Really? Iraq again? At least the Israel – Palestine ceasefire seems to be holding for the moment.

STORY OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Back To Iraq
Why: Because this is why we can never leave the mess that we created.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Monkey Law
Why: Because monkeys can’t actually own property (haven’t these people seen Planet of the Apes?!).

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Cat Hack
Why: Because now you can finally put your cat to work.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Beer > Baseball
Why: Because I am pretty sure I go to baseball games primarily to overpay for beer in a crowd rather than watch men stand around and occasionally hit a ball with a stick.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Comic Is Better Than The Movie
Why: Because this is especially true for the new TMNT movie (sigh).

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (8 min read)
What: Too Many Festivals
Why: Because I am still rocking out at Outside Lands regardless of the bubble. Listen along with me, or just listen in any order you want.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. look)
What: War Through The Ages
Why: Because soldiers have been carrying essentially the same thing since humans decided to get together in groups to kill other humans in different groups.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Cat Man
Why: Because some guys really like their cats.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Yelp Louder
Why: Because Yelp is actually making the food you eat better.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Twitch Pulls A YouTube
Why: Because the largest game streaming sight just limited audio access to thousands of older videos, and potentially paved the way for a competitor to provide a better service.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK ()
What: Does What It Says; How To Get All Your Ducks In Order; This Is Why I Don’t Do Triathlons Anymore; What Not To Do At A Music Store;
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: The Original Heroes In A Half Shell
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Hopefully Israel’s withdrawal actually lasts. Here’s this week in the Internet. Happy August!

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Israel Pulls Most Of Its Troops Out Of Gaza
Why: Because this month-long period of violence might actually be ending.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Being Good At Soccer Doesn’t Necessarily Help Your Economy
Why: Because Argentina defaulted again, even though it seems like it could have been avoided if a small group of investors hadn’t been so damn greedy. Related: Messi made a small messi of his taxes. (Sorry)

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Quitting Is For Winners
Why: Because I want to congratulate two of our very own webtaculators who just left Big Law this week without needing to pay for a service to do so.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Almost A Decade Of Reddit
Why: Because Reddit somehow remains one of the few portals of the Internet that balances the weirdness of humanity with a relatively earnest and friendly demeanor.

HISTORY THING OF THE WEEK (multiple links)
What: World War 100
Why: Because World War I’s impacts are still felt today.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (100 power point slides)
What: Breaking – Sportsball Players Like To Party As Much As Other College Students
Why: Because as a former college lacrosse player, these results *SHOCK* me.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The Marvel Train Keeps On Rolling
Why: Because the director of Guardians also takes his PG rated porn scenes seriously (NSFWish).

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Bob Dylan’s A Weird Dude, And That’s Just The Way He Likes It
Why: Because one of the most successful acts from the 60’s seems to try to do everything possible to not be.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Gazpacho
Why: Because now you know how to make it.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (25 min. watch)
What: Ocarina Of Time Beaten In 18 Minutes
Why: Because the strategies used  to achieve this time require multiple perfect timing inputs that must occur during 1/20th of a second moments – basically, this is almost impossible to do.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Samuel L. Jackson Says It Best; So Fast!; Elelator Go Down The Hole
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Guardians Of The Galaxy Tickets
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

A ceasefire counts as something good, right? The other news remains way happier.

STORY OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: No Chance For Peace
Why: Because it seems that no matter how close these two groups come to some sort of agreement, there will always be some part of both that are unwilling to make any concession.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: My Pension Is Going To Be Just Fine
Why: Because it obviously isn’t.

FOOD LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read; 14 min. listen)
What: I Obviously Started Davis Way Too Late; Burrito = Sammich
Why: Because if I could have received credit for the amount I drank in undergrad (or burrito sammiches I ate), I would have graduated 3 years early.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: I’ll Just Do This Later
Why: Because Webtacular World would not exist but for my extreme procrastination skills. Also, the Internet told me I procrastinate.

