The Advantage of Double Doing

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When it comes to having the career – and hobbies – you like, you'll often find yourself pressed for time, especially if your life is more "in progress" than anything else.  You've got commitments, assignments, friends, conventions, etc. to take care of.

Worst, you often feel like these things conflict – time to work on a fan website conflicts with a class you want to take, hanging with friends means missing a seminar, a chance to travel overseas for work means missing a convention, etc.

An approach I find helps with this is to look for chances for "Double Doing."

By this I mean, look to see what there is in your life, even in the most stressful tasks or situations, that you can get multiple benefits from.  What is there in your demanding schedule that benefits you in many ways and your many sides as a person – or how can you make things benefit you in multiple ways.

That convention you go to may be a chance to do some networking (or slip in an interview at a local company).  If you've got to learn a new web tool at work, can you use it to rebuild your fan site?  Those free reviews you write may also let you hone your skills and be a better technical writer.

You can even take this further by going out of your way to see what you can do that "pays double" for you – classes in technology you use on the job and off, a chance to relocate to a better job can put you near a convention you like and make you look good to management, etc.

You get the idea – a lot of your life can pay off in many ways – personally, professionally, in entertainment, etc.  You have to look for it – and occasionally make it.

– Steven Savage

Too Big To Fail: The Geeky Version

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 companies seem to be veering into their own version of "too big to fail."

That's not to say these companies are economically mismanaged messes, the result of pathetic regulation, or their collapse will destroy the world economy.  In fact, all are more reliable, if not far more reliable than many of these botched institutions.  They're too big to fail in that they're so widespread, and have so much potential (realized and unrealized), that they're not going away – and I suspect they rely on this.

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News of the Day 7/1/2009

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Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Was the US debt problem caused by trying to keep up with the effects of wealth concentration?  An analysis of a much headier read.  If the author's information bears out, some social shifts will be needed.

Anime:
Crunchyroll gets yet another simulcast.  We haven't had any Crunchynews, and they just keep going – and no rivals so far.  I'm wondering when even more VC gets poured into them because they know what they're doing.  I saw this as a user.

Publishing:
Ganett lays off 1400 people – 3% of their workforce.  It's been relatively stable on the news/publishing scene lately, so not sure if this means a new wave or if it's an isolated incident.

Social Media:
A look at how social media maps to communications.  A heady read.  Take it slow, but it makes some good points.

Facebook makes some changes to privacy and settings – and some twitterlike additions.  Facebook seems to be continually evolving, and this appears to be done to make communication – and indexing – easier.  Note that with vanity URLs, etc. Facebook seems more than glad to take cues from other social media, which may explain their success – but also suggests what is the norm in social media . . .

Technology:
In two years iPhone startups have gotten $100 million from Investors.  Exciting, but remember some of this is probably only a few million for some companies.

Television:
SyFy may remake the Alien Nation TV series.  I was a fan of the series before the movies, very well acted and well done.  A remake makes me wonder what else is being considered for remake on the smallscreen – or the internet.  Even more remakes on the way since they're safe?  Is that good or bad for media careers?

Video:
Hulu is working on it's UK launch.  They'll be even more relevant when they get this – so where's the inevitable rival?  Their competition seems to not be doing too hot.  Now where will their jobs be . . .

As Hulu marches on, here's a great analysis of what went wrong with Joost.  A great acutionary tale.

– Steven Savage