News Of The Day 10/21/2010

Lots of venture capital flowing, Microsoft may come back and is Sony going Android Crazy? Set course for geek news time!

Career:
Andy Robinson has a short and sweet article on the power of checklists. I use similar techniques and it helps a lot.

Three myths messing up your career.

Economics/Geekonomics/Total Economic Disasternomics:
MUST READ: More Foreclosure Fraud for Dummies! The Big Picture has parts three and four. Read this stuff, people.

Media:
US Today is restructuring. Not sure where this will lead. Some useful insights here on what they're trying.

Mobile:
Nokia restructures. 1,800 laid off – Sounds like this is part of restructuring. Still a bit of a warning to those looking at Nokia for employment. I also wonder just how far this is going to go . . .

Science:
MBA Polymers raises $25 million for plastic recycling. Sounds like they've got good processes, good infrastructure, and a good amount of money. Feeling Green? They might be worth your resume – and they sound very solid in their business.

Social Media:
A $250 VC fund for social startups? Damn right. So now let's see who taps into this sweet amount of money.

Technology:
Microsoft might have the foundation for a comeback. Short on details, but this article gives a nice overview that Microsoft may actually be doing decent for itself.

Apparently Sony is big on Android. Interesting – this could be something they use to distinguish themselves in the market and keep some geek-hip elements as well. It also suggests some potential alliance with Google, making this . . . more of the Everything Wars. More reasons to know Android, of course, if you haven't had enough already.

Video Games:
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will never make games. They really don't need to, but also may help them build, keep, and reassure their allies.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can Sony use Android to improve and expand its prospects?

Steven Savage

Frustration Friday: May We Be Treated Like We’re Stupider

We're geeks.  We're used to being treated as odd or weird, as antisocial or as "differently social", as unfathomable and hard to understand.  This is of course incredibly annoying (at least when we don't tune it out), but it conceals a far bigger annoyance.  We geeks are in danger of being labeled in another way, a way that will affect our jobs and careers and opportunities.

We're in danger of being considered too smart to give advice too.

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Frustration Friday: To Not Forget

Recently I was thinking about the Great Recession, which is not unusual for me, and realized that some day, years from now, it will end.  Then, I thought, I can get beyond it, get it out of my mind . . .

 . .  and I realized I was looking forward to forgetting about the Great Recession.  I was looking forward to the days I was no longer worrying about my friends and their jobs.  I was looking forward to no longer analyzing the impacts of these terrible times on our economy, our psychology, and our souls.  I was looking forward to forgetting.

I realized then and there, I was wrong.  I should not forget it.  Ever.

Neither should you and yours, neither should anyone.

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