Greece gets worse somehow. Google gets even bigger plans somehow. The HP scandal gets worse somehow. It’s a day of pretty radical stuff, but somehow I compiled it for you!
Career:
Want a fun company? Forget that, says this author, and instead looks at what makes a company viable for your career since ‘fun’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘will last.’
Getting a job without apply? It’s possible, and Penelope has some great advice. I’ve seen her advice work for people, so pay attention.
Advice for entrepreneurs – ten customers is all that matters and then some.
Economics/Geekonomics/Greekonomics:
Those Greek plans for financial austerity? Not working. It’s looking like a lot of social unrest as well. The lessons I take from this are A) Austerity measures don’t work in situations like this, which is obvious. B) Greece is apparently screwed for the next few years. C) This is going to really affect the Eurozone, unless they work to “isolate” Greece’s impact, which may well happen.
Mobile:
Pizza hut expects half its orders will come from mobile. Sure we geeks love technology and pizza, but I also think this prediction is worth following because of what it means for businesses that take orders – people will expect mobile access. If you’re in development, maybe you’ve just found a niche . . .
Technology:
eCommerce companies may be a smart buy and a smart investment, and that also means smart choices for employment. An excellent article that points out the value and imporance of eCommerce. As I’ve often said, being “in the middle” is a good choice for many careers, and eCommerce is definitely “in the middle” where a lot of money is. Also, frankly, my experience with eCommerce companies is they manage to mix businesslike with some pretty exciting stuff.
Google and Verizon’s tablet will ship on Black Friday. More juicy details here. Are you ready if you’re in retail, a developmet, etc.?
Google has plans for a Chrome web store with HTML5 apps. So the browser is now an app delivery and support tool – another operating system (which it’s been meandering towards since the Netflix days). Google is pushing that all the way – which makes me wonder how this intersects with it’s Chrome and Android strategies (pretty much I figure “universal” – one stop shopping no matter your device). New store, new tablets coming out – seems like a full frontal assault on everyone else, or at least a massive dilution strategy.
(What intrigues me about this though is that Google’s apps MIGHT be something that could be run in other compliant browsers – I’m a bit fuzzy on the technical underpinnings here, but it sounds like they could be easily converted or made relatively universal. If google makes a universal app format (or container for other browsers) that could really shake things up).
We haven’t talked about the whole Fisher/Hurd HP mess, but it appears to get worse. I bring it up – reluctantly – as its continuing play indicates two lessons for progeeks. One, tech companies are big enough and visible enough for things like this to get big play in the media. Two, that when it does, it can be all over the net very quickly and in a very damaging way.
Video:
Hollywood worried about Google TV. Duh. Between the use of the internet and Google’s ominpresence, and their inability to keep up, they’re worried indeed.
Video Games:
Changes at Cryptic Studios: chief creative Officer Bill Roper takes off. Wonder what finding a replacement means for the company, the people there, and employment opportunities . . .
Realtime Worlds has layoffs, and Activision goes into recruiting drive. That intrigues me as it sounds like Activision has an aggressive recruiting strategy to get the right people . . . might be a good sign for you to send a resume. It also is a reminder of how recruiting is pretty competitive – even in a tough economic situation the right people can be hard to find.
Zynga launches the beta for it’s first international title. It’s a poker game so I figure they’re playing it safe and trying otu some new technology. They’re still moving forward . . . and I think the success of this and the next efforts will be important for how they design their next efforts, so if you’re interested in the social game sphere, pay attention.
Grashopper Manufacture and Digital Reality team up – One of the weirdest studios and one of the oldest studios pair up? I’m not sure what they’re up to but you got my attention.
Writing:
A look back at how Edgar Rice Burroughs and his influential Mars series.
The classic ‘Choose-your-own-adventure’ books appear to be coming to iPhone
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can Google’s strategy for Chrome be extended to other browsers?