News of the Day 6/4/2010

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Sad economic news, hirings and firings, Twitter doubling it's staff . . . it's a big news day for careers, right here and now!

Economics/Geekonomics:
A look at the problems BP is having. I know BP isn't exactly a geeky place to work, but may I advise A) Not working there, B) that the stocks probably suck. How BP is treated in the future by criminal and international law will affect how other companies are treated, so this may become a good Geek Law case. Also that oil spill may head up the east coast. I'm wondering if BP is going to survive any of this – considering miles upon mile of coast aren't going to survive.

Expect more of this to come up in future lawsuits and recriminations: the ethnic angle in subprime mortgages, including targeting of specific ethnic groups, and the implications culturally. Focused on Memhpis, but from what I understand these issues are nationwide. We'll be hearing about this again . . .

A look at unemployment with helpful graphs. Be sure to read it, but the quick summary: not much job growth but lots of temporary census jobs, a bit of an imporvement overall in unemployment with more full-time jobs and pay (but some job seekers have stopped looking, which gives us unemployed people not being "visible" statistically), and as we all know, lots of long-term unemployment.

Forget Greece, now the worry is Hungary. It doesn't sound as bad as Greece, but details are sketchy.

Young people are using cars less, a demographic shift with economic implications – and implications for where young people choose to live and work. Also has a great analysis on how America's over-reliance on cars and houses has distorted it's economy.

General:
Some great tips for unburdening yourself with email by shifting actions to the sender. Not a geeky-specific bit of information, buy Andy nails some great advice.

Anime and Manga:
Apparently Funimation parent Navarre had a decline of sales in Q4. A few more details as well on the current Funimation status. Come on Crunchyroll, you know you want to . . .

Publishing:
Fan-To-Pro crush object Hachette (of Yen Press) hires Robin Domeniconi, formerly of Microsoft for one of it's magazine groups, as Senior Vice President, handling branding. That includes digital. Methinks that with Hachette's ambitions we'll see more digital work and branding, and maybe a few more people from the tech world go into their world.

The New York Times hires a Social Media expert

Social Media:
Twitter doubled its staff in the last six months, with growth likely to continue. No more stories about twitter dying I imagine for awhile . . .

In the wake of Facebook privacy concerns a company makes an app to display privacy information while using Facebook so you have an idea of the impact of your actions. With every problem an opportunity, apparently . . . and a clever business move.

Technology:
Cisco plans to hire 3,000 workers. YOU plan to send them a resume.

Logic chip maker Silicon Blue lands $15 million in funding. You plan to send them a resume after you send one to Cisco. Also I think this is probably a good deal – their chips go into mobile devices, and that's a tad big right now . . .

Wow. Apple demonstrates how you can do Flash-like things with HTML 5. You have to use Safari of course.

When it comes to technology, don't forget Findland's footprint in the tech world.

Uh-oh, Oracle plans
more layoffs/firings after Sun acquisition.

Video:
The Future of Netflix – Which seems to be 'stay the course since we're doing good.' I have to agree – definitely a Fan To Pro Crush Object.

Video Games:
The French Influence on Video Games. An interesting read.

Farmville continues to shed users. Note it's not the only one doing so. So why is this happening, is it all old, the fad is gone, mistrust of Facebook, what? One of my suspicions is the model grew "old" on people, but I'm not sure.

Geek News Of the Weird:
D&D Themed Jones Soda. Merchandising!

On that subject, Shreck glasses recalled due to Cadmium. Those just got more collectible . . . but don't go drinking out of them.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Funimation and Crunchyroll . . . good match?

– Steven Savage

Frustration Friday: Credit Where Credit Is Due

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You know who needs more respect, credit, and wads of cash in their paychecks?

People working in job placement.  The recruiters, the job counsellors, and the like.  Wether they work freelance or with big placement companies, they deserve more recognition for what they do and what they go through.  Their job is not easy.

Consider the lot of someone working at, say, in recruiting or an outplacing company and all the challenges they face.  They have to deal with clients who have laundry lists of needs that no normal human being could meet, or two sentences of requirements that say nothing.  They have to read the Resumes From Hell – in this case the level of Hell where people can't describe their careers or skills, and proper punctuation is something that happens to other people.  This is their lot.

Now, beyond the challenges that people in placement and job searching and the like face, they also face the fact they don't get much credit for the work they do and the things they go through.  When's the last time you've seen them mentioned in the news favorably, or beyond a source of statistics?

Honestly, especially in this economy, they don't get enough credit.

Job searching and placement is a set of skills, ones that take effort and deliberate action to master.  Doing it for someone else is even more challenging – and many people out there have indeed mastered it.  They're just not going to get much recognition for it.

So let us raise a glass (probably of your favorite Energy Drink) to the people who do all this: the recruiters and counsellors and placement experts.  They've mastered the job search skills and knowledge and pass it on to others.

This Frustration Friday, let's acknowledge their frustration and recognize people who place us in jobs, and the hard work they do.

– Steven Savage

Failure Is A Sign you Tried

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So you failed.  You tried to finish an art project and it didn't work.  You tried to get a job and didn't get it.  I'm sure you've had recent or past failures that you gave it your all for, and it didn't work.

These are the moments to sit back, look, and realize that there is one good thing.

You showed you could make the effort.

Yes, you failed, perhaps big time, perhaps spectacularly.  But here's the thing to remember – no matter what happened you were able to bring the effort to bear.

It may not have been the right effort, it may have been too much or too little, started too late or too early.  But you proved you can MAKE the effort.

It's important to remember these things, especially in our darker moments of self-loathing.  We have to remember that, flaws aside, we can bring our resources and skills, and energies to bear towards a goal.

When we remember that we're capable of effort, it takes the sting off of failure, and reminds us of what we're capable of.

It reminds us of the resources and enthusiasms and abilities we have.  It reminds us of all we did right.

It reminds us that we can do it again.

So next time you think you failed, appreciate the effort you made.  Any mistakes aside, at least you made the effort.

– Steven Savage