Last July the "Dogecoin Challenge" was trending on TikTok.

The intricate rules of the "challenge" involved TikTok users buying Dogecoin, then posting about it...that's it. And the stated goal of this challenge was to push the joke cryptocurrency — based on a meme from 2013 — to a value of one dollar.

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Ever Given Suez Canal

Remember when the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal, holding up global shipping channels and resisting every attempt to free it until it was gently lifted out of its predicament by the moon?

Well, everyone's favorite giant green problem child is stuck again, albeit in a different kind of hostage situation. Yes, the Ever Given has been seized by Egypt, which is demanding $900 million in compensation — essentially the world's most expensive parking ticket.

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Culture Feature

All the Best "Simpsons" Memes, Ranked

Because it's the only way to know how you're really feeling.

The Simpsons has been running literally since the beginning of time, and it even managed to produce about five good (read: perfect) seasons of television in that time. As a result, any emotion or experience you have can easily be expressed in terms of Simpsons memes. These 30 just happen to be the best of the best:

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Culture Feature

This Haunts Me: "My Immortal" May Be One of the Greatest Works of Postmodern Art

Was "My Immortal" a genuine work of terrible fanfiction, or was it a big ironic joke all along?

For fiction enthusiasts in the early 2000s, Fanfiction.net was the place to be.

In 1998, Fanfiction.net launched as a hub for fanfiction stories. The Internet was still in its Golden Age of lawlessness and creativity, with decentralized fan communities spread across personal websites and niche forums. Each brimmed with their own politics and drama, and for fans of children's novels, especially Harry Potter, fanfiction was serious business.

Battle lines were drawn over which Harry Potter characters you shipped (in explicit detail, usually). Fanfiction with the correct ships would be lauded as the greatest thing since real Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and bad ships would be derided as blasphemy. Dissent could mean being banned forever from the biggest online communities for your favorite series.

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Culture Feature

I Animated Memes, Muppets, and Statues with "Deep Nostalgia"

MyHeritage's new software makes it a breeze to turn creepy artwork into horrifying animation...

In recent years machine learning programs have revolutionized the field of video editing.

So called "deepfakes," which require minimal training, access to a lot of footage, and no special equipment have made it possible for ordinary hobbyists to seemlessy and effortlessly superimpose one person's face onto another person's body.

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Culture Feature

What The Bernie Sanders Meme Says About American Politics

The popularity of the Sanders meme shows that many Americans are frustrated and exhausted, and not ready to be convinced by unsubstantiated platitudes about unity and healing.

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

He sat with his arms folded, buried in his green parka.

His gloves, hand-knitted, made from recycled plastic bottles, visibly itchy — were folded on his lap. His eyes were narrowed, all of Washington reflected in them.

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