Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
(After reading "Starstruck" I began asking can geeks/progeeks be celebrities. This was actually a fun speculation, and I wanted to write it up).
So, my progeeks and profanes and protaku, can we working nerds, technophiles, and geekonomists be celebrities? Can we breathe the same air of awesomeness that the truly famous do, can we confuse paparazzi with our "Let the Wookie Win" T-shirts? In short, can we be beloved and admired and followed?
The answer is literally, yes, no, and maybe.
Changes in demographics, more Netflix changes predicted, and . . . people buying WoW doesn't change! It's your geek job news!
Career:
Chris at Renegade HR sounds off on bad recruiting and the people that carry it out. Nice, concise, and cathartic.
Economics/Geekonomics:
The Credit Collapse Illustrated – Which helps you understand just how bad things got . . .
Location:
Offices are moving out of the suburbs and into urban areas.
Culture:
The Internet is as popular as TV according to this survey. Ads I'm often watching things on my XBox over Netflix, does that count as both?
Anime and Manga:
Comicloud magazine is now on Android. It's an e-mag from Bookloud. Something to look at and see if you can discern the future.
Mobile:
An informative infographic on mobile tech which holds some surprises. Also be rue to check out this quick video on mobile in 2010 that tells a lot in under 3 minutes.
Social Media:
Media6Degrees raises $17 million. They work in social advertising, based on connections and identification of loyalists. Interesting stuff – and hey they have $17 million to spend, so you know where the resume goes . . .
Technology:
MUST READ: A look at why Corporate IT as we know it may disappear into SaaS and outsourcing. I think the author makes a good, solid point here – a perfect storm of SaaS, consumer tech, and a lousy economy. Important to keep in mind, because if this is the future, then a lot of people in Corporate IT will face relocation, layoffs, and/or job change.
Microsoft is directly taking on Salesforce and Oracle over CRM tools. Not sure that's a bright move considering A) Salesforce's base and B) Microsoft's rep. But that does give us an idea that Microsoft is looking to keep and build its business side and seems to be going a bit more service-ey.
Ouch. A look at the Gakwer security breach which is embarrassing and informative on many levels. Take a long slow read of this and imagine the PR nightmare.
Video:
Another 'Netflix is in trouble' article that does make the good point that, with Netflix's success, content companies are probably going to negotiate harder. At the same time I wonder how much power Netflix wields and if that's a deterrent. I think between Netflix, Hulu, other services (possibly OnLive?) we've got a continuing Everything War, but Netflix is very firmly established . . .
Video Games:
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm sets sales records. No one surprised.
iGame Infinity Blade nets about $1.6 million.
And finally yours truly holds forth on this article on Google's chances to be a hardware company.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Does Infinity Blade open up developers to higher-priced games?
Few discussions of business start with the words "So, I was watching Godzilla: Final Wars" but this is going to be one of them.
So, I was watching "Godzilla: Final Wars", which was a giant festival of Kaiju-on-film (plus a lot else) done before the Godzilla movies took a hiatus. In it, among many, many other famous monsters, was a parody of the American Godzilla. Let us say this "Zilla" was not well treated in the movie, and it made me think about how the American Godzilla film frankly didn't get what Godzilla is about – and what that means for adaption of foreign material and ideas.
The American Godzilla treated the monster as having no personality – it was essentially a natural disaster. The Godzilla films (and most Kaiju films, really) have creatures with personality. Yes they're highly destructive, but they're highly destructive characters. The American film didn't get that.
Adapting foreign films, shows, and ideas to American media – or indeed adapting media from one culture to another – has one large risk well-illustrated by this film.
The risk of Not Getting It.