News of the Day 5/12/2010

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More insight on what's going on in economics, another lawsuit against Apple, more sufferng at Viz, and much, much more! It's must-know geeknews time!

Career:
How your resume tells a story – With yours truly quoted in the article.

Sometimes for your personal branding you want to give up center stage.

Economics/Geekonomics:
Germany may be bailing out Greece, but according to Spiegel, German companies were happy to work with Greece, and it's blatant traditions of bribery. A bit wonky, but informative, and does make a point about corruption in Greece – and how "consultants" are often a method to get briges.

How Greece and the EU problems are an example of the "trilemma" of democracy, globalization, and the nation state – you can have 2 at the same time, but not 3. Smart look at economics, politics, and psychology – and the future -in one article.

A look at the 'recovery' and why it's not – Not only a good warning, but a (largely) clear look at economic issues for people.

A glorious chart on the cost of cars. Insightful and interesting – and a good example of why in our household we're adding people but not cars.

Geek Law:
Now HTC files a patent suit against Apple. The author also made this awesome graph of who is suing who in the mobile space.

Anime and Manga:
Viz had some severe layoffs – With analysis.

Social Media:
Google seeks social media exec – Clearly wanting to do more in the social media space, which they haven't done spectacularly in. Lots of money and a good name to throw around, they could probably make quite a splash if they wanted to. With the right leadership. Of course that could also mean jobs at Google . . .

Technology:
Microsoft's office and hotmail efforts an assault on Google Mail? Looks like it. Note how everyone is going to services these days? Seems like a trend – and as of late I've gotten the feeling Microsoft is finding its footing and is producing some sharp product – and Office 2010 is out of course.

Looks like IBM is planning for some takeovers into 2015. So what plans do they have? Looks like improving services and software that have good margins.

Closing Geekery:
Kanji Transformers – Letters that become the animal they stand for. Awesome.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What should Google's next Social Media move be?

– Steven Savage

Combining Careers and Interests: What You Do?

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(This is a launch of anew series on ways people can reconcile their interests, hobbies, fandom, and geekery with their careers.  In it I will explore the different options we have to turn what we love into what we make a living at).

One of the surest ways to combine what you like to do with how you make money is this:

Do something you enjoy doing for a living skill-wise.

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Are You Suffering From Learned Helplessness?

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I was introduced to learned helplessness in my psychology studies many years ago, and it's one of several concepts that made a deep impression on me.  To sum it up simply, animals and humans exposed to situations where they have (or don't think they have) control eventually act helpless, even at times when they can restore control.  In short, people and animals can  be exposed to experiences that make them act and be helpless even when things change.

This is an incredibly important psychological finding because it's a reminder of how experiences – and approach to handling them – affects our ability to take control of our lives and deal with stress.  Many is the time I've witnessed people in the throws of learned helplessness, and I'm sure upon reflection you've seen it too.  In fact, chances are you've experienced it now and then yourself.

I also see it a lot in people's careers, especially in this economic climate.  I would go as far to say that I think learned helplessness is making the Great Recession far worse for many people.

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