Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery

News of the Day 3/12/2010

GDC is over (surprisingly calmly), there's legal adventures winding down and starting up, and everyone's ready for the iPad. Let's check out the must-know news for geeky pros!

Career:
Never leave home without a business card - Not sure I agree on what it should have, but I agree with the idea.

Economics/Geekonomics:
The ever-wonderful Econompicdata shows that the American consumer is unhappy, yet spending more. With those two factors together I have to wonder what the duration of this is - and if it's been due to pent-up caution, need, etc.

Catch up on just what happened with the Great Recession as Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism launches ECONNED - the book, the trailer, and more. I like Yves and would listen to what he has to say. Frankly the screw-ups, the bad regulation (or lack of it), and more needs to be called out.

Richard Florida calls out a possible US Brain Drain - Which I feel he has reason to be concerned about. I've witnessed countries aggressively recruiting talent at GDC, openly suggesting work Visas or immigration to people and selling their countries strong points. Canada, especially, has a precise immigration system meant to bring in talent . . .

Anime and Manga:
Tokyopop has an manga internship for students coming. So if you qualify or know someone qualified, you know what to do. Or just spread the word. This is also heay on promotion, so it sounds like it'll be pretty educational.

Geek Law:
Netflix cuts its latest promotion due to legal reasons over privacy.

Sounds like China isn't backing away from pressuring Google - And Google may not be backing down. China comes off looking awful bad from this, and though it may be a big market it IS a limited one. I expect China to crack - eventually and slowly and in a piecemeal fashion - if only because trying to keep up control of the Internet is a loosing battle.

Media:
Reuters plans to syndicate third-party video news producers - That could be useful to many people - reelancers, up-and comers, etc. I can also see it being a way to take on content mills and leverage their brand in this case.

Publishing:
How are people preparing for the iPad? Find out! - A look atwhat people are doing to prepare, with different styles, etc.

Earings up, sales down at Books-A-Million

Technology:
Apple's iPad orders are open - Two to a customer, sorry. So let's see how these numbers look . . . By the way, Crunchyroll is giving an iPad away, which tells you what direction they're heading.

Video Games:
At GDC Sid Meier says most game devs have it wrong - And goes into his theory on games. I don't agree with all of it, but agree with some of it. Then again I have some theories of my own . . .

And where is the Wii going next? Not sure if it's going anywhere. I still bet some improved version has to bein order, but I am not sure how Nintendo would bull this off . ..

Writing:
How someome moved from unemployment to freelance writer.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:Is there a brain drain in the US, and what are it's geekonomic implications?

-Steven Savage

News of the Day, March 11, 2010

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Sony motion controller! Plus, the no-console video game service readies its debut, Funimation finds itself with a censorship controversy and a computer glitch keeps Amazon users from getting their Spidey fix. Here comes the news!

Economics/Geekonomics

Don't Blame Speculators For The Greek Crisis: One economist's analysis of what went wrong in one of the most spectacular meltdowns of the current financial crisis.

Wholesalers' Inventories Declined in January: Which is a good thing, because it means that their merchandise is starting to sell again. However, before we declare ourselves out of the woods, we should also consider that unemployment increased in 30 states in January, with California and several southern states taking the biggest hits.

Video Games

Sony's Motion Controller Gets a Name: And it's the Playstation Move. It definitely looks unusual - it utilizes a motion-capture camera and a remote that looks sort of like a wand from a magical girl anime - but it sounds promising. Electronic Arts has already announced that its upcoming Tiger Woods game (and yes, it involves GOLF, not juggling mistresses) will support the system. This is huge news for Sony, because it will allow them to mount a challenge to Nintendo - which has lagged way behind Sony on the HD and game-machine-as-lifestyle-device fronts. If other companies join EA and offer support for the Move, plus produce titles that go beyond the "gamer games" that have been the PS3's bedrock, expect the console wars to heat up anew - especially if Xbox's own motion controller turns out to be just as promising.

Game Developers Declare Mobile Phones The Hot Battleground: Console and Mac vs. PC wars are taking a back seat to Android vs. iPhone, and tablets are just going to make the battle heat up even more, according to game developers on a panel at the Game Developers' Conference. Free-to-play games that depend on ad revenue are extremely big in this market, they added so the key to success is grabbing marketshare.

Taking Games Global: A look at localizing foreign games for the U.S. market (and vice versa), and why some games "travel" well while others don't (some cultural differences are insurmountable).

OnLive Announces Startup Date: This is the "cloud gaming" service that will offer console games like Assassin's Creed II and Borderlands via PC or Mac (the company had bragged when it was first announced that their service would be "console-free"). The service will launch in June and cost $14.95 a month, though the price may not be worth it for Mac gamers, who will have to wait several months after the PC version is avalable (another service, Steam, almost instantly jumped in and said they will offer the Mac versions first). Sounds nifty at first glance, but they do seem to be barking up the wrong tree if they're not including Android and the iPhone OS in their game plan, as this service seems made for tablets. Careerwise, I'd say keep an eye on OnLive (and their competitor, Steam) to see what happens - this is either going to be huge or tank.

