Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: The NYPD getting roasted for bragging about confiscating a prop firearmcommonly used for cosplay, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) cursing out protesterswho targeted her over Gaza, OpenAI publishing Elon Musk’s old emails after he sued them, and a look at the many memes about Dune: Part Two.
After that, our Trending Team shares with you their pick for “Main Character of the Week.”
Also: It’s Friday, which means it is time for our weekly news quiz! Just scroll down below to answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a web_crawlr shirt!
See you tomorrow!
— A.W.
⚡ Today’s top stories
🔫 FAIL
‘You arrested a cosplayer’: NYPD roasted for bragging about ‘Final Fantasy’ prop gun confiscation
The New York Police Department (NYPD) is receiving pushback online after arresting a man for possessing a prop firearm used commonly among the cosplaying community.
🗣️ POLITICS
‘You’re not helping’: AOC curses out protesters targeting her over Gaza
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) had a sharp rebuke to the pro-Palestine protesters who confronted her in a Brooklyn movie theater and accused her of not characterizing Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocide.”
📧 TECH
‘We’re sad that it’s come to this’: OpenAI publishes Elon Musk’s old emails after he sues
OpenAI, the company behind the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, published the private emails of Elon Musk amid the ongoing lawsuit between the billionaire and the tech giant.
📽️ CULTURE
‘Dune: Part Two’ is finally here—and so are all of the memes about it
The highly anticipated sequel, Dune: Part Two, was released to incredible acclaim and box-office success, and you better believe people online had all kinds of things to say about it.
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👑 Main Character of the Week
By Ramon Ramirez
Managing Editor
Main Character of the Week: Kia customers
Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent “main character” online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
📱 This worker says her boss offered to buy her a brand new iPhone 15. Here’s why she turned it down.
✈️ An internet user is calling out American Airlines after claiming that her flight was told that turbulence prevented flight attendants from serving drinks—a move that apparently did not affect first class.
🤳 One mom’s story about her child’s school principal taking his phone and using his face to unlock it to view a video allegedly saved on it has TikTok viewers in an uproar.
🔍 A TikTok user who touts her interest in the paranormal, aliens, cryptids, and mysteries showed off a strange sheet of paper filled with seemingly random words designed to send any “conspiracy theorist” into a tizzy.
🍅 In a viral video, a customer said Dunkin’ employees were rude to her after she placed her order and requested ketchup.
💼 No matter what the current unemployment rate is, one thing never seems to change: Looking for a job sucks.
🚙 There is currently a recall for Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Wrangler vehicles, and customers are fed up with the poor quality of these cars.
👤 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s why online anonymity is a thing of the past.
👋 Before you go
In the endlessly fascinating world of fast food, where every new hot item can become a viral sensation or a meme, McDonald’s staffer and TikTok star Shania (@shanialovesyou0) recently dropped a taste test that’s got a lot of folks talking.
In her viral video, “It’s a h3lla no for me,” Shania, decked out in McDonald’s gear, dives into the mystery of the new WcDonald’s Sauce, a new contender of the condiments.
Spoiler alert: she wasn’t exactly impressed with the McOffering, and neither were other viewers in the comments section of her video. They claimed they tried it out for themselves, leaving their tastebuds disappointed.
