Lots of economic news, a reboot of a beloved comic, eBooks surge, and Wonder Woman's remaining dignity is flushed down the toilet. Let's get to the news!
Economics/Geekonomics:
OK this is more for you Econogeeks, but here's a great analysis on ideal bank size which is smart and thought-provoking.
Tech companies lobbying for a tax holiday. This would let them "bring home" money earned overseas. I myself think we need to revise the tax code, which mixes some surprisingly high taxes with ways to avoid them. However, I'm concerned several companies are courting disaster capitalism here, which has public and long-term effects.
MUST READ: The history and future of internet bubbles. Worth reading – he also promotes his own writing, but his humor and presentation show serious values to his ideas. Comes with a neat presentation. Worth reading if you want to see what's next – though I think the current "bubble" isn't as bad as others.
Comics:
Sigh. The new Wonder Woman costume is not promising. I'm sure Adrianne Palicki is a nice person, and from what I know she can act, but the outfit is really not working, a strange mixture of overdone, kinda sleazy, and just plain odd. Worse, it feels like an attempt to fanservice up an already very attractive woman, not promising for the show's direction. I'm not holding out hope, but I wish Ms. Palicki well and hope she transcends this thing.
My worry here? If this tanks (and I expect it to) it will set back possible property adaptions, and set back the use of female characters.
Publishing:
E-Book sales rise significantly at the start of 2011. Not surprised at all, between PR, christmas gifts of various devices, and general growth.
Video:
Netflix has their first original series and that sound you hear is everyone else wetting their pants and trying to plan. I wonder if this is an "in-your-face" move against Comcast and others, as well as a new deal to set up. Watch this, see what happens.
Video Games:
Nintendo of America president Fils-Aime builds bridges by saying they don't want to work with people making 'garage games' and continues on with his concern that there's a flood of cheap, low-quality content that doesn't last. Admittedly I've seen a lot of low-quality stuff on Nintendo devices, so I'm not sure he can talk, and I don't think he realizes the idea of the 'garage developer' is lionized.
A look at a team that made a Facebook game in a month.
Look. More reboots. Now it's Sonic The Hedgehog comics. I got nothin'.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: OK, how would you design a good, wearable, yet referential Wonder Woman Outfit?
– Steven Savage