Smartphones

Google Launches Adversiting Banners on Mobile Version of YouTube: Another example of mobile advertising being the new marketing frontier. Google is taking this niche very, very seriously - it recently acquired mobile advertising network Admob for $750 million. 

Computers/Web Tech

Bing Creeps Upward Again in Search Share: Meaning the search engine division of Microsoft looks like a good place to work nowadays. (Not so the search engine department of Yahoo, which was down two-tenths of a point.)  

Publishing

Is Self-Publishing No Longer a Dirty Word?: An interview with Kevin Weiss, CEO of Author Solutions, whose company handles an astonishing 85,000 self-publishing authors.(Harlequin partnered with Author Solutions on its self-publishing project - which has been renamed Dellarte Press - and they've also formed partnerships with other niche publishers). 

Anime/Manga

Crunchyroll Ends Download-to-Own Service: They're going to concentrate more on their streaming, which has always been their greatest strength. Crunchyroll is a smart company that's managed to stay afloat and thrive when other anime/manga companies have floundered (see yesterday's item about Media Blasters) - we'll see if Funimation and Viz, both of whom seem to follow Crunchyroll's lead quite frequently, do the same.

Funimation Addresses Edited Stream Controversy: Fans had noticed that the streamed version of Dance in the Vampire Bund had been censored compared to the original Japanese version. The company said they did minor edits to their stream to make it conform to broadcast standards, but they are considering an uncensored DVD. This isn't the first time Funimation has edited content to a fan outcry - for instance, they removed an exploding-head scene from the Cartoon Network version of Fullmetal Alchemist - but this is the first time it's come up with a streaming anime.

Comics

Amazon Temporarily Halts Sales of Comics Distributed by Diamond: A computer glitch caused Amazon to list the prices of these books well below retail. And there's some big names involved: Marvel (OUCH right there), Dark Horse and Image Comics. Pretty embarassing on Diamond's part (I repeat, this involves MARVEL); best thing they could do here is a quick fix and get back to business. 

Geek News of the Weird

Leonardo da Vinci, Action Hero?: Perhaps inspired by his appearance in Assassin's Creed II, Warner Bros. is developing a movie with the Renaissance man as a butt-kicking Indiana Jones-like hero. After hearing about the Stretch Armstrong and Space Invaders movies, this no longer strikes me as bizarre as it once would. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Given the Funimation controversy, should an anime company hold its streams to broadcast TV standards, or to DVD standards (i.e., anything goes) with content warnings?

- Bonnie

News of the Day, March 10, 2010

The tablet wars get into full swing, gamers increasingly utilize their PCs and routers, and 3-D madness meets March Madness! Here's your midweek news roundup!

Economics/Geekonomics

Six Theories on Why the Stock Market Has Rallied: A roundup of opinions being tossed around by various economists, ranging from "it's just temporary" to "we're in from some serious inflation" to the rather interesting theory that the federal government itself is buying stock futures.

A Japanese Economic Recovery?: There's been faint glimmers of hope that dropoffs in demand for Japanese machinery (a cornerstone of their economy) may have bottomed out. Of course, there's still the ongoing Toyota crisis, but this is some cautious optimism for one of the bedrocks of the geekonomy.

Video Games

Madden Online Play Way Up: Electronic Arts says the number of people playing its football cornerstone with others across the miles rose from 36% of total purchasers in 2006 to 76% last year. Increase in wifi coverage probably had a lot to do with that, but it's still a staggering number, and a reminder to designers of sports games that multiplayer online capability is flat-out expected nowadays.

PC Gaming Revenue Topped $13 Billion Last Year: PC gaming is definitely an industry segment that people should be paying attention to, and not just on the casual Facebook gaming side, either. This figure reflects both boxed and digital game sales.

Nintendo DS To Get Netflix?: It would definitely fit in with the DSXL, which then raises questions of whether the new device will be more of a do-everything cousin to the tablets and less of  a pure gaming device. Anyone remember the E-reader the DS had in Europe? Expect that to come stateside, too.

Battlestar Galactica MMOG Coming: Hot on the heels of Star Trek Online, another huge sci-fi property takes the online gaming plunge. Sci-Fi/SyFy/SighFigh/SayFay will offer the game exclusively on its Web site for 30 days (in other words, get everyone hooked and then make 'em pay). 

Computers/Web Tech

Google Launches Store For Office Apps: It's designed for third-party apps that can be integrated with Google Apps, the company's suite of office software. Google collects 20% of the revenue for every app sold. Interesting iTunes-like approach, a good opportunity for business software designers and one more step in Google's march to challenge Microsoft on that front.

Imeem Founder to Launch New Startup: Imeem, a music service, is one of those companies that started out promisingly and then crashed and burned - it was acquired and shut down by MySpace last year. All we know about Dalton Caldwell's new business is it's called Mixed Media Labs - given Imeem's track record, thugh, I'd watch it for awhile after its launch before trying to get on board.

