Massachusetts now the "Dot Commonwealth" 143
RomulusNR writes "The 'state' of Massachusetts is firing back at years of Siliconia by nicknaming itself the ".commonwealth". (Ya see, MA isn't really a state, it's a Commonwealth, as are KY, VA, and PA, allowing them to come up with this somewhat tacky nickname.)
Boston Globe has a story on this, and there's also the official .COMmonwealth site.
Oh, and another groaner: MA is also now "the state of things to come". " Yes, it is official: Virgina - the .com state and MA are now in competition.
Nevada: The .mob state. (Score:1)
Re:States might consider doing more than marketing (Score:1)
So, some of them ARE thinking about it.
...phil
Uh, the places we care about aren't on the Big Map (Score:2)
--
Re:Just wondering (Score:1)
Nobody's Mentioned VA... (Score:1)
Y'all :^) think that stuff is bad, Virginia just released special license plates that proclaim VA the Internet c@pital -- and yes, they screwed the pooch on the spelling of "capitol". Even though they border Washington DC, which is often inaccurately called the "Capital".
Sigh.
Re:Nobody's Mentioned VA... (Score:1)
I thought capitol was a place, and capital was a letter or money
BTW, I sure hope Mozilla fixes those character entity problems... :^)
Commercialization Goes A Bit Too Far (Score:2)
OK.
When the Stick became 3Com(soon to rename itself 3.Com, I'm sure
When the Oakland Colliseum was rechristened Network Associations Station, thus making all games there played "At The Net", I shrugged a bit.
I mean heh, corporations do these kind of things--it's just the 90's version of the Commercial Jingle. Who are we to complain.
I really feel for Massachusetts taxpayers, who are funding this...ummm...experiment in corporate sleazification of the government. I feel so much, that I've got a little list for them. Without further ado...
TOP TEN SIGNS CORPORATE INTERNET MARKETING AND GOVERNMENT POLICY HAS HAS CONVERGED A BIT TOO MUCH.
10. www.speedingticket.com
9. No Property Taxes!*
8. New Position: Justice of the Piece
7. New, easy to fake California Drivers Licenses have "hily sek00r" Autobot/Decepticon Authentication Systems.
6. deltree k:\ansas\biology
5. "Superfund 2, brought to you by your friends at McDonalds. Isn't Ronald's hair a special color?"
4. http://www.whitehouse.gov, now with new and improved autopopup windows to http://www.gore2000.com and http://www.whitehouseinterns.com(gotta recruit some stiffs...)!
3. Watch C-SPAN for 20 hours a month and get a check from http://www.capitoladvantage.com
2. [ ] Nuke
[ ] Don't Nuke
[SUBMIT]
1. lobby.ebay.com
* With three years of modem rate MSN at a low low low price of $19.95 a month.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
A true .story (Score:2)
Lawson.Commons. (pronounced "Lawson dot commons")
I kid you not.
I give it five years on the outside for the "." to be quietly dropped from the building's name...
---
Maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains that you refuse.
Like there aren't enough Masshole jokes already (Score:1)
Sure, Boston has a public transportation system, but does it run out to the route 128 "technology corridor"? Only by accident (commuter rail, green line).
I sure hope that bridge being build in the middle of downtown is pretty so it can take my mind off the utter stupidity this state manifests some times. I blame the puritans.
Ugh.
Re:Vying for stupidest attempt to be web-hip... (Score:1)
I will give it a shot and probably cover up the URL with some other URL. My truck right now has a vanity plate on front that says MLDOTORG
Re:I like it, it's clever (Score:1)
And, if you're ever in Downtown Crossing, look around for a plaque set into the ground. It marks the precise spot at which the hub is located.
And when we get mad... (Score:1)
Get it Right... (Score:1)
NOW they've done it... (Score:3)
When the Patriots set a record for worst spanking in a Super Bowl, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
When the ball went through Buckner's legs, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
When Mike Dukakis got crushed in the '88 presidential election, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
When our economy went in the tank in the early '90s, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
When, in the midst of a boom, all our key local institutions (New England Telephone, Jordan Marsh, Digital, Shawmut bank, and many others) got gobbled by out-of-state companies, leaving us a corporate backwater, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
When the Sox spit the bit again, to the hated Yankees, I wasn't embarassed to say "I'm from Massachusetts".
But the
For a better view of our fine state, try The Massholes page [masshole.com]. Much more appropriate than some lame-ass marketing slogan...
