Boston Globe weighs in on Romney Facebook Hacking


Bobby Calvan of the Boston Globe interviewed me this afternoon and wrote an excellent story on the Romney Facebook Hacking phenomenon. Hopefully this will bring out more information!

Visit Mitt Romney’s page on Facebook and you’ll see 11.6 million “likes.” Lee Wolf, a self-described liberal who likes nothing about Romney’s politics, was stunned to hear from friends on the online social network that his name had popped up as an apparent supporter of the Republican presidential candidate.

“I don’t believe in anything he says. He’s not somebody I’d be voting for,” said Wolf, who owns the Lobster Shanty, a restaurant in downtown Salem. “I’m still wondering how it happened.”

Others are wondering, too.

Why Do Obama Supporters Appear In Facebook Ads As Romney Fans? – Forbes


Forbes contributor Robert Hof wrote about the Romney Facebook Hacking phenomenon, though he was reluctant to contribute it to “skulduggery,” pointing instead to Facebook’s quickie diagnosis of fat-fingered mobile users. I’ve already shown that, in my case at least, it could not have happened from Facebook Mobile. I’ve also heard from other victims who don’t even own smartphones.

But what on Earth was the name of a friend, who I know is a vocal Obama supporter, doing on a Romney ad? The answer raises questions about how effective, or at least how accurate, these ads are–not necessarily due to a particular fault by Facebook but thanks to the byzantine rules and privacy features that have developed over years of user outrage and resulting Facebook accommodations.

via Why Do Obama Supporters Appear In Facebook Ads As Romney Fans? – Forbes.

Raleigh zoning busts startup

By Takaai Iwabu for the News & Observer


I cringed when I read how a local startup company was busted by Raleigh’s zoning inspectors Tuesday after being featured in Monday’s N&O. This doesn’t look good for a city that is attempting to show it’s startup-friendly.

Then I looked at Takaaki Iwabu’s photo of the group, showing thirteen employees working in the founder’s basement.

Thirteen? Thirteen? Dude, come on! There’s rarely even a dozen people in my company’s RTP office suite and we have thousands of square feet!

This is not a case where a guy and a few close friends are working out of a home office. I think once the company reached 4 employees, tops, it should have found a real space. Either that, or let your employees work out of their own homes using telecommuting. I can imagine how the neighbors must feel about thirteen extra cars in their neighborhood.
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More Dead People for Romney


An inspired wag created a Change.Org petition to have Mitt Romney’s Facebook account suspended. While there’s of course no chance of this actually happening, I did find the following comment from the petition to be interesting:

Terren Braen EASTHAMPTON, MA 1 day ago Liked 0

THEY MADE MY GREAT UNCLE LIKE MITT ROMNEY THE DAY HE DIED. THERE’S NO WAY HE SIGNED ONTO FACEBOOK AND LIKE MITT ROMNEY AS HE WAS DYING. THAT’S JUST SO SO SO RUDE AND ABUSIVE! WHO EVER IS RESPONSIBLE SHOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR THEIR LACK OF RESPECT.