Geek Law

Pink Floyd Sues EMI Over Online Music Royalties: We're talking one of the biggest bands in history here, and EMI released their all-time biggest album, Dark Side of the Moon, so this could be a huge precedent-setter. Pay attention to this one if you plan to get involved in any aspect of digital music production and distribution.

Film

Disney Retitles Film To Increase Cross-Gender Appeal: Its movie based on Rapunzel has been renamed Tangled, supposedly because the studio found out a traditional-fairy-tale monicker no longer carries the box office magic it once did (the lackluster performance of The Princess and the Frog is being blamed on the fact that boys didn't want to see a film with "princess" in its title). Sounds odd given that film theorists have been quick to point out that "chick flicks" are box-office powerhouses now, and other female-driven entertainment (hello there, Harlequin!) has succeeded in the bad economy when more mainstream fare has failed - then again, we are talking kids here, and it's been proven in the past that girls are more likely to watch material targeted at boys (Harry Potter, anyone?) than vice versa (how may male Twilight fans do you know?).

Anime/Manga

Fantagraphics Launches Manga Line: Fantagraphics is an alternative comics publisher whose best known titles are Ghost World and Love & Rockets. Their initial manga line focuses on GLBT-themed works and it seems they're going for a "prestige" market here, with hardcover volumes. This seems to be taking manga in a direction beyond the mainstream action/comedy/romance stuff we usually see, and may open the door for more "serious" and mature-themed titles to come over here.

Layoffs at Media Blasters: It's estimated that 13 people are going to lose their jobs on both the print and video side of things, as well as in the business department. Another victim of contraction in the anime industry, though Media Blasters always was something of an also-ran - their all-time biggest titles were Kenshin and Weiss Kreuz (or, as they retitled it, Knight Hunters), and that was awhile ago. Since then, they primarily have been producing hentai, and, well, we know what the Internet is for, right?

Twilight Manga May Be Leaked Before Release Date: It's not supposed to come out until next Tuesday, but some copies have already been distributed to bookstores who only get shipments once a week. Yen Press has ordered stores to abide by the release date. We'll see if they do, and what happens to the offenders - since this is the most high-profile manga release to date, the results may set a precendent.

Netbooks/Tablets

HP to Offer Windows 7-Powered Tablet: The company recently unveiled their model, saying it offers a more complete computing experience than the iPad. Details have also leaked about Dell's tablet, hinting there may be an E-reader that's linked to Amazon included. And the tablet wars are officially on, folks, with the same three OSs as smartphones (Apple, Android, Windows) fighting it out on a new battlefield. (If you want to do tablet software, definitely familiarize yourself with all three platforms). 

Publishing

Adults Buying YA Books For Themselves: A trend started by Harry Potter continues with series like Percy Jackson and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. YA, like romance, is one of the genres that's been making money while the rest of the industry is down. If you want to write for the youth market, remember that it's important nowadays to keep it smart and not talk down to your audience, because your audience may be broader than you realize.

BusinessWeek Facing Job Cuts: Bloomberg may have saved the magazine as a whole from the axe, but it looks like not all the jobs have survived. About 30 people are going to be dropped in what is being described as a "restructuring" of the title. 

Google Economist Says Newspapers Dug Their Own Grave: Failure to keep up with the times did them in, according to Hal Varian, including the fact that they continued to rely on "specialty" sections (food, travel, book reviews) to generate revenue when their readers were going to Web sites like Epicurious, Orbitz and Amazon to get that information instead. 

Media

CBS To Broadcast March Madness Finale Games In 3-D: What hath James Cameron wrought? Apparently the network is serious about 3-D sports; they're planning to do some college football games that way, too. (Interesting that sports serves as a test lab for evolving technology - games were being streamed some time ago, too, before the tecnology had come to full fruition elsewhere. If you want to hone emerging technology skills, sports broadcasting may be the way to go). 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: With readers coming to every electronic device you can think of (tablets, smartphones, possibly the DSXL), can the "traditional" E-reader (Kindle, Nook, etc.) survive as they are?

News of the Day 3/9/2010

Lots of everything wars, as cable companies talk to the FCC about new rules, the Kindle may be getting a browser, and everyone on the planet wants to add Geolocation to their media. I can see your house - and your resume - from Google maps! Let's go - it's progeek, profan, and protaku news time!

Career:
Man puts his resume on Google Maps.

Economics/Geekonomics:
A further look at jobless demographics by education - That makes the point that we've got more long-term unemployed in the United States, and the problem that means.

Another look at the improving(?) labor market - There could be an issue with employed people not wanting to leave jobs. That also suggests to me that openings are in areas with some restrictive qualifications.

For some fun, a look at slang that has evolved in or been widely adopted in the Great Recession - At least some of these terms may predate the recession, but still an interesting read.

Geek Law:
If your company is in the UK and uses social media, prepare for stricter advertising/marketing regulations. Roughly, you're not just responsible for what's on your site, but also on social networks.

Media:
Time Warner leads a group to ask FCC to change programming deal rules - After several blackouts and high-profile tiffs, this is understandable (say, in the wake of the Cablevision mess). Comcast is interestingly absent.