EDUCATION THING OF THE WEEK (15 min.read)
What: Not Another Math Article!!!
Why: Because maybe I would have enjoyed math more if I didn’t just have to do speed drills all the time. Stupid 7*8.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Street Ball Is Dead
Why: Because sports are so big, that talent is no longer allowed to develop organically. At least the BBC can tell me which sport I was built to play.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Food Prediction Is The Reason Why You Even Know What Kale Is
Why: Because these people also are the reason why all menus look like this, and why asking for a veggie burger doesn’t just mean you get lettuce between two buns.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (multi-article read)
What:  Movie Pitch: It’s A Romance Film… And Comedy… In The Same Movie. Genius.
Why: Because Grantland (of all places) actually covers a lot of ground with these articles, explaining in the process how you and your significant other won’t be completely bored while watching the movie that the other one really wants to see.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (30 min. listen)
What: Weird Al’s #1!
Why: Because it is unbelievable that a parody album seems to be the only music America can agree on anymore. Also, Weird Al is awesome.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: How To Write A Story
Why: Because then you can tweet about that awesome novel you’re totally writing…

COMIC THING OF THE WEEK
What: Comic Con
Why: Because an industry that described my childhood nerdiness now is the biggest player in entertainment today. Also, you can now get access to thousands of Marvel comics for $0.99 to play catch up.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: You Want Maps? I Got Maps; And Flags Too; Kids Have It So Easy; The Sociology Of Screaming Girls
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Well, this week was generally terrible. Hopefully the lighter articles will alleviate some of the more somber stories.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: War. What Is It Good For?
Why: Because with the escalation of the situation in Israel/Palestine, I’d like to share some of my own thoughts with you all.

*Begin Depressing Rant – feel free to skip*

I spent about two weeks in Israel during the late winter of 2012, and although this does not give me any sort of authority with which to speak on the matter, it did give me a relatively more personal reason to begin re-thinking about the issues in the Middle East other than my undergraduate focus on Political Science with an emphasis on Middle Eastern studies, and an intrinsic tie to Israel through the random happenstance that I was adopted by a Jewish American family.

War is generally a awful endeavor that countries, states, and other entities often feel they must wage in order to get what they want when talking and diplomacy fail. In the Palestine-Israel relationship, diplomacy once again took a back seat to good old fashioned biblical eye-for-an-eye bloodletting. To recap the most recent development: members of Hamas, Palestine’s elected political body, kidnapped and killed three Jewish teenagers. In retaliation, a number of Jewish youth kidnaped, tortured, and killed a Palestinian teenager. Hamas, in retaliation, started shooting rockets at Israel. Israel, in retaliation, started bombarding Hamas rocket sites, which were inconveniently close to locations where non-combatants live, work, and play. Hamas, in retaliation to collateral damage (the polite way of noting the deaths of numerous children by the bombardment), broke several short term humanitarian-based ceasefires, and started sending scouts through tunnels into Israel. Israel, in retaliation, instituted ground war, with troop incursions into Gaza.

You may have noticed I used the term “in retaliation” more than was probably necessary. However, this is the sole logic that I can deduce for  either side acting in the manner it does. Politically, Israel has a very large right-wing voting block that continuously drives the government to act in a “strong” manner, meaning that the military is deployed in many situations where it might not be internationally prudent to do so. Hamas, in a similar light, has a stated belief that Israel as a country should and does not exist as a legitimate entity, and therefore must be obliterated. To make matters more complicated, organizations such as Hamas do provide very real and tangible benefits to the local population, even while they continue to commit terrorist acts, for lack of a better descriptor, against Israeli citizens. This leaves the Palestinians as a group stuck in a terrible situation – be on the receiving end of militarily unmatchable force, while being unrecognized as a people by international bodies, and further serving as a proxy force by its political representatives and neighboring countries (who do not have any love of Israel either, but would rather not get involved in a direct conflict).

This cyclical perpetuation of violence has existed almost since Israel’s formation as a state. Violence occurs, families get torn apart, friends and relatives and country men swear vengeance in the name of protection, the governing bodies drive the point home, and the violence continues. Every time this happens, it merely begets a new generation of individuals on both sides who re-entrench themselves in the idea that peace is impossible. Whether someone’s friend  was killed by Israeli shelling, Another lived through incessant bombardment by Hamas rockets that are less deadly only because Israel has spent an unbelievable amount of money on a rocket defense system, there is the universal belief that someone on the opposing side would rather that they and everyone they know were dead, merely because they live on an opposite side of a wall. Yes, this is a little hyperbolic and simplified, but as far as a general break down of a deeply complex issue pertaining to history, religion, thousand year manifest destinies, and modern international politics, I have not been able to think of this truly senseless cycle of violence in any other way. I don’t personally think that either side is correct in their actions, but, at the same time, I completely understand why both sides chose those choices. Until something drastically changes, I do not see this cycle stopping any time soon. If any of you have any other thoughts or comments, feel free to reply.