- -Josh Turiel
The states are missing the boat utterly. (Score:1)
First, of course, the idea is not to attract tourists, it's to attract Internet businesses. That's the big miss there: Internet-based businesses don't move. They're home grown, from local nourished talent. They're based on a successful strategy for changing a "pre-E" business idea and "net-enabling" it (my hair feels pointier already) or they're the product of very smart people who understand what's possible with what they already have at hand. Almost no one says "can't start my E-business here, I better up and move to Mass. or Virginia!" Perhaps some of the larger success stories will satellite out on those criteria, but not really that many.
The best route to growing e-businesses is actively building infrastructure - I think most of these regions are keen on this - and then emphasizing local education on every level to create and nurutre smart, talented, adventerous people.
And THEN: making life INTERESTING for them. That's one way that the Bay Area and the Boston area have it all over a lot of places: each is a fun place to be, with cultures that value intelligence and difference. Each are stimulating, exciting, and diverse. The brightest and best, essentially, don't want to be bored to tears.
One of my closer friends comes from Huntington, West Virginia. He describes it as a very "well-wired" place that tries to push itself as technologically cutting edge. I asked him if, insofar as he's In Our Field and very competitive and sought-after, he'd ever go back (he lives and works in San Francisco.) Essentially, the answer was "HELL no."
Ironically, some of things that make a region a good ".com" region are the things that they emphasize the least: arts, education, culture, nightlife, music, and diversity.
Better yet (Score:1)
Locate anywhere, Incorporate in Delaware (Score:1)
Chuck
Massachusetts was first (Score:2)
Stomach .complaints (Score:1)
--Tom
Commonwelth: what is the deal with that? (Score:1)
And what about Rhode Island: isnt that the commonwelth of tabaco growers or something?
Born and bred in Massachusetts ... (Score:2)
I mean, how people tolerate this "snow" stuff is beyond me. And daytime temperatures that regularly drop below 60? Like, to 20 and even lower?
I'm surprised anyone still lives there. I live in Southern California now, and I'd never, ever go back.
D
----
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
Re:Commonwelth: what is the deal with that? (Score:2)
RI's offical name is "State of Rhode Island and Providence Planitations." You were close.
Well then... Maybe Cuthulu should run for governor there.
46 states... (Score:1)
Maybe the United States aren't so united.
Digital Wokan, Tribal mage of the electronics age
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
Re:commonwealth? (Score:1)
Silly Yanks. (Score:1)
Vying for stupidest attempt to be web-hip... (Score:1)
I suppose this is marginally better than the current plates that say "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania". And (offtopic rant) much better than the scary signs hanging all over the Philadelphia airport saying "Philadelphia - the city that loves you back." Ewwwwwwwwww!
And hey, Pennsylvania is a commonwealth too! So why not www.commonwealth.pa.us?
Re:Well, yes. (Score:1)
So why don't they make it .com friendly? (Score:1)
-m
Imagine... (Score:2)
-Chris
Tech come and go but human nature stays the same (Score:2)
2000 - My nuke is bigger than your nuke
2100 - My AI can run circles around your AI?
Well, politicians have to do something to justify their hefty salaries while the rest of us get on with the real work
LL
Re:I, Marketer (Score:1)
And yes although I love the state and grew up there I still think this is really dumb.
-cpd
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
My $.02...
Beren
At least Pennsylvania's technologically smart.. (Score:3)
Anyways, Pennsylvania's done something much *much* better than MA. We got new license plates this year. They're blue white and yellow, very tasteful IMO. And at the bottom (in PA, you don't have a county sticker/stamp) is a good one liner.
www.state.pa.us
HA! Touche, MA. God I love living in a state that has a sense of decency and taste.
-RISCy Business | Rabid unix guy, networking guru
Big.Dig and the People's Republic of Taxachusetts (Score:1)
Well, yes. (Score:1)
1. Repeal all Blue Laws
2. Expand permits for entertainment venues, including public concerts, and liquor licenses
3. Double the mass transit system (on some variable)
4. Promote sensible housing costs
As for high tech talent, increasing network connectivity would be #5. Somewhere around #6 or #7 would be where I start worrying about advertising.
But then again, I'm not a rabbit-footed Republican second-rate governor named Paul Cellucci, so there you go.
Romulus
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:2)
The revolutionary era choice of the world "commonwealth" is supposed to indicate that, as a state, it is a voluntary association of the people formed to pursue the common weal. A run of the mill "state" might be an association forced by a ruler who claimed divine right.
There was serious revolutionary sentiment in Massachusetts at the time. It isn't well known, but after the American revolution, there was a subsequent revolt [shaysnet.com] by farmers who wanted to secede from the mercantile interests in Boston, on the basis that they were running the state for their own private interests. It was put down, but concessions were made and the politics of Massachusetts has never been the same since.
