Greetings Webtaculators! I just hosted my first Friendsgiving at my house, which is not something I ever really thought I would be able to do. This annual tradition has been going on with a group of law school classmates, significant others, and other people we have collected as friends along the way, and is a yearly reminder that even with everything going on in the world that is not as good as it should be, there are still many things in life that are going better than they seemingly should. I know I don’t always do the best in terms of optimism on a weekly basis, (see, e.g., any other Webtacular World issue from this year), but I’m trying. Then again, this is our current reality. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: The Guardians
Why: Because there were a lot of people Time Magazine could have named as person of the year, but this year was particularly somber and fitting.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Raiders Of The Last Store
Why: Because it’s sorta not that cool when a CEO who drove a company into the ground and leaves, then uses another company he owns to buy back the company he drove into the ground, while giving multi-million dollar bonuses to the other people who were responsible for driving the company into the ground.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Dumb Judge Does Dumb Thing
Why: Because elections have actual consequences, and the stupid path that an uncaring government took to destroy affordable health care for people is now jeopardizing the whole thing.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Yes, Steph, The Moon Landing Was Real
Why: Because Steph Curry’s joke(?) about the moon landing is another one of those things that seems like harmless fun, but for some reason people are more willing to believe an amazing basketball player about space than, you know, actual astronauts.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. watch)
What: Amazing Basketball
Why: Because unlike his comments, Steph SHOULD keep participating in Japanese TV contests.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Spider Pig
Why: Because the new animated Spider-Man movie might just be the best Spider-Man movie ever.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: New Sway
Why: Because Easway Harrison is a great kid making great throwback rap. He just released his newest album, Nothing To Lose, and you should check it out.

ARCHITECTURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: Architects Can Have Fun, Too
Why: Because even though they’re “practical” artists, architects mostly entered the field because they loved to create.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: More Best Books
Why: Because I did not read enough this year.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A New Place To Buy
Why: Because the company behind Fortnite is trying to compete with the Steam Store, the monolith of PC gaming. Giving a higher cut to creators is not a bad way to go about it.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: The Best Of The Internet; The Worst Of The Internet; An OK Internet
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators. So now that the Trump administration is completely falling apart, I would have figured that I would have felt something more. Hopefully he doesn’t take the country down with him on his way out. The GOP certainly is trying its hardest to help him. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Another One Bites The Dust
Why: Because John Kelly is a failure.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: All Gone
Why: Because for the second time this year, all gains for 2018 have been wiped out. One of the biggest individual stories of the week is that Canada arrested the CFO of Huawei, one of China’s largest companies.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Cohen And Flynn
Why: Because Mueller threw the book at one while letting the other off. It pays to cooperate.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: No Porn For You
Why: Because essentially the only thing Tumblr is good for is no longer something that Tumblr is going to host.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: College Football Is Stupid Again
Why: Because colleges make the lives of their students worse by kowtowing to these moral-less programs.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (13 min. watch)
What: Best Movies Of The Year
Why: Because it’s that time of year again. Looks like Kevin Hart won’t be able to tell you about them at the Oscars, though.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Best TV Shows Of The Year
Why: Because it’s that time of year again.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (long reads)
What: Best Music Of The Year. Or Is This The Best Music? Or How About This?
Why: Because it’s that time of year again. Also, I am officially old, because I’ve never heard of most of the bands (groups, people, whatever) on the “cultured” lists, and actually listened to even fewer. I openly am at war with the musical taste of whoever is streaming from Apple, because most of those top albums and songs are hot garbage. I don’t know how to find music anymore, and that is disappointing.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: Best Photos Of The Year
Why: Because it’s that time of year again.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (long reads)
What: Best Books Of The Year (Form 1, Form 2, And Form 3)
Why: Because it’s that time of year again.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Best Video Games Of The Year
Why: Because it’s that time of year again (and yes, there are people who have been trying to make “the Oscars” of video games for a few years – the show is actually decently produced and entertaining). The real best game is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, though.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: No Look; Even More Avengers; The Russians Are Trying To Break Our Internet
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators! Great news (for once)! The War on Christmas is officially over. After years of an intense offensive by every holiday in December that isn’t Christmas, all sides agreed to an armistice, and a place in the Goldsen household. This is why an over-achieving fancy bush is now my new roommate. Of course, since it is the first night of Hanukkah, and Christmas is still 23 days away, I will be extremely offended if anyone says “happy holidays” over the next eight days, and the war will be back on. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: RIP Bush Sr.
Why: Because the last decent* Republican President passed away.  His lack of action during the AIDS epidemic, his involvement in Iran-Contra scandal, the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, and his War On Drugs, along with the downfall of the economy under his watch, all are harsh marks against someone who undeniably had one of of the most impressive civic resumes of anyone who has been president. Of course, in comparison to what we currently have, Bush Sr. was a genius benevolent saint.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Good Use For A Tax Break
Why: Because Pategonia, the high end outdoors clothing manufacturer, is donating $10 million of the money it earned this year due to Trump’s tax breaks to environmental focused non-profits.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Don’t Lie On The Stand, Kids
Why: Because Manafort breached his plea deal by lying to Federal investigators. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, also lied. Time to make like Monopoly and go straight to jail.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Back To Mars
Why: Because NASA successfully launched another mission to the red planet.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Chess Armageddon!
Why: Because I wish I understood how to play chess well.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Marvelous
Why: Because the Marvelous Ms. Maisel is a very good TV show. What is not marvelous is that Marvel’s Daredevil was canceled.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Party Like It’s 1975
Why: Because the new album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships by The 1975 is good pop music.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: SPAAAAAACE
Why: Because Mars is cool.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Best of 2018
Why: Because it’s that time of the year again.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Best Thinking Person’s Games Of The Year
Why: Because the New Yorker put together a best games list.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Indifferently Stabbed; No One Walks Away From John!; We All Are Doomed
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD NOT GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Because I fit a 6+ foot Christmas Tree in my Prius.

Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators! I hope everyone was able to enjoy Thanksgiving with their family, friends, and loved ones. If for whatever reason you still have a turkey carcass hanging around, I highly recommend making turkey stock. If you don’t, well, there’s always next year. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Act Of War
Why: Because Russia captured Ukrainian naval ships. This is not good.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: Black Friday Is Going Online
Why: Because online shopping overtook retail.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Judicial Branch Starts Standing Up
Why: Because after unprecedented attacks on federal judges, the third branch of the government is responding.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL
Why: Because unless you scream it at the people who are burying their heads in the sand, they will never listen. And no, “clean coal” is not the answer.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: A Lot Of Football
Why: Because Saturday’s game between Texas A&M and LMU went for 7 overtimes and a combined score of 146 points.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (1 min. 30 sec. watch)
What: NAAAAANTS INGONYAMA
Why: Because a live action Lion King is going to make everyone cry again (and yes, “nants ingonyama” are the first two words of the song Circle Of Life. I had no idea either).

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Mumford Goes Pop
Why: Because I guess the Sons took over and started demanding to play bland modern pop music. Bring back the banjos.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: America Is Closed Til Further Notice
Why: Because we are cruel.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Some Things To Read In The Waning Days Of November
Why: Because I need to start reading again.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Video Games Are Art
Why: Because the NY Times says so. Welcome to the party, high society – I’ve known that they are for a long time.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Thanksgiving Playlist (?); The Best Black Friday Sale; 25 Years Unplugged
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Jimmy Carter Signed Guitar
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

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

Greetings Webtaculators. We got a dog. His name is Caboose. We like him a lot.