Netflix wants to stream movies to your DS? They seem to be seeing if people would go for it. Wouldn't you want to work on that team . . .

Publishing:
Borders has begun job cuts.

Technology:
Amazon pulls out of Colorado associate advertising due to legislation in the state that 'increases the compliance burden' and sounds like it could evolve into online sales tax. Not the only case of this going on as well - a good read.

Next up in Everything Wars - Location Wars! Twitter has/is adding geolocation to its service, jumping on the latest bandwagon to destroy people's ideas of privacy. Geolocation seems to be the next big thing judging by Foursquare, Facebook's interest, etc. For me, that's starting to go a bit far. Still if you're in tech, you need to be aware of this - and if you're in social media, the same.

Blackberry outages continue - It's sad I didn't know about it until day 2. A blow to Blackberry since they've got other competitors out there.

It looks like Amazon wants a browser on it's Kindle, judging by a recent job posting. More and more I see Amazon trying to evolve Kindle into some kind of e-reader plus - a tool for reading with many other functions (just the way the iPhone is a phone with other functions). I think this points to them making a play to have the Kindle be around a long time - not a temporary device as I first thought.

Video Games:
Beg pardon? EA teams up with baseball player Curt Shilling as well as author R.A. Salvatore and artist Todd McFarlaine for a new epic RPG. OK that's an unusual cast there - Shilling sort of seems to be the outlier, but as I understand it he's a gaming enthusiast. This sounds like a case of EA wanting to create a seriously powerful new IP.

God of War III cost $44 million to make. Just so you know.

Don't expect World of Warcraft on your console. MMO developers, keep this in mind because that could be a gate to success.

Find out just what you sign away when you post your app to the iPhone App Store.

Emergent is back in the news with a new CEO and growth via social MMOs. Sounds like they're thinking broader and smaller.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: So, is the Netflix-to-DS a viable idea or straight up impractacal?

- Steven Savage

News of the Day 3/8/2010

It looks like it's experiment time - new publishing methods, new platforms for Valve, and more! Put on your lab coat and geek out to the must-know news for professional geeks, fans, and otaku!

First off, The New York Times wants to hire a dozen techs and a social media guru. Agree with some of their paywall/metered plans or not, this could be a great opportunity . . .

Career:
Good networking is all about followup. Very true. Good advice, especially for those of you working to build networking skills.

How job seekers are leveraging social media. Some useful ideas for you!

Economics:
Must Read: The Atlantic looks at the impact of the recession on culture and country in America. Lots of information here, so as soon as you finish this news report go read this.

The EU sounds like it's backing assistance for Greece during it's economic problems (though those seem largely self-induced). This is a big deal geekonomically, because if the EU can effectively survive the troubles of some of it's members, and build institutions to help it navigate future problems, it's economic stability - and unity - is assured. Coping with the problems of member nations effectively makes membership something more will want and few will want to leave. A failure on the other hand . . .

Consumers leveraging more credit - Which may, despite how it sounds, be a sign of more spending and possible growth. I'm not too sure here. A bit more from Econompic.

Media:
The folks behind Techmeme and Memorandum roll out a new media-news aggregator, Mediagazer. Looks indespensible to those of you working in media and related industries - you'll want to bookmark this one.

Movies:
Nope, Avatar didn't get best picture in the Oscars, though you did get Ben Stiller in Na'vi makeup. A roundup here at io9. Not as geeky a group of winners as we predicted (even if it was a hyper-geeky amount of nominees) - and I'm sure there will be many an argument over the choices. A fun roundup of interesting Oscar losers for consideration. Congrats to the winners - there were a lot of good films here.

Publishing:
Barnes and noble to bundle print AND e-books together? Pretty much buy-print-get-the-e-book-discounted deal, but it'll be interesting to see if it works for sales or provides any insights. Those of you in publishing, stay tuned. They also have some leadership changes that seem pro-digital.

Technology:
DataXu raises $11 million dollars. Never heard of them? They make ad bidding/optimization engines - and we all know there's money in online ads. Might be worth a resume if you're in Boston.

OK developers, here's what HTML 5 will mean to you. Heavy going if you're not at least mildly code/HTMl savvy, but informative. However the author predicts full adaption is five to ten years away . . .

Time Warner to sign deals with Verizon, AT&T? Apparently to use their heavy presence to help them provide better service (AT&T is apparently quite overloaded in New York). Another part of the Everything Wars goes to an . . . Everything peace? Could be good news for all involved, and may be an exaple of good cooperation. This also might be used as an example of the importance of net neutrality as well.

Sony to update PS3 for 3D - specifically games and movies. Interesting bit of news in the recent 3d craze. Not sure entirely what it means - but hey, it's Sony.

Video Games:
Game studio Cling files for Bankrupcy. They are known for Little King's Story and Hotel Dusk.

Ubisoft's controversial DRM fails due to DRM server downtime, leaving players angry. Not a good thing for the attempts at powerful DRM. Ubisoft is claiming the servers were the victim of an attack, which will likely be used as an example in the future of why these methods are too vulnerable to failure. So what's the future of this DRM?

