Our own Ron Newman, a longtime participant in the Davis Square LiveJournal community, reports that he, former Somerville Journal editor Deb Filcman and 100 "John and Jane Does" are being sued for more than $5 million for libel by Turbine founder Johnny Montserrat.
Newman doesn't mention what the specific discussion in question is about, but in 2010, the LiveJournal site featured a a lengthy discussion about Montserrat's arrest following a party at his house.
Russian Sledgescocoa rum puffs
Once mixed, the mezcal aroma joined that of the spicy pepper garnish. A creamy sip led into a gentle mezcal swallow containing a touch of cherry and chocolate notes. Over all, the drink made for a delightful dessert cocktail.
Russian Sledgesvia hlcomms:
' conservators conserve historic and artistic works, conservationists conserve the planet'
'The important thing, it would seem, is that no matter what our job title -- be it archivist, librarian, or “conservationist” -- we all wear hipster glasses.'
Todd English is refinancing his culinary empire, which now stretches from Charlestown to Las Vegas. Locally, the infusion of money means English will be able to pay the state of Massachusetts and the company that operates Faneuil Hall back payments for Kingfish Hall, which closed under a cloud of acrimony last year.
Ron Chorney, CFO of Todd English Enterprises, Inc., gave the financial update to the Boston Licensing Board this morning, at a hearing to request more time to sell the restaurant's main remaining asset - its liquor license.
Chorney told the board that after Kingfish Hall closed, the Department of Revenue demanded roughly $215,000 in back taxes. The company has since paid $24,000, he said, adding refinancing would free up enough cash to pay off the remainder. He added the new cash will also let the company settle claims from Quincy Market for back rent and repairs to the former restaurant space; he said the exact amount for that "is in negotiations right now."
English's attorney, Dennis Quilty, said another restaurant that had sought English's license backed out of the deal because of concerns the state or the landlord would seek control of the license to pay off their debts. Once the state and the landlord are paid, the license should be sold very quickly, Qulity said. Based on past sales, it could go for upwards of $300,000, in a city where licenses are in high demand, in part because of a state limit on the total number of liquor licenses.
The board votes Thursday on English's request.
Russian Sledgesattn overbey, binder clip enthusiast
Peter Bristol created this binder clip bag in 2007 and now he's looking for manufacturing partners: "The binder icon functions so well as a bag you can almost take it seriously. Constructed of wool felt and aluminum tubing."
Clip Bag (via Super Punch) 
    
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Netflix may have more original programming coming in the months ahead, but the company is also going to be losing quite a few titles as well. According to InstantWatcher, a site that catalogs the comings and goings of Netflix's streaming catalog, the service will be saying farewell to 1,794 different titles in May. That number includes 15 seasons of South Park, old horror movies like Audrey Rose, and James Bond classics like Dr. No and Goldfinger. According to Slate, the drop comes because several licensing deals Netflix has in place with studios like MGM, Warner Bros., and Universal are expiring.
While it has been posited that the titles were disappearing because they were heading to the Warner Instant Archive streaming service, that...
Russian Sledgesvia firehose
Online apartment and home rental service Airbnb is beginning to require that its users verify their identity with a government-issued photo ID or other personal information before booking stays. The service, which allows users to rent out their own property to others, has struggled with safety concerns for both hosts and guests, and it's now attempting to quell security concerns by banning pseudonyms and anonymity. By the end of 2013, the company aims to have all users verified using both personal information as well as an online account, such as Facebook.
Airbnb needs to make users feel safe
Airbnb has previously offered verification by linking to a social network, but the service was only optional. Starting today, a quarter of its US users will be required to fully verify their identity, while the rest of its US and international users will be mandated to verify before the end of the year. If users don't want to submit a photo ID, they also have the option of answering a series of questions similar to a credit check. However, Airbnb doesn't intend to use this data to assist law enforcement — the company only plans to use the information for verifying a user's real name and identity.
The company has worked to address security concerns since reports in 2011 that a guest robbed and damaged a host's property. Nearly a year later, Airbnb began insuring hosts up to $1 million in the event of damage from guests. It's now asking a lot more of its users before allowing them to book stays — but it could increase users' trust in each other, and ultimately, their trust in Airbnb as well.
