Lots of adaptions coming up, Star Wars Versus Wow, and why it's time to kill performance reviews! Let's get to the news!
Career:
MUST READ: Why it's time to kill performance reviews.
Economics/Geekonomics:
A step back and look at what Japan's central bank will do.
Will Ireland threaten to default? Notes they may have the upper hand in a perverse way.
Is media piracy more due to pricing than enforcement? I'd say that's obviously a factor, but here's some actual analysis going on.
Comics:
Looks like we can expect a new Daredevil film with David Slade directing. He's an interesting choice, but I'm not sure what he can do with it.
Now apparently there may be a Sandman TV series after all. A lot of stuff is up-down lately (like "At The Mountains of Madness"), so I'm not sure what to think. Rumor is Gaiman is involved, which is awesome, and the series has lots of potential in the right hands and with the right actors (personally, I'd get Benedict Cumberbatch of 'Sherlock' who is physically perfect and incredibly talented). So just what is up here – and if this works could it open up more 'Vertigo' adaptions?
Media:
No new models of the Zune for now. How much longer until Microsoft just kills it? I'm not sure, but I get the impression Microsoft is either A) clueless, or B) planning to go very radical. OK, maybe both. I don't see the Zune fitting in either way.
Publishing:
Canadian Book publishing is having problems.
Technology:
eBay cutting fees. Sounds like they're concerned about business retention. I think there's more here, and wonder if anyone has analysis – are they big on long tail retention, have more rep issues, etc.?
Television:
A Discworld TV series? Sounds like it, and focused on the 'Night Watch,' which is actually my favorite of the 'subseries' so I'm happy. I've heard this idea kicked around before, and Pratchett is well-loved, so if this is done right it could be quite a hit and open up opportunities to other Pratchett adaptions. With an entire world and 39 novels in it, Pratchett's work is open to all sorts of adaptions beyond what's been done . . .
Trends:
Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn comments on Web 3.0. He thinks our identities will be data generators, and I think, despite my love of anonymity, he has a point. We are all content sources in a way, and people – and businesses – seem to like that.
Video Games:
EA has 1.5 million people interested in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. They want to take on WoW, but the game sounds WoW-like. I don't hold hope that it'll be revolutionary – but I don't expect it to be bad. This is a big media adaption, and how it plays out will affect other, similar projects.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: So do you think the Star Wars MMO can unseat WoW?