News of the Day 3/19/2010

A German iPad, how eBooks have changed, and Twitter's followers aren't counting for as much as you'd think.  Reverse the polarity of the Neutron Flow, it's time for must-know Geek Job News!

Career:
50 tips to elevate your personal brand – Now I'm biased as Cindy quoted me as well (on business cards), but this is a great set of tips and a good blog. Check it out and get some new ideas!

Economics/Geeokonomics:
A good roundup of econolinks and more from The Big picture.

Did all the bailouts just give us bigger and riskier banks? I'm concerned about that myself, frankly – if you're gonna be big, you better be well-regulated.

Publishing:
Why Ebooks failed in their first iteration and what's changed or has to change – Great insights on the subject.

The Author's Guild makes it's statements on e-book royalties with Harper Collins and Random House.

Social Media:
Audience size on Twitter doesn't equal influence – A little research busts that theory.  Maybe it's time for ANOTHER death-of-Twitter story?  Either way, good research to bring into play when considering Socil Media strategy.

Technology:
Palm's stock drops on revenue forecasts – In this market, Palm is just facing too many challenges. Frankly – not a place to bet your career.

A German iPad? Sounds like a pretty powerful device – now will this end up in other countries? Will other companies in other countries follow suit?

Video Games:
RealNetworks hires execs to take their games into social gaming – Interesting and obvious change (and they have a decent foundation to go on). This is one to watch for resume-worthiness.

The CEO of SquareEnix talks Final Fantasy. Not too much to go on here (does he think the XBox version of FF XIII doesn't have issues?) but a few useful insights and tidbits. Still wondering if Eidos will have been worth it for them . . .

Twilight is what the gaming industry is missing out on? A pretty good point. And as for a Twilight game producing backlash, frankly I think people are already in their camps on Twilight.


And finally . . . A quest to find the buried sets from the Ten Commandments – an archeological search for a set based on a previous civilization by a film buff. Awesome geekery.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:Is Twilight something that could pay off in gaming?

-Steven Savage

Frustration Friday: Cult Misses

You'll notice that though I talk economics in this blog, I am careful around the subject of politics.  In some cases, where politics intersects economics (which really is in most cases), I also am cautious about what I discuss.

So for a moment let me throw some caution to the wind and watch it blow away.

I'd like to discuss my caution.

Read more

News of the Day 3/18/2010

Google/Viacom are angry at each other, movie studios unoriginal, and another Kindle app! It's a very unsurprising day in Must Know Geek Career News!

Career:
One great advantage of networking? Brainstorming with others!

Economics/Geekonomics:
One other contribution to the Great Recession? An SEC that wasn't well funded. Intentionally, perhaps?

A deep analysis that helps you realize that the economy of 2002-2009 really was sort of lousy.

Geek Law:
Viacom once tried to buy YouTube. Part of the whole nasty case is all the juicy details coming out, such as Viacom apparently uploading videos to YouTube while slamming it, and more.

Movies:
American movie studios going nuts for remakes of foreign films. What, you expected originality? I still think Hollywood is surviving on force over concept.

Publishing:
Kindle software for Mac. What more needs to be said? Though interesting insight that the sofware being widely distributed *IS* a way to sell people on getting a Kindle . . .

More shakeup at Barnes and Noble: The CEO steps down, the Digital Head replaces him. More forward motion in this age, or more?

Wealthy Russians investing in news. You have an idea of what that's gonna mean, news-wise. Now, another question – how long until sovereign wealth funds get in on the act?

Technology:
Google working on creating an internet-TV device? Looks like it. Perhaps it could be Android-based? I of course wonder if this is more of their "destabilization" strategy.

Video Games:
There's an engine to make 3D Games on the Android called ShiVa, from Stonetrip. Not only good for Android developers, but this makes me wonder if it's open-source nature makes development easier as TOOLS can be made easier.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Does Android mean more tools and easier development- and a potential future edge over the iPhone?

– Steven Savage