Economics/Geekonomics
Japan's Record Unemployment Rate: Something people who want to work in Japan-based industries, like anime and video games, need to pay attention to. A lousy economy in Japan may mean less products being exported. (Of course, that may also create an opportunity for game designers on the American side).
Publishing
Newspaper ad revenue was down 29 percent in the second quarter from the same period last year – a stinging number by any stretch of the imagination. If you're interested in the journalism arena, it's definitely a smart thing to be looking in the direction of electronic publishing, because with these kind of figures, the picture isn't particulary rosy for traditional newspapers.
Social Media
Facebook makes worldwide privacy policy changes to meet Canadian law: This tightens up third-party access to subscriber data, which means joining the service no longer means you're open to being spambombed. The changes will be rolled out over the next 12 months, giving users time to comment – I can't see this not being welcome news anywhere (except to spammers!) and it might ease the fears of those who put off joining the service in order to not have an inbox full of Viagra ads.
An up-and-coming field is real-time search engines, which gather up information on what's being talked about right now on services such as Twitter and Digg. One such service, OneRiot, just received $7 million in funding, and we're sure we're going to see others spring up in the near future. Keep an eye on this arena.
Video Games
Is a 250 gig Xbox 360 on the way? Apparently, a listing for a new super-deluxe model briefly appeared on German Amazon and was pulled, leading to speculation that one will appear on shelves for Christmas. Can't blame Micosoft for wanting to steal Sony's PS3Slim thunder.
We're going to have no new consoles for awhile, according to Electronic Arts chief creative officer Rich Hilleman, who said that designers exhausted themselves creatively crafting the current generation, since they were such a huge shift from what came before. He noted that Sony may do a PS3.5 (probably a reference to the Slim), but a PS4 is a long way down the road. Good news for game developers if he's accurate, means you won't have to learn a new system for awhile!
Gamasutra presents its weekly roundup of jobs, which is well worth checking out for job-seekers in the U.S. and Canada.
Technology
Some apps don't work on Snow Leopard yet: Now, what did we say about not leaping on it right away? This is why. And the apps experiencing glitches are big ones: Word and Photoshop. Word to the wise, if you create an app for computers: Make sure you have the patches to make your app compatible with a new operating system reaady <i>before</i> the OS launches to the public. (Working betas exist for a reason, folks).
Google backs open format for E-books: The company is making over a million public domain books available for free download in ePub, an open format that devices such as iPods, iPhones and Sony Readers can use. The Kindle pointedly can NOT use ePub, which means it may get increasingly shut out as adoption of ePub gets wider.
Dual-screen laptops on the way: Hey, in the age of the netbook, the traditional laptop has to stay competititve. They're aimed at multitaskers who have a lot of programs open at once, and we can see them having use for tech types working in fields like video editing. Meanwhile, Apple is rumored to be working on a tablet running full Mac OSX, which sounds like it'll be a lot more productive than the current glorified iPhone.
Media
Targeted ads ready for fall TV season: These utilize data which shows which ads generate the most business in a given area. For instance, a manufacturer of patio furniture could choose to advertise in an area where the most patio furniture is purchased, and pay an extra premium in the process. Interesting exercise in super-targeted marketing, another up-and-coming field that is worth paying attention to.
Anime/Manga
Movie director McG, who helmed the most recent Terminator film, is a Sailor Moon fan and recently filmed Kirsten Dunst - wearing what sounds like Sailor Mercury cosplay – in Akhibara for a music video. (Dunst has geeky cred herself: In addition to her Spiderman role, she voiced the title character in the dub of Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service). Fan to pro types turn up all over the place nowadays!
- Bonnie