Webtacularly rock on,
Greetings Webtaculators!
In honor of the recent release of the 2014 Outside Lands lineup, here’s a playlist of a songs by every band that will be performing. Hope you find something new that you like! Have a wonderfully Webtacular Wednesday.
Webtacularly yours,
Greetings, Webtaculators! I hope all you coastal dwelling readers start investing in some wetsuits, boats, dive equipment, and landlocked property. Try Tracy, CA – if you wait 50 years, that will be prime oceanfront real estate.
STORY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Mother Nature ANGRY
Why: Because global warming is even worse of a problem than we thought it was. Since CO2 is going to kill us all, here are some chemistry jokes.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (9 min. watch)
What: Invisible Homeless
Why: Because there are more people who live like this than you imagine.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Money, Speech, and Corruption Redefined
Why: Because freedom apparently really isn’t free anymore, and its price keeps on climbing.
SEX ED THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Sex Ed For Guys
Why: Because it doesn’t make sense that we have such trouble teaching kids how humans actually work.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: How To Shoot A Basketball
Why: Because you should learn from someone who makes 43% of their shots from 3 point range.
TV THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Cornholio And The American Dream (Hehehe…Hehe…He)
Why: Because Mike Judge has been one of the most influential entertainment creators of our generation, and he still has it.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read, 49 min. listen)
What: Teen Spirit 20 Years On
Why: Because Kurt Cobain died 20 years ago, and Nevermind was one of the first CDs I ever owned.
COMEDY THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. watch)
What: How To Comedy
Why: Because no one has time to leave their house to perform for other people anymore. Especially not the people who make your Sunday comics.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: How To Fix A Broken Game And Rediscover The Fun
Why: Because Diablo 3 was widely considered to be one of the worst games renowned developer Blizzard had ever produced, so they went back to the drawing board.
FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: There’s A Pizza For Everyone
Why: Because it is surprising how many different versions of bread, tomato sauce, and cheese humans can come up with.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Cheeseburger + Patrick Warburton = Love; The Turducken To End All Turduckens; That Middle Part Tho; (Un)Public Service
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: MOTHER FUCKING FIRE BREATHING DRAGON
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
Special shout out to the Webtaculators who got hitched this weekend! Congrats Aaron, Kathleen, and Mailee! And no, they didn’t all get married to each other (although Aaron and Kathleen did), although that would have been one crazy wedding.
STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Reality Is About To Become A Lot… Virtualer (And Pokier)
Why: Because Facebook bought Occulus, the virtual reality company for $2 billion, and lots of people are not happy about that.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Economic Disparity
Why: Because this is why I will never be able to afford to live in SF again.
POLITICAL THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Unknown Unknowns Of Donald Rumsfeld
Why: Because we still don’t have a straight answer as to why we went into Iraq.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read, 6 min. listen)
What: Hobby Lobby And the Religious Ideals Of A Business
Why: Because These are the types of decisions that will need to come down to answer just how much of a person a business can be.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: College Football Is Now A Profession, Apparently
Why: Because Northwestern Football team won a preliminary decision to unionize, pushing the beleaguered NCAA even closer to have to decide what they actually want college sports to be.
TV THING OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Pop Culture And The Office
Why: Because The Office had way too many references, so here they are.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Wu Tang Record Sale Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ Ta Fuck With
Why: Because record sales are dwindling, so why not just make one?
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. look)
What: Kids And Their Toys
Why: Because toys are awesome, and these kids are super proud of their collections.
LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Books You Probably Will Never Read
Why: Because even though you won’t, it’s still good to know that they exist.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. watch)
What: Goat Simulator
Why: Because who doesn’t want to be a goat?
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Dance Greg, Dance; Shooting Timing Is Hard; Louis Does SNL; Taco Bell’s CEO’s AMA Reveals CEO Doesn’t Know What 4/20 Is (Ya Right)
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: If Ronald Loves It, Then So Will I
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Well, it seems the news world has already moved on from Russia, because obviously nothing else is going on there, so on to the next big thing!
