Over the last two budget cycles, every state except North Dakota has had to close a budget gap. But a handful of states stand out for the depth of their fiscal problems. For 2010, seven states had budget gaps totaling more than 25% of general fund spending, as measured by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Of these, six have a clear story about how they ended up in such a mess.
Nevada is battered by weak travel to Las Vegas, while California is heavily reliant on shrinking income tax revenues. Arizona, California and Nevada were all hit particularly hard by the burst of the property…
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Those 2008 predictions of sky-high prices may not have been as wrong as they were premature. Plus: Investing ideas for crude’s comeback.
Mar
15
2010
 
Wait, It Seems Like NO ONE Is Using GowallaPosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley Insider
We got flamed the other day for suggesting that Foursquare was winning the battle to the death between Foursquare and Gowalla — because we counted a lot more Foursquare check-in Tweets in Austin, TX, than Gowalla check-in Tweets when we checked our Twitter feeds. Well that’s because Foursquare Tweets are “check-in spam,” said Gowalla investor Chris Sacca. Foursquare and Gowalla, Chris says, are running neck and neck. See Also:
Blue-chip stocks offer the potential for big gains with below-average risk right now. Here are some promising names and 3 funds that can help you play them. Worried you may need helping hands in your twilight years? Look to long-term-care insurance to make it affordable. And planning and flexibility can hold down premiums. Sticker prices tell only part of the story about car costs. Here’s help in figuring out how new cars are likely to compare in terms of insurance premiums.
Mar
15
2010
Here’s What Twitter’s CEO Was Trying To Tell You About @Anywhere When Umair Haque Wrecked His SXSW KeynotePosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley Insider
We gather Ev Williams’s SXSW keynote interview was so dull it made attendees “want to scratch their eyes out.” In any event, courtesy of Ev’s partner Biz Stone on Twitter’s blog, here’s what he was trying to say: When we designed Twitter, we took a different approach—we didn’t require a relationship model like that of a social network. Keeping things open meant you could browse our site to read tweets from friends, celebrities, companies, media outlets, fictional characters, and more. You could follow any account and be followed by any account. As a result, companies started interacting with customers, celebrities connected with fans, governments became more transparent, and people started discovering and sharing information in a new, participatory manner.
We’ve developed a new set of frameworks for adding this Twitter experience anywhere on the web. Soon, sites many of us visit every day will be able to recreate these open, engaging interactions providing a new layer of value for visitors without sending them to Twitter.com. Our open technology platform is well known and Twitter APIs are already widely implemented but this is a different approach because we’ve created something incredibly simple. Rather than implementing APIs, site owners need only drop in a few lines of javascript. This new set of frameworks is called @anywhere.  Twitter will be part of our favorite sites!When we’re ready to launch, initial participating sites will include Amazon, AdAge, Bing, Citysearch, Digg, eBay, The Huffington Post, Meebo, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Salesforce.com, Yahoo!, and YouTube. Imagine being able to follow a New York Times journalist directly from her byline, tweet about a video without leaving YouTube, and discover new Twitter accounts while visiting the Yahoo! home page—and that’s just the beginning. Twitter has proven to be compelling in a variety of ways. With @anywhere, web site owners and operators will be able to offer visitors more value with less heavy lifting. See Also:
Mar
15
2010
Prison Mobile Phone Debate Jammed Up in the SystemPosted by: wiredtechbiz in Wired Tech BizOn paper, it’s a no-brainer: Prisoners have mobile phones they are using to run gangs, call friends, and intimidate witnesses. It’s technically possible to jam the phones, but the 1930s law setting up the nation’s telecommunications bureaucracy makes this illegal — and a bill that would allow it is in legislative limbo.
Mar
15
2010
Twitter CEO Launches @Anywhere to Tepid Audience ReactionPosted by: wiredtechbiz in Wired Tech BizTwitter CEO Evan Williams announces a plan to bring status updates to a variety of other websites. His keynote presentation at SXSW does not get a wow from his audience, Many critics weigh in on — ironically — Twitter.
Mar
15
2010
SXSW Attendees Rip Into Twitter CEO’s KeynotePosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley Insider
It did not go well. (Remember Sarah Lacy’s horrible interview keynote with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2008? This was worse) See Also:
Mar
15
2010
Facebook Was More Popular In The U.S. Than Google Last Week (GOOG)Posted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley Insider
Facebook has notched another traffic victory over Google, according to Hitwise data. Last week Facebook was the most popular site on the web. Facebook has done this on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th, according to Hitwise. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
Mar
15
2010
SXSW: MOG’s Mobile Music Apps Go Beyond the PlaylistPosted by: wiredtechbiz in Wired Tech BizPulling from the subscription service’s vast library of more than 7 million songs, the newly announced apps for iPhone and Android will let users download as many as their phones will hold.
Mar
15
2010
Forget Foursquare, Gowalla’s CEO Is In A Fight To The Death With His HairPosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley InsiderIf Gowalla CEO Josh Williams isn’t worried about Foursquare, it’s because he doesn’t have time to be. He’s too busy fighting his hair. Watch Josh Williams Vs. His Hair, as it went down on Bloomberg TV today: See Also:
Mar
15
2010
An Amazing Magazine Stand Of The Future DemoPosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley InsiderWhat will magazine stands look like when iPad apps replace print editions? Check out this amazing demo from Cynergy’s Todd Clare at SXW, via eMedia Vitals. We will be able to place a tablet computer on a special table like this one from Microsoft Surface, recognize your profile, and drag the magazines onto the device in real time. Join the conversation about this story » See Also:
Mar
15
2010
Twitter Announces "@Anywhere" For Deeper Integration With Third Party SitesPosted by: siliconalleyinsider in Silicon Alley Insider
Twitter CEO Ev Williams just announced @Anywhere, a program to allow deeper Twitter integration on third-party sites. Ev made the announcement during a keynote Q&A at SXSW. @Anywhere will grant a wide range of sites access to data from Twitter feeds for use in a variety of applications. Ev demonstrated a feature called “Hovercards”, which brings up Twitter info on a person when a user holds the cursor over that person’s name in a block of text. See Also:
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