Greetings Webtaculators! We somehow flew by the half-way point of this year. That’s nuts. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Justice (?)
Why: Because Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years for murdering George Floyd. It remains unclear how people can be stuck in jail longer for selling drugs than for being found guilty of murdering someone. It also remains unclear how this actually helps correct crime in general – jail as a penalty has been around for millennia, and yet here we are, still having people criming away. At least our flawed version of justice is actually being applied fairly this time.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: America’s Infrastructure
Why: Because the tragedy of the Miami condo collapse is probably indicative of the state of numerous structures throughout the US. There is no profit in maintenance.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Pay For Play
Why: Because the Supreme Court is busy doing its thing both for good and for ill, the Justices decided the NCAA could not force athletes to not make money on the side from their own skill and fame. Also, now we have former attorney Giuliani, because New York stripped his law license from him.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: A New Window(s)
Why: Because Microsoft is updating the OS you know and love later this year. THE START MENU IS IN THE MIDDLE!!!!

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: The Tour Is Off To An Explosive Start
Why: Because it is becoming clearer that fans should never be allowed to watch sports in person again. Also, get to know a few guys!

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Made With Soul
Why: Because this movie looks amazing. Sometimes a movie review is written with such passion and skill that it a great piece of art unto itself.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (14 min. watch)
What: Conan Signs Off
Why: Because Conan O’Brien ended his 28 year-long, nonsensical stint as a late night host this week.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Massive Metallica
Why: Because along with a reissue of arguably its most popular album, Metallica is also releasing a version of the Black Album with covers from over 50 artists. It might be hard to remember a time when Metallica was the biggest music act in the world, but considering the artists they got to do this shows how big the band’s influence actually is.

ART THING OF THE WEEK (long watch)
What: All Of Monet
Why: Because there are a lot of paintings there.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Too Soon
Why: Because we are still reeling from the effects of the last administration’s inability to govern.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Itsa Golf Time!
Why: Because Mario sports are fun, and Nintendo’s spin on golf is insane in a great way.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Shmorby Is The Worst; Dave Chappelle And Foo Fighters; Without Boarders
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Make An Elephant Crash Through My Wall
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! This was my first Father’s Day. That made it a pretty good weekend. Hope you all had a good one too. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Juneteenth
Why: Because getting a holiday reminding Americans that we have been absolutely awful in our treatment of Black people is an important thing to recognize, even while it still sort of co-opting it for everyone in the face of all the problems that our continuously racist present (see, e.g., the current GOP led movement to ban critical race theory accurate history from American classrooms) is failing to address.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: There Is No Half Way
Why: Because the GOP is adamantly refusing to admit that America needs to be revitalized. A “bipartisanship solution” that is in the works also doesn’t address many of the things that the US MUST address, such as climate change, so isn’t a real solution. While they’re at it, they should fund the IRS. This is especially important after ProPublica dove into exactly how the richest Americans avoid paying taxes.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The ACA Stays
Why: Because health care for millions of Americans remains attainable.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (1.75 hr. watch)
What: The 2021 WWDC
Why: Because Apple continues to iterate its platform. One of the most interesting things Apple announced was its inclusion of Dolby Atmos “spatial audio” into its music subscription. While interesting on its face, it isn’t quite the game changer Apple made it out to be. Dolby Atmos is part of the soundscape for many modern movies and video games, where directional sound makes sense. However, it remains to be seen whether the same is true for music – this is especially for music that was not originally mixed with anything but stereo sound in mind (it completely breaks certain older songs both by destroying the sound quality and missing certain sounds – I thought I was going slightly crazy by comparing the Dolby Atmos version of Weezer’s Buddy Holly [one of the songs Apple promoted using the technology, and since I’m a White guy in his thirties who grew up in the suburbs, I am very familiar with it] to the song’s lossless version, where the Dolby version inexplicably drops two and a half bars of drums in the middle of the song. Baffling). It will be interesting to see whether artists actually start incorporating this into their work, since it has the potential to be very cool if it is used correctly.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. reads)
What: Good Sports
Why: Because Racing, Basketball, and Golf have all been very exciting this week.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Returning To Its Source
Why: Because Luca seems like a safe, fun Pixar movie that was largely made during the pandemic, which sounds both exhausting, but also like a good thing to work on during that time.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: SKA IS BACK, BABY, So Start Skankin’!
Why: Because the Washington Post says so. What are also back are concerts. I cannot wait to rock my face off again.

ART THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Evolution Of The Graph
Why: Because visible representation of numbers remains the the most artistic thing about Excel.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Pulitzer Prizes
Why: Because a number of books I will probably never get around to reading (this is not a good thing) are things that you may enjoy reading.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: E3 Goes Electronic
Why: Because “gaming’s biggest event” was entirely online. there are entirely too many games coming out in the future, which is a good problem to have. Some of the ones I think seem promising are Elden Ring, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2, Metroid: Dread, Starfield, and Battlefield 2042.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Welcome To The Internet; Magneto’s Magnets; Donna’s Design;
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A $7,000 Grill
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! This was the first normal week I felt like I’ve had in months – mostly because it was. I ate dinner at a restaurant (outside), saw extended family who I hadn’t seen since 2019, and even went to go get a beer with a friend (outside). It was spectacular. I hope that you all have been able to start to do normal things again as well. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Acknowledging A Tragedy
Why: Because the United States hates recognizing the terrible things it has done in the past, it is not entirely surprising that the destruction of “Black Wall Street” has gone unrecognized for so long. However, assuming Republicans continue to get their way, this might be the only time this is recognized, since it seems too many people still want to ignore the brutal role racism has played and continues to play in our society.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Fly Like A G7
Why: Because the wealthiest democracies in the world just agreed to start taxing foreign earnings for the largest companies. 

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Just What We Needed!
Why: Because another judge who doesn’t understand the Second Amendment just re-legalized ARs in California. The judge absolutely failed at creating an actual analogy by trying to say an AR 15 is like a Swiss Army knife because it is “…a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle.” I don’t recall a Swiss Army knife only being good at stabbing people both in defense… and defense.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A Reintroduction To Gender
Why: Because it’s pride month.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Giants Are… Great?
Why: Because the SF Giants, who are made up of a bunch of people my age, currently have the best record in the Major Leagues. I know I just jinxed them by stating this, but that’s OK. 

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The Streaming Era
Why: Because the types of movies currently being made at a blistering rate don’t quite fit the mold of anything that came before. Here are 50 of the best so far.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Same Song 10 Different Ways
Why: Because Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour” is what happens when you cross Avril Lavigne with Taylor Swift, and add a bunch of swearing. It’s not bad!

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: The Big Picture
Why: Because the California Academy Of Sciences held a contest, which is just an excuse to look at at cool photos.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: The Problem With Language And Aliens
Why: Because one of the most overlooked and underexplained things in science fiction is how different species communicate with each other, especially when one of those species is human.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (13 min. watch)
What: The Next Horizon
Why: Because Horizon: Forbidden West, looks gorgeous. 

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: No Words Necessary; Will The Real Sparta Please Stand Up; The Droid You’re Looking For
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Old Lego Sets
Why: Because Brian deserves it, and they cost a small fortune.

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