Big Featured Discussions 815 items | updated May 18 2012

Noted sex therapist Dr. Ruth advises against listenening to music during sex. What do you think? Is she giving good advice, or do you have a suggestion for a song that would change her mind?

Greenwich Mean Time has been the standard reference point for navigation and time zones for centuries. But is it time for a change?

Saudi Arabia thinks so. A new clock that dwarfs Big Ben is being built in Mecca. It's being referred to as the largest clock in the world,  constructed atop the world's second largest skyscraper and will be visible over 16 miles away. A test of the clock's precision began yesterday with the start of Ramadan.

Is it time for Mecca time? Or should Greenwich Mean Time continue as the standard? What do you think?

Strapped for cash, North Korea has offered to settle a $10 million debt to the Czech Republic by offering up massive amounts of the dietary supplement.

Do you think this is a reasonable offer? What other offbeat international trade barters can you imagine? In these difficult economic times, is the barter system worth another look?

On Monday, after a verbal altercation with a customer, a JetBlue flight attendant inflated the plane's emergency slide and slid off the job. He was later arrested at his home. He may be charged with criminal mischief and trespassing, which could result in a seven year jail term.

Regardless, he's won the heart of the "dramatic exits"-loving Internet, which makes us wonder... What's the most dramatic “I quit" you've witnessed firsthand?

photo of a gate that is not a -gate by lrargerich on Flickr // licensed via Creative Commons 2.0 

On August 9th, 1974 President Richard Nixon resigned over tapes that implicated him in the Watergate scandal. 

Since that moment we've seen so many scandals ending with the suffix -gate... From Antennagate to Kanyegate to Lewinskygate and Tunagate it seems like we might be overusing this phrase. 

This reminds me of a That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch where they ponder the origin of this phenomenon.

Mr. DAVID MITCHELL (actor, "That Mitchell and Webb Look"): (as character) I was just going to say that my eye was caught by this whole scandal in America.

Mr. ROBERT WEBB (actor, "That Mitchell and Webb Look"): (as character) Oh, the scandal in America. Yeah, that is interesting. That must be the biggest scandal since Watergategate.

Mr. MITCHELL: (as character) Watergategate? Isn't it just Watergate?

Mr. WEBB: (as character) No. That would mean it was just about water. No, it was a scandal or gate, add the suffix gate, that's what you do with a scandal, involving the Watergate Hotel. So it was called the Watergate scandal, or Watergategate.

(transcript via NPR)

Sociologist John Thompson thinks the willy-nilly use of the suffix is part of a pervasive "scandal syndrome." 

"[A] self-reproducing and self-reinforcing process, driven on by competitive and combative struggles in the media and political fields and giving rise to more and more scandals which increasingly become the focus of mediated forms of public debate, marginalizing or displacing other issues and producing on occasion a climate of political crisis which can debilitate or even paralyse a government."

Do scandals constitute the news or is it just marketing hype? How has our national obsession with scandal skewed journalism into gossip mongering?

photo by Dominic's Pics on Flickr // licensed via Creative Commons 2.0 

The invention of the television in the 1950's is commonly attributed to the mass adoption of Cinemascope -- or widescreen film exhibition. To be fair it only played a part, considering that the death of the studio system played a substantial role in the closing of movie theaters, which in turn had a considerable impact on theater attendance.

That said, the threat of declining ticket sales, dwindling exhibition houses, and the rise in popularity of the television definitely loomed large for the movie industry. The need to find a way to pull people back into theater seats was tantamount, and the introduction of Cinemascope, a lens used to film and project widescreen films, provided a real allure for would-be moviegoers. Sure, those who could afford a television could sit at home and watch a tiny boxed image, or they could go to the cinema and experience widescreen in all of its expansive glory.

Today, both the movie and television industries face a different type of battle -- a struggle to find ways to compete in a content world where media consumption is powered by the Internet.

Luckily for the movie industry, advances in 3-D filmmaking technology have offered a resurgence. The release of Avatar has re-enforced that audiences will endure a total digital experience in 3-D with a runtime on par (or exceeding) that of the average film.

And did I mention that they'll pay a premium for the experience?

This has prompted a flood of 3-D movies hitting cinemas of varying quality, and television is jumping on board with 3-D TV sets aimed at the home theater crowd. This development has created a stir, with critics like Roger Ebert decrying the sudden focus on 3-D technology. infoMania's Ben Hoffman loves 3-D, and even shared why in his latest editorial.

3-D Kicks Ass from infoMania

So here's the question, is 3-D the next evolution to keep theater attendance up, a futile attempt that will soon be undermined by 3-D television, or a passing fad akin to the gimmicks of the 1950s like smell-o-vision and the previous iteration of 3-D?

Let's discuss.

Today is the anniversary of the first atomic bomb blast. During the Cold War we saw an amassing of nuclear weapons. At this moment of relative peace between nuclear nations, we're seeing world leaders talking about disarmament.

Though there are groups within our own country who don't think we should get rid of our nukes.

In an article in the Huffington Post, Don Kraus wonders if the Tea Party movement is more dangerous than the nuclear treaty between the US and Russia.

Division of beliefs is fundamental to democracy, but have we lost sight of common ground? And is this more serious in the wake of a nuclear threat.

How is political division in the US affecting our national security in a nuclear world?

Today is Barack Obama's birthday. What would you get Obama for his birthday, and why?

