News Of The Day 9/23/2011

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And what's on tap for Progeeky news? Let's take a look.

HP:
As noted, Meg Whitman is in charge of HP. It also appears she won't be making many or any changes to the course Apotheker set, which is kind of stupid as they were the problem. This article also points out she may not be the best choice anyway.

I have my doubts about Whitman, largely formed from her failed political campaign, and am concerned some of her past success isn't relevant (or is overrated). Also I have the feel this is a kind of "stunt CEO," a candidate meant more to be good PR than do a job, which is unfair to the company and to her quite frankly because she's being asked to take on a task that may not be up her alley.

My take? Bad call. I'd keep HP on your "don't-go" list. Secondly if HP truly tanks, then it's going to ripple throughout tech.

Comics:
Intriguing: Media Participations, a big french publisher, is trying a Kickstarter like funding method. Why? The author of this small article notes that iif fans will fund things they save money (in fact if fans don't fund things it may save money). Sounds oddly cynical in some ways.

Meanwhile with DC's 52? Well, I've not taken a look at the comics, but I'm hearing a lot about sexism and odd sexualization, which includes Batman and Superboy. It feels like the fanservice is jacked up to 11 here, which suggests DC seems to very much know what they're doing – and don't care.  If this trickles into their other properties, then I sense serious demographic changes (and failures).  I've got an unsurety vibe from DC, so watch that career-wise.

Social Media:
A roundup of the Facebook changes which to me are too-much too-soon. It seems like Facebook is desperately trying to be relevant by doing everything, and it's a bit much in my opinion. This doesn't have a precise feel about it. Someone speculates a social split may be coming and Facebook is the new AOL.

Video:
More details on The Dish Netflix competitor which isn't bad for $10 bucks – and mostly seems to be part of creating synergy with their existing service. That's a smart move, and may at least keep people from going to Netflix (which currently is a problem). As "Kill Your Cable" continues this sounds like it's got more appeal. Check these guys out, career-wise.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: So, what the hell IS DC thinking?

– Steven Savage

Frustration Friday: Too Busy To Be Frustrated!

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I wanted to go and rant about stuff.  HP?  Maybe Netflix?  maybe DC's relaunch?

But here's the odd thing.  I'm working on Focused Fandom: Cosplay, Costuming, and Career.  And I'm trying to find things to write about, but as soon as something gets me into a good, powerful annoyance I can share – I'm back to examining editing, or publishing, or somthing else.

Seriously, I'm frustrated about not being able to focus my frustration.

This is one of the strange things with a blog – you get into patterns.  This is usual, and it is good, but there are moments your brain doesn't engage.  This is probably even more likely now since most of my focus at this point is my three different series (Scott was a big inspiration).  So I'm used to regular work on things, which isn't as spontaneous as these columns.

And again, the editing – which is very regular.

Most ironically?  I just got a column out of talking about my lack of frustration frustration.

So let's draw some useful lessons – if you're blogging progeeky-wise, then you're going to have those moments of lost inspiration, out of patterns, etc.  It's important to remember, because they will happen.  However the discipline of regular work pays off, even if there are times you're interrupted.

But you might get a post out of it.

– Steven Savage

News Of The Day 9/22/2011

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HP In The News
This is a rumor, but I report it so we can follow it – HP will replace Leo Apotheker with Meg Whitman as CEO. I find Whitman's past political campaign to have shown signs of questionable competence, despite her performance at eBay (which I can say here in Silicon Valley is also questioned despite eBay's amazing growth). Throw in her failed political bid on top of HP's problem, and no matter her actual competence, it may not fix HP's image problem (and may make it worse by throwing in a would-be governor into the toxic mix of publicity problems).

HP hasn't convinced me they can reverse this slide yet.

Facebook
Yep, A lot is happening in Facebook. Among what we have so far:

At the same time this all seems to be too much, you know? Like they're trying too hard.

The sharing of data with others is a good sign, but in another way can push them to irrelevance.

Geek Law:
What the new patent laws mean to gaming. End result – not good.  Speed is not necessarily a benefit here.

Remakes:
. . . and now we get Sabrina the Teenage Witch as emo magical girl?

Video:
Sure Hulu has problems, but It's still growing and plans to invest some $375 million in new content. Their future is still dicey, but the seem to be managing to keep growing.

And Dish makes it's move with A streaming service out to compete with Netflix. Not surprising, and I have to wonder if knowing this was coming was part of Netflix's recent strategies. Oh speaking of that . . .

On top of this Netflix is integrating with Facebook except in the US due to legal issues (which may change).

Lots of disruption in the video space, keep your eyes open. I'm still bullish on Netflix, but Dish is playing smart.

Video Games:
OnLive opens its streaming gaming service in the UK. Notice how these guys keep going but there's little said about them?

– Steven Savage