News of the Day 10/9/2009

Career:
101 posts to jumpstart your job search – From psychology to technology, there's got to be something in here for you!

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
That whole mortgage relief thing isn't going too hot – The programs don't seem to be doing that much and things are still lousy in the home market. As I've said, its a good time NOT to buy a home right now – you don't know how this is going to play out. Also if things keep getting worse it's another drag on the economy.

Some job report improvements in Australia and Canada – We've been noting things are , well not as bad, in these countries for awhile. Canada also has a nice IT industry, so I'm expecting they may come out well ahead.

The challenges of reigning in crazy-high executive pay in the finance industry – Never have I appreciated sports figures more after reading this column.

Anime and Manga:
A look at anime, manga, and success – Very fascinating reading on the industries from a member of SquareEnix.

Movies:
Sony is pulling back on getting new properties – Looks like general caution, reducing commitment and extraneous expense.

Publishing:
Book sales appear to be down – Which doesn't surprise me, I expect things to decline more or stay low for awhile.

Social Media:
The creators of the Habbo Hotel are having layoffs. Despite being profitable. Do they know something we don't?

Technology:
Twitter in talks with Microsoft and Google to have it's Tweets searchable? Could raise money for Twitter (from the sites/ads/etc.) and change how people broadcast information. I'd note that this could also backfire – how do you rank them, could it become distracting, could they be ranked low, etc. Still interesting.

Barnes and Noble's E-reader to run Android? A rumor, but intriguing it too – raising the profile of Android, creating a cheap Kindle competitor, and of course continuing the Everything Wars. I want to watch this one as it could have many repercussions.

Video:
DailyMotion has raised $22.1 in venture capital – It's mostly a french site, but that's a nice amount of money. I also want to watch this because they could be a "regional power" in the video arena and affect how other companies develop. Remember what I said earlier about regional companies . . . they may be able to serve markets far better than generalists.

– Steven Savage

The Everything Wars: Outrunning the Double-Dip?

We've been seeing a lot of the Everything wars lately.  I've started to formulate a theory that there may be more to them than just plain corporate competition.

For those of you new to the blog, the Everything Wars is what Bonnie and I call the big battle between major tech/media companies going on now.  The central players are Google, Microsoft, and Apple, but they tangentially involve Amazon, Sony, Nintendo, and others.  Basically everyone is horning in on everyone's territory right now.

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