Mass Governor Attacks Tax Payers

There is some nasty politics being played by Governor Deval Patrick. We've seen these games before. They want to raise taxes. There has been a promise by the Governor to raise the sales tax. In recent months there has been talk of increasing tolls on the Mass Pike, and even talk of a "candy tax". This week we hear they may have to close the Boston Zoo (Franklin Park), and the story even talks about euthanizing animals! Locally they are telling us that they will have to close the local Registry of Motor Vehicles branch in North Attleboro. This is calld a "Quality of life attack", and it is by design. It is a strategic manuever by a desperate Governor who's approval ratings continue to slide.

We get smacked with this new wave of budget cuts that are clearly targeting the average family. These attacks on the average tax payers are an obvious attempt to gain approval for the tax increases the Governor wants to push through. They hope that the conversations at the local bars and grocery stores become: "well, I guess if it's THAT bad that they have to close the Zoo and the Registry may be we really do need to pay more taxes". Think Deval has ever been to the registry? Think that closing a few motor vehicle offices effects anyone on Becon Hill?

I have an idea for the Governor: STOP HIRING more and more 100K new jobs in the State House! Show us better token gestures of the state cutting back costs than turning off the lights on the Zakim bridge. Where are the cost suts that don't lower the quality of life for the masses? When does the State tighten it's OWN belt? The free spending, bigger government liberals that are now running the show need more of our money to keep the party going during the worst ecomonic crisis in 30 years.

We are being attacked by the very people we have elected (he didn't get my vote). We should not be intimidated or pushed around by OUR elected officials. I plan to call the Governor's office Monday to express my opinion, and hope you will do the same: Governor's Office: 888-870-7770 You can email Governor Patrick as well.

Liam on the Foxboro Reporter!

Check out Liam on the front page of the Foxboro Reporter! He is the cool dude with the sunglasses on the bottom left (far feft, not wearing a cap). Liam rode on the Taylor School float in this years Foxboro Founders Day parade. Pretty cool huh?

Comcast Center Parking Sucks!

This week Jack and I went to his first real concert: Drop Kick Murphy's & Aerosmith at the Comcast Center in Mansfield (formerly known as great Woods).

Parking is FREE which is awesome. Given ticket prices and especially the "service fees" that come with buying tickets directly from the venues preferred seller (which makes no sense to me) a little something like free parking *should* be included!

My sons first concert was a great experience. He is only 11 and I wasn't sure if he was ready for a classic rock show like this, but there was really no part of the experience of going to and experiencing the show that I would deem a negative. He loves Guitar Hero Aerosmith, he knew all the songs, and was really into the whole thing from start to finish.

It is unfortunate that the night had to end the way it did. We were among the first fans to bolt for the parking lots as the last song of the encore ended. Our seats were only 1 section from the exit and were only 7 rows up from the main concourse to that exit. We got in the car at 11:03 pm, and made it about 20 feet before we sat for more than an hour and a half.

Our house is less than 6 miles from the Comcast Center and we didn't get home until 12:50 am, so it took us nearly 2 hours. Aerosmith only played for about an hour and a half, so it took us longer to get home than the main act even played for.

I realize that anytime you put a few thousand people in cars, into a relatively small area it will take time to get them all out. I get it. That said, it should just not take 2 hours to get out, they have to do better. You have a major highway 100ft away. You have a lot of land and could better spread out the exits. You could stop catering to the Premier Parking sections which were all empty long before my car made it up that far to the entrance.

It's not my job to solve it, it is yours Comcast Center. I am not in a hurry to go back, knowing that I need to add 2 hours to my Tuesday night just to sit in my car, 6 miles from home. Figure it out and fix it, what you are doing is simply unacceptable and not good enough.

My List of Twitter Resources

Twitter Resources

Twitter.com - Do you Twitter? Sign-Up Now!


Directories/Find Twitter Users to Follow

We Follow - A user powered Twitter directory

JustTweetIt - Find other users like you!

TwitR - Another Twitter directory

HashTweeps - Find Twitter users by hash terms

Twello - The Twitter Yellow Pages

Mr. Tweet - Helps you discover great people

Twubble - Can help expand your Twitter bubble



Find Hot/Cool/Popular Tweets

TweetMeme - Tracks popular links on Twitter

HashTags.org - What's happening right now on twitter

DailRT - The most popular Tweets on the web

TweetStats - Researching individual behavior on Twitter

Trendrr - Keep track of trends and compare information

TweetScan - Another search engine for Twitter

Twitturly - Popular URL's on Twitter

Twitterfall - Recent tweets related to the trend keep falling from the top

TweetTag - Find all the links & referencesrelated to particular word.



Share Images & other Files via Twitter

TwitPic - Share Images on Twitter

Tweet Cube - Share your files via Twitter

yfrog - Another image sharing site for Twitter

TweetTube - Sharing stuff on Twitter

Twitsnaps - Image sharing and more
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Stay Connected/Dashboards/Email
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TweetDeck - Cool application that becomes your personal Twitter dashboard

Twitterfall - Watch tweets from all over the Twittersphere drop in real time

Tweet Beep - get Twitter Alerts! by email.

