Well, so much for a peaceful start to the new year. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: Je Suis Charlie
Why: Because on January 7th, the satirical, newspaper Charlie Hebdo was attacked by masked gunmen. The manhunt over the following two days lead to two hostage situations, which ended with the deaths of the perpetrators. Today, millions of individuals gathered together in cities across Paris, including numerous European and Middle Eastern leaders marching arm in arm. I worry about what this means for the future for the freedom of speech, the future of religious freedom, and for the future for peace.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Where Do Kids Hang Out Now?
Why: Because Malls used to signify economic prosperity. Now, the empty monoliths mostly represent the world before the Internet.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: RBG And Fatherhood
Why: Because a Supreme Court Justice might know something about how difficult the law, both the practicianing of and the word of the law itself, makes raising a family.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Best Of CES
Why: Because these are the technologies you will be using soon.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: El Capitan Has Met Its Admirals
Why: Because their efforts, on balance, negate the fact that I spent the majority of the weekend sitting on a couch.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Wetter Hotter Americaner Summerer
Why: Because WHAS is returning with basically the entire original cast, and I need something to make me laugh again after this week.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. listen)
What: Country Music Is Exactly As Formulaic As You Thought
Why: Because I don’t even know if this still counts as song writing.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Atlantic Photos
Why: Because the magazine finally is putting all of those photographs to good use.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Sherlock Abdul Jabbar
Why: Because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (writer, actor, and apparently basketball player[?]) wrote a book about Sherlock Holmes’ brother, Mycroft.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (1 min. read)
What: Gaming For Good
Why: Because not all gaming is a waste of time. (Although, I’m sure plenty of time was wasted learning how to beat the first three dungeons of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with a blindfold on…)

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Back To The Future Is Real; Fire In Reverse; Those Yellow Pylons Sure Sucked At Stoping Cars From Crossing The Median
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: The Most Expensive Of CES
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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