Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Our top stories today are about: Google’s new AI search tool suggesting that people eat glue with their pizza (among other massive fails), conservatives likening the Pope to the devil, whether or not Rudy Giuliani used the bathroom while getting arraigned via Zoom, and a McDonald’s customer sharing a glitch that can get you free food on the app.
After that, we’ve got a fun edition of “Meme History” for you.
P.S. — If you didn’t take our weekly news quiz yesterday, there’s still time! Just open yesterday’s newsletter and answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a “Take Me Out To The Blog Game” shirt.
See you next week!
— A.W.
⚡ Today in internet culture
🍕 GLUE-GLE
Google’s news AI search pulls answers from decade-old Reddit troll post—suggesting glue on pizza
Posters are digging up even more wacky results from Google’s new AI Overview tool—with one search about cheese not sticking to pizza suggesting searchers should mix glue to the sauce. The AI also said that dogs played professional sports.
👹 HOLY HELL
Pope Francis deemed Satanic by Christian conservatives for preaching love, tolerance toward migrants
That stance—along with some of the Pope’s other comments—isn’t going over well with some conservatives, who are likening the Pope to the devil for his comments.
🚽 VIRAL POLITICS
Did Rudy Giuliani use the bathroom while getting arraigned over Zoom?
🍟 LIFE HACKS
McDonald’s customer shows ‘glitch’ in the app that can give you free food
As fast-food prices continue to rise, people are eager to take advantage of any deals they can get.
We crawl the web so you don’t have to. Sign up to receive web_crawlr, a daily newsletter from the Daily Dot, in your inbox each day.
🔒 Surf the ‘net safely
Do you have questions about how to be safe online? If you do, you are in luck. Our “Your Password Sucks” column answers internet security questions from web crawlers like you.
If you ask a question by clicking here or the button below and our Tech Reporter Mikael picks it to be answered in a future column, we’ll send you this pretty sweet web_crawlr desk mat.
ASK A QUESTION
🤓 Meme History
By Kyle Calise
Video Producer
Meme History: Mocking Spongebob
Meme History is a weekly column that dives deep into internet lore to uncover the history of famous memes. It runs on Saturdays 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.
🥚 One person in Oregon has sworn off cooking for good after cracking open a Costco egg and finding a roundworm in it.
🥪 This Panera customer is getting a lot of attention online after revealing a trick to get a “free” full-sized sandwich.
🦟 With summer approaching quick, you might be interested in this hack for using coffee grounds to get rid of “every mosquito within 15 feet.”
💼 Fifty-three percent of employers will verify a prospective employee’s college degree during the job application process. That’s why a woman warned job hunters not to lie about their college degree on their resumes.
🛒 A user on TikTok is calling out Dollar Tree after claiming that employees hid desirable items in areas where shoppers could not access them.
🏠 One renter alleged he was charged hundreds of dollars for an apartment to be cleaned after he moved out and left just one item behind.
📹 From the Daily Dot archive: Here’s how local governments are surveilling their workers.
👋 Before you go
A horrified car owner has gone viral after sharing how her car got “destroyed” by going into an automatic car wash. From the moment she was inside the machine, TikToker @booyahboo seemed to realize that this was a bad idea.
In the clip, which has now amassed 1.2 million views, overhead brushes appeared to thrash themselves into the car like there was no tomorrow.
As all of this was going on, the camera oscillated between the violent brushes and the TikToker’s own shocked expression, with one of the captions reading, “Not the car wash breaking while I’m inside.”
The on-screen text reads, “My car gets destroyed with by automatic car wash.”