Re:Yeah, RIGHT! (Score:2)
Boston might not be San Francisco, but it is still a really great place to be a twenty-something; there's plenty going on in the music, art, and geek scene. Just get a nice attic or basement apartment in Davis Square, Somerville, and you're right on the red line to all the action in Cambridge and Boston.
Probably the worst part about starting up a web business is Bell Atlantic, but there are certainly plenty of ISPS around, and a few of them are fairly good.
As for taxes, nobody likes 'em, but you have to figure the total costs of taxes and fees for necessary goverment services (NH doesn't have an income tax, but its property taxes are murder). Anyhow, suppose you're single making about $100K. These are your approximate state and local taxes in several states:
MASSACHUSETTS
MISSISSIPPI
MICHIGAN : 11,000
CALIFORNIA
CONNECTICUT
WASHINGTON STATE:11,800
NEW YORK : 13,600
Massachusetts is about average taxwise, and quite competitive with places like Mississippi in terms of its cultural and educational resources. The weather, or course, sucks.
Re:Vying for stupidest attempt to be web-hip... (Score:1)
(Shudders) Thank the gods I got the hell out of there many years ago... ewwwww....
But back to the original topic... I think it's just another sign of another state trying to prove that they are "on top" of this whole internet thing. Out here In the Land of Lincoln (Illinois) We have some corridor of Industrail parks/offfices off of the Interstate nick named "the Silicon Prarie" (Yes, I gag everytime I hear that term)
Honestly, there are better ways to attract high tech firms to your state.. you don't need some corny-assed slogan/nickname.. (Or websites..
---
I don't spell check, deal with it
Re:I, Marketer (Score:1)
.grassachusetts - if i need to explain this, you need help
"Cogito ergo es... I think, therefore you is." -The King of the Moon's Head,
Oh, my Gawd!! (Score:1)
Like, gahd, this is just so wicked queeah...
like, i was drivin' my cah down ta Hahvahd, like, to hang out at the Hahvahd Yahd, which is just, like, so wicked cool... and i heard some wicked gay geek tawkin about callin the state the "Daht Cawmmanwealth"
like, oh, my, gawd! that is just soo gay!
/flashback
(i do not, in fact, talk anything like that at all, nor do i think "gay" or "queer" are appropriate derogatory terms regardless of pronounciation, so please save the abuse for someone who deserves it
johnny lives in Ma, but for how much longer?
PS... what the hell do i have to do to put a phony html tag in here without it interpreting it as a real html tag? \'s and such did not seem to work %'}
"Cogito ergo es... I think, therefore you is." -The King of the Moon's Head,
The State of Things to Come? (Score:2)
The State of Things to Come? That's just... lame.
------
Re:gimme a break (Score:1)
Ought to get the $$ rolling in on that one.
Re:The State of Things to Come? (OT) (Score:1)
Re:Nobody's Mentioned VA... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Taxachusetts+Massholes (Score:1)
Taxes in Massachusetts are nowhere near as bad as in California or say Arizona (where I live now).
I miss the drivers... Compared to the idiots and old people who drive around Arizona, Massachusetts drivers know how to be total pricks while still avoiding major accidents. I swear to God, I see a turnover accident involving a pickup and some mini japanese car here at least once every 2 or 3 weeks. You can't drive in the breakdown lane in Arizona because it's always filled with morons who've lost tires or gotten into road-rage induced fender benders.
I'd still rather live in the Bay state than California, but for now, I'm taking a (perhaps) decade break from the mess that is Route 93 (The Big Dig) and the rest of the rat-race... But lucky me, my wife and I have to go back for Christmas!
Re: (Score:1)
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
Taxachusetts+Massholes (Score:1)
-I am why they use compactors now
-Kris
128/Rt3/MiddleSex Turnpike (Score:1)
-Oh and you have to love the traffic when all the companies let out...
-Kris
In related news... (Score:1)
Just a thought . . . (Score:2)
State of things to come? (Score:2)
1. Prostitution is being legalised there
or
2. Microsoft are moving development there
Seriously though, I think these states suddenly "discovering" the internet is not a good thing - they should be spending thier time and money on improving things for the people there.
Calling yourself anything internet related just looks silly, (unless your are "show me" Missouri who need a new slogan), and even then the Missouri Secretary of State's website [state.mo.us] calls itself "The information place"
How long will it be before DC calls itself the
The Legal Name of Mass: (Score:1)
Nothing really new here.
IANAL.
Cheers
The stupidity boggles the mind. (Score:1)
generated by MS Populace Diversion and Misdirection 98. This post will self destruct in ten seconds.
