Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Monday, August 28, 2023
Yes, we're back on Facebook
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Sunday's Lemonade stand: a fundraising success story!!!
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Sunday's Lemonade stand: a fundraising success story!!! |
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
DPW updates on the sewer lining work underway around town (video)
"Exciting stuff, if you like Sewer work! The sewer main lining that happened in September is complete and now a crew is in Town Grouting the services and ends.
If you see these guys around town, they are the grouting crew that is the final step to keep the ground water out of the sewer. For a virtual representation of what is being done check out this video - "
Saturday, September 24, 2022
DPW roadwork and construction delayed explained
"Because you asked! Installing a new watermain in the "Country Club" neighborhood. For the most part, the work is going smoothly, however material shortages is slowing the job down. The new water is made of Ductile Iron pipe and it is very short supply due to COVID, which caused the foundry to shut down for a period of time. There is also an increased demand for pipe nationwide because of increased Federal Funding for Public Works projects.Two years ago there was no waiting for pipe, now there is wait time of 26 to 40 weeks till the pipe is available. For example the pipe below was ordered in February, made in New Jersey on 9/10, delivered to Franklin on 9/16 and started going into the ground on 9/19!This project was scheduled for next year, as part of the Town's on going "watermain replacement / new roads" program but we were able to use ARPA funding for this work during the current construction season. The old pipe being replaced is made out of asbestos concrete.If you would like to know more about water pipe, check out this article:Have a great Public Works Day!"
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Stop and think about it Before you share it
"A Facebook post on the Franklin MA Virtual Yard Sale group has been brought to our attention alleging a potential child abduction yesterday. The Facebook post states the child ran away from the attempted abduction and the incident was reported to the police. This post had over 75 shares. After looking into the matter we can confidently say this post is a SCAM. No incident similar to this was reported to the FPD. The poster, Nobuhle Magutshwa, posted the same post on various Facebook groups all around the country. Other activity on her Facebook page is consistent with other social media scams. In the future, any urgent public safety matters like will be shared immediately by the FPD social media accounts."
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How to Spot Misinformation Online |
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Info on the clothing drive scheduled for Saturday was left off the mailer; as you drive to recycle Saturday don't forget the clothing!
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as you drive to recycle Saturday don't forget the clothing! |
Friday, December 31, 2021
Walpole Police and Franklin Police declared 2021 Gingerbread contest Co-Champions
Who won the contest? It finished with co-champions declared
"What a fantastic contest we had this year! 31 departments entered their gingerbread creations! We had some very close matches and it all came down to the last 2! I’d like to congratulate Walpole Police Department and Franklin Police Department on being the 2021 Gingerbread contest Co-Champions!
We had to get a little bit creative this year with the winners. It was so close, right down to the last hours when both Walpole and Franklin had some votes come in that were not actual individual votes, but seemed to be some sort of fake votes (no fault of either department at all). So, to keep the purpose and spirit of the competition alive, both departments are this year’s champs!!! We can’t allow a little something like this ruin the fun we’ve had and the hard work put in from all participating departments and all of the folks that followed and supported their departments throughout the competition!
We were able to raise $1,500 toward a cause to be chosen on Saturday, January 1st! Along with the additional awards decided by me! Have a happy and safe New Year everyone and thank you so much for participating and for your generosity!"
Shared from Facebook -> https://www.facebook.com/shelovespolice/posts/936223143702036
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Franklin Matters Leaving Facebook collection (not going away, just leaving Facebook)
The collection of posts alerting to the removal of the Franklin Matters Facebook page effective Nov 30, 2021.
We're not going away, just leaving Facebook and its corrupt business environment behind.
seven tweets atwitter |
six ways to remain in the know |
five meetings reported on |
four info sessions scheduled |
three more reminders |
two Talk Franklin sessions a month |
one daily newsletter |
Monday, November 29, 2021
On the last day before leaving Facebook My true love sent to me
"On the last day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
A daily newsletter via email"
Yes, only one email and a good one each day with everything that matters!
The audio session to celebrate the anniversary of Franklin Matters can be found here -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
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On the last day before leaving Facebook My true love sent to me |
Sunday, November 28, 2021
On the second day before leaving Facebook My true love sent to me
My true love sent to me
Two Talk Franklin sessions a month"
The two "Talk Franklin" session can be considered a bonus that you receive by subscribing (for free). These sessions with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen get you insights on what's going on that are not available elsewhere.
Saturday, November 27, 2021
On the third day before leaving Facebook My true love sent to me
"On the third day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
Three more reminders'
Very true; there are only three more reminders to sign up for the once per day newsletter before the info stops going to Facebook.
There are other ways to remain in the know (besides the daily newsletter). For info on those check out ->
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/on-sixth-day-before-leaving-facebook-my.html
The audio acknowledging the anniversary this November,
and the leaving of Facebook. There was life before Facebook
and there will be life after. https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
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On the third day before leaving Facebook my true love sent to me |
Friday, November 26, 2021
On the fourth day before leaving Facebook my true love sent to me
"On the fourth day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
Four seasons a year"
Yes, this is a stretch but it does fit the scheme. The information shared here does cover all the season throughout the year including all the high school sports seasons (via HockomockSports.com).
