News and Analysis

It's all over, if you haven't heard it you haven't been watching, and YES, we'll be discussing it this weekend:  Disney bought Marvel entertainment lock stock and barrel for 4 billion.  I'm going to need to process this one for awhile, but this is an epic, seismic change in the geekonomy.  It looks like they'll just let game contracts go on and see what happens when they expire.  We'll be analyzing on this and discussing it as more news comes.  A few speculations are here.  Doesn't seem to be affecting the Paramount deals for the films.

One thing I'd look out for?  Power Pack adapted quickly.

OK, and now onward . . .

Career:
5 Common Mistakes made by first time job searchers.  A few things even experienced job seekers do are here, so give it a read.

Politics:
Japan's dominant political party for decades is OUT big-time.  This is a big shift in a country that, despite troubles, is still big in the global economy – and the center or a major part of many geekonomic industries.  Keep an eye on this one.

Anime and Manga:
Kodansha let's its licenses with Tokyopop lapse.  Considering their Ameircan presence I figure they want to do these themselves.  Let's see.

Mobile:
An analyst thinks the iPhone is fine – but AT&T may not be.  Has some good points.  A good read if you're following mobile issues.  I still wonder what's up with Apple, but this makes me more confident.

Social Media:
Wikipedia to use trust-coded colors to indicate reliability. 
Interesting as it's Wiki – but also as trust and reliability/reputation
systems seem to be slowly increasing in use in social media.  This
could be a big accelerator to the trend – which would affect
expectations of other social media, the use of them, etc.

Technology:
Google's Chrome Browser will be on some Vaio's.  So first of all, this is a good deal, and a lot of the Vaio's are sweet systems, good move.  Secondly, now Sony is happily supporting Google – a bit of the Everything wars here.  Let's see who else jumps on the Chrome Browser (and OS) wagon, but I'd say this is a shot across Microsoft's bow, and a further reason for tech types to keep up on Google tech.

– Steven Savage

Career:
Are 'Best place to work' articles pointless? The author thinks so and makes some good points. I always find the best way to know a company is to listen to everyone and talk toe mployees, though some profiles are useful.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
The FDIC is running out of cash – Which means someone will have to pony up for it – which means more debt (or more taxes, if not right away).

Mobile:
Apple appears to be entering the Chinese phone market – More Everything Wars to follow. Thought for those of you in technology and media – how much of the battleground could shift or expand to China among the various Everything War companies (Microsoft, Google, Apple) and others?

Publishing:
Fan-to-pro crush object Asus is aiming for it's own e-book reader this Christmas. I can't say I'm interested in one from anyone, but Asus does quality product, so I have high hopes for them. Remember as we mentionedin the past that hardware companies have an easier time in a competitive market than software? Keep that in mind for e-book readers as well – though this is also good news for authors as it increases options for people to purchase e-readers.

Social Media:
Ways to leverage Twitter for hiring – For those of you doing hiring. May be useful for those of you doing searching for a job as well.

Technology:
Snow Leopard review – Sounds like modest improvements. It doesn't seem like much of an upgrade, really, but except for the app issues it seems solid. I'm thinking Apple did it to maintain awareness more than anything else.

Video Games:
Zynga's Farmville is the fastest growing social game so far – At 11 million players. Zynga continues it's roll, as does social gaming. Also remember Zynga IS hiring . . .

Uh-oh, more cuts in gaming. Raven software had cuts, possibly due to the lackluster performence of WOlfenstein, and EA had cuts at Maxis.

How games are changing – because of the environment they're made in – He sees a lot of changing,including more people doing changes, broader definition of what games are, and changes for big studios. A good read, gives you something to think of. Most interesting to me is the idea that "game development" is something more and more companies will do even with no previous foundation.

– Steven Savage

Career:
5 Typical Job Search Problems and how to solve them.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
The stock market seems 'broken' to one expert – it doesn't seem to be making much sense. A quick but thought-provoking read.

Awesome: an automatic graph to let you see how a lot of famous companies grew. Play with it a bit and see if it gives you any ideas of where to work or what business to start.

Must read: how banks (and others) diversify themselves into incompetence – Full article here. This one strikes home for me as I watch large, lumbering companies survive only by leveraging debt and past success, and as business gurus talk nicheing. I think we can all name companies right now engaged in expensive battles by trying to do everything.

Tips on becoming a freelancing powerhouse, especially in writing.

How to work in the Japanese gaming industry.

Anime and Manga:
Hulu adds 'One Piece' to it's library – Meaning of course they keep up with those big titles. Wonder how these will go over when they work out the UK distribution?

Publishing:
A small press picture book publisher isn't worried about the Kindle – And makes some good points about the psychology and issues and designs of some books. Food for thought – and makes me wonder about digital comics and the like and their viability. Some things are ephemeral – some people want to keep.

Sports:
More sports geek news? You bet – NBC is working on a sports video site in India. With the news of Yahoo's move to the Mideast, I am now wondering if we're going to see an increased trend of companies moving to specialized regions or expanding out of their normal geographic/cultural limits. Brush up on and keep track of your language skills if this trend continues.

Social Media:
A quick overview of the growing Teens don't Tweet meme going around, including comment from a Twitter co-founder and plenty of links. Frankly this isn't worrysome as I think Twitter is doing well enough, though it does suggest they'll want to monitor demographic usage to see if people use Twitter more LATER in life, or if theres a demographic that is not changing.

Resistance to social media is fading – so how can you use this on the job and career? Might be useful to show this to a recalcitrant client, boss, or partner!

Technology:
Amazon moves to it's cloud computing offering – I just can't help but feel they're starting to go way afar from their initial goals.

Further WTFery: Apple's new Snow Leopard OS may not work with all apps – At this rate I am concerned Apple is flailing and not thinking ahead (this pretty much feels like a get-a-jump-on-Windows 7 effort). Is Apple confused in the Everything Wars?

Geek Need alert: Telecos likely to increase spending. This means technology sales and geeky jobs. You know what to do!

Video Games:
Ouch. Turbine is suing Atari over nasty issues involving the D&D franchise. Not pretty. I reccomend no resume-sending to either until resolved, this has the smell of potential ugliness.

-Steven Savage