*Well that was depressing, but cathartic. Thanks for listening. Moving on.*

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Car Free In Helsinki
Why: Because this might actually be the way forward for transportation in our growing metropolitan areas.

STATE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Rich Person Wants To Split California Into Six States
Why: Because sometimes venture capitalists really don’t understand how the world works, but because they have money, we have to listen to their terrible ideas that could potentially happen.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: Prison. Is. Broken.
Why: Because a system that is heavy on the punishment side and light on the rehabilitation side is making the United States safer.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: One Small Step For (A) Man
Why: Because 45 years ago today, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Nothing
Why: Because bad basketball, and high baseball, and moving sportscasters get to be stories this week.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Growing Up
Why: Because there is no reason why this should have worked as a film.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: CDs Never Die, They Just Scratch Away
Why: Because there is no way that Offspring’s Smash or Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise can ever exist in any other format.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (20 min. watch)
What: This Or This Is How You Make The Best Fucking Burger
Why: Because you can also make the best fucking french fries with beef tallow, apparently.

COMEDY THING OF THE WEEK (7 min read)
What: The Ever Developing Mind Of Maria Bamford
Why: Because her Baby Jesus impression might be one of my favorite comedy bits ever.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (30-60 min. watch)
What: DOTA 2 On ESPN
Why: Because it’s big news when a video game tournament with a $10 mil. prize makes it on the leading sports network.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Just Don’t Ask Google Any More Stupid Questions, OK?; Viking Facebook; The Second Person Is The Worst Person; Can’t Stop Won’t Stop The Cheese Sticks (Because You Already Paid For All Of Them)
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

What a World Cup. I’m going to miss my extended lunches cheering with hundreds of other likeminded folk at the Civic Center. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Freedom Isn’t Free
Why: Because much of the Snowden leaks have been either mundane or already known; this is not one of those things.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Mediocrity As A Selling Point
Why: Because why not do things just ok? Or You could just stop working 40 hour work weeks.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Science Is Finally Scientific
Why: Because deciding that there are not always two equal sides to a story is probably a good thing for humanity.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: How To Buffet
Why: Because now you can go to Vegas and at least come out ahead in one way even if you lose all your money at the craps table.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK
What: Aren’t. You. Glad. I. Didn’t. Say. Soccer?
Why: Because Germany defeated Argentina in extra time, bringing one of the most exciting World Cups in history to an end.

VEHICLE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Life And Death Of The Station Wagon
Why: Because you haven’t lived until you have sat facing backwards out of a Volvo 200 Series.

COMMUNICATIONS THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: A Series Of Tubes
Why: Because the Internet and communication in general relies on New York way more that you probably realize.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK
What: Live Music Forever
Why: Because it’s better than wasting all of your money watching producers.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: This Title Was Written In The Passive Voice, And That Is OK
Why: Because Law Review can shove it.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. watch)
What: The Game Boy Is Still The Best
Why: Because these dumb kids have no idea how good they have it.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Ladders Are Awesome; How To Forgive America; Water Is Super Important, Y’all; Cubicles Forever; Potermore Reveals What Harry’s Been Up To
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Pretty Much Anything Here
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

STORY OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: The Civil Rights Act Turns 50
Why: Because the Civil Rights Act was one of the last large society-changing laws that Congress passed.ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)

What: Why People Live Where They Do (3 min. read)
Why: Because this is why I still can’t find something reasonably affordable in San Francisco.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Hobby Lobby
Why: Because part of me still can’t believe that contraception is still somehow this misunderstood and difficult to obtain.

TECHNOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: The PC
Why: Because the thing you are using to read this now has changed quite drastically over the last decade.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: Impossibly Good
Why: Because one person should not be this much better at something than his closest rivals.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. watch)
What: Bayism
Why: Because a widely panned movie series that somehow keeps getting worse is once again the #1 movie in the world.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Pimps And Hos
Why: Because sometimes people in terrible personal situations make for the most interesting subjects

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. watch)
What: Phish For People Who Don’t Like Phish
Why: Because Phish is actually pretty good live.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read, 36 min. listen)
What: David Foster Wallace On Sadness
Why: Because one of the quintessential authors of our era explained why a nation that has everything still is not happy.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: The Best States By Food
Why: Because this should give all of you non-Californians an excuse to come visit.

GAME THING OF THE WEEK (1000 pg. read)
What: Dungeons And Dragons Version 5.0
Why: Because this is the original role playing game that influenced everything from Fallout to Farmville.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK ()
What: Hodor; A Very Expensive Potato Salad; The Night Crew Is The Right Crew
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

I hope you all have a webtacularly spectacular 4th!

