Posts Tagged: budgeting

Facebook v. Google+ What It’s Really about Is Connectivity

Yesterday, I commented on Dannielle Blumenthal’s “5 Reasons Why Facebook will beat Google+ Easily” In essence: I disagree. Here are Dannielle’s reasons: Brand: She says “Facebook is about staying connected with friends. Google is about making the world’s data searchable.” But to me, and most people with GMail, Picasa, Blogger, and Reader accounts, (to sayRead… Read more »

Making broadband a right – a lesson for the states?

Tweet Print PDF Broadband access in the United States is an issue fraught with strong opinions on topics from speed to funding to net neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) backed by the support of the Obama Administration is pushing a variety of initiatives to increase broadband access nationwide in order to close the technologyRead… Read more »

Minnesota shuts down government; Gov. Dayton and legislature cannot agree on budget

Deltek Analyst Randi Powell and Sr. Analyst Chris Cotner report. In a press release dated June 30, 2011, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said, “I deeply regret that the last week of intense negotiations between Republican legislative leaders and Senator Bakk, Representative Thissen, and myself have failed to bridge the divide between us.” He continued, “OurRead… Read more »

TTC wants to charge riders for text alerts

The Toronto Transit Commission (ON) wants to start charging customers for using its next-vehicle text-messaging system. TTC proposes to charge customers 15 cents per message when the system expands from streetcars to buses this fall. Under the proposal, the first two texts within a 24-hour period would be free; customers would only pay if theyRead… Read more »

Weekly Round-up July 01, 2011

Gadi Ben-Yehuda Hang up and drive into the sunset. Business News Daily reports on a poll showing that nearly 75 percent of Americans want access to their data while they’re on vacation and nearly one out of five wants data access on their honeymoon! E unum, pluribus? Mike Rupert, a former colleague of mine fromRead… Read more »

Finger Pointers Need to Look in the Mirror

How many times have we been in situations where we think, “if this person would just . . .” It doesn’t matter if it is a coworker or a spouse we know the issue at hand could be easily addressed if the other party would just do something different. Our frustration rises as we lookRead… Read more »

Making Mobile Gov: Discuss Mobile Budget

Day two of the Making Mobile Gov challenges rollout is about the mobile budget. Mobile projects–like all projects–are subject to available budget. Efforts can be delayed, cut-back or stopped without proper funding. It’s an even bigger challenge since mobile efforts are new and government budget cycles are long. Mobile costs can include data cleanup, mobileRead… Read more »

Hot-and-bothered riders can tweet their A/C woes

When Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority customers lose their cool, they start tweeting. Passengers have begun to tweet information about cars with broken air-conditioning to the MBTA’s Twitter account (@mbtaGM) to get quick results. The tweets are forwarded to workers who can find the car and pull it out of service, if necessary. And Twitter getsRead… Read more »

Open Government is Dead, Long Live Open Data

Vivek Kundra leaving the White House rings one more bell that the Open Government soiree is over. And like all poorly planned parties, it should be. But, that doesn’t mean that he didn’t leave us one lovely party favor. Let’s be honest. The combination of the very nebulous idea of “Open Government” and the institutionalizationRead… Read more »