On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Trump Fails California
Why: Because as the death and missing person toll grows from the Camp Fire, Trump again proved that he is entirely incapable of performing one of the primary roles of his job as President – mainly, being an actual leader. He continuously proves he has no idea what he is talking about, and furthermore, does not care.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: How To Use Friends And Influence People
Why: Because the term “influencer” is dumb. And so are the things that they do.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Lawyers Are Human, After All
Why: Because copy-pasting text is a good way to make a mistake. Trust me.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: The Future Of Fire Fighting
Why: Because thanks to climate change, fires are becoming a continuous, severely dangerous problem in the West.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: The Princess We Need
Why: Because Ralph Breaks The Internet manages to be a fun sequel.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: Smashing
Why: Because the Smashing Pumpkins almost entirely reunited to create a new album. I know most of my posts are about bands from the 90s. This article about Post Malone explains why I haven’t really updated my musical tastes. I understand that this makes me an “old,” but I’m ok with that.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: As You Wish
Why: Because the author of the Princess Bride, as well as the screenwriter for multiple films such as “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”  and “Misery” passed away.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (many reads)
What: A Number Problem
Why: Because this week saw the release of Fallout 76 (really the sixth or ninth game in the series, depending on how you’re counting), another trip back to WWII through Battlefield V (somehow the sequel to last year’s Battlefield 1, and the twelfth game in the series), and Hitman 2 (the seventh game in the series). The most fun thing that came out this week was probably Spyro Reignited Trilogy, a single updated package of three games that came out twenty years ago. Go figure.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: YouTube Is Finally Showing Movies; Elton Gets A Piano; Sort
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators. I don’t know how to keep up with things anymore. In the span of a week, there were multiple stories that in most other years would be something that was broken down and analyzed for months before they were out of the collective memory. Instead, we are stuck with an impossible amount of things that happened. The format of Webtacular was supposed to be able to break down these occurrences into bite sized chunks, with focus on one particular story that stood out. It has been impossible to do that for the last few weeks, and remains a problem for this one. Sorry about that. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: Just A Few Things
Why: Because Blue Wave; Attack The Press; “Patriot”; Mass Murder; California Burns; and The Execution Of Heroes.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: America Does Not Act Like It Has A Single Economy
Why: Because businesses take billions of dollars a year from states.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: fOILed Again (Sorry)
Why: Because the Keystone XL Pipeline project was stalled again due to the Trump Administration’s lack of environmental impact analysis.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Why California Is On Fire
Why: Because its a combination of global warming and extreme wind.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Couch-Side Analyst
Why: Because no other event is explained in real-time like football.

COMIC THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Excelsior
Why: Because Stan Lee, the creator of superheroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men died today. You probably know what he looks like even if you don’t know who he is.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (1 min. 30 sec. watch)
What: Toy Story 4
Why: Because they probably have to kill the toys this time after the last movie.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Muse Goes Back To The 80’s
Why: Because Muse leans heavy on the synths for its newest album.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: California Burning
Why: Because the amount of destruction continues to be impossible to comprehend.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: Through Michelle’s Eyes
Why: Because Michelle Obama released her first memoir.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Tetris Is Still The Best Game
Why: Because Tetris in VR is mind blowing.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Insult Politics; Magic; The Worst Videos
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators. 10 years ago on this day, the United States elected its first African-American President. We can do great things if we choose to. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: VOTE.
Why: Because my life, my LGBTQ friends’ lives, my African-American friends lives, my Latinx friends’ lives, and my female friends’ lives depend on it. Or I guess just continue to let jackasses like this be in charge.

ECONOMY THING OF THE WEEK
What: Student Debt
Why: Because one day the bill for the insane way in which our society has decided to educate its population will come due.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK
What: Trump Is A Moron Who Doesn’t Understand The Constitution: Episode 85.
Why: Because an executive order cannot override the 14th Amendment. This idea has been stewing around his idiot head and the idiot heads of his advisers for a while.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK
What: New Mac Stuff
Why: Because it really just isn’t that important anymore.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK
What: Best Gymnast Ever
Why: Because Simone Biles is that.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK
What: 90s Kids
Why: Because one thing that both this movie and previously mentioned Eighth Grade really nail down is the representation of feeling alone even when you’re with a group, which I recall as being one of the most confounding feelings I had growing up.

