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What's the best way to mix comics and business?  Use comics to discuss economics and business.

This is an awesome meeting of ideas and a very geeky concept.

So, my fellow progeeks?  What else could be done with geeky things and business . . .

– Steven Savage

Lots of theorizing today, the video wars enter yet another new phase of insanity, and we celebrate an anniversary and mourn a passing! Let's get to your progeek news:

Culture:
MUST READ: Does the web encourage us to plan for failure

MUST READ: Seth Godin speculates we're losing the dividend of digital development. Though I wouldn't say it's all wasted, I think at times we're not taking advantage of it, or not doing so consciously. Of course we geeks are damned good at using it.

Are we seeing a generation of Zukerberg wannabes? Well, I'd answer "duh", but here's a profile of a young man who fits the mold, and some thoughts on what this means. I'd also note that, being in Silicon Valley, it is a WAY different culture, and it is a place of ferment – its' just not all creative ferment pays off.

Economics/Geekonomics:
OK it may seem Barry Ritholtz, skeptic that he is, thinks' there's validity to the theories behind a book on a dow of 38,820 in 2025. No, really, and yes, THAT Barry Ritholtz. I'm curious now.

Thinking of a startup? Here's ways financing has changed.

Education:
Gawker has a snarky but helpful look at education and student debt which may be helpful after you get over the depressing truths.

Comics:
The costumes for the Batman: Live stage presentation – and they look pretty good. Not sure how well this will do (it may be dealing with drag due to the Spiderman musical), but it is intriguing to watch.

Media:
Unpaid bloggers file suit against AOL in what is sure to be another part of the whole continuing drama. Folks, we're sorry here we thought AOL was viable . . .

Science:
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight.

Video:
Vudu's streaming is going to be in your browser, and it sounds like they're going to go Full Metal Netflix in the future. I want to see how they compete, but a larger lesson is Wal-Mart is working, however erratically, to build an ecosystem like others.

Meanwhile Hulu may be a victim of it's own success.

Finally, the evidence apple is gearing up for a cloud-based video service. This doesn't sound BS-y, this sounds like some thoughtful speculation. So was Apple TV only a prototype or a tracer round? Let's find out . . .

Video Games:
The inventor of the game cartridge, Jerry Lawson, has passed away

Five ways MMOs can be better. A nice read.

Wait, what? Guitar hero may not be dead! Admittedly I'm not pumped about it coming back, but I thought music games had played themselves out.

Chinese online game market? It was worth $5 billion in 2010.

Thoughts on why Genres are limiting in gaming. I'm starting to feel the same way about games, having seen good "fusions" like Puzzle Quest and Borderlands that made me think genre concepts are limiting.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:Do our genre concepts limit game development, and if so how do we get over it?

– Steven Savage

Viz moves forward while DC deliberately moves backwards, a beloved property may yet return, and more in Geeky Job news!

Japan:
The Team Fortress 2 Community raises $430K for releif in Japan.

Economics:
Privatization of city services doesn’t transfer risk in many cases. I’m used to privatization efforts not working, but this helps make clear why they may fail as they don’t do what’s expected. Pretty interesting stuff that affects assorted cities.

Education:
Peter Theil makes a case for alternatives to higher education. For a supposedly controversial article – and person – this is pretty tame, and reiterates something I’ve heard for decades – there are multiple paths to careers. I’m still big on higher education (indeed I feel everyone should in their lives get a degree or vocational training), but not everyone has the same path. A rebuttal in sorts to Theil is here and makes the point that another “disruptive” approach is to get EVERYONE into school (which I am also for).

Geek Law:
Sony settles its lawsuit with “GeoHot”. Not sure that’s going to buy them any goodwill.

Anime and Manga:
Viz gets plenty of kid’s properties in latest acquisitions – a broad and powerful group of properties. Broad technical base too. Good move for them in tough times.

Comics:
Jim Shooter dishes on the story behind the defining comics crossover ‘Secret Wars’. Some interesting insights for al involved or interested in comics, since Secret Wars launched the whole mega-crossover thing in comics (which, to be open, I am not entirely thrilled with). Educational and an insight into what working in comics was like then . . . and probably now.

DC has an interesting old-and-new stories and author showcase in Retroactive Comics. Interesting idea, read up on it – it may give you a few.

Mobile:
The Japanese quake has affected smartphone part supplies and can impact the mobile market for the foreseeable future.

Music:
Google buys streaming music service PushLife undoubtedly as part of their still-comic music strategy. I think it shows their music efforts aren’t dead, but still going, but still – no idea of a launch date. In this case I think any launch they do will help competitors as it’ll distract from legal issues.

Net Neutrality:
The House overturns December’s Net Neutrality Bill, the one no one liked. I expect the Senate won’t follow through. As I said, this’ll be going on for years.

Remakes and Reboots:
Disney wants to revive the Muppets with a holiday film. I want to see how well this is handled, though the Muppets are characters you can do anything with, so it may have enough leeway to do something pretty good.

Tablets:
Gartner predicts iOS will own over half the media tablet market through 2015 – a very qualified statement if you’ll notice. Still I don’t expect iOS to go away, and Android has stumbled a bit. Worht reading.

Technology:
Adobe releases an SDK so people can make tablet apps to interact with Photoshop and shows it’s own apps. Pretty cool and actually is a case of Adobe lightening up a little – though you still have to pay FOR Photoshop and that’s a hefty price. Some good innovation though, and it suggests a new possibility for Tablets – as peripherals as well as separate computers . . .

Video Games:
MMO Gold Farmers ate 85% of the game services industry – I feel both surprised and not. Some nice details are here on the whole area.

Angry Birds is a hit on PlayStation Network. No one is surprised.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Adobe’s move could also build firmer relations with Apple – but do you think it’ll happen?

– Steven Savage