Centives

Zynga, the maker of Farmville, looked set to usher in a new era of more casual games that people could play on Facebook. At its IPO Zynga sold for $10 a share. Now it’s trading at less than a quarter of that. What happened? Josh Constine reported:

• Zynga used to advertize its games by buying ads on Facebook. But ads on Facebook have become more expensive making it difficult for Zynga to promote as much as it used to.
• At the same time Facebook users got tired of all the notifications that Zynga’s games sent out, even to non-players. Eventually Facebook stepped in and rebalanced things so that these notifications weren’t as intrusive; making it even more difficult for Zynga to advertize.
• Facebook got smarter. Now Facebook takes a 30% tax on every game that makes money of off the social network, cutting into Zynga’s revenue.
• Screens got smaller. More and more people are accessing Facebook through mobile devices and games are not optimized for this.

Read more about financial factors that have played a role, the cost of acquisitions, and what Zynga needs to do, over here.

Source: TechCrunch

Star Wars has seduced another generation of kids writes Alan Greenblatt. Highlights from his article include:

• The last Star Wars movie came out in 2005. Yet children who were born after that are still interested in the franchise.
• More importantly they stay interested in it as they grow up. Teenagers are just as happy as toddlers to talk about Star Wars.
• In part this is because the makers of Star Wars have kept bringing the series to new formats. In addition to the popular television show there are Star Wars books and games.
• Some believe that the enduring appeal is due to the father-son themes in the series. There isn’t just the relationship between Luke and (spoiler) Darth Vader, but also the master-apprentice relationship between the Jedi.
• Others say that it’s because George Lucas introduced a variety of characters that could appeal to everybody: from the cute cuddly Ewoks to the more sinister Darth Maul.

Read more about the staying power of this phenomenon over here. Or find out how much Centives believes it would cost to build The Death Star over here.

Source: NPR

You can tell a lot about a country by what it chooses to keep in its strategic reserves. Zoe Chace went over some of the more interesting ones.

• China has a strategic reserve of…pork. (Pork prices were an issue earlier this year).
• Helium in the United States. Back in the 1920s the US thought it might need them during wartime to fill up blimps. It only just got around to realizing that this wasn’t really a concern anymore.
• Maple Syrup. It’s what keeps the Canadians in such a cheery mood all the time.
• Oil. The US keeps them in salt caves.

Read more about how these stockpiles came to be and where they’re located over here.

Source: NPR

What do you do with all your old electronics? Put ’em in an EcoATM and you could make a few hundred dollars. Caroline Winter reported on a new startup that’s quickly gaining popularity:

• At an EcoATM you place your old phone in an ATM like box. Using cameras, lights and mirrors the machine then builds a 3D model of your device to determine how much it is worth.
• The EcoATM was developed with more than $31 million in funding.
• The machine asks you for your driver’s license number and thumbprint so that you can quickly be identified if you try to trick the machine.
• A quarter of the devices received can’t be refurbished or reused. They are sent to recyclers.
• Charities have begun to make use of the service. One church passed around a collection plate asking members to donate their old devices.

Read more about why people use the EcoATM over other recycling programs offered by companies such as Amazon, the humble origins of the machine, and what some of your old devices might be worth over here.

Source: Business Week

There’s a new website that can help you find cheap flights the next time you need to travel, writes Randall Stross:

• At FlightFox.com you post the itinerary that you would like to fly. Registered users then compete to find you the lowest fare possible.
• The person who finds the best fare gets a “finder’s fee” most of which range between $34 and $59.
• One traveler whose trip included 15 destinations over four months was able to save several thousands of dollars by using the site.
• Users can also specify if they need to travel with their pet or carry an odd sized item such as a surfboard – something that standard flight searching algorithms can’t do.

Read more about how the site works, who searches for the fares, and the amount of money that people have made and saved through the site over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution

Evidence suggests that the era of open sea piracy has, once again, come to an end, write Abdi Guled and Jason Straziuso:

• In 2010 pirates captured 47 ships. In 2011 pirates tried commandeering 176 ships but only managed to take control of 25, indicating that anti-piracy efforts were succeeding. So far this year only five ships have been lost to pirates.
• This is partly the result of the efforts of the navies from Europe, America, China, India and Russia. No ship with armed guards on board has ever been hijacked by pirates and the use of them is spreading.
• Former pirates who were living large in expensive villas have had to return to tiny apartments, in a desperate attempt to hide from their creditors.
• Those who would finance pirate expeditions in Somalia are no longer interested in doing so; the rate of failure is too high.
• The decline in piracy is evident in Somalia’s economy. A cup of tea which used to cost as much as 50 cents has now fallen to just five cents.

Read more about the ships currently being controlled by pirates and what people from pirate towns have to say about the trend over here.

Source: Yahoo

Via: Marginal Revolution

Patty Hayes argued that advertizing is a useless drain on society. Highlights of the argument include:

• If all companies were banned from advertizing then all of the funds they pump into it would either have to go towards investing in better products, lowering prices for consumers, or generating more profit. These would all ultimately benefit people more.
• Since consumers would see less marketing they would buy less and save more – probably a good thing for the American consumer.
• Products with good quality rather than those with good marketing teams would do well in the marketplace.

Read more of the argument here.

Source: P.P.P.S

Credit Suisse surveyed people across the developing world to see how they spent their incomes, writes Derek Thompson. Highlights of the report include:

• Brazilians are the most optimistic. Only 7% saved anything, and over half didn’t save at all.
• China, on the other hand saves the most. 30% of income is saved.
• Due to India’s call centers many think that the country is a telecommunications marvel. Yet only 19% of those in the country have access to the internet.

Read more about what the survey tells us about Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other developing countries, as well as how they compare to the United States over here.

Source: The Atlantic