<p>notrichenough, currently the deal is MS will allow you to resell your games, but only through “preferred partners” (aka Gamestop whose stock took a nice jump after the formal announcement). That means you can’t sell games on eBay, Craigslist, or give it to a friend when you’re done with it. You are allowed to “lend” a game to a friend, but it goes through this weird digital handshake sort of thing. You can only lend a game once for 30 days. As a response, Sony posted [url=<a href=“Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video - YouTube”>Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video - YouTube]this[/url</a>] video on their youtube page.</p>
<p>All that said, both Sony and MS are leaving it up to publishers how they want to handle used games. One idea put forth by a few major publishers has been increasing the amount of paid downloadable content. This could mean having a 10 hour game, and five 5 hour added areas for $5 each. Then, they can also charge $10-$15 for an “online key” so you can access multiplayer. All of this is included if you buy the game new, though.</p>
<p>I think MS really overestimates how many people keep most of their games. Most of the servers for games over a year are a ghost town.</p>
<p>Shootings are up 25% and those resulting in deaths about 45% according to a news report that I saw last night. So it isn’t my imagination that there are a lot more of them this year compared to last year.</p>
<p>On another note, the job search isn’t going well for our daughter. Only one company called back. It may be that they are taking their time but I ran into an article with a survey on small business hiring. It seems that quite a lot of small businesses have stopped hiring to see what happens with the ACA. Apparently local governments are fiddling with employee hours for the same reason (think school districts). The last couple of years haven’t been the best on hiring. I think that Spring 2012 was the peak and it was downhill from there (because of the budget thing followed by the sequester). We’re working on her getting a BS as it would give her better skills over her AS.</p>
<p>I think that she’d do just about anything. Retail won’t hire her - no experience and over-qualified. Our target job is IT Helpdesk.</p>
<p>What I’ve found in looking for a week is that there are a lot of open jobs out there. But nobody wants someone without experience. Even the internships want previous internships.</p>
<p>If that’s what things are like in an area where employment is relatively good, I wonder what it is like in places where things are bad.</p>
<p>Well, you’ve seen the statistics on the percentages of college grads employed in jobs related to their major as 50%. We went through this with our son for a while too but he had three internships and a BS instead of an AS. I just told him to never give up.</p>
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<p>I think that she’s looking forward to another two years of school. There’s some discouragement of course but you have to deal with how things are now.</p>
<p>“I think that she’s looking forward to another two years of school. There’s some discouragement of course but you have to deal with how things are now.”</p>
<p>Yes. We all have to deal with how things are…</p>
<p>“Indeed, recent data show that college graduates have weathered the economic storm much better than those with only a high school education, experiencing much less unemployment and earning higher salaries. Nevertheless, the weak economy has made getting that first job difficult; unpaid internships or jobs that do not require a college degree often are the only opportunities available. A slow career start will make paying off student loan debt more difficult, delay milestones, and postpone the beginning of the retirement saving process.”</p>
<p>I have some advanced projects that I would like to work with her on but I need a new computer to do parts of the project (the project is architecture-dependent). I wish Apple would just announce a Haswell MacBook Pro for this project. I suppose that I could buy a MacBook Air but I then I’d have a spare laptop after I bought the Retina MacBook Pro when it comes out.</p>
<p>First-time unemployment claims seem to be heading back up from some pretty good numbers recently. A lot of people didn’t get to enjoy the punchbowl that’s going to be taken away.</p>
<p>Spoke to my manager. Manager’s daughter has been looking for a coop position and applied to thirty places, had about five interviews and everything has been a black hole. You apply and hear nothing or you interview and hear nothing.</p>
<p>My coworker’s friend with an Ivy engineering degree is going to start working for us soon. The vast majority of his friends (STEM) didn’t find work and are headed to graduate school.</p>
<p>I’m annoyed at the huge disconnect between the economy and society. The economy has been doing a lot better but huge numbers aren’t. I guess that this isn’t really news.</p>
<p>One of my sisters has been out of work for about two or three years. She’s looking for work and doing a little retraining. Good thing that she and her husband are independently wealthy.</p>
<p>"U.S factory sector is barely expanding this month and employment is weakening, according to an early reading of June activity released Thursday. Markit said the flash-June PMI reading, which is based on about 85% of the usual number of monthly replies, is the second lowest reading since October 2012. “The rate of job creation was the weakest in the current sequence that began in February 2010,” the report said. “Although a number of firms hired additional staff in light of higher output requirements, other companies reduced their workforces in a bid to control costs.” "</p>
<p>Based upon the recent experience of my children and their friends, it appears to me that except for the most highly accomplished applicants, connections have become even more crucial to landing that critical first job. This does not bode well for economic/social mobility.</p>
<p>I’m taking losses today also but nowhere near as fast as the market. Last week I bought some 1/18/14 spy calls when the spy was at ~162 and 163 - 150 put spreads. Today I sold spy 6/22 157.5 puts. I didn’t sell my q’s to avoid the .33 ex div tomorrow because I’m looking for a bit of a bounce back that is > .33. If the market drops some more I’m planning on buying some more spy calls and put spreads.</p>
<p>Pretty much sold out 401Ks last month. Selling a house now. Cash is king. Looking at auction houses. Or just restoring my cars. Values are crazy good now if car is right.</p>