Mochi Media develops new platform for game developers that makes it easier to make social - and monetizable - games. It's in private beta now, but you game devs will want to keep track of it - and it seems obvious Mochi has concerns about Facebook in mind.

Valve brings Steam distribution to the Mac. Mac gaming is an oft-ignored market, and this sounds like a savy move - Mac users tend to appreciate being remembered.

QUESTION: What's next for DRM efforts after the Ubisoft incident?

- Steven Savage

News of the Day, March 5, 2010

We finally have a release date for the iPad! Sony is finally releasing a Playstation Phone! Activision/Infinity Ward and Cablevision/ABC . . . well, there's nothing final about either of them, they just keep rolling on. Finally, it's Friday, and we bring you the end-of-week news!

Job Market

How to Negotiate for a Raise in a Bad Economy: Yes, it is possible, if you know how to present yourself.

February Unemployment Rate Holds Steady: Another sign that we may have already hit the bottom of the recession, but again - cautious optimism. February wasnt a typical month, as many parts of the country were impacted by several major winter storms.

 Economics/Geekonomics

Greek Debt Deal Done: The Greek 10-year bond issuance is complete, priced to yield 6.385%. This is going to resonate on the world economic stage for awhile, since it's pretty much the biggest bailout in history - a whole bunch of countries were in on it.

Video Games

Sony Developing Playstation Smartphone: According to the Wall Street Journal, they have a phone in development that can play video games. Rumors of a PSP phone have been around for awhile (in Googling the phrase, I found an article dating back to 2007 claiming one was coming soon), but it looks like it's going to happen now as part of a lineup of devices Sony is hoping will counterpunch the iPad. It's about time, really. Mating the underperforming PSP (well, underperforming in North America, in Japan it's still selling like hotcakes) to a smartphone has always seemed like a no-brainer, and it's a very, very smart move for Sony to move ahead with this now. (Plus, there's reports that it'll play PS1 and 2 games, so . . . hey, Final Fantasy VII on a smartphone!) While they're at it, Sony has also patented the degradable game demo, which, instead of giving people a small piece of a game, gives them the full game, then takes away pieces of it as time goes on unless the user pays up for the full thing. Very interesting concept and an example of out-of-the-box thinking - let's see if it a) works and b) catches on. If both are true, expect it to become the new standard of game demos.

Activision Claims Infinity Ward Was In Talks With EA, while meanwhile, Infinity Ward Says Activision Trumped Up Charges in order to fire them before they were due to receive large royalty checks for megahit Call of Duty 2. Activision vs. Infinity Ward just keeps rolling on and getting uglier. In the past, Fan to Pro had been strong advocates of Activision Blizzard as a potential employer, but until this shakes out and we know what's up, we'd advise against it.

Ubisoft Putting Emphasis on Sports Games: These have always performed very well for both Ubi and EA, so it's no surprise that they're doing a soccer game and a sequel to their extremely popular Shaun White Snowboarding, this one featuring skateboards. (The red-hot-after-the-Olympics athlete competes in both disciplines). It may strike some as playing it safe, but you can't fault a company for going with what works, especially in a still-tough economy.

Nexon Announces Indie Game Development Program: The company will award a total of $1 million in rewards to designers who submit "original, creative and promising" ideas under its Nexon iNitiative program. Game designers, you know what to do.  

Smartphones

Verizon/Microsoft Partnership?: It's rumored that Verizon Wireless is going to be releasing two Microsoft phones around May or June that will be, interestingly enough, targeted at teen users.The phones are said to offer easy access to social networking sites and a slide-out keyboard. Interesting to see these two teaming up, since both have become arch-rivals to Apple nowadays.

Media

Blockbuster Claims Its Brand Name Will Be Strong Enough to Carry Them: The troubled company says they're planning a "digital reinvention" and that they think the Blockbuster brand name alone is strong enough to carry them, thus making up for their late entry into this sweepstakes. Quite frankly, we're not buying it - Netflix hit the ground running while they lagged behind, Wal-Mart and Best Buy are bundling video download services with the TVs they sell and GameStop's used game sales pretty much made their game rentals moot. Blockbuster claims they'll survive, but we're keeping their name on the "don't send a resume" list.

Lawmakers Get Involved in ABC/Cablevision Dispute: A number of federal and state legislators are petitioning the FCC to get involved and keep the Oscars on Cablevision. The dispute continues to be at an impasse - and unfortunately, it's not the last tiff of its type we're going to see.

Netbooks/Tablets

Apple Sets iPad Release Date at April 3: And preorders start March 12, so expect big crowds at your Apple Store. But meanwhile, are there iPad production delays?: Reports are surfacing that production in Taiwan is behind schedule, meaning that about 300,000 units will be available for the ship date. (Apple not having enough of a Hot New Device to meet demand on its release date? Gee, that has NEVER happened before!)

