The Big Game supered itself into 50 years with lots of fanfare and a mediocre performance by everyone who should have played better. I’m writing this before I saw who the MVP was, but for the life of me, I cannot even come close to figuring out who earned it. Maybe Ted Ginn Jr., since for once he wasn’t the reason why his team lost this time… In real sports, I’m personally excited to start my 4th season as a coach of my old high school lacrosse team starting tomorrow. As far as I know, kids aren’t being accused of taking GHG to win playoffs. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: A Difference In Debate (GOP; DEM)
Why: Because the difference in candor between the two versions of Presidential debates (as far as I can tell [NOTE: I am not a trained reporter – I have just been following politics since I was too young to understand why an office BJ was such a big deal, and my bachelor’s degree says I’m a political scientist, so that’s good enough for me]) has been portraying very different versions of what people assume America is. One has a front runner calling for free health care, and the other is calling for  mass deportations. One thinks it can give unlimited Federal aid to college students, and the other thinks that taxes are too high. I guess I don’t get how people who are vying to run a single country are so diametrically opposed to the things that the US should be able to accomplish based on its size, wealth, and belief in our own greatness, but I guess that just makes me a bad political scientist. Oh well.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. watch)
What: Commercialism
Why: Because one of the best things about the Great Pot is the stupid amount of money companies are willing to spend on showing us what to buy. What’s strange about this year is that most of these have already been leaked or been playing before YouTube videos for the last week or two. Yahoo also definitely got the rating on that monkey puppy baby one completely wrong though. That was awful. Burn that thing with fire.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Past Of Telco
Why: Because this also neatly coincides with the year that I get out of the telco world.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: The Future Of Energy
Why: Because this also neatly coincides with the year I get back into the energy world.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: STUPOR BULL!
Why: Because the actual name of the game is stupidly trademarked or something. <See Above>

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (30 sec. watch)
What: Bourne’s Back
Why: Because this was the least expected movies I ever expected to see again.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Gaga Slayed
Why: Because this is legitimately one of the best renditions of the National Anthem I have ever heard.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Writing For Movies
Why: Because Stephen King probably knows more about how author’s Hollywood deals than anyone else.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Line Puzzles Squared
Why: Because The Witness is one of those games that transcend the medium, but couldn’t exist in another (according to me). However, if you don’t like solving puzzles, it probably is one of the most boring games ever (according to Meagan).

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: SNL’s Actual Pun Beat Me To It; Politics Are Insulting; Real Talk
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Super Bowl 51 Tickets
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

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™

Greetings Webtaculators! Guess what? You basically made it another year! Hooray! Hopefully, this one was enjoyable for you all, and the next one will be just as good. Or better! And, if it happened to be not such a good one, remember, it couldn’t be that much worse than 6th grade. 6th grade was awful. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Not A Bad Year
Why: Because even though all we seem to get is bad news, it turns out that humanity, on the whole, is on the up and up. That’s a good thing.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: … But It Still Isn’t Great Being A Woman
Why: Because even though this knowledge isn’t necessarily new, the study by the New York City Group of Consumer Affairs really highlights how disparate the pricing of the basically same item is.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Bad Bail
Why: Because bail can be expensive, and through the use of bail bonds, can be even more expensive if you can’t afford it in the first place.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Sticking The Landing
Why: Because SpaceX successfully landed their first stage rocket, potentially making future space flight up to 75% cheaper.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Greatest (Of 2015)
Why: Because watching Steph take the Warriors to such great success is what sports is all about.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: One Of My Favorite Christmas Related Things
Why: Because they’re muppets. Also, Star Wars broke more records, but that’s no surprise.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (35 sec. watch)
What: The Beatles Finally Join Modern Music
Why: Because the entire Beatles catalogue is now available on your favorite streaming websites.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. look/read)
What: More Of The Best Of The Year
Why: Because even pictures of awful things can be beautiful.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (longer read)
What: A Small, Personal Confession
Why: So. As many of you know, I read. A lot. I mean, that’s partially why I compile Webtacular every week. Usually, this reading also includes books. The reason why I said “usually,” is because this year, I didn’t read one. “What?” you’re probably asking yourself. “Why on earth would you do that? That puts you in the 28%!” Reading books to me is basically a drug (I got in trouble in 4th grade since I was reading multiple books at once; and would often stay up way past my bedtime reading them). However, more recently, I realized that I was no longer enjoying reading books. Even books that I should love, like Super Sad True Love Story, Jim Henson’s Biography, or even A Game of Thrones, just weren’t doing it.