Re:commenwealth? (Score:1)
As far as the techincal term, i am also interested in what technically makes us a commonwealth.
No, nobody here's a commonweath of britan.
I, Marketer (Score:5)
I'm copywriting these before he does it again.
.massmailachusetts - cyber promotions.
.TandAssachusetts - porn domain.
.sundaymassachusetts - for catholics.
.ACHOOsetts - local clarin distributor.
.yahoochusetts - no explanation needed.
.sadomassachusetts - Local S&M forum.
.criticalmassachusetts - Nuclear Regalutory Board.
.gasachusetts - Amoco domain.
Ah, Noble and Proud Massachusetts, land of many names.
Re:Nobody's Mentioned VA... (Score:1)
Can I win some sort of prize for being more "wired"?
Re:Tech come and go (Score:1)
still, there are way too many voices around here who are quick in slamming even a modest move by The State of Maine to acknowledge the 3rd Human Nature revolution.
Re:gimme a break (Score:1)
I do agree that it is annoying and idiotic, but it does work.
Re:commenwealth? (Score:1)
Re:Massachusetts was first (Score:1)
What I want to know is... (Score:1)
"The name, The.commonwealth, was created by a coalition of leading technology associations..."
Does it really take a coalition of anything to come up with a silly nickname? One would think that a single person could do quite adequately. I can just see these people having weeks of meetings and getting paid loads of money just to figure this out. Hell, with that much concentrated brain power, you could light a cigarette.
Re:States might consider doing more than marketing (Score:1)
It's been my experience that the Internet is getting slower and more clogged all the time. It may be time for the Government to step in with some aggressive investments to push this along.
I'm not typically an advocate of Government involvement in the economy beyond what is necessary, but this is probably a good example of a place where Government can really take the lead to provide essential infrastructure.
I don't even foresee a net cost to taxpayers here. Any bandwidth that could be added could be sold at market rates, or perhaps a little less, to pay back the tax payers for the initial capital infusion.
It would seem to me to be a real good first step to encourage eBusiness in your State.
States might consider doing more than marketing (Score:3)
Laying some fat fiber along highway rightaways would be a fairly inexpensive thing to really improve net performance in a given state.
States could link up all the major population centers and also provide grants to carriers to increase coverage in the smaller towns if fiber isn't justified to that area. Local governments could issue bonds to chip in their part. If a small town wanted their own fiber connection to some major hub, there could be matching funds made available or something.
Doing this could really improve intrastate net performance and if the lines were located strategically, could link up with major arteries going out of the state to various high bandwidth destinations like Silicon Valley, Seattle, etc.
It's the kind of thing that is ideal for Government to consider as it requires huge capitalization up-front, but by selling line time to the carriers, at discounted commercial rates, it could be recouped over time. It might also increase the demand for new line construction so dramatically, that the companies that lay fiber could gain huge economies of scale and the price of new lines construction would go down.
Eventually, when the installation was paid for you could give the line time away to carriers based on their ability to provide high bandwidth out-of-state. The carriers who are investing a lot in laying lines now might react negatively at first, but really it's very complimentary to their services as they are generally laying the Extra-state lines that will be big connection points for these lines. Really, if states want to start providing information and services over the net, like they seem to be saying they do, they kind of have a responsibility to make sure their citizens in smaller towns are covered well too.
Having this is justified just for Schools and Universities alone, and would benefit Industry a great deal too. It also would allow Intrastate eCommerce a leg up over eCommerce from far away. I've always thought that regional eCommerce makes a lot of sense in that you can combine the benefits of eCommerce with more efficient distribution (warehouses closer to the customer). A lot of communities are concerned about eCommerce taking serious retail sales away from their local merchants.
Where would Interstate Highways and Hydro-electric power be if we had to wait for Industry to provide them?
you forgot the "i" (Score:1)
I wonder which state will clame to be the iState...
-John
Re:The State of Things to Come? (Score:1)
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
hahahaa, oh dear, hahahahahahahahahahaahaha.
Not sure what's happening in canada. But here in Australa, the
queen has not been thought of as the leader for a
rather long time. In fact, next month australia is
having a referendum on wether or not to cut all ties
to the monarchy, and to form a republic. And the funny thing,
is that the monarchist's aren't even defending the queen
herself as a leader (or rather, head of state) but rather that we don't need change,
and that if we do become a republic, we'll suddenly be
like indonesia and mass riots and instability and fun stuff like that will occur,
the other favourite tactic is that it is all a Big Plot
By The Government (woooooooohhh).
