Digital Potpourri: 6/12

The internet is good at a number of things: delivering information, helping you stay in touch with your friends, and finding pictures of cats. It is also sometimes good at administering justice. The Oatmeal is a hilarious (NSFW, adult language) comedy website/web comic that has been pumping out success for years. Matthew Inman, the creator and owner of The Oatmeal, launched a kickstarter campaign on Monday that has raised $120,615.00. Why? The story in brief:

I run a comedy website called The Oatmeal.

Last year I wrote a blog post about another website called FunnyJunk which stole a bunch of my comics and hosted them on their website without giving me credit.  They apparently didn’t like my blog post and recently FunnyJunk sent me a letter stating that unless I pay them $20,000 in damages they’re going to file a federal lawsuit against me. You can view the letter along with my response here. [Again, NSFW due to adult language]

Instead of mailing the owner of FunnyJunk the money, I’m going to send the above drawing of his mother.  I’m going to try and raise $20,000 and instead send it to the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society. 

I’m hoping that philanthropy trumps [being a jerk] and greed.

It is remarkable what the internet denizens are willing to do in order to combat injustice. Stories like this always capture my interest, and hopefully yours too!

Here are a few web gems to start your week!