The true turning point was The Circle, which came out to still unbelievable rave reviews. It is the worst well-regarded book I have read in my life (Atlas Shrugged is the worst book I have ever attempted to read, but was so bad I never finished, so it doesn’t count). The characters are awful caricatures of what real people might be, the message is flat and obvious, and the words inside some of the heaviest handed metaphors I have read. Basically, David Eggers is the reason I haven’t read for a year. If you’re reading this, Dave, shame on you for writing that awful book.

But it wasn’t a terrible outcome! First, I found more ways to enjoy something that I love. I have a few Murakami novels lined up that I know I will enjoy, because I recently experienced Kafka On The Shore, and images and ideas presented in the book were interesting and unique. The wonderful thing about modern technology is that more books than ever are available in audio formats, which is both a really interesting way to take in a novel and a great way to ignore fellow bus passengers. Second, I am actually excited to read again, which isn’t something I have been able to say for a while. Sometimes, taking a break from something really lets you appreciate it on a basic level. Just ask any Jew about their thoughts on food on Yom Kippur.

In retrospect, a year hiatus is a little on the extreme side, now that I’m actually acknowledging how long it has been in words. However, I don’t think the experiment nonsensical as it sounds. I put aside my previous, unjustified audiobook prejudice, and gained more appreciation of what makes reading a novel a “novel” experience. (Sorry). Of course, if you haven’t read a book recently – go read one. It’s good for you.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: More Games You Should Play
Why: Because this is another good eclectic list.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Dive, Dive, Dive!; Good Ads; Terrifying Robot Future
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! Well, this is a doozy of an edition. Not only is it my birthday, but it also is the day I get to see the new Star Wars. If you couldn’t tell from previous editions, I like Star Wars. A lot. And since it’s my birthday, and this is my newsletter, I get to dedicate this edition to Star Wars. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Its About The Data
Why: Because as elections become more data driven, these types of accusations will become more commonplace.
Star Wars: Why The Rebellion Failed (Click the first link to get past FP’s paywall)
Why: Because this will set up your understanding for why there are at least 10 more years of Star Wars movies.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Oil For Everyone!
Why: Because for the first time in years, the U.S. oil reserves are back on the market.
Star Wars: You’re So Money
Why: Because Star Wars made over $230 Million in one weekend, and I contributed to about $300 of that.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: CISA Returns
Why: Because all this surveillance does not make us safer, and it explicitly goes against the 4th Amendment.
Star Wars: Lando Law
Why: Because I’d hire Lando to be my lawyer any day.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Sportsperson Of The Year
Why: Because people were mad that it wasn’t a horse.
Star Wars: Star Sports!
Why: Because it’s crazy that a fictional universe has this many activities.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. watch)
What: Star… Trek?
Why: Because you can be thankful that the new Star Wars didn’t turn out like this…
Star Wars: A New Hope, Reviewed
Why: Because NPR spoiled the end in it’s original review. For shame.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. play)
What: Celebrating Beethoven
Why: Because this Google doodle really does a good job of teaching people how music works in a simple manner
Star Wars: You Know How It Goes; Here Are The Words; Updated
Why: Because this song is still incredible.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. browse)
What: A British Take On Books
Why: Because as the inventors of the English Language, I guess the Guardian has a decent grasp of what a good book is.
Star Wars: How To Forget About Jedi In 60 years
Why: Because it’s interesting to think about how quickly society can forget things that are true if they aren’t properly recorded.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Best Of The Year
Why: Because for a non-industry focused periodical, the New Yorker’s list is actually really good. Check some of these games out.
Star Wars: Revisiting Tie Fighter
Why: Because even though it’s 20 years old, it still is a really fun game.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Forever Alone; Waves; Bad Star Wars
Why: Because Internet.