Russian Sledges"though Digg says its product might not have robust social features at launch, it considers them a priority and plans to offer them at some point in the future."
New RSS reading services have been launching left and right ever since Google announced its plans to kill Reader on July 1st, but one of the most interesting options is coming from a rather unlikely source, the resurrected social news platform Digg. Digg revealed its plans to offer an RSS reader shortly after Google's announcement in March, and now it says that a beta version of the service will be available in June. That's good, because if Digg is going to capture the the remaining RSS addicts that haven't switched to a new service yet, its going to want to have its product launch before Reader shuts down.
According to the company's informal, survey-based research, a large number of respondents (40 percent of the 8,600 participants) are willing to pay for a proper Google Reader replacement, even though Reader was available for free. Digg also found that Google Reader's old social features aren't a priority for many people, and that over a third of respondents didn't use a read-later service, such as Pocket or Instapaper. Despite that, though Digg says its product might not have robust social features at launch, it considers them a priority and plans to offer them at some point in the future. It also plans to support Pocket, Instapaper, Evernote, and Readability for read-later options. The app will also offer the ability to share stories via email and major social networks.
Digg's service will have plenty of competition
While Google Reader was the dominant RSS reading tool for years, it's eventual disappearance has created a boom in alternative services. Digg's RSS reader will be competing with popular up-and-coming free services such as Feedly, and paid options such as Feedbin and the just launched Feed Wrangler. We still don't know what the best option for Google Reader lovers will be, but it's safe to say there will be plenty to choose from come July 1st.
German Immigrants to North America (1853)
J.B. Metzler's map of Immigrants to North America (German). From 1922. Immigrants to North America Date: 1853 Author: J.B. Metzler Dwnld: Full Size (13mb) Print Availability: See our Prints Page for more details pff This map isn't part of any series, but we have other thematic maps that you might want to check out. Lots of Germans, it seems, were making their ways to the United States in the mid-19th...
the BIG Map Blog - Interesting maps, historical maps, BIG maps.
Russian Sledgesthis is what I told the boys in high school when I was co-founding the gay/straight alliance
didn't work
Russian SledgesSpoke had a goat whey thing when they first opened and it ruled
Where The Current Wave Began.
George Bryan “Beau” Brummell.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee this week signed off on the final installment of a six-year effort to make language in Washington state's copious laws gender-neutral.
A new study reveals what Islam means in different countries
ISLAMIC law, in many eyes, has overtones of rigid puritanism. Yet some of its staunchest backers are also strong supporters of religious pluralism, reports the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, in a survey of 38,000 Muslims conducted in 39 countries. In Morocco 78% of respondents think that non-Muslims are very free to practice their faith there, and 79% of those think this is “a good thing”. Yet 83% want sharia enshrined in law. A majority of Thais (77%) and Pakistanis (84%) yearn for Islamic law too. But most also say that other religions are very free to worship (79% and 75% respectively)—and they agree that this is, overwhelmingly, “a good thing”. Religious freedom, however, is a slippery term, with implications for individuals and for the collective practice of faith. Muslims in some countries both strongly approve of religious freedom—and support the death penalty for apostates from Islam. Three-quarters of Pakistanis who favour sharia do. Views vary over how sharia should be applied. Tunisian backers, though keen on religious judges (62%), have far less appetite for executing apostates (29%). And those countries where most support sharia are not always its strictest followers. Though around three-quarters endorse it in both Indonesia and Egypt, less than half of those Indonesians support stoning for adultery; in Egypt, 81% do. Yet 74% of Egyptians who favour sharia also think it should apply to non-Muslims, the highest proportion among polled countries.
CORRECTION: The original version of this post misread a footnote in Pew's fine study. The first chart and the text were changed to reflect this on May 3rd.
Russian Sledgesace autoshare
Russian Sledges"I suppose you have no choice but to revolutionize the world"
DOLCE & GABBANA FW 2006
crying because i’ll never be rich enough to afford this perfect outfit.
