Hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season!

STORY OF THE YEAR (15 min. watch)
What: Best News Of The Year
Why: Because this is the best news, and my previous ones have been too depressing.

BUSINESS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read, 4 hr. 22 min. flight from CA)
What: Ninja Star Throwing Range
Why: Because ninjas are awesome.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. / x hr. read depending on how deep you go)
What: NSA Surveillance Lawful
Why: Because the government knows you are reading this.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. interactive read)
What: The AK 47
Why: Because the inventor of one of the deadliest weapons of the 20th century died this week. It probably is one of the most influential tools humanity has ever created.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. watch)
What: Hockey Ref Cam
Why: Because all sports should be delivered this way.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 hr. watch)
What: The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug
Why: Because Peter Jackson rectified the problem of the first one of having no action by making this one nothing but action. Go see it.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. read of pretentiousness)
What: Pitchforks Top 50 Albums Of The Year
Why: Because now you know what the cool kids all listened to before you heard of it.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Bilbo As A Girl
Why: Because Bilbo as a heroine makes the character much more interesting. (See above.)

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What:Gamers = Athletes
Why: Because now they get visas saying that they are.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: The Internet Before The Internet Was The Internet 2.0; FPOU
Why: Because Internet.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Now for the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (1 hr. read)
What: The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev
Why: Because the Tsarnaev brothers were responsible for the atrocious attack on the finish line of the Boston Marathon last year. This article looks into their lives to try to determine what could drive two people to cause so much destruction.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The IPhone Is Going To China
Why: Because the people who make one of the most successful technology products of all time will finally be able to use it.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: NSA Spying Ruled Unconstitutional; So Is Utah Law Against Gay Marriage; Former Prosecutor Gets Himself Arrested
Why: Because these rulings show that the courts occasionally still work as effective balances against bad laws, and sometimes the system just is broken.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (1.5 min. watch, endless searching)
What: Internet Zeitgeist
Why: Because now you know what everyone is really searching for.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Payton Manning Unstoppable
Why: Because 51 touchdowns in a season with one game left is insane.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (2.5 watch)
What: Anchorman (cat)
Why: Because Anchorman 2 is out, and you should stay classy and go see it.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. listen)
What: In Memoriam
Why: Because we can still listen to the wonderful sound these people made even though they are no longer with us.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Read ALL the Books
Why: Because it would take a really really really long time to do it, so you should get started now.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The New Yorker’s Best Games of the Year
Why: Because The New Yorker is now reviewing video games, apparently.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (15 min. watch)
What: Goalkeepers; Santa; Not Santa
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: These. Or This.
Why: Because It’s Brian’s Birthday Week.

Webtacularly yours,

Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators! Welcome to the second issue. Enjoy.

STORY OF THE WEEK (45 min. read)
What: Invisible Child – Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Homeless Life
Why: Because this is a longform article that follows the life and struggles of a young homeless girl and her family. One of the strongest news pieces I have read this year. It will make you cry.

POLITICS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Newton Conn. 1 Year Anniversary; Arapahoe, Colo. 1 Year Anniversary; 1 year of Gun Deaths
Why: Because whether it’s one day or one year, the United States has apparently not learned anything about gun violence in schools. Absolutely shameful.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Homelessness and Hunger in the U.S. on the Rise
Why: Because although the economy is recovering, more people are being left behind.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch/read)
What: The “Affluenza” Legal Defense; And why that should make you mad
Why: Because a wealthy teenager got ten years probation for causing four deaths while driving drunk. The outrage has been directed at the judge, especially since a minority or poorer person in the same circumstance would have received jail time instead. The anger people are feeling is misplaced: it should be that the system allows for jail time for kids at all for these cases.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read / hours of links)
What: Top 100 Academic Research Papers of the Year
Why: Because this links to all of the most read research papers of the year. Make yourself smarter.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. watch/read)
What: Jameis Winston Wins Heisman Trophy
Why: Because this player was featured in last week’s “Law Thing Of The Week” for his non-prosecution in a rape case. Note: The Heisman Trust mission statement declares, “The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” I beg to differ.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: The Verge 50
Why: Because these are the top 50 movers and shakers according to the The Verge are people and products you should know about.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Spring Breakers Is One of the Year’s Top Movies
Why: Because I have noticed a big trend of this movie showing up on all of the best movie of the year lists. I want to know why.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 hr. listen)
What: Beyoncé; Q-Tip + Busta Rhymes
Why: Because these are two of the most interesting album releases of the year were just launched with little to no marketing. You should listen to both.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. look)
What: Snow Blankets the Middle East
Why: Because I was in Jerusalem during a very rare snowfall last year. This time the whole region was blanketed. These pictures show what happens when a desert gets a dusting of something other than sand.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: NY Times Top 10 of the Year
Why: Because this is the definitive list of the top books of the year. Required reads.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read; ∞ play)
What: Doom Turns 20
Why: Because Doom is one of the most influential video games of all time. It just turned twenty. You feel old yet?

 INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Germans Trying to Say Squirrel; Road Bike Trials; Santacon
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Drum Pants
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,

Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators! Welcome to the first issue of Webtacular World. Enjoy.

STORY OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Nelson Mandela Dies
Why: Because the of the most recognized leaders of racial equality passed away at the age of 95. This particular piece of reporting is directly from a leading South African paper. There will be many more interesting pieces about this, but you don’t need me to point you at them.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (~30 min. watch/read)
What: Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt
Why: Because this is an extremely interesting look into how our global economy works told through the journey of a “simple” cotton shirt.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK
What: FSU’S Jameis Winston Will Not Be Charged for Rape (5 min. read)
Why: The decision to not charge an individual for a crime is just as important as to why an individual is charged for a crime. The reasons why these decisions are made often appear to be due to who that individual is. This seems to be one of those cases.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What Went Wrong with Healthcare.gov
Why: Because the Affordable Health Act  (“Obamacare”) is one of the largest sweeping changes in recent legislative history, and its rollout has been anything but smooth. This explains why.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: 10 Best Movies You Didn’t See
Why: Because you should see these movies.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK(~1.25 hr. watch/listen)
What: Nine Inch Nails Tension 2013 Tour
Why: Because Trent Reznor, the main force behind Nine Inch Nails, produced and performed one of the best live shows of the year.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (∞ min. look/read)
What: Reuter’s Best Photos of the Year; Buzzfeed’s Best Photos of the Year; Time Best Photos of the Year; Agence France Presse Best Photos of the Year; Roosevelt’s Best Photos of the Year; Yahoo Español Best Photos of the Year
Why: Because photos are pretty, and tell amazing stories. You should look at them.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: NYTimes 100 Notable Books of 2013; NPR’s Best Books of 2013
Why: Because books are good and you should read them.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What:No Girls Allowed
Why: Because video games are the largest entertainment sector of the national economy. Until very recently, I thought that only guys played games. This explains why I thought that, and why I was wrong. The piece is also interesting for the broader implications on sex-based advertising.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Dinosaurs WTF?; Emu Tango; Late For Meeting
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Santa Skin Suit
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,