STORY OF THE WEEK (20 min. read)
What: Forgetting Yourself
Why: Because this is a great insight into a disease that affects many people in their later years, and it is empowering to see someone try to fight through losing themselves.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. watch)
What: Digital Economies Make Serious Bank
Why: Because digital supply and demand are a growing business, because who doesn’t want a $10 digital horse?
SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (44 min. watch)
What: Evolution
Why: Because this is the best explanation of evolution I have heard.
NEWS THING OF THE WEEK (7 min read.)
What: A Fox News That’s Worth It
Why: Because news is changing, and hopefully for the better.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min.read)
What: It’s Madness
Why: Because there are no longer any perfect brackets left, and the upsets keep on coming.
MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. 30 sec. watch)
What: Wes Anderson Is Centered
Why: Because symmetrical whimsy is a beautiful thing.
CHILDHOOD THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: Loosing The Wonder Years
Why: Because maybe parents need to back off a bit. Yes, this includes homework too.
ARCHITECTURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: 140 New Montgomery
Why: Because even seemingly mundane office buildings can tell the greater stories of the cities where they are located.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (1 hr. 15 min. watch)
What: Free To Play
Why: Because its stories like these that show esports have the same potential for creating stars as any other established sport.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: More Like Christopher Dancen, Am I Right?; Wheel Of Luck; Cockblock Explanation; What Penguins Think
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Some Opening Day Tickets Would Be Nice
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: How To Succeed In Someone Else’s Failing
Why: Because one man’s crusade to bring down a giant company shows that anything is possible as long as you have one billion dollars to do it.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Crimea U̶k̶r̶a̶i̶n̶e̶ Russia
Why: Because Crimea just voted to secede from Ukraine, so you might as well know the legal theory behind the decision.
SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Football Physics
Why: Because a round soccer ball is actually a terrible thing.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Going Back To Its Roots
Why: Because lacrosse is a great sport, and it is way more important than whatever that ball in the circle game that everyone’s starting to get excited about.
LEXICON THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. explore)
What: Where And When English Came From
Why: Because you might as well know why you say the things you say.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3.5 min. watch NSFWish)
What: You Actually Might Want To Turn This Down…
Why: Because this is probably one of the craziest music videos I have ever seen, and I’m kind of surprised I can still be surprised by music videos in this day and age.
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. watch)
What: SF Timelapse
Why: Because the Bay Area is beautiful.
LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The California Aggie Is No More
Why: Because it’s rare enough that a school decides to kill its largest student media outlet, and even rarer when that school is your alma mater.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What Ever Happened To The IPhone’s Promise Of Being the Gaming Machine Of The Future?
Why: Because people apparently are apparently happier tapping their phone to make something flap than playing a full version of Grand Theft Auto (you need to scroll down to #40 at the time of this writing in order to find it).
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Goat Baaaaaath; Trains Good People Bad
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Bacon In The Morning
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
Hope you all remembered to move your clocks one hour ahead. If not, I applaud your time free living.
STORY OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Brinksmanship In Practice
Why: Because I can’t tell if the Cold War actually ended in 1990 at this point.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: The Face Behind Bitcoin, Or Not?
Why: Because the person behind the most anonymous currency in the world is surprisingly just as anonymous, assuming that he actually is the right person.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: What Happens When A Lawyer’s Incompetence Derails A Multibillion Dollar Settlement
Why: Because now the thousands of farmers who suffered due to Chevron’s blatant disregard to their lives now have little recourse.
TEST THING OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: A 1600 Means You’re Smart Again
Why: Because this discursive, apocryphal trial was created by masochistic martinets determined to cause prostration in overwhelmed students, and it’s finally changing to reflect actual knowledge. Somnambulist.
AGNOTOLOGY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Stupid Is As Stupid Says
Why: Because Webtacular World would in no way try to keep your head filled with nonsense. Now look at these puppies.
TV THING OF THE WEEK (3. min. read)
What: Cosmos Strikes Back
Why: Because Neil DeGrasse Tyson will hopefully inspire America to focus on science again.
