Hello fellow web crawlers! Andrew here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Happy Friday! Our top stories today are about: Sen. Ted Cruz mixing up a state senator with disgraced politician Anthony Weiner, former President Trump hinting that he might deport Prince Harry if elected, a customer buying water at a self-checkout and being asked to leave a tip, and a look at why the internet is getting weirder.
After that, the trending team shares with you their pick for “Main Character of the Week.”
Also: It’s Friday, which means it’s 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
‘He’s got the wrong Weiner’: Ted Cruz mixes up senator with disgraced politician Anthony Weiner during online spat
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) feuded with a former law school classmate of his in a series of X posts on Wednesday, where he misattributed Anthony Weiner’s sexting scandal to the wrong person.
🗳️ POLITICS
‘Take appropriate action’: Trump revives feud with Prince Harry by hinting he could deport him if elected
Former President Donald Trump hinted this week that he’d consider deporting Prince Harry from the U.S. if he’s able to oust President Joe Biden in November.
💵 VIRAL
‘Who is this even going to?’: Customer buys water at self-checkout. She’s asked to leave a tip
If you tip for a purchase made at a self-checkout kiosk, who does the gratuity go to?
🌐 INTERNET CULTURE
Yes, the internet is getting weirder. Here’s why
If you’re a longtime internet user, you may have noticed that the world wide web is getting pretty weird these days.
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✏️ Take our weekly news quiz!
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IN A RECENT VIRAL VIDEO, A RENTER SAID WORKERS ACCIDENTALLY SEALED THEIR PET INTO A WALL DURING RENOVATIONS. WHAT KIND OF PET WAS IT?
Think you know the answer? Sign up for web_crawlr so you can answer next week’s question!
🌞 From the ‘Don’t Stare At The Sun’ Dept.
💰 SPONSORED
It’s your last chance to get eclipse glasses
Did you know that 99% of Americans will be able to see some kind of eclipse on April 8th? Whether you’re lucky enough to be in the path of totality or watching a partial eclipse from the coasts, there are a bunch of great tools for viewing and capturing an eclipse without damaging your eyes or equipment (never look directly at an eclipse without certified solar eye covering, and don’t point your camera at it either). These glasses will do the trick for cheap and are sure to sell out, but if you want to get fancy, there are binoculars, telescopes, cellphone covers, DSLR lens covers…it’s going to be fun, and this stuff is going to sell out in the next week or so. Don’t get stuck watching the eclipse through a cereal box.
👑 Main Character of the Week
By Ramon Ramirez
Managing Editor
Main Character of the Week: Jeep dealership worker
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 person was surprised to find the burger missing from her Uber Eats order. But even more shocking? Uber’s customer service response to her missing item.
🍷 Restaurant patrons may expect to pay more for wine when dining out than when enjoying a bottle at home. In a viral TikTok, a server shared just how much you are overpaying.
🌮 While sitting in the Taco Bell drive-thru, a woman asked why most fast food chains stopped using the first window.
📱 Actress Selena Gomez is launching a Wondermind app to “gamify” mental fitness.
🩺 A mom is calling out her kids’ school district for sending out a wildly invasive health questionnaire.
🤑 Recently at SXSW, an expert shared how to start a successful side hustle.
🔍 From the Daily Dot archive: QAnon is now too big to fail.
👋 Before you go
We need a better word for a male Karen. Because that is what describes this man who was incredibly rude to a McDonald’s worker in this viral TikTok, which has amassed more than 700,00 views and thousands of comments.
The first thing we hear come out of the customer’s mouth (he’s sitting in his car in the drive-through) is, “100% I’m phoning head office tomorrow. Like, you’re gonna be written up for this.”
Given his reaction, you’d think the employee did something really wrong, like curse at him, refuse service. Nope.
All she did was politely ask him to pull up into a parking spot so other people could order since their food wasn’t ready yet. It’s a common practice at fast food places. You still don’t have to get out of your car. Instead, an employee will run the food to you.