TELEVISION THING OF THE WEEK
What: Adam Sandler’s Stand Up Special
Why: Because this proves Adam Sandler is still actually funny and thoughtful, even though most of his recent movies don’t really target either of those things.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK
What: Tenacious D Rise Again
Why: Because, along with their ridiculously purposefully terrible animated show, Jack Black and Kyle Gass put robots, gratuitous sex, robots, and three headed dogs back into rock.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK
What: Fall Photos
Why: Because some things in the world are still good.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK
What: Best Illustrated Children’s Books
Why: Because some of you have made new people recently, so here’s some things you might enjoy. Or, if you want something more adult oriented, the surviving Beastie Boys are releasing a giant book about their career.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK
What: Nostalgia 3
Why: Because at its most recent annual convention, Blizzard introduced not only a new version of a 16 year old game, but also a “vanilla” version, meaning non-updated, of World of Warcraft servers.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Vote; Vote; Vote
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK
What: My Fury
Why: Because today, I am furious.

Yesterday, the culmination in one of the worst weeks of the year, because yes, things can get worse. Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to the safety and well-being United States. He announced his support of nationalism as a die-hard follower mailed bombs to numerous current and former politicians, news outlets, and prominent business and entertainment leaders. Days later, Trump continues to personally attack those targeted. He announced his desire for further tax cuts (which is an impossibility due to Congress being out of session). This was while Wall Street wiped out essentially all gains made over the last year.

Most important and closest to me, he has continuously stoked fears of the take over of America by Jews. He continuously attacks George Soros, as Trump and Republicans claim Soros is funding the thousands of refugees fleeing South American violence a ploy to sneak terrorists into the U.S. as part of a globalist (read, Jewish) plot. Yesterday, a man screaming “I just want to kill Jews” did exactly that. Eleven people were murdered in cold blood because the current administration and the Republican party is actively courting antisemitism as part of its platform, and someone finally listened. A man was persuaded by constant Fox News dog-whistles that it was time to murder innocent people in the same synagogue where my cousin completed her conversion, and where a friend and his family continue to call their place of prayer.

As I said: I am furious.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS OF THE WEEK (6 min. read)
What: Brazil Turns Fascist
Why: Because it turns out it is exceptionally easy to destroy democracies.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Falling
Why: Because the tax cuts apparently can’t prop up an economy that well.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Judges Installed During Recess
Why: Because political norms don’t matter.

TECH THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Github.office.com
Why: Because Github, essentially, the free “how to” of the internet, is now owned by Microsoft.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Boston Wins World Series
Why: Because LA sucks.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Killer Queen
Why: Because Rami Malek does an amazing job channeling Freddie Mercury.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Call Your Girlfriend To Go Clubbing
Why: Because Robyn’s newest album is basically a deep club chill sesh.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (quick look)
What: Trump’s America
Why: Because this was the mail bomber’s van.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: Red Dead 2
Why: Because the game is a sprawling, fully realized masterpiece. It remains unknown as to whether the sacrifices it takes to make such a masterpiece is worth it.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: $400 Of Caviar; Spend Jeff Bezos’ Money; Ideas If You Don’t Have A Costume Yet
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators. Why is it that these weeks have so much happen in them that it is impossible to keep straight? The real thing that matters is that our President has decided that truth is a negotiable thing: Oh, Turkey says a journalist was killed by Saudis in the Saudi consulate at the orders of the Saudi prince? Well, the Saudis say no such thing happened, and I believe them. Oh, now it turns out the journalist was killed, but it was probably due to a fistfight between the journalist and a bunch of rogue actors. I still believe them. Truth is non-negotiable. Also, Elizabeth Warren apparently does have some Native American lineage, but because of the nonsense world we now live in, instead of everyone focusing on the fact that the President was blatantly racist to someone with Native American ancestors, everyone is focusing on Warren’s bad timing and bad delivery of that fact. PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLED SOMEONE “POCAHONTAS” TO HER FACE. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Immigrant Vs. Refugee
Why: Because thousands of people fleeing Honduras are traveling en masse to the United States. Trump, of course, wants to punish Honduras instead of help people. For a New Yorker, I’m surprised he isn’t aware of the Statue Of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” 