Sometimes I think the real reason australia stays in the
commonwealth is so we can trounce all the other countries at the
commonwealth games every four years.
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
oh well, more gold medals for australia then!
Hidden Commonwealth (Score:2)
Does that preceding dot mean that it's hidden?
Maybe they don't want anyone to find them (unless they know about the -a option :)
New /. Feature (Score:2)
I thought it couldn't get any worse than Sun's last ad campaign. I thought wrong.
Re:128/Rt3/MiddleSex Turnpike (Score:1)
Yeah, it's just like 110 when the Lucent (where I work), HP, and Compaq buildings all get out at 5. Thank god I live in Westford and don't have to fight with all those people trying to get onto 495.
-Bryan
Re:I, Marketer (Score:1)
gimme a break (Score:3)
Re:Taxachusetts (Score:1)
Compared to some other states (Louisiana, New York, California, Connecticut), MA taxes aren't that bad.
But we've gotta do something about that Turnpike.
hahahahaha (Score:1)
this is one of the lamest things i've ever seen. not to offend anyone living there but good god.
good laugh though
Re:NOW they've done it... (Score:1)
The Hub is no Switch (Score:1)
to "The Switch" yhen you must not drive in
Boston....
I think "The Hub" is quite apropriate.
Afterall...there are quite a few places (esp in
Boston Proper and that horrible Pit of a shithole
Cambridge) where the Star Topology is evident.
In cambridge, all roads lead to Harvard Square
or Central Square (depending on which end your at)
Then from there there is one central Road (mass
ave) which connects them to Downtown Boston.
Then of course, once you get just south of Boston
all roads lead to Downtown.
Thus all of these areas are really overcrowded and
a pain to drive through. Of course I supose there
are side routes that bypass the central hubs...
but you have to know how to route through them.
(Not that routing through certain places like
Harvard square are easy...even when there is
little traffic and no colisions)
Of course the "Big Dig" Hopes to help...but its
kinda like laying down a larger backbone that
goes in and through...once your inside the network
the bandwidth is no different (just more sceneic
while you sit there in traffic on acount of no
more raised artery)
-Steve
A Chelsea Resident
Re:Silly Yanks. (Score:1)
e-moose
e-beer
e-hockey
Well, you might see the e-hockey, because it just became marketable down south.
Re:States might consider doing more than marketing (Score:1)
Mmmm...weather. (Score:1)
Right now outside, it's probably 55 degrees. Nice crisp autumn weather.
In a few months we get snow. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, who cares? It's still snow.
Now, the drivers trying to make it through said weather is a different story. The only thing LA has on rt 128is the gun laws (or lack of).
I like it, it's clever (Score:2)
Boston, BTW, is often referred to as the Hub: that too could be changed perhaps to something more modern. Yes, a switch might very well be just the thing.
Oh, and lookee here: slashdot has the word "dot" in it. What suit came up with that, and isn't it making you all sick? Maybe lame dot signatures would be a better name for this site judging from all of the rip-snorting good humor I see here. Of course, theah in New England, John Hancock [johnhancock.com] will always be THE dot signature guy for being first to add his public, key, authenticating mark on the Declaration of Independence, giving us all a general public license to speak our minds.
Of course, they do pronounce open source as open sawce which sounds just like free beer to my ear.
.wannabe (Score:1)
Re:what about me (Score:1)
Re:The stupidity boggles the mind. (Score:1)
Re:Silly Yanks. (Score:1)
Re:Silly Yanks. (Score:1)
Re:Tech come and go but human nature stays the sam (Score:1)
You forgot...
1999 - My OS is better than your OS.
w/m.
Re:The *real* commonwealth (Score:1)
She's a ceremonial figure in Canada as well. However, it's rather anachronistic at this end of the century to have a British monarch as the official head of state. I'm not sure why canada and australia don't finally break off and declare themselves republics. Even Malta did that, and I can't see anybody in Australia rioting in the streets because they can't salute their queen.
In fact, most nations of the commonwealth are independent nations which don't recognize the queen as their official head of state. You can still be a member for the sporting events and the govt. summits which jointly waste everyone's money.
w/m
The *real* commonwealth (Score:2)
The other commonwealth is the CIS [yahoo.com] - Commonwealth of Independent States, a horrible name chosen for the group of nations which were once part of the USSR. Not sure if the CIS still exists in theory, or if they even care.
And now comes Massachusetts, kinda late to the party of entities vying for the moniker "commonwealth", but then it has the advantage of a ghastly URL...
I'd say they're too late to form a name brand at this point, but then, they are too clueless to care.
Wooly Mammoth.