Greetings Webtaculators! After spending a combined two hours this morning shoveling the driveway and putting chains on my car to get out of Tahoe this weekend, I have a renewed respect for you East Coast / Mid-Westerners who have to do that each time you want to drive somewhere 4 months (or longer!) out of the year. It also makes me question why the hell anyone would live where doing that is the norm, but to each their own, I guess. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: 30 Years Later
Why: Because the Challenger disaster deserves to be remembered.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Apple’s Prize For Record Profits
Why: Because doing the best you can possibly do under our current understanding of what being a successful business means rewards you with a hit on your stock prices. Hooray!

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Life Without Parole No More
Why: Because The Supreme Court ruled to retroactively apply the unconstitutionality of life without parole to juvenile cases to those who are currently serving life sentences. Also, no more solitary confinement.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (11 min. watch)
What: Quantum Chess
Why: Because Stephen Hawking, Paul Rudd, and Bill and Ted help promote Caltech’s Institute for Quantum Physics. It is funny.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Mechanical Doping
Why: Because someone got confused that riding a bike ≠ riding a motorcycle.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: All The Oscars
Why: Because most of these movies are worth watching, even if they aren’t actually the best movie of that year.

TV THING OF THE WEEK (67 min. watch)
What: New Louis
Why: Because Louis CK is one of the few people who can compete with either cable companies or on-demand services.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (44 min. listen)
What: I Said, Brittany, You Gotta Come On Up
Why: Because the Alabama Shakes’ front woman had a really great talk with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Ownership Issues With Tienanmen Photographs
Why: Because copyright laws combined with a country that doesn’t often like to discuss the darker parts of its history might make this powerful image harder to find.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Science Fiction For Scientists
Why: Because science fiction is often directly linked to the actual scientific developments that occur.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: The Emotional Impact Of Games
Why: Because That Dragon, Cancer shows just how powerful games can be as a way to tell stories. This will only become more apparent with the onset of VR.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Heeeereeeee’s Chicken!; Run The Cats; Proto Kermit Wants You To Buy Coffee, Or Die; The Superb Owl
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: This “Cabin”
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! After overcoming multiple technological hurdles, I was able to watch all of the big football games that happened today. There were a few reasons why I wanted to watch the games, but mostly it boiled down to figuring out who I get to be mad at for ruining my city for a week. Seriously, SF got screwed. Oh well! It’s not like the NFL will actively ruin things to help the bottom line. Oh, wait. At least the Patriots lost, I guess. Also, I hope all my East Coast friends bought enough eggs, milk, and bread to make it through the weekend. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Drill Baby Drill Part Deux
Why: Because Sarah Palin is back, and Trump actually became the Bizarro version of himself from just over a year ago. Remember, they both eat pizza with a fork.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Real Reason For Costco’s Success
Why: Because the polish dog / combo pizza combo remains my  favorite $5 meal of all time.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Law For All!
Why: Because it’s always fun seeing former classmates do amazing things. I’m not sure how Judge Posner will feel about the masses being able to do legal research for themselves.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Oh Look, They Gave My “Affliction” A Name
Why: Because this is why I write Webtacular World – I get to suffer from infomania (ugh) so you don’t have to.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Football Is Overrated, So Here’s Some Squash
Why: Because this is both an entertaining look at a tremendously fun sport and a study as to why it squash is considered the WASPiest thing ever in the US. Seriously, the author’s name is Tad. Give me a break.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Oscars Are Too White
Why: Because the awards for Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress are very white, especially for a year with some very strong films focusing on people of color.

TV THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: The Inevitable Failure Of Your Favorite Coyote
Why: Because Wile E. Coyote might be the most tragic television character ever.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. listen)
What: Archer/Bob Releases A Jazz Album
Why: Because this website might actually teach Jon Benjamin how to complete a followup.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: The Books People More Famous People Than You Read
Why: Because their opinions are more important than yours. Also, as an update to my year long hiatus from reading, the first book I read so far is Blanche Ebbutt’s “Don’ts For Husbands.” For a book written about relationships over 100 years old, it offers some actually decent advice! But it also advises that I treat my servants well, and not to interfere with a wife’s household management, so I’ll probably take the advice with a grain of salt, or whatever other turn of the century phrase fits here.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (50 min. watch)
What: Doom
Why: Because Doom is arguably one of the most important video games ever released.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: The Only Palin That Matters; Evolution Of Simple Tools; Derek Zoolander’s Gym
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Super Bowl Tickets
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! One of the interesting things about living in the age that we currently do is the propensity for a large outpouring of mourning that goes out when people of a certain fame pass away. It would seem that, in the scheme of things, the death of a musician or actor of natural causes is nothing compared to the deaths of dozens due to terrorism. It seems almost callous that the same grief is not shared regarding these people who’s lives were cut short. However, it might not be that absurd. On a personal level, I gained great personal satisfaction watching Alan Rickman on screen as either Hans Gruber, a fake alien, a depressed robot, or a wizard. And David Bowie was a personal musical influence including everything from Under Pressure to Rebel Rebel, being a freaky old bastard spaceman, as well as being the Goblin King. Even though these relationships weren’t, well, relationships, since I never met them, these individuals had a profound impact on my life, which does make their output personal to me. So maybe the actual thing to do is just miss and commemorate them all. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: A Shift In International Iran
Why: Because, on a more personal level (again), this redeveloped open communications with Iran also led to the release of numerous other captive Americans, including Jason Rezaian, who went to my high school.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Don’t Panic
Why: Because the market is merely correcting itself. Seriously. We’re fine.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Wawona No More
Why: Because this is one of the most ridiculous results of what should have been a non-issue in the first place. Trademarks can be very stupid.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The New American Drive
Why: Because driverless cars are the future, and it’s about time that the nation plans for it.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: RIP Rickman
Why: Because Snape

