It's a good news/bad news day. Everyone seems to be landing venture capital, amazon is doing awesome, yet Goldman Sach, Bang-Zoom and Hulu have bad days. Throw in the iPhone Legal Drama (you knew it was coming) and we're having a busy geek news day!
Career:
Sell yourself at an interview – but don't brag. Some helpful focusing tips.
Economics/Geekonomics:
The Goldman-Sachs hearings at the Capitol are underway. You can find summaries all over, but Naked Capitalism has some good stuff as always, and likely more to follow. How bad is it? Jim Cramer is down on Goldman (not that I consider him reliable at all, but still).
Mixed reports on employments and layoffs. We've had a decreasing trend of mass layoffs, with some mini-spikes, but the sheer amount of layoffs has been amazing.
Geek Law:
There's an expanding criminal probe over the whole Gizmodo-iPhone issue which has included one search warrant of a Gizmodo editor's home. This is more complicated than it may appear, dragging in laws on stolen property, journalistic boundaries, and more.
Anime and Manga:
CEO of Bang Zoom entertainment says his company may not be doing anime VA work. He blames fans watching fan-subbed stuff, and seems doubtful about online monetization. He doesn't get a good reception. What I take from this is that Bang Zoom is having trouble – not that it's unusual. Read the comments to get some interesting views.
Movies:
Warner Brothers wants to do a Space Invaders film. Yeah, I know. My best advise is make it a retro-sci fi deliberately goofy story.
Publishing:
Amazon continues to do awesome. Are you really surprised?
Science:
Biotech Joule lands $30 million in investment. Their idea is a kind of artificial photosynthesis that produces fuel. Sounds like a great idea – and this is a kind of very out-of-the-box green thinking that seems to be getting attention. So they've got $30 million, they're in geeky area Cambridge Mass, and they do cool stuff – so why don't they have your resume?
(And again, is it like a lot of Geektastic investment is in Massachucetts? It's a nice state, if you can stand the weather, and Boston is quite a cool city . . .)
Social Media:
Mobile Payments Company Zong has a deal with Facebook and another $15 million in funding. Sounds like they've got a lot going on, they have locations in 3 countries, and $15 million to play with. If they manage their good fortune well I sense a strong future.
(OK, really, is today Big Investment In Stuff day?)
Technology:
Marketing/Sales web tool company Marketo raises $10 Million in investment. They've been growing well, their tools link with Salesforce, sounds like a good deal. So come on, send a resume – they're in San Mateo, California, which is a great place!
Google A look at how people make money on free software, and what other industries can learn. Basic summary is you have to move forward, you can't move back, and you monetize differently. Again, must read.
Video:
Hulu's UK talk collapse, making a UK version less likely, at least for now. I'm sure they'll try again. Sounds like some UK deals were already in the works with other providers. Ups and downs of an international market, though I'm wondering if this setback will lead to competitors trying to take advantage of it.
Video Games:
Square Enix founds a studio for more edgy games titled Extreme Edges. The take in the article is this provides good brand differentiation, which is a good point. Sounds like a smart move – and it telegraphs their preferences to their audience.
Infinity Ward still loosing headcount. On top of that there's a Half-billion dollar lawsuit brought against Activision by 38 plaintiffs (some still working at Activision and Infinity Ward). That's a lot of people who may be willing to dish a lot of dirt. I think this thing actually got uglier.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you think the effects of the lawsuit against Activision will be?
-Steven Savage