News of the Day 9/3/2009

Career:
11 common cover letter mistakes – Good advice here.

Post-graduate career advice for most of the rest of people. A nice addition to the advice that usually only covers a tiny fraction of graduates.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
There's s lot of accidental landlords out there, and renting is not what it seems – Interesting look at how people are renting out homes, and with this economy, rental units are on an upswing. I know I've heard of rates dropping even in the Bay Area. May be good if you're relocating.

Another nice summary of the recession via Barry Ritholtz. He too feels the American banking system isn't sound.

Education:
How online is changing education – THIS is something I didn't think of. Online eudcation, especially in this economy, could be very disruptive to the university structure – while providing more education to people. A must-read.

Comics:
A look at graphic novels and the good reasons to work with old guard comic companies.

Mobile:
Bad iPhone serbvice? iPhones are data hogs that overload the system – It's always something. This also might be another encourager for iPhones to go beyond AT&T.

Facebook enters into the app arena, and is focusing on mobile apps – Congrats Facebook, you're competing with the iPhone, welcome to the Everything Wars.

Movies:
There will be a Lobo movie – I really am not sure how to feel about this. It'd be a change of pace for most DC properties, and done right it could actually be incredibly fun (especially if it keeps with some of the deconstructionist humor of Lobo). On the other hand . . . well not sure how to make it either not watered down or insanely offensive.

Technology:
Apple's version of Snow Leopard has a vulnerable version of Flash – More evidence, I think, that they rushed it out.

A look at technology trends

Video:
Youtube is exploring video rental options – Which is not surprising, but could work well for them with their public mindshare. However I think they'll need some kind of Netflix-on-Xbox like streaming setup to get better penetration – it's a pain to watch stuff on a computer. Now if they do that . . .

Video Games:
OnLive is allowing for beta testing – It also appears they've popped into this discussion thread. I remain skeptical of OnLive (and their sudden absence from the spotlight post GDC), but still want to see whats up with them. If there's a beta it means they figure they're close to something . . . if this DOES work it's a big shift in gaming.

World of Warcraft now allows faction hopping – For $30 of course. A bit of a way to earn more money for them, convenient for players, and now people can get to be Goblins post-Cataclysm. Included as a general example of things MMOs can do for money and player convenience.

– Steven Savage