News Of The Day 10/11/2011

China slows down, Zynga gears up, and more in Geek news!


Economics/Geekonomics:

A look at the expense of America’s declining transportation infrastructure. On the other hand, a good guide as to why infrastructure investment may be a good idea – if it happens, keep it in mind for a career opportunity. It may sound dull, but trust me, it’s not.


Has the Chinese economy hit a wall? Yves Smith notes some people are concerned, and we need to pay attention to this in case it impacts the world economy more.


Comics:

I missed this when it happened, but Barnes and Noble pulled DC comics from their shelves after DC made an exclusive classic comic deal with Amazon for the Kindle Fire. You can order them at the website, but not get them in the store. So what’s next here – will DC apologize, will they side further with Amazon, more exclusive deals . . . things could get very interesting. As always, the indies and smaller-press people need to make sure not to get stepped on.


Mobile:

Xyologic looks at Mobile Apps – though the tagline is how Android downloads will shortly top iPhone, there’s a ton of good stuff here.


RIM still has problems. How many times can I suggest, frankly, getting out?


Video:

HBO is coming onto Roku later this month. Roku keeps going despite a lack of news presence.


Video Games:

Now this got interesting: Zynga has its own gaming site, though you log on via Facebook (so far). Good strategy as they branch out – now a thing to watch out for is if they try and move onto other devices. There’s still a few confusing reports on how far this goes, so we hopefully will have an update tomorrow.


QUESTION OF THE DAY: Will Zynga create a full app portal and/or move to consoles?


– Steven Savage