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

May the Force be with you,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™

Greetings Webtaculators! I spent a decent amount of this weekend reliving parts of my younger self by getting to see Weezer at NSSN, frying yet another Turkey for Thanksmus in my homemade ugly sweater,
and finally re-watching the entirety of Star Wars in preparation for next weekend. Holidays are about spending good time with good people doing things that you like, so I hope you have been able to do something that you enjoy, or will soon. Because you deserve it. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (15 min. watch)
What: How Not To News
Why: Because sometimes news people get things wrong. And it is hilarious.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Climate Changes
Why: Because the world is finally doing something about climate change, even if a bunch of Americans still don’t believe it’s a real thing.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Battle Of The Blue Book
Why: Because Yale just threw down a gauntlet over the lawyers style guide. It’s ok, though, because I already burned mine.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Hot Mics
Why: Because watching sports is way better when you can hear players swear at each other.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Machete Order
Why: Because after sitting through Episode One again after all these years, I can officially say that Jar Jar is still one of the worst characters ever created in a movie- nothing he does is relevant, except for actually granting (then) Chancellor Palpatine access to a clone army. Worthless. However, also upon re-watching, the often hated Haden Christensen actually turned in a decent performance in Episode III, so at least that was better than I remembered it.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (long listen)
What: The Best Pretentious Music List
Why: Because NPR actually has a good pulse on good music, even if you’ve never heard any of it.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: Looking Back At 2015
Why: Because these are the images that shaped this year. (Trigger Warning for violence, sadness, and bad memories).

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (long browse)
What: The Best Pretentious Books List
Why: Because NPR did the same thing to books as it did to music.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Who Buys These Things?; I Wish This Wasn’t True; Independence Day 2 – Independencier
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: None Of These
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators. Well, this week was awful. This was the first time a mass shooting has happened where I didn’t respond with surprise. Just, “oh.” Apparently all of my other exclamations were used up in Paris and Colorado Springs and Roseburg (bet you forgot about that one already) and Charleston and etc.. If 14 people being killed at a holiday work party, only elicits an “oh,” as a response, then something is severely wrong. I can’t tell if the fault lies with me, or if its a a symptom of a a society that won’t perform any sort of inward reflection to figure out why things like this happen, and the possibility that our past and current policies and actions might in any  way contribute to these horrific acts becoming commonplace. So, in order to prove that humanity is still doing OK, I’ll mostly focus on the good things that happened this week, with the big important news mostly as a side note. After all, if Jews are starting to celebrate the rather silly miracle of oil lasting longer than it should have, then humans can celebrate the other small, silly things that happen, too.  On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Fuck Brian
Why: Because fuck that guy.
Sidenote: San Bernardino and Guns.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: GiveItAway,GiveItAway, GiveItAway, GiveItAway Now
Why: Because not all business owners are assholes.
Sidenote: Some are.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: The Importance Of Pro Bono
Why: Because it’s about someone is calling out firms for not providing services to those who can’t afford it.
Sidenote: Jury Duty.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. explore)
What: Volcano Goes Boom!
Why: Because non-life threatening volcano explosions are awesome, and there is a website called volcanodiscovery.com, and that makes me happy.
Sidenote: Climate change is to Exxon Mobile as Phillip Morris was to smoking.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: Messi Has Always Been Very Good At Soccer
Why: Because the way the kid on the orange team “gave” the ball to the tall dude on the white team to throw in at the 4:40 mark is fierce.
Sidenote: Sepp Blatter.

TV THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Very Murray Christmas
Why: Because George Clooney mostly hides behind a tree, and it is glorious.
Sidenote: San Bernardino coverage.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: New Coldplay Isn’t Bad!
Why: Because the Pitchfork review includes the sentence, “And with his many wide-eyed ruminations on stars and moons and hearts and diamonds, it can sound like [Chris Martin] gets his lyrical inspiration from a spoonful of Lucky Charms.” I wish I wrote that.
Sidenote: RIP Scott Weiland. Listen to this.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (long reads)
What: Really Good Longreads
Why: Because reading good articles will fight against bullshit.
Sidenote: Stupid people believe in bullshit.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (30 min. watch)
What: Revisiting Good Old Games
Why: Because playing old games can remind you why they were great in the first place, and give you more appreciation regarding how far the industry has come.
Sidenote: Being resold FFVII for the hundredth time.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Bread Face; Elmo Is The Worst; Best Current Drummers; Best Past Drummers
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: A week free from mass murders.
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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