Greetings Webtaculators! So, I failed you. Unlike the past 181 consecutive weeks, I was unable to finish this week’s issue by 12(ish) on Sunday night. I am sorry. My excuse is that I was having too much fun Bottle Rockin’ with Tom Petty, the Silversun Pickups, Foo Fighters, Ayesha (and Steph) Curry, and Martha Stewart, while staying in a house without accessible wifi. I hope you can accept my heartfelt apology, and that I will try my hardest to continue to deliver you (mostly) quality content every Sunday. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The World We Live In
Why: Because I really don’t know what to say about what amounts to attacking a concert for kids.

POLITICAL THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Trump Vs. The World
Why: Because Trump pushed a foreign leader, got his hand crushed by France, frowned at by the Pope, and promised to stop allowing German cars (which are actually built in the U.S.) to be sold in America, because he doesn’t understand things. Also, because being “Trumpian” is OK, a Montana candidate physically assaulted a reporter, and still won.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: I Really Miss This Man
Why: Because former President Obama clearly demonstrates his grasp of the larger looming problems facing humanity, and seems to actually want to do something about it.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Say It With Me: Racism Is Not An Acceptable Reason For Establishing Voting Districts
Why: Because North Carolina was explicitly told this, again.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Time To Stop Traveling
Why: Because the White House in all of it’s wisdom is considering banning laptops from all international flights.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Round 3
Why: Because the Warriors face the Cavaliers for their 3rd straight NBA finals. This will be good.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. watch)
What: Super Heroes Move On
Why: Because we have been aptly watching super hero for almost 20 years.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Well, That’s… Something
Why: Because your favorite 2000s rap rockers just went pop. Again, Linkin Park started with music like this, and now is doing this. My favorite game to play with this album is guessing which pop artist a song was supposed to be for. For example, I’m pretty sure song “Talking To Myself” was supposed to be for Brittney Spears.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Return To The World Of Daemons
Why: Because we all can now spend more time in Philip Pullman’s classic “His Dark Materials” universe.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: What Happens When Americans Are The Bad Guys?
Why: Because Far Cry 5, a series that is no stranger to cultural controversy, seems to be focusing its target on America’s heartland.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: One Night With Paul Giamatti; Cooking With Stephen; Also Cooking With Stephen
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: E-40 Wine
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! I really am waiting for the week where there is no Trump news. Sadly, this week was the opposite of that, as much as that is even possible, considering how entirely his presidency has tainted headlines this year. Might as well dive in now. Onto the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Trump
Why: Because it’s 2017. Also, Trump, Trump, Trump, and Trump. Please, stop. At least Roger Ailes isn’t here anymore to sexually harass more women.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Not Forgiven
Why: Because Trump is planning to end student loan forgiveness. Many of my friends who are current colleagues or past classmates will be directly affected by this if it goes through. These are brilliant people who have put their personal financial gains aside to help other Americans, who are actively relying upon the federal loan forgiveness to be able to afford to do their work. This would be a national disaster.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Special Prosecution For Special People
Why: Because Robert Muller was named as the special prosecutor in the Trump / Russia investigation.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Bye Bye Internet
Why: Because net neutrality is going back to the drawing board, even though basically everyone but the FCC and cable industry wants it.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Cleveland Pulled A San Antonio
Why: Because Cleveland lost after being up by 20. I guess some of these games need to be close.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: All The Pretentious Movies
Why: Because the Cannes Film Festival is happening.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Returning To Twin Peaks
Why: Because David Lynch’s beloved 90’s series is back.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Say Hello To Heaven
Why: Because Chris Cornell passed away this week. He was probably was my favorite rock singer, whether with Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog, Audioslave, or on his own. I was lucky enough to see him perform Hunger Strike with Pearl Jam at Bridge School Benefit in 2014. He will be missed.

COMEDY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Original Haters
Why: Because sometime people just need to be roasted.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: A Shitty Book By A Shitty Person
Why: Because when a review starts off with the sentence “IVANKA TRUMP HAS WRITTEN a book about female empowerment, and it is about as feminist as a swastika-shaped bikini wax,” you know you’re in for a review that will be way more entertaining than the thing it is destroying.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. watch)
What: Music Makes The Mario
Why: Because the music in games is arguably as important as the gameplay itself.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Romphim; Duck Ramp; PatriotHole; Fondoodler
Why: Because Internet.