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: Han And Chewie, The Early Years
Why: Because this is adorable.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Music To My Ears Isn’t Always A Good Thing
Why: Because some people can’t get joy from music, and that is a very sad thing.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: South Park Does Everything Better
Why: Because somehow Matt Stone and Trey Parker keep making better products than professionals, regardless of what medium it is.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Miserable Monsters; Jurassic Cat; Joseph After The Dentist
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Any Of These; Mine Tried To Tell Me It Was An Hour Earlier Than It Really Was This Morning
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
Happy March everyone! Although it seems the Russians are taking the month’s name a little too seriously…
STORY OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Russia Invades Ukraine
Why: Because I guess they are mad that the Ukrainians got a gold medal in woman’s relay biathlon? In all seriousness, this is what happens when a country (the United States) legitimizes a policy of “protecting legitimate state interests” as a validation for invading another country.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Mt. Gox Gets Tapped
Why: Because none of you got the Magic The Gathering reference of my title, and also probably were unaware that the largest bitcoin exchange even had anything to do with Magic in the first place.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: How To Catch A Kingpin
Why: Because it was amazing that it didn’t end in bloodshed (see any other kingpin takedown in history, or just watch Scarface).
SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read/ watch)
What: Duct Tape Challenge
Why: Because I can’t tell if it’s impressive that they managed to keep someone up for 15 minutes, or if I should be worried that people who build aircrafts that I fly in can only keep someone up for 15 minutes…
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (30 sec. watch)
What: Unbelievable Putt
Why: Because women are good at sports, too.
FOOD THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: The Hottest Hot Sauce
Why: Because Sriracha is delicious, and now you know why.
DATING THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. watch)
What: Modern Love
Why: Because most of you probably have or will date someone from the internet, so start Tindering and get you some.
MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: In Its Defense, The Name “Oscar” Is Probably The Oldest, Whitest Man Name Something Can Have
Why: Because it’s the Oscars tonight! And your girlfriend cares, so you should too. Or just watch this instead.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. listen)
What: Pharrell + Daft Punk = Gold
Why: Because these guys make nothing but hits.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: 10,000 Monkeys Play Pokemon
Why: Because not only did the collective internet beat a game, but they also created a religion in the process.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Reggie “Teaches” Science; Don’t Drop Your Hammer On The Moon; Yoncé; E Makes Anything Danceable; The World Is Full Of Animals
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Tesla Stock, (Or Just A Model S)
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
Goodbye Olympics! Hello Netflix binging!
STORY OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: Ukrainian President Removed From Power
Why: Because this has been a very tumultuous turn of events in the last few weeks surrounding what began as peaceful protest against the government for economic decisions distancing Ukraine from the E.U. towards Russia and turned into a bloody battle over a public square.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. watch)
What: Sexanomics
Why: Because what initially starts as a catchy video about the supply and demand of sexual relationships between modern men and women quickly becomes a work of investigative journalism.
LONGFORM TIME!!!!!
I initially found this video via Metafilter, which if you’re not familiar with, you can think of as a Reddit for adults. These type of quick explanation videos have been making the rounds for a number of years, one of the most popular you may have seen being the work of C. G. P. Grey. The videos generally use text of the words spoken interspersed and with cartoons or some other artistic form in order to educate viewers about some relatively complex subject. They can be very useful in this regard, since they can effectively convey lots of material into a simple, easy to digest format. However, this format can also lend itself to oversimplification, or, in a potentially more detrimental case, factual manipulation, as is the case here.
As the video started, I was immediately hit with the feeling that something was off. For example, the first facts given were that marriage in the U.S. were at a historic low (fair), immediately followed by the fact that online dating site revenues were at an all time high (Huh? Of course they should be- the technology that has developed to utilize these services have grown along with the decrease in social stigma to actually meet someone online, why are these two facts related to each other?) The video continues with assertions about reasons for people having sex (men: pleasure; women: emotional bonding and relationship security), how women are the “gatekeepers” of their sexuality which has an explicit cost, which then inexplicably changes the cost to a meaning of potential for children, and then, most ridiculously, setting up the example of pesticides wreaking havoc on the “natural systems” in comparison with the effects of birth control. To sum up, the video finds that sex is “cheap” compared to previous eras because of the advent of birth control,which causes an imbalance between the women who want to get married and guys who only want to have sex, with the added value judgement that this is a “very bad thing.” By this point, I needed to figure out exactly why this video was made, and more importantly, who made it.
