that Argentine forward Milton Caraglio (pronounced car-RAHL-yee-oh) has signed with Major League Soccer and will play for the Revolution as its first-ever Designated Player. Caraglio will occupy one of the team's eight international roster spots. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not released.
Caraglio is expected to join the Revolution for training on Thursday, August 4, and will be added to the team's official roster upon the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate.
Read More

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to New England Revolution News using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Pawsox walk off with a walk

The PawSox got a walk off walk off win on Monday night. Down 3-2 in the 9th, they got a single, made two infield outs then the Louisville pitcher walked a batter and hit a batter to load the bases. The pitcher went on to walk in the tying run and then the winning run. Ryan Lavarnway (who had three strike outs and was hit by a pitch) got the winning RBI by taking the walk on 5 pitches.

McCoy Stadium in the sunlight!

First dip into Lowell

The Lowell Folk Festival has come and gone for its 25th year. I was able to spend Saturday afternoon in the sun enjoying glorious music. A bunch of sherku were crafted listening to the music and absorbing the environment. As long as my phone battery lasted, I was able to post them to Twitter. The battery did give way but the pen and paper did not.

Here is the first batch. There is more to come.

• sherku: Lowell 3
• sherku: Lowell 2
• sherku: Lowell 1