Twirl - Twhirl is a desktop client for Twitter

Twitter Mail - Send Tweet via Email and Tweet anywhere!

Qwitter - E-mails you when someone stops following you

Twitteroo - Update your Twitter status from your Desktop

Twitterific - Making Twitter extra terrific



Design/Backgrounds/Icons

MyTweetSpace - One of the simplest ways to create a Twitter background.

Twitterbacks - Templates perfect for creating your ideal Twitter background.

Tweeplecard - Tweeple Card production tool



Other Twitter Resourses
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Twi.bz - URL shortener that helps displays original domain name

PollYourFollowers - Put a poll on your Twitter page

Tweet BackUp - Free way to back-up all your Tweets!
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TweetLater - One of my favorites! Schedule your Tweets and more

TwitterSnooze - Hit the snooze button on your "verbose" Twitter friends

TwittTown - A couple of useful tools to check out here

Twittad - Monetize your Twitter profile

TweetTree - Twitter app that visualizes your friends in a recursive tree

Big HUGE List of Twitter Stuff

Business Twitter'ers: Please Practice Better Twittiquette!

When will business and media outlets stop and try and actually understand how and why the 10 million users they are trying to reach actually use Twitter?

I keep Twitter open in a tab most of the day, and will refresh every so often to see what new Tweets the people I have chosen to follow took the time to post. It is a great experience when there is a variety of posts to sift through. You scan through, pick a couple to focus on and explore further, others get may get passed on, but you know that the source is one that will grab your attention next time. I have spoke to other people who use it similarly.

Here is where so many of the commercial Twitter'ers don't deliver properly. They post little or nothing for hours at a time and then when they come online they post 20 Tweets in 5 minutes. It's like an Outlook reminder went off and they yelled at an intern to post all the Tweets! Looking at my feeds from today since about 8am this morning until 7pm tonight, , ESPN posted about 7 Tweets from 8:00am until after lunch. Good messages that were interesting to me, in a steady volume, so each time I refreshed (every 1/2 hour or so) they had a place on my screen among the other 20 post that you can see without clicking more. Then something happened. In the next hour alone there were 11 ESPN Tweets in a row, all within 2 minutes. Now I had to scroll to the bottom, click more to see the ones that had been pushed off my screen by ESPN spamming me with 11 consecutive tweets taking up better than 1/2 my screen. Less than 2 hours later they did it again with 10 Tweets in less time than a TV commercial break would take.
USA Today seems to ignore me for the bettr artof each hour and then they post 3-5 news tweets all in a row. NESN and WEEI do the same. Quiet, silent, unseen, and then BANG here are 6+ quick hits. I guess they can go to their boss and proudly boast that they posted 50 Tweets today, but what they fail to consider is what user experience they provided their users (a poor one) and how much attention those messages got (not as much as if they did it right!).

I have taken to sending direct messages to the offending commercial Twitter'ers asking them to consider practicing better Twittiquette and mentioning that I (and others) will unfollow them if they don't get with the program. I have already unfollowed a couple of sources and really don't WANT to lose ones like ESPN, but I will not sacrifice the entire user experience because of any one source that takes anything away from the enjoyment I get from the tool when it works as it should.

Let Michael Vick Play

Michael Vick was released from prison today causing a lot of discussion about whether or not he should be allowed to play football in the NFL again. I don't understand the question. Does anybody question a convicted rapist's right to have a job after he does his time in prison? I always thought this guy was a punk and was somewhat happy when he got busted, but just because we don't like someone or what they did doesn't mean they deserve to be treated differently than someone we do like. How many NFL players have been arrested for domestic abuse, yet are still allowed to play in the league?

Some say playing in the NFL is a privilege not a right. Fans need to remember that that pro sports are not public property. If a team wants to hire him, he should be able to accept that offer should he choose too, I guess if he was going to be a garbage man, nobody would want to deny him THAT opportunity to work, but because the NFL is high paying and glamorous, we feel he is not worthy? If people against his playing, don't buy a ticket, don't go or watch the games he plays in, but don't deny a person the right to work

I love dogs, I have a dog. I hate what he did but who doesn't deserve a second chance? People get 2nd chances in this country everyday - I certainly have had more than 2... Other athletes with different offenses get 3rd and 4th chances. If this guy messes up again, then crucify him, but until then, let's be fair and let him practice his profession, earn a living, and try and redeem himself.

Massachusetts Dog Racing Not Dead Yet!

Well, it appears that finally someone realizes that right now might not be the best time to shut down Mass Dog racing tracks! Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) filed a budget amendment today that would delay implementing the dog racing ban until Jan. 1, 2012. Thank God a voice of reason has emerged among the animal rights alarmists.

I mean come on, is this REALLY the best time to put 600 people out of work at Raynham alone? What about the 10 million that establishment pays in state taxes each year? Why can't they take $100K of that revenue and hire reputable people to regulate the sport and protect the animals, so that we don't have to lay off hundreds and give up millions?

Hopefully this delay gains some momentum... here is a short Boston Herald article on the latest development: http://bit.ly/xwHMN