News and Analysis

Career:
A depressing must-read about the economic downturn's effect on Younger workers – It helps put things in perspective of just what the long-term impact of the recession will be in America (and to an extent, other countries). I will say simply if you're young, out of work, or both, you need to work hard on beating the odds, because times are tough and you need to be aware of the long-term impact of this recession on your career. All the more reason to pour your passions into something you like, really.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Hotels still in trouble despite a bit of a recent uptick. Something to remember in a travel career. I'd also note that, much like apartments and houses, people can just double up more – or look for alternate housing if they travel.

Animation:
Voltron may be the next big giant-robot-animated-thing adapted to movies – Sounds like a plan for a big multimedia blitz. I just have doubts based on previous treatments I've heard of. I suppose if it does go big there will be some career opportunities.

Green Tech:
George Soros to invest $1 billion in greentech – Could stimulate the market and bring in other interests. I'm pro-greentech on both principle, and because I think it will eventually have a place no matter what – and that means career opportunities.

Mobile:
T Mobile stops selling Sidekick due to massive hardware failure – A big issue for them in a tough time. Read the article – this is really pretty bad. Not a resume target for awhile. Props to them for letting people drop their contracts though.

Technology:
Hey Android Developers (or hopefuls), a book review on a book on that very subject from O'Reilly.

Video:
Streaming video device maker ZillionTV is laying off staff. Looks like they don't even have a business model. My guess – eventually sell-off of technology and closure, or restructuring into something else. Not promising, and another one down in the video arena.

Video Games:
Must-read article: A look at Nexon America's plans. There's a lot to chew on here, from Nexon's plans, cultural differences in gaming, and more. I'm very curious as to how Dungeon Fighter will go over as it looks like a great game – now I need to get my Windows partition set up on my Mac . . .

– Steven Savage

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