It turns out that the video was made by The Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture. This is a relatively new think tank based in Texas. What is most notable about the company is that one of its preeminent members is Mark Regnerus, who is most famous for publishing a study finding that gay parents were less successful at raising children in comparison to heterosexual couples, and then having that study thoroughly torn apart. All of this greatly leads to the possibility of this video as not economic at all, and more of a thinly veiled political message.
Moral of the story- don’t believe everything that you read or watch on the internet.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. listen/ read)
What: The End Of Solitary Confinement
Why: Because even though some people have done terrible things, that does not mean they should be treated as less than human.
GETTING OLD THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: Aging Gracefully
Why: Because as getting old starts to become a reality, you might as well have some advice from an expert.
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: First Openly Gay Athlete Goes To…
Why: Because after all the media hype about football draft rankings, a team just goes and re-signs a guy who had been in the league for years before publicly coming out. I’m sure everything is going to be Completely Different. (Someone needs to invent a sarcasm font).
MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Bill Murray: Reviewed
Why: Because Bill Murray continues to have one of the most enjoyable on screen presences of any current actor, even if not all of his choices make sense.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch/ listen)
What: Pomplamoose Does Pharrell
Why: Because even though Pomplamoose has been around for a while, they always seem to find ways to stay in the forefront of what can only be called the Youtube music genre.
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: Kiev On Fire
Why: Because the pictures make the story that much more real.
LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Kurt Vonnegut’s Thesis Was Rejected. So It Goes.
Why: Because even some of America’s greatest writers were not that great at English.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. watch)
What: Congratulations! You Scored Only 500!
Why: Because people are still setting record runs of a game that is as old as I am.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Springy Goats; Anti Pixar; Chewbuacchus
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: $3700 Millennium Falcon Lego Set
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
In this Special Presidents’ Day Weekend Edition, this week’s Webtacular World will avoid any mention of presidents besides those already mentioned. Enjoy your Bonus Sunday!
STORY OF THE WEEK (15 min. read)
What: California’s Drought
Why: Because while Climate Change deniers think shifts in global weather patterns aren’t happening due to the East Coast’s 3rd major snowstorm in the last few days, the changes that are occurring around the world are historic.
ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Time Warner Comcast Xfinity NBC
Why: Because your favorite internet/ cable/ content creator/ consumer support provider is about to become an even bigger nightmare.
LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Stand Your Ground And Open Fire
Why: Because I think the way Americans worships the 2nd Amendment is a huge problem, and laws like this need to change if the U.S. wants to be taken seriously and treat all of its citizens with respect. We are better than this..
SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min.)
What: MOTHER FUCKING CURLING
Why: Because Curling is the best sport of the Olympics, hands down.
MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 hrs. watch)
What: RoboCop and Toy Story, Sweded
Why: Because these homemade versions are arguably better than the originals.
LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Wow, Something Actually Interesting About Wuthering Heights
Why: Because even though I hate this book with the fiery passion of a dozen vengeful Heathcliffs, it still is a literary classic, and deserves some respect.
MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. watch, 4 min. read)
What: The Beatles Turn 50
Why: Because the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.”
COMEDY THING OF THE WEEK (7 min. read)
What: RIP Sid Caesar
Why: Because he was the definitive comedian of the last century.
PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. look)
What: NYC Subway in 1981
Why: Because even though it is grimy, it still is beautiful.
VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Flappy Bird Is Still Dead; Long Live Flappy Bird
Why: Because Flappy Bird apparently is a phoenix that will always rise from its own ashes.
INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK
What: Cat Wants To Party; The Fox Says Beowulf; The Death Star’s Destruction Was Totally Not My Fault
Why: Because Internet.
THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Beer Me – Available At One Of These Locations, Maybe.
Why: Because Brian deserves it.
Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™
Webtacular World 