things i'm thinking about

Is Minecraft the Ultimate Educational Tool? | Idea Channel | PBS

What Does the Russian Meteorite Tell Us About Surveillance Culture? | Idea Channel | PBS

Should "Happy Birthday" be Protected by Copyright? | Idea Channel | PBS

Are Memes & Internet Culture Creating a Singularity? | Idea Channel | PBS

Are Bitcoins and Unusual Hats the Future of Currency? | Idea Channel | PBS

Wealth Inequality in America

Aaron Swartz, a well-known Internet activist who killed himself last month, believed that information should free, not digitized and put behind pay walls. The Obama administration just granted his wish -- at least as it pertains to research funded by taxpayers.

There's No Such Thing As Offline?!? | Idea Channel | PBS

Just days after a cringe-worthy Super Bowl commercial for Wonderful Pistachios sounded the death knell for Psy’s cross-cultural viral smash, a new Internet meme has usurped that once-ubiquitous horse-gallop dance.

Baauer's "Harlem Shake" still has quite a ways to go before it becomes the next "Gangnam Style” in terms of total views, but the track became an unexpected viral smash last week at levels not seen since PSY’s American invasion -- and it's already climbing up the Billboard charts.

Think back, if you will, to 2001. What were you doing at the time? What were you like? I can recall with absolute clarity. I was trying my damnedest to be Lil Bow Wow. This was just one of my MANY phases. But it was serious.