Oddball Review: “Just Enough”

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This is probably one of the strangest book reviews I've done.

"Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green From Traditional Japan" By Azby Brown
ISBN-10: 4770030746
ISBN-13: 978-4770030740

This is a strange book to review, because I'm not really reviewing it as a progeeky career book.  I'm reviewing it as an example of a book that is a product of a very geeky mind and passionate interest.  It may not be a book you want to read – but it's an example of a book you may want to write.

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Zynga’s IPO Priced

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Yes, Zynga has announced it's price-per share and it's $10.  This is a must-read article, though the basic summary is Zynga gets a huge load of cash that's record-setting.

So what's my takeaway here for us progeeks?

  • This is a pretty reasonable stock price compared to everything else – but of course, expect it to go through the roof. Also I expect it to fall a few months later if it does rocket up.  They are big enough that what happens to the stock will affect other IPOs – except, maybe, Facebook.
  • Zynga will raise a lot of money, and what they do next is going to be a big question.  The article jokes they could buy those who once mocked them, but if you think about it they really COULD.  Zynga could choose to radically change the game market merely by acquisition.
  • I have doubts about Zynga successfully expanding/acquiring because their internal model of doing things – intense, statistic-driven – may not map well to other gaming ventures.  I can't, for instance, see them successfully entering the MMO market.  The question is if Zynga's management realizes their limits – and I'm not sure.
  • They will do something with the money, and where that money goes, jobs will probably follow.
  • Zynga's star has faded in the last few months, and in the gaming circles I sense less and less admiration and more dislike and annoyance.  There are people waiting to pounce on any errors made.

So now, we sit and wait and see what happens . . .

– Steven Savage

 

Economic Headdesk Time: Home Sales Worse Than Thought

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OK I've gone on about the housing market.  And on, and on.  Yeah, it may not seem very Geeky, but that's a major part of our economic woes the last few years, and a prime study in Industrial Grade Stupid and Wrong.

Well the Stupid was not Industrial Grade, it was even higher Quality: The National Association of Realtors was overcounting home sales.  For five years.

End result?  The housing market, already bad, is worse than we thought.  Oh, and it probably puts other statistics into question.

Your takeaways:

  • A lot of people can't do statistics, apparently including some people whose job it is.
  • The housing market is worse than thought – I'll reiterate my previous claims, I think a recovery may be a decade away.  By then so much will have changed we may not even know it's one.
  • I think this may actually be an honest mistake (that no one was anxious to check for mistakes).
  • This will probably not get a lot of notice.  Unfortunately.
  • On pure progeekery, I think there's a market for good, real data out there since we've seen so many cases of it being done wrong.  Think about that.

– Steven Savage