Job Market
Dealing With Failure and Perfectionism: Tips for getting rid of a fear of screwing up that may be holding you back from a career move.
Writing a Resume Cover Letter: Featuring one of the best metaphors for this vital little document yet: The cover letter serves as your press secretary, with the resume a treaty to be signed.
Economics/Geekonomics
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says the economy is improving, but recovery will be a slow, uphill climb and the unemployement level will be higher than preferred levels until 2012. Meanwhile, a study by the Creative Class blog shows that the states that have taken the biggest hits in unemployment levels include Alabama, Indiana, South Carolina and Wisconsin, all of which have higher-than-expected jobless rates. It's worth reading to see how your state, or one you're plannng to move to, ranks.
Video Games
Has the music game trend peaked? A new study reveals that revenue from Rock Band and Guitar Hero is down almost by half from this time last year. A consequence of the recession, or the games wearing out their welcome? Of course, there's a chance that Beatles Rock Band, which just released a track list of 25 songs with more to come, may reverse this trend, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
The best-selling Wii games of 2009 to date – Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii - were all released last year, unlike the top sellers for PS3 and Xbox 360. Does this mean that developers are having a hard time coming up with solid hits for the Wii, or that Wii games have more staying power than their competitors? Personally, I think it's because each of the games mentioned above comes with a handy gadget – Wii Fit with the balance board, Wii Play with an extra Wiimote and Mario Kart with a steering wheel. So perhaps one secret to Wii success is developing games that use these additions in new and creative ways.
A company called Playcast Media has launched a console-free gaming service that will stream content to users' televisions. So far, it's only available in Israel as a pilot program, with plans to roll it out in the future. We remain skeptical of whether console-free gaming can truly work, but if Playcast can pull it off, they may be a company to watch for future growth.
Technology
Yahoo's update of its home page is scheduled to go live tomorrow, several months earlier than expected. The new Yahoo.com is going to be a big factor in the company's future, so I'd hold off on sending them resumes until we see how it is received.
RealNetworks is increasing its syndication program for its casual games, which puts them on other sites. They had previously focused on a "try before you buy" model of business, but found that unprofitable in an era where casual game usage is up and prices are down. As we've seen with the iPhone games, popularity doesn't always equal profit, so RealNetworks' change of strategy may prove to be a smart move (and one imitated by other companies).
Publishing
Barnes and Noble has announced it's launching its own E-book store with 700,000 titles and is partnering with Plastic Logic, makers of a slimline reader for large amounts of text. Considering that E-books are probably going to be necessary for any publishing retailer's survival in the future, the company is making a wise strategic move – and their E-books will be readable on a variety of platforms, which promises broad appeal.
Anime/Manga
Shonen Jump is increasing the number of titles available for online reading, with lesser-known mangas Kagijin and Anedoki joining juggernauts Dragon Ball and One Piece. This may end up being the preferred distribution method for less-than-boutique titles in the future, and the lack of printing costs may assure more titles get professionally translated into English – which means more need for translators.
- Bonnie