Capability – Page 39 – Steven Savage

Link Roundup 10/16/2013

October 16, 2013 by Steven Savage

Oyster wants to be a Netflix for books. Color me as having no idea if it’ll work or not, but we might as well pay attention. Jeez, between this and Kindle Worlds someday we may be renting fanfic.
eBay is not expecting a good winter. So if you’ve been sending in your resume . . . be warned. Actually if you work there or are a contract, be warned.
For that matter, being at Amazon is pretty tough too.
Mattel expects to make a ton of money this year. So if Hasbro rejected you . . .
Goldie Blox, the game to promote engineering for girls has a sequel coming! Now come on let’s get an animated web series and comic!

– Steven “Rental Fanfic” Savage

Form Geek Voltron: Might As Well Be The Head

October 16, 2013 by Steven Savage

There’s a valuable lesson in the various incarnations of Voltron. No I’m not talking that giant robots are cool (obvious), that Pidge is creepy when you have him get older (surprising), or that movie adaptions are chaotic and unpredictable (depressingly true). I’m talking about the basic core idea of Being Stronger By Coming Together.

That’s a lesson we usually brush off. Giant robots made from smaller robots, power of love, friendship is magic, fighting spirit of the team, what have you are all common ideas in anime, movies, etc. The idea of Being Stronger By Coming Together is so common we don’t even think about it, and thus don’t learn the lessons. It’s probably not helped by a culture with the delusion that we somehow magically succeed without the help of (even if unappreciated) others.

But it’s a damned valuable lesson. Plus illustrating it through the idea of cool robots coming together to make an even more kickass one is a real inspiring illustration that harmonizes with our half mechanical, half magical geek hearts.

We’re stronger when we come together. Specifically I’d like to focus on the Applied Geek aspect of that – in our careers and our lives.

Link Roundup 10/15/2013

October 15, 2013 by Steven Savage

Pinterest Drives More Traffic to Publishers Than Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit Combined – There’s a new social media lesson for all of us that will now be pummeled into the ground in the news.
A look at how Blockbusters are driving media – and prediction it’s not going to stop. Some good points of of the “superstar” type effects and foreign market distort media plans – but also predictions it won’t stop. Something to keep in mind because I still feel that this can’t last forever, and a meltdown may just get BIGGER if not restrained.
Ironically there’s a lot of work to keep scripts hidden and secret despite Hollywood’s unoriginality that we complain about. Amusing but also telling.
How games as service can change everything. Well they already have, so it’s more change MORE.
A technology lab helping teach the homeless. Very important because technical literacy and access is indespensible in our society. This guy is really something and more of us could follow in his footsteps.
Finally if you want to understand the US Government shutdown, here’s a quick guide in ten sentences.

– Steven “Waiting for the Meltdown” Savage