news of the day

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Geek Alert: Yahoo and Microsoft sign search deal.

This one is all over the geekosphere, and there's a lot information. First, it appears it's a ten year deal – and secondly, Yahoo is getting 110% of ad revenue the first two years Yes, 110%. Yahoo also gets to work relations for Microsoft.

A little more detail is available here – the integration could take two years.

So, my take on this?

  • This isn't approved – it'll take into 2010 to get regulatory approval.
  • The deal takes up to 24 months to integrate AFTER appoval – so we can be talking 30 months or more until it's all done technically.
  • Yahoo is toast if this goes through – they'll be thorouhgly dependent on Microsoft. As a truly separate company it's over with, and I could see a total integration happening within that decade.
  • This is more of the Everything Wars, and I suspect Google will make some other stunning announcement – or accelerate projects like Chrome, in the near future. It's also possible the sense of Microsoft as a larger company than they are may make them leverage more alliances and OS projects for image reasons.
  • This is more of the Everything wars. More here.

    And for Irony? Remember for years Yahoo was powered by Google.

And now our regular news . . .

Career:
Good basic advice on researching companies you want to work for.

Publication:
Why music magazines are dying – Most interesting to me is that they had social media elements before there was social media. A good read on the industry that you can probably apply to many others.

LibreDigital raises $15 million – They do multiplatform digital distribution. Wonder if they allow companies to delete files . . . sarcasm aside, not a surprising investment. Let's see if it can pay off – I'm concerned VC is coming to electronic publishing a bit slower than it needs, which may further hamper development.

Mobile:
There is apparently a way to hijack iPhones via text message. Those of you working (or wanting to work) in IT security, you now have a brand new horror story to share. Let's see how Apple reacts and if this ends up quickly in the wild, that will affect future activities.

Android gets a Facebook app – It's a start, at least. Certainly Android is being taken very seriously.

Social Media:
Twitter's new front page emphasizes search – Pretty much a strategy people figured Twitter would count on. Interesting thought is if they include more ilinking, crossreferencing, etc. they may have something – and could they interlink other sources? Either way, Twitter moves forward.

Video:
EpixHD launches – Basically movie studios let you see their movies if your internet/TV provider has a deal anyway. Not exactly impressive (and more of the specialty distribution we've seen), but a player. I don't have high hopes for it due to its limitations. Still worth watching to see if it has any market impact.

Video Games:
A possible inFamous movie? – Sounds like a possibility. I see some potential here (thought I think a miniseries more fits the arc), as the game had very cinematic qualities. Between this and the WoW movie we could see functional game-movie synergy which is unfortunately rare – at best you get mediocre and some quick money.

The Downside to Direct Download in gaming – Lots to think of, including how a shift to DLC could be done easy by some companies – and bring unexpected side effects (like potentially forcing them to direct-sell hardware). Lots to think over. I myself am loosing some enchantment with DLC the more I analyze it, but it's still going to be something TRIED, even if it results in horrible failures – because companies want to make more money.

– Steven Savage

News of the Day 7/28/2009

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Career:
A 'rantifesto' on why Resumes should be irrelevant – I can't exactly argue, I'm just not sure of the solution. I will argue that leapfrogging resumes and doing things like networking, keeping up LinkedIn.com, etc. will give you an advantage. If you can go 'beyond the resume' in your search, it'll probably help you stand out.

You're a Gen Y proud workaholic? a post on why not to say it and to reconsider it

Why programmers hate meetings – A good article, and a great excuse to get out of meetings.

Publishing:
HarperCollins creates Digital Editor post. They're taking the ebook trend seriously – though how well that trend will fair with some of the latest issues with Amazon remains to be seen.

Barnes and Noble partners with AT&T for FREE wi-fi in their stores – Looks like its part of their overall strategy, and probably good for retention.

Social Media:
Social Networking site doubles since 2007.

Linkedin expands company profiles on its site – This is very big for LinkedIn as it will increase traffic AND play on the increasing branding-obsession online. Well done – and if you have your own business . . .

Technology:
More from the Everything Wars: Google yanks the Google Voice App from the app store for iPhone – I don't think we have the full story yet. What we do have is more of the Everything Wars.

Video Games:
Emergent adds even MORE to Gamebryo
– This time adding Pixelux's material simulator. Emergent, still one of our crush objects, continues its march to world domination. So why don't they have your resume yet?

Voice Acting:
Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are releasing a book on voice acting – Big news because it appears to be quite good. I may even grab a copy so I can review it . . .

Finally a new term for a company just making enough for people to live on: ramen profitable. Side note, 'Ramen Profitable' would be an awesome manga name.

– Steven Savage

News of the Day 7/22/2009

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Career:
How cloud computing will change jobs.

News:
Over 50% of top newspaper publishers join the Fair Syndication COnsortium – I'm still figuring the FSC out. On one hand it seems to involve new revenue streams, sharing, and ads. On the other it seems like it's going to be big on tracking done use of content on sites and asking for cuts. Pay attention, this could turn into a morass of legal actions and bad feelings with no benefits to anyone. On the other hand if FCS works out some good content syndication methods, this could pay off or at least be a worthy experiment – and go beyond news.

Publishing:
Amazon will start doing print on demand of a huge amount of out of copyright books -Interestingly, these are also books digitized by Google. A lot of these are available of course as part of Google's book iniatives, so this seems to be a clear shot at Google in this case, continuing the Text Wars. However the use of further print on demand is intriguing since that technology is a potential Kindle/Reader/Slate/whatever electronic book competitor. Amazon seems to want to have it all ways.

Social Media:
Make-your-own-social-network company Ning raises $15 million in venture capital. Ning's been on my 'watch' list for awhile, and this moves it up – people are willing to sink money into them. However I haven't gotten a good grasp of Ning's strategy and want to watch how it goes before I put it into the 'send a resume' category. I will say Ning as a tool is getting a lot more use as of late and may be worth using either way.

MySpace will be providing email. A strategy I didn't forsee, it could get a lot of users (and help with some rebranding). Check out the news on Yahoo (below), and I think re-inventing email for social media may be a strategy more than one company is trying. It can't hurt, and this could stabilize MySpace a bit (which may help the social media industry overall).

Google Wave will have a sort of Beta, with invites in September – So go see if you can take a look.

Technology:
More on Yahoo: they've bought a social email company, Xoopit, but is working to sell HotJobs and Small Business. Sounds like they're consolidating for social media space.

Estimate on the cost of the Apple Tablet? Above $500 according to TechCrunch. Doesn't sound like much of a competitor in the Netbook space to me, which could mean Apple will rethinking this in a year or so. I see Netbooks as a major growing area, and think anyone in a geeky career should pay attention because they're a) cheap and useful, b) changing how people are using – and buying computers, c) further enhance the use of mobile computing.

Amazon aquires online footwear provider Zappos– I suppose it integrates into their business structure of doing more product. Still, very curious.

Video Games:
Sam Rami to direct Warcraft movie – This is a big thing for several reasons. Rami brings a reliable name and talent to the franchise, a good movie would boost Warcraft's profile even more, and it would also boost the visibility of MMO properties. Also frankly, as game-movie adaptions often aren't good no matter which way the adaption goes, a good one could also raise the attention of game properties.

– Steven Savage