4TH OF JULY THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Flags Of Our Great Great Great Grandfathers; Land Of The Freeeeeeeeeeeee(breathe)eeeeeeeeeeee!; America In space; Fireworks And You
Why: Because it’s the greatest. single. nation. in the world’s birthday, damnit, and you’re going to enjoy yourself. America. Fuck Ya.

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

I am seriously debating the importance of other news after the drama of the World Cup this weekend, but I’ll give it a shot.

STORY OF THE WEEK (14 min. watch)
What: What I Do For A Living
Why: Because the net neutrality debate has the potential to effect the future of communication development for the foreseeable future.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Safety In Numbers
Why: Because some billionaires are realizing that the current divergence of the haves and the have nots might not be sustainable.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: From Cellphones To Abortions
Why: Because the Supreme Court made a number of important rulings this past week, many of which were unanimous, even when they weren’t.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Greenhouse Gasses Can Be Regulated
Why: Because the infinite wisdom of the Supreme Court actually let the EPA do its job.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Pelotons Are Crazy
Why: Because after the World Cup ends, this is where my focus will turn to.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Someone Really Did Not Like Frozen
Why: Because even though the author pushes the argument a little too far, she does make some strong points as to the films shortcomings in its feminist message.

TV THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: The Beginning Of Adult Swim
Why: Because Space Ghost redefined the absurdity of what a cartoon could be.

COMEDY THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Why: Because I wish I had bought tickets to one of their shows.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: How To Write A Song
Why: Because now you can be as famous as Rebecca Black.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Right Lens
Why: Because you might as well know the best way to use that DLSR that’s sitting in your closet.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5. min. read)
What: How To Write At 200 WPM
Why: Because this would have been super useful to know in law school.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK
What: Final Hours Of The Steam Sale
Why: Because even if you have a terrible computer, there are some really cheap deals for some really good games.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Karate Is Bullshit; Omniscient Narrators Don’t Always Have Your Best Interest In Mind; Fake Estate; Kids Vs. Pros; So Dildos Aren’t Toys?; I Dare You
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Monty Python Tickets In SF
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

The World Cup has been dominating my personal life for them moment. Today’s draw was heartbreakingly spectacular. I love the beautiful game. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (2 min. watch)
What: Tie Of All Ties
Why: Because I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Surprise, Surprise, We Pay Too Much
Why: Because our costs are almost double the that of other similarly economically situated countries, and receive little recourse for it – maybe it’s because pharmaceutical companies are all using $8.00 ice cubes in their diamond encrusted glasses.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Yes, Your Football Team’s Name Is Offensive, And No, You Cannot Own Rights The To It.
Why: Because the name is basically as offensive as this on point (and terribly offensive) piece of satire.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. watch)
What: Stephen Hawking Is People Who Think Good
Why: Because Stephen Hawking has given fewer and fewer interviews as of late, and this one remains both touching and hilarious.

PRIVACY THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: How Spies Spy
Why: Because it’s a good thing to know what agencies are actually capable of doing with all the data they are collecting.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: If You Hate Gluten, Looks Like You’ll Continue To Be Happy
Why: Because gluten free is a terrible fad that deserves to die, and it looks like it’s not going to. For the rest of us normal people, there’s this.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: World Cup Analysis
Why: Because this delivers a very good breakdown of every team and game.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (80 min. watch)
What: All You Ever Wanted To Know About Wes Anderson And More
Why: Because even though there is almost certainly a bias towards Wes Anderson movies in Webtacular World, I still think he is one of the most creative directors of this generation. This is also important.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. watch)
What: Yet Another One Of The Best Music Videos
Why: Because OK Go continues to prove that internet did not kill the video star, they just started making way better videos.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: How To Take Pictures
Why: Because you might as well finally learn how to use that awesome camera you have sitting in your closet well.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. watch)
What: World 1-1
Why: Because I bet you didn’t realize how much you learned within the first 30 seconds of playing the most famous Nintendo game. Luckily for you, you will soon be able to design your own.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: More Like WTF Core; Fartzenegger; The Most Newsworthy Of Fonts;
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: The World Cup Trophy
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Happy Father’s Day, webtaculators!