E-Books

Barnes and Noble to Test-Market Bundling Conventional and E-Books: Smart marketing here, similar to the video industry's strategy of bundling Blu-Ray, conventional DVD and digital copies togther. It might ease some people into E-books who don't want to give up conventional print books entirely.  

Geek News of the Weird

Warner Bros. Trying to Acquire Movie Rights to Space Invaders: Yes, you read that right, SPACE INVADERS, that collection of blips that us '80s survivors played on our 2600s. And you thought the Stretch Armstrong movie was a sign that Hollywood was creatively bankrupt. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is there any way that Blockbuster can, indeed, survive in today's climate, especially considering their late entry into streaming and downloads?

- Bonnie

News of the Day, March 4, 2010

Greece vs. Europe, Cablevision vs. ABC, Call of Duty developers vs. Activision Blizzard . . . but we've got more than fights in today's news, we promise!

Job Market

Building Self-Esteem During Unemployment: Turning what is normally a self-esteem killer into a positive.

Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decline: They're down by 134,000 from last week, which is definitely a step in the right direction. (Again, we urge cautious optimism here, as it'll be awhile before we're fully out of the woods). 

Economics/Geekonomics

Greece May Seek Emergency Loan From International Monetary Fund: They're saying they made the cuts the European Union asked for, and if the EU doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, they'll look elsewhere. This sad saga could definitely have a major impact on the whole world economy, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Video Games

MySpace Co-Founder Moves Into Social Gaming: Chris DeWolfe, who left the social media company a year ago, has taken over MindJolt, which produces games for Facebook. Kind of interesting to see him going to what was, essentially, the competition. MindJolt is already a successful company, and we'll have to see what new ideas DeWolfe brings to the table - file them under "possible future breakout company, watch them." (Meanwhile, another biggie in Facebook gaming, Playdom, has acquired Offbeat Creations, another social media game company. Playdom is definitely a solid company in social gaming and one that would be worth tossing a resume to).

Take-Two To Cut 15 Percent of Jobs: In a word, ouch. This follows their sixth straight quarter of losses. Part of the company's problem is developing hits that aren't called Grand Theft Auto, though they seem to have scored recent successes with NBA2K and the BioShock series. This is a huge lesson in not putting all your eeggs in one basket - for gaming or anything else. 

Publishing

Harlequin Revenues Up: Like we're surprised here at Fan to Pro. Harlequin has triumphed while other publishers failed by a combination of broad product range, smart marketing (placing their books in supermarkets and discount stores, as well as bookstores), staying ahead of industry trends and continually evolving a solid, established brand. 

Smartphones

Nokia and Skype Fumble Ovi Store Debut: Customers running Nokia's Symbian phones were told they could go to the Ovi online store and download Skype, but when they got there, all they found was a "not available in your country" notice. It was later resolved, but it's a black eye neither troubled company needs - this solidifies the status of both Nokia and Skype on the "hold the resumes" list.

iPhone Books Outnumber Games: This is a sector of the E-book market that definitely can't be ignored, so if you're going into E-publishing, make sure your book is available for iTunes as well as the Kindle, Nook, etc. (This will become even more important once the iPad arrives). 

Comics

Disney to Produce Avengers Animated Series: When the Spidermickey deal went down, there was talk that Disney would utilize a variety of Marvel titles for new animated series, and while the Avengers movie seems to be forever stuck in development, the TV series is definitely a go. The House of Mouse also has an animated Tron series on the agenda, by the way, and rumors of an Ant Man movie are swirling after Disney purchased a Web URL to that effect.

Anime/Manga

Tokyopop Launches DVD-On-Demand Streaming Service: Another case of the majors imitating Crunchyroll, but definitely the direction the anime industry is headed in. Interestingly, Tokyopop is offering both sub and dub streams, which means the anime dub may not be as endangered as originally thought. (I'd still say the game industry is a safer bet for voice acting, though). 

Geek Law

Call of Duty Developers Sue Activision Blizzard Over Unpaid Royalties: Nothing breeds lawsuits like having the most successful video game of the year, it seems. Infinity Ward had their contract terminated by Activision over "insubordination" and "breach of fiduciary duty," and now they're fighting back with legal action which seeks, among other things, "the contractual rights Activision granted to West and Zampella to control Modern Warfare-branded games" - which sounds like IW may be looking to produce COD games without Activision. Stay tuned to this one, it looks like a brewing mess that may set a lot of precedents.

Media

Cablevision, ABC in Licensing Fees War: If the dispute is not resolved by Sunday, ABC programming will be pulled from Cablevision and subscribers will not see the Oscars. This is not the first time Cablevision has been in a row like this - subscribers were denied Food Network for a few weeks around the holidays - but this is much, much more serious. Expect to see a lot more of this as the concept of television programming changes in this era of content delivery alternatives to cable (Boxee, Fios, satellite, etc.). If you want to work in this arena, remember that it's evolving and changing as quickly as any other mass media discipline nowadays. 

Joost Reborn As Video Advertising Company: The remains of the company were picked up by Adconion Media Group. The Joost video streaming site is still there, and will serve as a portal to showcase and distribute "branded entertainment content." This could be a case of a phoenix rising from the ashes, but do keep in mind that Joost as it was should still be considered a casualty of the streaming wars, along with Veoh. 

