Feelin' vaguely SMH-y

Another day, another teen fad meant to curdle our souls and make us fear for the future. Today's trend is called "the fire challenge," and it involves ... literally setting yourself on fire. (Not in the Hunger Games or Tibetan protest senses, either.) Before you dismiss this as an Onion prank gone horribly astray, or a one-time anomaly that will surely pass when the stars realign, let me remind you that #the #kids come up with one of these new "challenges" roughly every two months or so. Feelin' vaguely SMH-y? Let's go to the links!

1. The American room, according to Youtube. It's so bland you probably never notice it, but the rooms in popular Youtube videos are frequently the same: beige, sparse and suburban, with standard eight-foot ceilings and little in the way of decor. Does that say something about the American psyche? Our relationship with technology? "Invisible standards?" I don't know, tbh, but it's worth pondering.

2. The Internet of things will ruin birthdays forever. Google and Facebook already remind your friends when your big day roles around. But in a world where everything's connected to those services, the potential of birthday greetings (and the creepy, invasive data-tracking they entail) are absolutely, annoyingly endless.

3. 17 apps that will help you win your 20s. Or any age, really! Provided you like alcohol, fun and taking photos of yourself.

I will never "get" performance art.

Pocketable: An article about the Internet ... from 1994. (3407 words/14 minutes)

Postscripts: Pie-agrams. Irony illustrated. Johnny, Jenny and Jane. Martha Stewart wrote a love letter to drones and a former president penned some love letters to his mistress. You don't actually have to exercise that much. You do actually have to listen to these crazy Vine-star kids. What kind of monster gives up his cat for selfies?! Obviously black cats are the cutest, anyway.

Until tomorrow!
@caitlindewey

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