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. watch)
What: RIP Bowie
Why: Because Dance Magic Dance

TV THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: 24 Hours Of Angie Tribeca
Why: Because I’m a few hours into this event, and it is wonderfully punny. Oh, and Bill Murray is in it.

VIDEO GAME / SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: The ESPN Of Video Games
Why: Because Activision Blizzard bought Major League Gaming hoping to become the ESPN of Video Games, but ESPN beat them to it.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Adele In A Car; Washing Machine Jump; Kylo At Work
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! So, since no one won Powerball, it looks like even more people will try for $1.3 billion. Or not. Because you won’t win. Sorry, that’s just how these things work. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (45 min. watch)
What: Against Gun Violence
Why: Because Obama proves once again that he is one of the great orators of our time. Gun violence is our responsibility.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: As China Falters, So Does The World
Why: Because China’s economic woes extend far beyond its own boarders.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: The Year In Review. And Dueling, For Some Reason
Why: Because the Judicial branch did some stuff this past year.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. look)
What: The Best Of CES 2016
Why: Because the future is continuously getting closer.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. watch)
What: It’s Playoffs, And The Browns Aren’t Going. YAY!
Why: Because football has been terrible this year, and this is close to how I feel about the Niners.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (1 hr. watch)
What: A Quick Chat With The Best
Why: Because each of these directors have created some of the best movies of our time.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (1 hr. read / listen)
What: Beats Of The Bay
Why: Because the Bay Area has left its mark on hip hop in a big way. here are some of the best. Also, LCD Soundsystem is getting back together.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Free Photos!
Why: Because public libraries are your friend.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Learning From Reading
Why: Because literature will teach you things. Who knew?!?

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (30 min. read)
What: The Year To Come
Why: Because 2015 was one of the best years in gaming in a long time, and this year is looking to be pretty great in its own right.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Cruisin’ With Conan; The Worst Of CES; Penn And Chapo Seriously, this is one of the weirdest things I have ever read. Penn is not a great writer, and considering that El Chapo was captured shortly before this article was published, makes the whole thing even stranger. It shouldn’t have ever happened, yet, here we are.
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! Oh hey, look at that! I got the year right on the first try! I hope everyone had a great New Year’s celebration. Here’s to another good one.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Nothing Good Will Come Of This
Why: Because there are too many things about this story that piss me off in so many different ways. I can’t believe that people like this exist, and that so much about our current political climate placates or exacerbates this type of thinking.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Nearing Peak Human Efficiency
Why: Because the price of coffee is falling, thus letting everyone have more access to the most popular drug around.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: CRIM PROblems
Why: Because there are a lot of flaws with our criminal justice system. Here’s the whole text for those of you who hate yourselves, or love footnotes.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: So This Is How Our Robot Overlords Get Invented
Why: Because Zuckerberg’s New Year’s Resolution is to try to create an AI to run his house.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Leeland Stanfud Junya Yooniversity Merching Band!
Why: Because even though I am partial to the Greatest Marching Band In The History Of The Universe, I have always enjoyed Stanford’s version take on the absurd amount of pageantry surrounding something as undeniably dumb as a football game.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (Just click the links)
What: Webtacular World’s Top Five Movie’s Of 2015
Why: Because here are my favorites of this past year (AKA the only ones I saw in theaters).
Mad Max: Fury Road
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Inside Out
The Martian
Steve Jobs

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (Just click the links)
What: Webtacular World’s Top Five Albums Of 2015
Why: Because I still listen to albums, and you should too.
To Pimp A Butterfly
Every Open Eye
Carrie & Lowell
In Colour
Surf

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (Just click the links)
What: Webtacular World’s Top Five Read-y Things Of 2015
Why: Because even though I didn’t read any books, I did listen to a lot of them, and read some other not-books too.
Letter To My Son
The Martian
Kafka On The Shore (I can’t believe someone made a play version)
It’s Rotting Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers
Good Omens

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (Just click the links)
What: Webtacular World’s Top Five Games Of 2015
Why: Because this year was a great year for games.
Bloodborne
Rocket League
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Halo 5: Guardians
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Barry And Jerry In A Car; Peak Hipster; 2015 Rapped Up
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: 2016 Times Square NYE Ball
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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