Social Media

Twitter Mobile Traffic More Than Triples In 12 Months: The number of people Tweeting from phones rose from 1,051,000 to 4.7 million. Given that Twitter and texting seem made for each other, that's no surprise at all - I'd actually be interested in seeing the stats on people who Tweet from PCs only.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How much the trend of companies taking their streaming in-house - NBC's investment in Hulu, anime companies offering streaming via their sites - contribute to the deaths of would-be YouTube competitors like Joost and Veoh?

- Bonnie

News of the Day 3/3/2010

Apple takes on HTC, Adobe takes over Facebook's advertising, Virgin takes HTML 5 over Flash, and Tivo takes on anyone doing tv media devices! It's the Everything Wars a-go-go today in your must-know news for career-minded fanboys, fangirls, fanmen, and fanwomen!

Career:
The importance of leaps of faith in life and career. Nice bit of advice I think dovetails nicely with my post yesterday.

Geek Law:
Why Apple filed their suit against HTC with the International Trade Comission instead of courts. - Basically a chance for more agressive action. However the ITC also has been used by foreign companies against American companies, so Apple might be opening the doors a little too widely here. Some more detail here, which suggests to me that Apple felt HTC was an easier target.

Anime and Manga:
Crunchyroll recognized by Japan's Association of Media in Digital - Along with nine other winners of their award. Great news for Crunchyroll. Now come on, Crunchyguys, start hiring all the waiting geeks and fans out there . . .

Media:
ABC sees the future of news, and it's more digital. What stands out for me is the idea digital leads to more independence. Though I have issues with the 'personality driven news' we see too often, it does allow for independence as well. Mixed bag in the end I suppose.

Publishing:
The Wall Street Journal will be on iPad and more devices. Now to see who follows - or tries to come up with alternative models.

Social Media:
Adobe's Omniture to handle Facebook ad sales? Interesting: Adobe needs the money, Facebook can wash their hands of the complex ad issues. This is part of many Facebook changes going on, so clearly they're trying to evolve into something with long-term potential.

Technology:
Virgin America ditches Flash for HTML 5 on it's website as it can run on iPhone. Why is this big? Because it's part of the slowly brewing Adobe/HTML 5 war, where you have Flash versus an HTML standard that, when implemented in browsers, allows websites to function . .. well, like Flash. Some good analysis here that makes the point that right now Flash is a bit of a bottleneck to say the least.

Video:
Wow. The new Tivo handles Blockbuster, Netflix, Amazon, and more. Tivo seems to be squarely aiming to be an entertainment center device - which they're doing, but puts them in conflict with many other sources, including game consoles and Boxee. Except for a few oddities, this is a pretty slick deployment, and a good move for Tivo. I think it also cements the Media Box Thingy as a big battleground for companies - and in short, the Everything Wars.

Video Games:
Playdom acquired Facebook game developer Offebeat Creations. Playdom continue's its growth and expansion - might be worth sending them a resume?

A fund for indie game developers? Go take a look!

A bit of layoff news: EA cuts some Boom Blox developers and Square Enix cut some of their sound team.

Take Two games extends partnership with Lego to 2016. They've got a good thing going with the lego games (which are often quite fun, I've sound), there's a Lego MMo coming out . . . the partnership makes sense. Maybe we'll see more property development in the future . . .

EA's Wii Sports line is doing pretty well. They do seem to do well with sports don't they?

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Has Apple damaged their reputation taking on HTC?

- Steven Savage

News Of The Day 3/2/2010

PS3's sieze up among other weird naming news, video is all ago, and publishing is a mixed bag!  Nerds assemble, it's the must-know geek career news of the day!

Career:
Have career/resume information overload? A few tips on how to keep from overdoing it. Some good advice here.

Economics/Geekonomics:
A look at disposable income over the years for some econogeeks

Anime and Manga:
Crunchyroll's iPhone app will do Simulcasts - And as usual, I welcome our new Crunchylords. The iPhone app almost seemed to come in under radar, but now with the iPad, Crunchyroll is even more firmly established.

Geek Law:
You may not remember the bizarre legal wranglings of SCO or Darl McBride (short summary; lawsuits involving Linux and IP, much humiliation and anger). Some or all of SCO's remnants may be sold to Darl McBride who was part of the earlier mess. I'm guessing more lawsuits will result from this.

Germany suspends controversial data retention law - But only for six months. Remember laws like thsi vary from country to country - but can affect your plans.

Apple sues HTC for patent infringement - And so it begins. My guess is this is a swipe at Android.

Publishing:
Kodansha reports 2009 loss - Two years in a row, and sales have been dropping for awhile. Though I think Kodansha has ambitions in North America, this kind of economic hit can't be helping them be realized - though it may drive them as well.

Penguin Publishing is doing well overall - Seems to be due to a mix of factors. Seeing them do well gives me hope that publishing has survived and may recover from all the hits its faced.