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: The Passing Of A Giant
Why: Because Microsoft founder Paul Allen passed away. Bill Gates had some very kind words for the man.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (8 minute read)
What: A Destruction Of Civil Rights
Why: Because the United States is very close to rolling back legal protections for trans-gendered Americans. The people currently in charge of our federal government are monsters.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Stupid Man Wants More Nukes
Why: Because the world, and the United States, for that matter, do not need more nukes. There is no more mutually assured destruction available: we already have enough to blow up the entire planet.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: LA Vs. Boston
Why: Because two of the most hated baseball franchises get to play each other in the World Series. Go Red Sox.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (long read)
What: SPOOOKY
Why: Because there are lots of good scary movies.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: The Failure Of The US On The World Stage
Why: Because the United States has been generally terrible at winning hearts and minds overseas for the last couple of decades. Here are a couple of books that explain why.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (5 min. read)
What: A Tale Of Swords And Souls Eternally Retold
Why: Because the sixth entry to the Soulcalibur fighting game series is a wonderful entry to a very fun game with a very stupid yet earnest story. People are also having a blast with its character creator.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Decent List Of The Best Internet; Incredibly Bad List Of Best Halloween Candy; Smart People Are Finally Listening To My Request For Less / Better News;
Why: Because Internet.

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

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

Greetings Webtaculators. A buddy of mine and I were having dinner last night at a bar pub type place. One of the screens was showing something called Chive TV, a sophomoric take on America’s Funniest Home Videos, created for a spinoff channel of an internet site that was originally trying to be a mix of  The Onion and College Humor. The premise is essentially 24 hour nonstop “internet videos,” with little context and no commentary, on a continuous loop. There was our own conversation, baseball playoff games, college football, and even live Drag Queen Bingo that were all vying for our attention. 6 second videos of humans acting like idiots won over them all, including our discussion about how ridiculous that this drivel was engaging to two very educated, decently successful people. Our lizard brains could not turn away, even as we were saying how incredibly dumb it was that we couldn’t. This is why I try to mostly  stick to text. I know, reading is hard and tedious, but it at least forces you to pay attention. Assuming you’re not simultaneously watching dumb internet videos. On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: This Is How The World Ends
Why: Because our planet is going to kill us all. Luckily (?) this storm hit in a “relatively” uncrowded area, but there will be others of this magnitude. As always, FEMA is not doing a great job. In my area, the local utility, for the first time in its history, has decided that in order to curtail the threat of fire, it will cut power to customers in situations where in high threat (read super windy, dry and hot conditions[basically always in California now]) occur. Things are only going to get worse. In the meantime, it’s perfectly fine that countries are murdering journalists.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What:  Back To The Start
Why: Because a massive market correction wiped out all stock gains since essentially January of this year. Things are not looking better for this week.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Death To The Death Penalty
Why: Because judges aren’t all bad. Read the opinion here.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: Magic Leap? More Like Illusion Fall! 
Why: Because according to one reviewer, there doesn’t seem to be so much that’s magical about what is supposed to be a game changing AR.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Good Football
Why: Because even though the league and sport are trash, it still can prove to be a fun game.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: First
Why: Because First Man is a good space movie.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (2 min. read)
What: We’re Doing It Live
Why: Because it’s not often that an original motion picture soundtrack does well on the charts anymore. It helps if one of the artists in the film is Lady Gaga, though.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. look)
What: Total Destruction
Why: Because this is what hurricanes will continue to look like.

LITERATURE THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. read)
What: More Books You Should Read But Haven’t Yet
Why: Because for a men’s magazine, Esquire is actually doing a good job of representation in their recommendations.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: CODBLOPS IIII
Why: Because people who play video games apparently really like Call Of Duty: Black Ops but hate correct use of Roman numerals.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Gettin’ Genie With It (Because Will Smith Is The Genie [Sorry]); Wayne Jackson;
Why: Because Internet.

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

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