What do you get for the man who has everything?

Kanye and Conan are each following one random person on Twitter.

The man Kanye is following says: "Before this weekend I thought it would be cool to have a celebrity following me on Twitter but now I think it's really not worth it"

Is this a way for celebrities to give back, or something worse?

In online social networks, should celebrities be any more or less responsible to their fans than the rest of us are to our friends?

YouTube user Hungrybear9562 went wild over witnessing the wonders of the natural world. What makes you express yourself in the same way?

Hollywood's trying to capitalize on the cash cow that is foreign film.

This weekend's Dinner for Schmucks is a remake of the 1998 French film The Dinner Game.

Sometimes the turn around is much quicker, an American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is expected to be released less than two years after the original.

Is this too soon? How long should Hollywood wait before remaking popular international films?

Arizona's controversial anti-immigration bill becomes law today.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says: "We're not going to quit. We're fighting for America." Does SB-1070 uphold American ideals?

And despite a federal injunction limiting its scope, is there anyway to enforce this statute without racial profiling?

Every few months the Venezuelan leader seems to be in conflict with his Colombian neighbors. His latest move is to cut crude oil sales to the U.S. if the conflict escalates. Even despite this warning the "international oil market largely shrugged off" Chavez's threats. 

Are Hugo Chavez's recent embargo threat real or nothing more than hype?

Today may seem like any other day to most people, but for the gaming community July 27th is monumental, especially for fans of real-time strategy games. Why? Today is the release of StarCraft 2, the official sequel to Blizzard Entertainment's 1998 military science fiction themed game.

Announced in 2007, the game has had a lengthy development cycle. Fans were excited to hear that the game was scheduled to go into beta in the Summer of 2009, however that date slipped well into February of this year. As a result anticipation of the game has continued to increase, and yesterday Twitter was chock full of anxious gamers who had preloaded their machines to download the game as soon as it was available.

However, all of this excitement conjures up a rather sad memory from my college days. Despite being 2 years old at the time, StarCraft was still extremely popular amongst gamers. Over time a friend of mine developed traits that were unmistakably linked to addiction. He made some bad decisions and opted to forego attending classes in favor for daytime LAN parties and long hours of sitting in front of his computer. This led to the inevitable academic probation, followed by an eventual expulsion from school. His story has a happy ending, but like many others it involved acknowledging his decisions and making a conscious choice to avoid enablers...like StarCraft. 

My friend isn't the only one to experience this sort of thing. Back in 2008 VC2 producer snake_plissken tackled the subject matter in a pod titled, "I'm a Video Game Junky." In his pod, snake_plissken interviewed three individuals from varied backgrounds that are in different stages of their addiction:

Kotaku editor Mike Fahey went on record back in 2009 about his own struggles with addiction with regards to EverQuest. It's a fascinating read, and brings to light some really interesting points about the connections between addiction and video games.

All of this prompted me to ask: Are video games more addictive than other media? If so, how can safeguard against unhealthy addiction to video games?

I'm looking forward to getting your take on the issue, so join in the big featured discussion below.

Critics Jill Simonian and Alonso Duralde joined Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich to review "Ramona and Beezus," the film adaptation of Beverly Cleary's novel "Beezus and Ramona," on The Rotten Tomatoes Show last night. Here's a clip from the show:

Ramona and Beezus reviewed by The Rotten Tomatoes Show

The film opens this weekend, and towards the end of the review Alonso Duralde said something that stuck with me.

"'Ramona and Beezus' is a fun and smart movie for kids. It will encourage them to read some great books by Beverly Cleary if they haven't already."

It's no secret that Hollywood is in the business of remakes, adaptations, and sequels. Adaptations are sometimes the most tricky. If a book, or series of books, are so popular, they could be adapted into the ultimate cash cow for a studio: the adapted franchise. Adapting Cleary's work could potentially fall into that realm, and depending upon how well it does this weekend at the box office the Quimby sisters could be introduced to a whole new generation of fans.

So here's my question, is it the responsibility of the filmmakers to inspire audiences leaving the cinemas this weekend to go out and pick up one of Cleary's novels? Or, should the responsibility of encouraging kids to read fall on the parents?

photo by: Film School Rejects 

From the launch of blockbuster films to celebrity panels and appearances, San Diego Comic-Con has come a long way from being merely a convention for comic book enthusiasts.

And this year is no different. Flynn's Arcade is being resurrected to promote "Tron: Legacy." The cast of "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Thor" are scheduled to make appearances, and countless fans are eagerly anticipating whatever other studio and entertainment industry-based surprises are in store for them.

photo by: Fanboy Planet

Sure, the annual event grows ever more popular with each new year, but has Comic-Con lost something in the process? Has Comic-Con become too commercial for its own good?

"You Done Goofed" is currently a popular meme, the video has elements of humor, but also speaks to concerns of bullying.

Our own Ben Hoffman interviewed Mark Hicks, aka Afro Ninja for a Cewebrity Profile.

How should we think about privacy and decency in the meme-o-sphere?

Today is the of the Apollo 11 landing. 41 years later NASA is facing budget cuts and the space direction is changing directions. Instead of space shuttle flights, the space program is looking towards unmanned missions towards Mars. 

American ingenuity got us to the moon. Recently Newsweek published an article declaring a "crisis in American creativity." How can refocusing the space program from the moon to Mars inspire new levels of ingenuity?