Howdy!
Here are the latest trending internet culture stories today:
Social media users are questioning why JK Rowling would post a video filled with garbled AI language, a chef’s video in which she makes gnocchi while seated in an airplane is grossing out travelers, and the internet fondly remembers Maru, the cat who captured the attention of early YouTube and became one of the most famous cats online.
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— W.J.
⚡️ Today in Internet Culture
“Quite worrying”: JK Rowling shares garbled “AI slop” video while lashing out at trans rights activist
JK Rowling has stepped into a new bout of drama and ridicule after seemingly using nonsensical AI to support her perpetual transphobic crusades against gender ideology.
In the video, the screen morphs into two subsequent screens that show utter gibberish text—a hallmark of AI. And absolutely nobody can make sense of what the point of any of it is or why Rowling posted—not quote retweeted, but actually posted—this video in the first place.
“Raw toilet air gnocchi???”: Chef makes pasta from scratch on an airplane, and people have a lot of thoughts
A TikTok video of chef Katie Brooks rolling out gnocchi from her airplane seat went viral with nearly 10 million views, but instead of applause, it drew widespread disgust.
Farewell to Maru, the internet’s favorite cat who loved to play in boxes
Maru, the viral cat who was famous for his love of boxes, died at 18 years old. The internet grieved the loss of the beloved pet behind the meme on YouTube, where his owner announced the news, and elsewhere on social media.
🕸️ Crawling the Web
🎸 Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello stirred waves after firing off a blistering response to the escalating situation with the National Guard in Chicago.
🍨 Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, crashed the Unilever investor day with a message of independence from the mega corporation.
🏷️ A Target employee says new products are arriving at the store without price tags so that customers can’t see price changes IRL.
🤢 One creative TikToker decided to paint her face green to avoid “disgusting messages” after her audience began to skew toward men.
🪇 An extremely petty ex-boyfriend hired a mariachi band to play his cheating boyfriend off while he was moving out of their shared apartment.
🦶 The Guinness World Record for running barefoot on piles of Lego has been broken by a mom, obviously.
🔥 Hot on the Dot
This was the most-read story on the Daily Dot yesterday:
➤ "We can't win": The kid who lost his home run ball to "Phillies Karen" has spoken