geekosystem

We're big fans of PBS Idea Channel and Mike Rugnetta, so it was an obvious move to include this week's exploration of the idea that sad music, like, say, Ryan Adams or Elliott Smith, isn't inherently sad. It's kind of complicated, but it basically boils down to our cultural training. At least, that's what Rugnetta and his crew argue. What do you think?

Is a denial of service attack, or distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), a weapon? That's the question Mike Rugnetta and PBS Idea Channel set out to discuss this week. Sure, the rhetoric is filled with fighting terminology -- attack, for example -- but that doesn't necessarily make a DoS attack a weapon. In a lot of ways, the argument hinges around intent of such an attack, and how it denies certain actions. Don't take my word for it, though.

Instagram isn't really my cup of tea, or really photography as a whole, but there are scads of people out there snapping selfies and whatever else to fill the Facebook-owned company's profiles. In addition to posting tons of photos, folks are also maybe doing more than that by adding hashtags. At least, that's what Mike Rugnetta and PBS Idea Channel argue in their latest video. I'm not sure I agree, but it's certainly an interesting idea.

Violence and video games is a tricky subject, but it's just plain factual that many games -- like Call of Duty, for example -- sometimes license the use and depiction of actual firearms. As in, the virtual sniper rifle a player's using might be about as close to the real thing as a virtual sniper rifle gets. So, is buying Call of Duty or Battlefield a moral choice? That's what Mike Rugnetta and PBS Idea Channel explore in their latest and greatest video.

The Internet needs more things centered around patting itself on the back, and thus The Webby Awards were born. The Internet-themed awards look to praise the best the web has to offer in categories from comedy to education. Some of our favorite web things got nominated this time around, and we're pretty excited for them. Let's take a look at the nominees. There's even a video outlining them in case you're not as familiar with Burning Love as you should be.

We here at Geekosystem love us some Community -- yes, even the current season -- so Mike Rugnetta's argument that Community's a postmodern masterpiece didn't have to do much to make us into believers. Even so, he makes a bunch of good points, and Dan Harmon himself seems to agree. So, yeah, give PBS Idea Channel's latest bit a watch, and see if you agree.

There's been something of an uproar lately about Kickstarter. Specifically, folks have been questioning the meaning of the immensely successful Veronica Mars movie campaign. Does this mean we can use Kickstarter to fund whatever we want? Can we cut out Hollywood entirely? On the negative side of things, people have asked whether this is a good road to go down at all. In essence, Hollywood could hold franchises hostage until people give them enough money. The latest video from PBS Idea Channel explores this and more.

  Could Minecraft -- a game that lets players essentially do anything and build anything they want -- be used by educators to teach students any subject, making it the ultimate educational tool? PBS Idea Channel seems to think so, and they're not alone. They cite some schools currently using the game to teach a wide range of subjects as well as game advocates calling for an increase in game-based learning. We love learning, and we love video games, so we're pretty much all for this.

Here at Geekosystem we spend all our time online. All of it. It's kind of what we do. Whether we're on our computers, our phone, our tablets, our gaming consoles, or any other of the countless devices we own that connect us to the Internet, we're somehow connected at all times. This new video from PBS Idea Channel asks the question of whether or not its even possible to be offline anymore, or if the line is so blurred that we're all now online at all times. IS THIS THE MATRIX!?

Generally speaking, currency exists because we all agree said currency has value. It's essentially abstracting the whole barter system. So, now that the digital age has arrived, does it not make sense that we should start seeing digital currencies come to fruition? We pretty much are already, actually, even if you didn't realize it. PBS Idea Channel and host Mike Rugnetta explore exactly this in their latest video, which asks if stuff like Bitcoins and Team Fortress 2 hats are the future of currency.

Space travel for the masses is something that's continuously moving toward becoming reality. That isn't to say it's here, or that we're even all that close, but it's something that's closer to happening than it is to not. For those that have already made it to space, the experience has had a profound effect. It's been described as this encompassing feeling of unity and enhanced perspective. It's an interesting phenomenon, to be sure, which is why PBS Idea Channel, with host Mike Rugnetta, asks the question: Will space travel save us all?