Social Media:
How your Social Media Data gets used - Food for thought. Greasy, disturbing food for thought.

Technology:
A useful look at how Google and Apple became enemies - Some history for those that haven't followed this soap opera.

Asus comes out swinging with it's new netbooks and more info on their e-reader. Very nice stuff - not overly innovative, but Asus' big focus is What Works.

Video:
Russia has it's own Hulu - For those of you keeping track of video site ambitions.

Netflix mulling an iPhone app - To which I say go for it (and go Android too). I think though the iPhone is a big deal, the iPad has increased awareness of video utilities. Of course this is just apparently "mulling" which to me says "going to be done." More here.

Video Games:
February 28th people found some of their 'fat' PS3's not working. Now it appears the issue sort of fixed itself. It appears to be a clock issue, with a mis-interpreted leap year (in 2010, yes). It seems to have been forgiven by the public, but let's see. This also makes me wonder if this'll happen again.

Sony Acquires Media Molecule, makers of Little Big Planet - A good move for them as, questions on sales aside, Little Big Planet was impressive.

Scandal and weirdness between Infinity Ward and Activision. Looks like Call of Duty is in Infinity Ward's hands.

Hi5's API is going to work with Facebook

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Did Sony handle the PS3 meltdown issue appropriately?

-Steven Savage

News of the Day, February 26, 2010

Nokia struggles to make a comeback, a high-profile plagiarism case is the talk of the manga industry, and don't look for the Playstation 4 any time soon! Join us as we wrap up the week in news!

Economics/Geekonomics

Mortgage Delinquencies Increase Strongly in January: Another sign we're definitely not out of the woods yet, as is existing home sales below expectations.

Smartphones

Android May Outsell iPhone in Middle of the U.S.: The Google OS is reportedly ahead in eight states, but there's a catch: Verizon, home of the Droid, has much greater coverage than AT&T in those parts of the country. Sounds like a good idea for Apple to not renew its exclusive deal with AT&T.

Nokia Charts its Comeback Plan: The once-mighty cellphone maker is preparing for life in the smartphone world with some high-end models, but they're  definitely on the "see how it goes before you even think of sending them a resume" list.

Palm Cuts Revenue Forecast: They're lowering expectations after sales of the Pre and Pixie fell short. Hopefully, their new deal with Verizon will turn things around, but . . . see what we said about Nokia above.

Computers/Web Tech

Browser Wars: The Sequel: An analysis how increased competition, especially from Google's Chrome, is driving improvements throughout  the industry - including to Internet Explorer, which Microsoft pretty much ignored after it kicked Netscape to the curb. (We all know, of course, that Mozilla rose from the ashes as Firefox).

Online Dating in a Slump: Match.com purchased Singlesnet.com, but Match.com itself has lost traffic, as has the rest of the industry. Another victim of the recession, and another area of tech it may be best to avoid, job-wise, for awhile.

Social Media

Facebook Patents the Social Media News Feed: Which could get interesting legally if other social media sites utilize technology that falls under Facebook's filing. Keep an eye on this one, especially if your work, or plan to work, in this area. (Meanwhile, Facebook says it's taking a 30% cut on revenue from its Credits virtual money system, leaving developers to take a whopping 70% cut).

Netbooks/Tablets

iPad Accessories Planned Already: The device isn't even due until next month, but companies such as  Belkin, Scosche, and Griffin have peripherals on the drawing board. Tablet accessories are about to become a booming market, so this is a good one to get in on the ground floor of.

Video Games

Plants vs. Zombies iPhone Game Generates $1 Million in Sales: PopCap Games set a nine-day sales record for the app store. Keep in mind, though, that  this is the exception, rather than the rule, and the "you won't get rich designing iPhone apps" saying still stands, nine times out of ten. (Needless to say, PopCap Games is also a company to watch).

Sony America CEO Can't Imagine the Future of Playstation: Jack Tretton says he isn't even thinking about the PS4 because the PS3 hasn't even reached its midlife crisis - so count on it being around awhile. (Good thing, since it's just starting to gain steam in the marketplace).

Gamasutra Network Jobs Lineup: You know what to do.

E-Books

How Amazon Innovates: A look at how its corporate culture ultimately resulted in the Kindle - and how Microsoft's didn't.

Anime/Manga

Controversy Rolls On Over Nick Simmons Manga: Gene Simmons' son apparently plagiarized entire pages of Bleach for his "American manga," Incarnate, and has also been accused of lifting art from titles such as One Piece and Hellsing, as well as DeviantArt fanarts. Fortunately, Viz got on this one fast and they're taking action - another sign that geek law is going to be a very profitable career. (And remember folks, steal art and you'll get caught, no matter who your daddy is)

Comics

Captain America Movie on Hold?: Rumors to that effect have surfaced after director Joe Johnston's "The Wolfman" flopped. Given how hot comic movies though, are, and how talked-about this project has been, we imagine Johnston will merely be replaced, rather than scrapping the whole film.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can Nokia make a comeback, or is their entrance into the smartphone game too little, too late?

- Bonnie