The audio acknowledging the anniversary this November,
and the leaving of Facebook. There was life before Facebook
and there will be life after. https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
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On the fourth day before leaving Facebook my true love sent to me |
Thursday, November 25, 2021
On the fifth day before leaving Facebook, my true love sent to me
"On the fifth day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
Five regular meetings to report on" (Town Council, Finance Committee, School Committee, Board of Health, Community Preservation Committee)
While I 'follow the money" with the Town Council, Finance Committee, and School Committee, the Board of Health and the Community Preservation Committee are usually scheduled such that I can regularly attend.
If you have an interesting in doing any reporting, please feel free to reach out and let me know.
The audio acknowledging the anniversary this November, and the leaving of Facebook.
There was life before Facebook and there will be life after. https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
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On the fifth day before leaving Facebook, my true love sent to me |
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
On the sixth day before leaving Facebook, My true love sent to me
"On the sixth day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
Six ways to remain in the know"
Yes, you can keep informed by
- subscribing via the daily email newsletter
- visiting the webpage
- follow updates via Twitter
- follow the podcast
- listen to the radio
- or participate in the monthly Franklin Matters Q&A session
Happy Anniversary Franklin Matters! Goodbye Facebook!
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
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On the sixth day before leaving Facebook , My true love sent to me |
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
On the seventh day before leaving Facebook , My true love sent to me
On the seventh day before leaving Facebook
My true love sent to me
Seven tweets a twitter'
Happy anniversary Franklin Matters! Goodbye Facebook! (audio)
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/11/happy-anniversary-franklin-matters.html
Yes, the count down is underway....
follow Franklin Matters on Twitter -> https://twitter.com/FranklinMatters
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On the seventh day before leaving Facebook , My true love sent to me |
Sunday, November 14, 2021
"You Are the Object of a Secret Extraction Operation"
"Facebook is not just any corporation. It reached trillion-dollar status in a single decade by applying the logic of what I call surveillance capitalism — an economic system built on the secret extraction and manipulation of human data — to its vision of connecting the entire world. Facebook and other leading surveillance capitalist corporations now control information flows and communication infrastructures across the world.These infrastructures are critical to the possibility of a democratic society, yet our democracies have allowed these companies to own, operate and mediate our information spaces unconstrained by public law. The result has been a hidden revolution in how information is produced, circulated and acted upon. A parade of revelations since 2016, amplified by the whistle-blower Frances Haugen’s documentation and personal testimony, bears witness to the consequences of this revolution."
"In at least two experiments over the years, Facebook has explored what happens when it turns off its controversial news feed ranking system — the software that decides for each user which posts they’ll see and in what order, internal documents show. That leaves users to see all the posts from all of their friends in simple, chronological order.Both tests appear to have taught Facebook’s researchers the same lesson: Users are better off with Facebook’s software calling the shots.The internal research documents, some previously unreported, help to explain why Facebook seems so wedded to its automated ranking system, known as the news feed algorithm. That system is under intense public scrutiny."
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Franklin Matters is leaving Facebook; your alternatives to consider to remain "in the know" (part 1)
Effective Nov 30, 2021 the Franklin Matters Facebook page will go away. You are given notice to find one of the other options to obtain the valuable information shared but not longer directly by me on Facebook.
- You can subscribe via email to the daily update (an easy way) https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html
- You can subscribe via RSS and get everything as it posts (actually the best way) The 7 best RSS Readers for 2021 (I personally use Feedly) https://bloggingwizard.com/free-rss-feed-readers/
- You can follow Franklin Matters on Twitter https://twitter.com/FranklinMatters
Someone can also set up a way to take what I share and share it themselves to Facebook. I have no way to stop that. Folks occasionally do so on their own today.
- Franklin Matters attempt to shut down in 2018 was announced with this post -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/04/fixing-companys-problems-will-take-years.html
- Data leak reported in April 2021 (actually occurred during 2019) -> https://blog.mozilla.org/en/privacy-security/facebook-data-leak-explained/
- Data leak in 2017 -> https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-facebooks-data-breach-affecting-50m-users/
- Cambridge Analytica aftermath -> https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/25/cambridge-analyticas-former-boss-gets-7-year-ban-on-being-a-business-director/
Franklin Matters is leaving Facebook; your alternatives to consider to remain "in the know" (part 1) |
Franklin Police Dept.: Deputy Chief James Mill retires
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Deputy Chief Mill retires (FPD Facebook photo) |
New York Times: "Facebook, Citing Societal Concerns, Plans to Shut Down Facial Recognition System"
"Facebook plans to shut down its decade-old facial recognition system this month, deleting the face scan data of more than one billion users and effectively eliminating a feature that has fueled privacy concerns, government investigations, a class-action lawsuit and regulatory woes.Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Meta, Facebook’s newly named parent company, said in a blog post on Tuesday that the social network was making the change because of “many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society.” He added that the company still saw the software as a powerful tool, but “every new technology brings with it potential for both benefit and concern, and we want to find the right balance.”The decision shutters a feature that was introduced in December 2010 so that Facebook users could save time. The facial-recognition software automatically identified people who appeared in users’ digital photo albums and suggested users “tag” them all with a click, linking their accounts to the images. Facebook now has built one of the largest repositories of digital photos in the world, partly thanks to this software."
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Facebook is shuttering a feature, introduced in December 2010, that automatically identified people who appeared in users’ digital photo albums. Credit...Carlos Barria/Reuters |