News and Analysis

Faebook a-go-go, Miramax is go-go-gone to someone else, and Barnes and Noble wants you to go to their stores – with your Nook. Lots in motion, so let's take a look at your must-know progeek news for the day!

Career:
Very rich people you never heard of. Stories of people who hit it big, but who don't get the kind of news coverage others do. Some good role models in here, perhaps?

Is your MBA impeding your entrrepreneurship? Well, is it? A video on how one man had to unlearn some lessons.

Richard Florida on where the high-paying jobs are. Admittedly many of these areas are high-rent areas too, but the point is made (and I'd argue some of these high-pay area also have cost-reductive benefits such as more public transport and better services). Also note the economic stratification this may be producing – I have to agree we are seeing economic stratification based on area, I've seen it first-hand.

Culture:
Nerds and geeks – helping or hurting cinema?. Ignore the title of the article, it's far more nuanced regarding the nerd/geek/fan effect on cinema, and will give you some things to think about. I think it is very clear a lot of films are aiming at pre-made audiences and that marketing campaigns are now a kind of fan-friendly orbital bombardment. At the same time it shows more audience awareness and involvement, and might lead to more chances taken – or a different idea of what a good chance is.

Economics/Geekonomics:
The Great Recession was worse than we thought – especially in 2008. Econompic is there with charts and explanations to help you feel more fully depressed.

Anime and Manga:
Funimation's next product? Anime themed prepaid debit cards. Yes, that may sound weird, but it is a pretty good idea for expanding merchandise and thus company profits and stability. Wonder what they'll come up with next (and who they'll hire to do it).

Movies:
Disney sells Miramax for $660 million. Note they really only got a down-payment on this. It sounds like Miramax is pretty gutted as well, so I'm not sure what they're going to manage to do film-wise for awhile. I wonder if they might look back to imports as a possible source of income, though people haven't been happy with their past work on imports. This also fits the "tighter yet broader" Disney we've seen evolving.

Publishing:
Barnes And Noble to make a big push to sell the Nook. Not exactly surprising, but it looks like they've got a lot of plans, from accessories to in-store ability to read books. Music in fact may take a hit for Nook space. The Nook has been surprisingly successful, and it sounds like they're continuing to build the brand – and the idea of in-store reading on a Nook sounds like a smart tactic. They want to sell the bookstore experience it seems, which does leverage their footprint.

Social Media:
Facebook holds off on IPO until 2012. That doesn't surprise me – it's not the best time and Facebook is going through changes. My guess is they want some stability before an IPO, which will make it far more productive, and help with the "next stage", which by 2012 would be some kind of world domination. Mark your calendars because this could be pretty seismic in 2012.

Playdom has signed on to use Facebook credits exclusively as in-game currency for the next five years. Big deal for Facebook (and of course a stabilizing deal), and in turn gives Facebook the support of Disney (who now owns paydom). This is just like the deal Zynga made as well, and will help Facebook basically make money (and oddly pushes them a bit into Paypal's territory). Confused yet? Yeah, I know, it needs a chart, but the takeaway is this further contributes to Facebook's stability and allies. Wonder if, come 2012 I can buy Facebook stock WITH Facebook credits . . .

Technology:
Hitatchi beasts profit estimates and is looking good overall. They're everywhere technlology-wise, so that may be a good sign for the world economy. It may also be a place to send a resume . . .

Programmers that do high-power financial software aren't happy with their pay. I'd also note that they may not be happy their stuff has been manipulated as well. Worth remembering how some investments are made and unmade by crunched numbers . . .

Video Games:
Nexon America's profits grew 26% percent in Q2. I'm bullish on Nexon – as you all know, so enough said there.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What else can B&N do to leverage their unique physical footprint?

– Steven Savage

Disney buys Playdom, GameStop buys Kongregate, and everyone else is buying StarCraft II. It's your must-know news for career geeks, profans, and protaku!

Career:
Local government may not be a place for you: up to a half million public jobs expected to be cut. Of course that's an estimate, and we'll see what happens when people experience the repercussions.

Economics/Geekonomics:
Who owns US Treasury Debt? Lots of juicy information – including one thing I didn't know is how much Japan was invested in the US.

US Consumers are a lot more pessimistic. Really, I wonder why . . .

Also in case you forgot the last decade was lousy for US job growth. Plenty of political arguing in the comments.

Culture:
Are things getting too attractive too fast. Some food for thought, though I can't say I agree with all of this.

Anime and Manga:
Cowboy Bebop writer Dai Sato blasts the Japanese anime industry and culture, and says anime is dying out. He also feels that the 'Cool Japan' concept is being manipulated politically.

Technology:
Working in the area of printer technology not exciting? Well Lexmark is showing growth and some good deals. Maybe you want to get that resume ready . . .

Video:
Tech company Elemental gets $7.5 million from a Disney VC branch. Their stuff sounds interesting, but I'm interested in their future with an investory like that – I figure that's a sign they know what they're doing. Plus the article notes they're hiring, so people – go for it.

Video Games:
Zynga is going to announce its alliance with SoftBank of Japan. Which of course is of no surprise to anyone. What we will get is more details, and probably a better picture of Zynga's plans – and Japan's plans. Meanwhile get some insights on Zynga from Bryan Reynolds who makes a few points I hadn't thought of, including that some of the smaller social games represent a return to "the old days."

It looks like GameStop's future strategy is a bit more clearer – they just bought online game company Kongregate. It seems like their goals are a mix of moving with the times, expanding and brand consolidation, where GameStop will be a mix of stores, services, free games, and even community. I have to say I'm pretty bullish on them – and I think the approach that's evolving seems to differentiate themselves from Best Buy and other retailers.

Big News: Disney buys Playdom for $763 million. That's a big purchase by Disney of a good company that makes good products and is smack in Silicon Valley. This ALSO positions Disney to compete with . . . Zynga, Playfish/EA, and . . . well maybe GameStop? A new front in the Everything Wars? Looks like it – and I wonder how geeks are going to react to Disney snapping up so many geektastic properties, though Kingdom Hearts seemed to herald the re-Hipness of Disney.

EverQuest II to launch a free-to-play version with a twist – the free-to-play version will have lots of pay-for-options that would affect gameplay, so thus the separate game. An interesting idea, though it seems to be very limiting on free players, enough to seem awful blatant. Still, watch and see what happens – it's another free-to-play experiment we can learn from as we vaguely try and predict the future.

StarCraft II launches today. Surprising, I know.

Total Nerdity:
In 1956 Arthur C. Clarke predicted Sattilite TV and GPS

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you think GameStop's overall strategy for the next few years is?

– Steven Savage