Weekly Web Roundup

The 1851 Franchise staff provides some of the funniest, weirdest and insightful links from the World Wide Web

SPONSOREDUpdated 4:16PM • 01/20/16

Roll up your sleeves and get those reading glasses out as it’s time for the Weekly Web Roundup! The 1851 Franchise staff has combed through the Internet to find the best links to keep your minds warm and toasty during the winter.

Experts aren’t saying that a new flickering star isn’t aliens, but they’re not not saying it might be be extraterrestrials. The star, KIC 84628532, was found in the Kepler Space Telescope dataset and experts are a bit confused by the look of it. Some astronomers are saying it’s an alien construction project or a swarm of comets in its path. The comet theory is starting to lose steam, which is giving alien conspiracists a bit more hope it is life beyond this planet. - Andrew Stern

The 2016 Academy Award nominations were recently announced and for the second year in a row there was no diversity among the acting categories. An all-white cast of acting nominees one year is a fluke, but two years in a row is a trend. Many have come out and lambasted the Academy for its lack of diversity. Prolific filmmaker Spike Lee, who took the Academy to task in 2015 after accepting an honorary Oscar, is calling for a boycott of the 2016 awards. - Matt Diaz

In the bristling cold month that is January, we might be content going through the motions. The cold will do that to anyone, but an article from Thought Catalog said the best way to get out of that slump, or any for that matter is to go after the things you want. - Ahmad Yilmaz

For those that are nomads and travel a lot for business, finding an airline that provides comfort and ease is a must. Spending hours in the air in a cramped chair sitting next to strangers should be a more enjoyable experience. For those that are looking for a better airline, Inc. Magazine listed the overall rankings of U.S. airlines, from first to worst. - Chad Cohen

Shake Shack may be making its fried chicken sandwich available to all its locations thanks in part to social media. The sandwich sold out within two days of its launch in July 2015 at the brand’s Brooklyn location and the crispy slice of heaven has been mentioned online 8,000 times since then, says DigiDay. - Andi Summers

The return of The X-Files revival is only a few days away and that means the barrage of think pieces and appreciation articles are on their way. The highly entertaining show employed some extremely talented writers and directors during its initial 1993 to 2002 run. Wired talked to some of the most famous writers who spent time on the show and how the program helped them craft their future work. - Chris Zois

Messaging apps are some of the most popular ones on the planet. Most in the U.S. are avid users of the Facebook Messenger app, but an app that trumps that is the WhatsApp. CEO Jan Koum recently announced the app has been used by about 990 million people, but he was disappointed it didn’t reach a billion. The app has a lot to live up to as Facebook purchased it for a little under $19 billion in 2014 and Wired is reporting Koum has high expectations for his company. - Ryan Paul

There are numerous companies and apps that were created for the sole purpose of protecting one’s personal information online. Those companies can only do so much as many people are still using simple and easy to guess passwords. Mashable listed the worst passwords people used in 2015 with 123456 and password topping the list for the worst. - Jonny Egan

Weekly Web Roundup

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