Greetings Webtaculators! I hope everyone was able to enjoy spending some time with people they love, and that everyone was also able to take time to think about others who might not be so fortunate. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Mourning For Egypt
Why: Because the West still has no idea how to react to terrorist destruction in Middle Eastern countries.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Shifting The Paradigm With Meaningless Words
Why: Because modern business hardly seems to be about selling something – it’s now about selling the idea of something. See, e.g., Bitcoin.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The FCC Hates America – Let’s Hope The Courts Don’t
Why: Because like I mentioned previously, the FCC went and did what everyone says it was going to do – announce that it was removing net neutrality protections. OK, maybe saying the FCC as an entire entity is too strong, since Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the FCC Commissioners, published an op-ed in the LA Times asking the public to stop her agency from destroying the Internet. Remember, telecommunications companies are regulated because there is no clear path to competitive local markets.

HEALTH THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Welfare By Another Name
Why: Because the Washington Post did a deep dive into the way in which the U.S. provides for people who can no longer work, whether that is actually because they are hurt, or because of other reasons. Here are parts 2, 3, 4, and 5.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Alabama Falls Apart
Why: Because Alabama is football, and now Alabama basically has nothing left going for it this year. Their basketball team didn’t have much luck, either.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Another Pixar Gem
Why: Because based off the way most other movie studios work, there is no reason for almost every single movie they put out to be this good. Sadly, it’s not all good news – John Lasseter, the head of Pixar, took a “leave of absence” for inappropriate work interactions – aka not respecting women’s boundaries in a workplace.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: What A Year
Why: Because even though it’s a bit early for making best of lists, Consequence of Sound just released its top 50.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. look)
What: The Bests
Why: Because someone with too much time on their hands aggregated a whole bunch of “best books of the year” lists. You’ll probably be able to find something that speaks to you in one of them.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Modern Co-Op
Why: Because one of the most fun things I did recently was get together with a group of old friends, sit around a single TV, and beat each other up in Smash Brothers, just like we did when we were in middle school.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: A Better Yule Log; Bucket List; Become A Coppa
Why: Because Internet.

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

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