Special mention to one particular dad – a confidant, savior, guide, muse, terrible-but-somehow-still-funny comedian, sage, healer… actually, this goes so far beyond what the basic definition of what a father is that someone should probably invent a new word for it, oh wait – got it. Dadtacular. Thanks for being the best Dadtacular I could have. Love you.

On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Majority Leader No More
Why:Because this is the first time in history where a generally popular politician in a powerful position has lost in the PRIMARY.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: The Value Of Feet
Why: Because the Copa Mundial and the part of the body the players use is worth a lot of money.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Tesla’s Patents Are Belong To Us
Why: Because not only are Tesla’s patents open for most practical purposes, but we also learned that Elon Musk appreciates decade-old memes from derived from poorly translated Japanese video games.

FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: How Food Works
Why: Because you eat food, so you should know understand how it gets into your mouth.

HEALTH THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: Anderson Cooper Tries Out Schizophrenia
Why: Because this is one of the few diseases that humans can actually replicate, and the thought of having someone yelling at you constantly inside of your head terrifies me.

MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A New Home For War
Why: Because I don’t think that Eisenhower himself realized the future reach of a weaponized public force.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The World Cup Is In Full Swing
Why: Because anything is better than the Kings winning Lord Stanley’s Cup or the lackluster Heat driving their fans out of the stadium. Viva Futbol!

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (13 min. watch)
What: If Everyone Is Super, Doesn’t That Mean No One Is?
Why:

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. watch)
What: Psy’s Back
Why: Because this time he brought Snoop with him.

ANTI-LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK ()
What: I Hate Clickbait, And You Should Too.
Why: Because it’s rant time.

*BEGIN RANT*

Clickbait has slowly but surely become the scourge of my daily internetting. Open Facebook, and you probably see one of your friends sharing something that includes the word “GENIUS,” “EPIC,” “AMAZING,” or “UNBELIEVABLE” (always in capital letters) claiming that you must read this story or watch this video because it is the best thing that has ever happened. Although webpages have always tried to find ways to draw your eyeballs to their content, with the proliferation of social media, and the growing importance of “shareable” content has led to the rise of Upworthy (with articles such as “This Video Might Hurt To Watch. Luckily, It Might Also Explain Why”), Uproxx (“Important: An Independent Baseball Team Is Wearing Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ Jacket Jerseys”) and the mother of them all, Buzzfeed (22 People Who Forgot To Be People).

Now, I have nothing against the the occasional listicle, or even a title that leads to actually decent information. However, the insistence that everything is absolutely the best must see thing ever produced dilutes from things that you actually should know about or read or watch. In fact, one of the reasons why I created Webtacular World in the first place was because so much good content is not actually making it through the din of blabber (Share if you agree!). Moreover, much of this content is more concerned with people sharing it  or commenting on it than actually reading it, as noted by the very clever April Fools Day NPR Facebook post, which anyone who did not actually read the article would have only seen the title, and therefore commented on how lamentable it was that no one reads (although not so eloquently), thus showing that they themselves were part of the actual problem. An even bigger problem now though, is that in order to compete with views, legitimate news sources such as TIME or Slate are starting to resort to the same sort titles (“Eat Butter: Scientists Labeled Fat The Enemy. They Were Wrong” and “This Is What Happens When Your Foot Falls Asleep”). The problem is that these well researched originally reported articles now don’t differentiate themselves from the other drivel (ironically also a Slate article), and therefore have to compete with that drivel.

However, Webtacular World is not the only entity that has noticed this problem. Many outlets such as Clickbait Dissertations and Factbot have turned to humor to point out the inanity of this subset of titling. XKCD imagined clickbait through history. Most recently The Onion rolled out a new platform, Clickhole, comprised of entirely fake clickbait articles, which hopefully will produce enough nonsense and confusion to drive the practice out of journalism completely. So help out. Next time that friend of yours (definitely not you) posts a clickbait article, don’t share it. Don’t like it Don’t comment “OMG KITTENZ IS BEST” on it. Instead, find a real article with a real title and share that instead. Or just share Webtacular World. Together, with your help, we can end the scourge of clickbait, and use the internet for good.

*END RANT*

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (30 min. watch)
What: Behind The Scenes At E3
Why: Because E3 is the biggest event of the year as far as video games are concerned.

FATHER’S DAY THING OF THE WEEK 1 min. watch)
What: Dad Pants
Why: Because you should just say no to them.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: King Of The North vs. Fly, You Fools; Gooooooooooool; How To Make A Ball; Living With Loss; Allll Byyyy Myself
Why: Because Internet.

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

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