Plans

For oilman turned wind-power enthusiast T. Boone Pickens, the future is a bit up in the air.

The "Pickens Plan" for energy independence, launched in July 2008, now has 2 million supporters signed up online. It aims to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil by--among other measures--replacing imported oil with wind power and natural gas (two areas in which he has business interests).

His own wind project, however, has problems finding a grid to deliver power from his newly bought wind turbines. If it comes to fruition, the project, Mesa Power, would be the world'… Read more

After weeks of supportive words from the president, U.S. green-tech professionals saw something else this week: money starting to flow.

The Department of Energy said last Friday that it expects to provide $535 million in loans to California start-up Solyndra, which has a novel design for rooftop solar arrays. The alternative-energy loan, the first of its kind in four years from the DOE, is a positive sign for the finance-challenged green-tech industry, investors and entrepreneurs said this week.

"I'm happy to see our government supporting advanced research initiatives particularly in regards to energy because the country needs … Read more

Financial Advisor offers users an opportunity to plan their futures with a simple set of calculators designed for investment planning at home. While this may sound like an ideal way to be self-sufficient and save money, it requires a dense knowledge of financial basics.

Financial Advisor's free 30-day trial allows users to look at their economic history and future with some simple equations. Homebuyers may find this software useful, as it helps calculate monthly payments based on the loan amount and interest rate. The program also offers a mortgage grid to see potential monthly payments if interest rates, years … Read more

As economic worries grow in America, many consumers are ready to disconnect their expensive cell phone plans and seek cheaper alternatives for wireless communication, according to a survey released Thursday.

The study, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC), reports that 19 percent of cell phone users polled have already canceled their cell phone contracts in reaction to the financial crisis.

The survey, which earlier this month polled 2,005 adults ages 18 and older via their landline phones, found that two in five Americans are likely to cut back on their contract-based cell … Read more

Facebook loses your uploaded photos temporarily. Wilson knows this due to his vigilant Facebook stalking. We're still running our motto contest, and right now it's split between "The nerdy dirty" and "Full frontal nerdity." If you can come up with something better, please send a voice mail to 1-866-404-CNET (2638). Please! We're an audio show, e-mails only go so far.

More on today's show, we've got some news about the rise of pay-per-view porn on cable. We can't figure out why you don't just download it, but hey there's still a whole population out there that still watches movies from VHS. Speaking of watching stuff, our parent company CBS is going to be streaming March Madness online this year. Expect productivity to drop to nothing--as if the economy isn't bad enough.

Also, the economy has hit Google as well. They're announcing that they'll have to close two caf?s. They still get to keep their free laundry, massages, lunches, dinners, snacks, stock options, etc. I know it's rough being a Googler. We're worried they're going to take away our Flavia machine. Finally, did you know that you pay an average of $3 per minute with your cell phone plan? Yeah, shocker right there. Wilson had to give AT&T his first-born child when he went over.

Everywhere one has turned this week, folks have wanted to talk prostitution. Craigslist is supposedly the nation's biggest bordello. And prostitution is stunningly rife in every leaf-filled American suburb.

In an attempt to get away from the more troubling side of existence, I ventured to the Los Angeles Times, knowing that the only obscene discussion I would find there would revolve around money and plastic surgery.

Choking on my allergies, I fell upon a very interesting article by David Lazarus, one of America's foremost writers on the subject of consumery-businessy stuff.

And there he was revealing that a … Read more

Our economy is in a shambles. We all know there's a lot of blame to go around, but the fact is that most of the products we buy are made offshore. It's going to take some time to see if the stimulus plan's billions of dollars are going to turn the economy around, but each of us can do our part by buying American right now.

Our troubled domestic auto industry is at least still building cars here, which is more than you can say about electronics, computer, video, and camera vendors. Even clothing and shoes are mostly made elsewhere. It's not just the loss of blue-collar manufacturing gigs; design and engineering jobs are increasingly outsourced.

When shopping, do you look at the label or box to see where the product you're about to buy is made? If you had a choice of an American-made product and an imported one, would the country of origin play a part in your buying decision? If the American product was 10 percent pricier, would you buy it, even if you judged quality of the two to be about the same?

I just bought a new couch (for a great price), and it was made in North Carolina. That's my personal stimulus plan.

Sure, quality matters, but if we go on exporting jobs, how will we maintain our standard of living? I could make the same case for buying online versus shopping in your city or town. Those local shops employ your family, friends, and neighbors; would you pay extra to keep the dollars in your community?… Read more

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.--Billionaire and clean-energy proponent T. Boone Pickens said that the U.S. should establish a federally funded loan program, or bank, to finance large-scale wind developments.

Pickens spoke on Wednesday at the Clean-Tech Investor Summit here where he talked about his Pickens Plan for reducing imports of foreign oil. He also offered a number of energy policy recommendations.

His plan, launched in July, calls for spending $150 billion over the next 10 years to install turbines in the "wind corridor" of the Midwest United States, from Texas to Canada. The other major plank of the … Read more

Just in time for this troubled economy, Boost Mobile (one of the few MVNOs still standing) (a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel), has announced a new unlimited monthly plan.

It costs a flat rate of $50 a month, and it includes unlimited daytime, evening, and weekend calls; unlimited texts; unlimited wireless Web; and unlimited use of Boost Mobile's walkie-talkie network. If you're into Boost Mobile's products, this sounds like a pretty sweet deal.