Less green for green, virtual goods wil put you in the black, and EA is true blue to the Kinect! It's a colorful day in must-read geek career news!
Career:
Where will the jobs be? Fan To Pro crush object Richard Florida gives you his data, and most of it is unsurprising (though I didn't expect some of the growth in western Arizona). More to think about as you consider the ideal place to live and work.
Economics/Geekonomics:
Deutsche Bank doesn't consider the US a reliable place for climate investment like greentech. This could mean loosing the US some job opportunities as well. Green means green people . . .
A painful but important look at unemployment, the economy, and suicide. Painful, but important so you can grasp the personal suffering of people in the economic downturn. As I've noted before – put up people you know looking for work.
Man, it sounds like leading a Think Tank is a seriously lucrative gig.
Location:
io9 looks at the potential for massive urbanization in China and India. Mega-megaregions?
Toronto is looking to increase arts spending. Again the city shows it's geek/creative class cred.
Comics:
Archie is back with some unusual writing (alternate timelines?), a more brand-focused magazine, and more. Sounds like a serious effort to re-work a beloved, but at times stagnant, icon. I'm most interested in this as a form of brand management, which suggests a more Disney-esque approach to the property – and may be further imitated if successful.
Social Media:
Branded Virtual goods to grow 113% in the next 3 years according to one report. I think there's something to this as I'm noticing more trends to leverage branding in media recently.
Technology:
6 reasons Flash isn't going away. Some counterpoints to the usual narrative.
Video:
Timeshifting technology, like DVRs and internet sites, is now used by a majority of people. Big demographic change, and this trend means peoples expectations of technology are changing – and content providers need to deliver. Some things to think about – I think the DRM advantage of Flash may be an often-unthought-of advantage for some companies.
Video Games:
EA is planning to support Microsoft's Kinetc in some of their games – Specicially the "Sports Active 2" and the "Harry Potter Dealthy Hallows part 1" (which being more FPS like may fit it. Still feeling this is a bit faddish, but it may give Kinect some momentum.
Zynga continues to expand with the purchase of Conduit Labs. Not only noteworthy for their continued expansion, but this keeps expanding the Zynga georgraphic footprint, which in turn makes recruiting easier.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What companies are best positioned to take advantages of branded personal goods?
– Steven Savage