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

THING YOU SHOULD NOT GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Romphim
Why: Because Brian does not deserve it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! As a 30-something-year-old, Mother’s Day has started to take on a much different meaning than when I was young: instead of begrudgingly getting up early to “help” make a mediocre breakfast in bed for my own mom, I now get to celebrate many of my friends who have become parents themselves, remember and commemorate those mothers that are no longer with us, and, most importantly, truly appreciate my mom for all that she did to help shape me into the person I have become. Happy Mother’s day, everyone. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Comey Fired
Why: Because Trump has no idea what he’s doing, and in turn, is actively hurting America. A quick timeline – Comey releases information on Clinton emails, potentially affecting the outcome of the election; FBI investigates Russian involvement in the election; Comey fired (see above); letter and reason delivered; attached letter from Deputy AG Rosenstein doesn’t give clear reason; Spicer reiterates unclear reason from bushes; Trump changes reason (WATCH THIS ONE IF YOU CLICK ON ANY OF THEM – The amount of lies and nonsense that come out of Trump’s mouth in 13 minutes is insane); Sanders re-clarifies reason; Trump tweets; and truth, fact, and democracy go to die alone in the woods.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: “Prime The Pump” – DJT*
Why: Because Trump did not invent the term *”prime the pump.” Remember when there was an uproar about Al Gore and the Internet? This is like that, but actually something he said, and actually a lie. However, there will be no impact since this will immediately be forgotten – Trump will inevitably claim something even crazier in a few days. Oh, Trump also proves that has no idea how economics works.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: MAPA: Make Americans Prisoners Again
Why: Because Jeff Sessions thinks the debunked policy of harsh mandatory minimum sentencing for drug cases will somehow work this time. To understand how wrong he is, here is the right wing Heritage Foundation writing in support of amending minimum sentencing, noting “the most pressing problem[] with mandatory minimums[ …is] severe sentences for relatively minor drug possession crimes.”

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Ransom
Why: Because a NSA created backdoor into computer systems created havoc throughout the world. This is only going to get worse.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: How About Some Footie?
Why: Because Australian Rules Football is an amazing sport.  I know, I know, basketball is happening, but there will be plenty more of that soon.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Still No Directorial King Arthur
Why: Because besides the Disney version or the Monty Python version, no one, not even Guy Ritchie, can make a good King Arthur movie.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Returning To The Drive In
Why: Because At The Drive In was once one of the most exciting sounds in rock. It’s too bad that it no longer is.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Past And The Future
Why: Because a group of white people with torches never was a good thing, and never will be.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: On Craft
Why: Because writers of color don’t often get to discuss how to write. Maybe if they did, it might put an end to books like this becoming best sellers. The only reason I know that The Last Patriot exists is because I was blatantly reading it over the shoulder of the person sitting next to me on a recent flight. If you’re going to read garbage like this in public, I am perfectly OK with making you feel uncomfortable about your terrible choice in literature.

BEER THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Value Of Beer
Why: Because depending on your definition of “value,” selling a labor of love to a conglomerate may be a good thing. My friends at the Rare Barrel believe differently.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: The Modern Game You Remember From The 90s
Why: Because Strafe completely understands how video games used to be marketed, but also understand that not everything about those times were awesome, which is.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Congratulations, Graduates!; Customs; Spicy Science; Spicy Spicer
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! Summer weather is officially here, at least in California. I know this because I got sunburned for the first time in a while by sitting outside for 2 hours. Serves me right, I guess. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read [or longer, to learn French first])
What: Vive La France
Why: Because Macron’s resounding victory was a much needed assurance that the entire Western World has not fallen to people like this. What is also interesting is that much like the U.S. election, Macron faced his own version of Clinton’s email leak. Unlike Clinton, the fallout did not cost him the Presidency. C’est la vie.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Big Data
Why: Because data is now the official driver of economic growth.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Non Health Care
Why: Because things like cancer and being pregnant will be considered pre-existing conditions. Pro life, indeed.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What’s The Matter With Boston
Why: Because for a “liberal” city, there sure is way too much racism going on.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came
Why: Because one of my favorite book series is now a movie. Hopefully they pull it off.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. play)
What: Testing, Testing
Why: Because this quiz covers things you may want to listen to, if don’t already know them.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Brian Reads Better Books Update
Why: Because I am currently in the middle of the Patternist Series, a group of novels by Octavia E. Butler, depicting a society of humans selectively bred to control supernatural traits. The novels directly tackle racism, slavery, and sex in a stark manner, and examines the propensity of humanity to try to exert control over itself. In a genre that distinctly lacks many female or POC voices, Butler’s perspective is truly a unique and mesmerizing sci fi experience. Keep the reading suggestions coming.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Prey: Or Why I’m Now Afraid Of Coffee Cups
Why: Because the newest space horror game in the tradition of System Shock understands how to make the player feel vulnerable.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: The Oatmeal Gets Real; Spocko; What Not To Get Mom
Why: Because Internet.

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

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