Greetings Webtaculators! Well, I guess that’s one way to keep the Oscars interesting – just announce the wrong winner. #Fakeawards or something. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (Long reads)
What: What The In The Hell Happened In Trump’s America This Week
Why: Because here’s a quick recap via my friend Shea: “Sessions is awful, free press is being restricted by government, transgender bathroom rights in schools is going to be a fight, going to keep monetizing the prison system, and even though a hick shot two dudes from India because he assumed they were Middle Eastern (as if that’d be excusable), it is ‘too early’ to guess at his motives. All, in all, a pretty tame week for Trump.”

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Cuts And Increases
Why: Because of course cutting the EPA and ballooning the military budget is exactly what we need. Apparently Trump has no qualms killing people, whether they’re American or foreign. This is not hyperbole – the EPA has saved hundreds of thousands of lives with its directives.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Basically Never Talk To Anyone, Because Your IP Will Be Listening
Why: Because the Internet is going to become much less free.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: This Is What I Really Work On
Why: Because redefining the California energy development process is not easy.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Baseball’s Back(ish)
Why: Because I missed it.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The Oscars
Why: Because I’m glad Moonlighting won, although the La La Land people must feel absolutely awful. Also, Jimmy Kimmel did a much better job hosting than I think anyone assumed he would.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. listen)
What: Maggie Rogers And The Power Of Good Music
Why: Because the Pharrell found talent just released her new EP. It’s good.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: This Week’s Last Week Thing
Why: Because you probably should know more about our presidents.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Grand Horizons
Why: Because video games are already off to an amazing start this year, and Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of the great ones.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Losing Things; Bonk; How To Be A Meme
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: An Oscar Panda
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! Happy Presidents’ Day Weekend! Go buy a car or something. Well, in response to last weeks low key nature, I guess this is what a “normal” week looks like for the current president. I bet Trump assumes this weekend is a celebration of how well he’s doing. I am personally at a loss for words, which is a small problem for this website, since this whole thing is supposed to be a way for me to put down words about how I think the previous week went, but I just don’t get it. None of this is normal, or helpful, or good. We’re watching a man who does not care about the United States as a concept willfully attempt to burn it all to the ground while a decently sized portion of the country continues to cheer him on. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long reads)
What: How Do You Choose Just One?
Why: Because from the firing of Flynn, leaks that show the Trump administration was in contact with Russia during the election, the assassination of the Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean Leader’s half brother (after North Korea tested long range missiles), a backtrack on the decades long plan for a two state solution in the Middle East, an unhinged yell-a-thon at the press, the appointment of Pruitt, a climate denier, to the head of EPA, to a 3rd weekend vacation combined with the kickoff of Trump’s 2020 run for President with more fake terror attacks; really, you can’t.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: A Day Without Immigrants
Why: Because all of the anti immigrant rhetoric is slowly becoming a reality for both for immigrants and the people who hire them.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: TREASON!
Why: Because Trump’s actions are not, yet, at least according to my Constitutional Law professor.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Saving The World
Why: Because vaccines, along with the help from Bill’s billions, have helped save hundreds of millions of children’s lives since 1990.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (1 min. watch)
What: More Pool Interviews, Please
Why: Because football is gone, and midseason basketball just isn’t worth the commentary.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Circle Of Donald
Why: Because between Glover and Alan Tudyk, Disney has been making some pretty great casting choices.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Weird Al Will Survive
Why: Because after the Grammys, “real music” has no idea what it’s doing anymore.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. look)
What: World Press Photo Winners
Why: Because now you can remember all the craziness that happened last year, too (WARNING, GRAPHIC).

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: His Dark Materials Part 2: Darkier Materials
Why: Because a beloved YA series is getting an “equal,” trilogy, probably before A Song Of Ice And Fire is finished.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Pointing And Clicking Is What Computers Are For
Why: Because Thimbleweed Park, made by some of the beloved creators of LucasArts classics such as Monkey Island looks to be a return to the good old days before video game personalities were known for making anti-Semitic jokes.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Tiny Trump;
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Plant For My Desk
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! So I guess this is what a “quiet” week with Trump looks like – Tweeting about a department chain, about how he’s going to see a bunch of judges in court because he totally understands how our legal system works, shaking the Japanese Prime Minister’s hand, oh, and playing golf, because weekends.

In a completely different news, I am happy to announce that my brother somehow managed to convince his girlfriend to be his fiance.

Congrats Chet and Steph! I’m so happy for you both! On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Destroying America’s Future
Why: Because the appointment of Betsy DeVos shows a complete disregard for the public education of our population.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Power Of Words
Why: Because if you’re going to blame a country for market manipulation, you might want to make sure you’re talking about the right ones.

ENVIRONMENTAL THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Too Much Water
Why: Because California, in a turn of events, now has a problem of too much water. This can be extremely devastating.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A Little Respect
Why: Because lawyers are finally being portrayed for the good things that they do.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: How Keyboards Work
Why: Because you might as well understand how the thing you type on all the time actually makes the words appear on the screen.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (13 min. read)
What: Nothing But Keanu
Why: Because John Wick 2 is out.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: SNL Is Killing It
Why: Because Spicey.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (long read [if you read all of them (you should)])
What: The Real Biggest Night In Music
Why: Because even Adele thinks Beyonce should have won.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Reading List Of Fascism
Why: Because Kottke.org linked to a couple lists of books on Fascism, which seems slightly prescient at this time.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Defining A Genre
Why: Because First Person Shooters used to be called Doom clones before anyone realized it was a specific type of game, and Nioh seems to prove that Soulsbourne is now its own thing.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Working From Home; How To Raise Plants; The Science Guy
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! If you’re like me, you probably are feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of ridiculousness going on – every day feels like there’s another crisis, each potentially worse than the last. That’s why, this week, I’m going to (try to) focus only on the positive things happening. We all could use a little bit more joy. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Liberty’s Best Friend, Justice
Why: Because after the immigration ban was given a restraining order, the 9th Circuit also ruled to reject a quick effort by the Department of Justice to place a stay on the initial ruling.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: When Food Gets Political
Why: Because avocados are delicious.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What The Federalist?
Why: Because a relatively little known fact about me is that I held the position of Secretary for the board of my law school’s chapter of the Federalist Society, which is super confusing even to me to this day.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What A Game
Why: Because you might as well read about one of the craziest football games I have ever watched from a British newspaper. Here’s some other things you could have watched instead.

COMMERCIAL THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: The Best Of The Game
Why: Because this year seemed… underwhelming. Except for this one.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (30 sec. watch)
What: Strangerer
Why: Because Stranger Things is amazing.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (13 min. watch)
What: Lady Gaga Has An Incredible Stage Presence
Why: Because I don’t know many people who can fly around a football stadium and still be able to sing.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (short look)
What: The New Catch
Why: Because I have no idea how Edelman held onto the ball.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Books By Refugees
Why: Because some of America’s greatest literary achievements were created by people who weren’t originally from here.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: More Like Palmer Notluckey
Why: Because Facebook, Palmer Luckey, and Brandon Iribe  were found guilty of failing to comply with NDAs regarding the creation of the Oculus Rift, and have to pay a total of $500 million. This might have a widespread negative effects for the growth of VR in general. At least games can usually make their own luck.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Bully Pulpit; Netherlands Second; Remote Control Dog; Cartoons And Gloves
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Actually, I’m good this week. I got a car. I also got a cat. (Zelda says hi). That’s enough.

Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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