Ripples

"Brain stacking" is a trend on TikTok and Instagram Reels in which creators keep a stack of books, Sudoku, crosswords and journals within reach and show it off in morning or bedtime routines, as an alternative to doomscrolling, Mashable reports. One creator, @shykikii, credits @mandyrulez with seemingly coining the term.

Mashable links it to last year's "analog bag" trend and a wider 2026 turn toward film cameras, knitting and other "grandma hobbies," amid worry about attention spans. It also points out the irony of learning about a screen-free hobby on TikTok.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten and teammates celebrated a touchdown against the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium by acting out the "Tip Toein' In My Jordans" meme, shushing the camera and tip-toeing, Yahoo Sports reports; the clip drew millions of views within a day.

The meme comes from an AI-generated video of Rumpelstiltskin dancing in a barn, posted on Instagram in late August as a demo of AI filmmaking, according to Know Your Meme's explainer on Yahoo. In late September a TikToker paired it with Riff Raff's 2014 song "TIP TOE WiNG iN MY JAWWDiNZ," and it spread across TikTok, Instagram Reels and X. Many viewers believed it came from a real 1980s fantasy film.

Hundreds of people gathered at London Fields over the weekend of Oct. 17-18 to watch artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First, in armor and cloaks, charge at each other on rented Lime e-bikes with striped poles, The Standard reports. Videos show one rider knocked off his bike.

Carden had billed it as a "free public joust" and "performance art." Lime responded on Monday: "While we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first. Lime bikes are designed for getting around the city, not for jousting."

Madonna posted a TikTok of herself in a gold dress set to Adéla's "Nicole Kidman," Billboard reports, joining Kesha, Tove Lo, Pedro Pascal, Dua Lipa and Kristen Wiig in the trend; Kidman herself has embraced the song.

Adéla, a Slovak singer, released her debut album PRIMA in September; it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and "Nicole Kidman" recently reached No. 9 on the Hot 100, her first top 10 there. Billboard describes the song as a playful celebration of confidence and manifestation.

When Keni Cedanio Ramirez, 17, was named homecoming king at Mahanoy Area High School in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, he shared the crown and sash with the other nominee, his friend Axton Kuhla, 17, who has Down syndrome and had become overwhelmed by the crowd, TODAY.com reports. Keni said he had decided beforehand to share it if he won.

Video of the moment, first posted by local outlet Skook News, spread widely. "He'll talk about it forever," Axton's mother, Alyssa Shellhamer, told TODAY. Keni said he didn't cry at the ceremony but did when he watched the video.

Matthew Hobbs, who posts dog songs to more than 800,000 TikTok followers as Puppy Songs, filed copyright lawsuits on Oct. 19 against Kroger and LG Electronics, Billboard reports. He alleges both used his 2023 viral track "Cheese Tax" in TikTok marketing videos without buying sync licenses.

Billboard explains that personal TikTok accounts can use trending sounds for free, but brand accounts are limited to a commercial library unless they license music directly; Hobbs says his song was never in that library. Both videos came down in April after legal demands, but Hobbs says he hasn't been paid. LG declined to comment; Kroger did not immediately respond. Billboard notes Sony Music sued Kroger over similar posts in August.

Alza, billed as New York City's first microdrama film festival, ran Oct. 16-18, founded by former Tribeca Festival COO Pete Torres, The Verge reports. It screened vertical series and features made for phone apps, including a vertical Pride and Prejudice, in a Manhattan AMC theater, alongside industry panels.

The reviewer found jump cuts from the apps' short-episode format jarring and screenings far from full, but heard laughter and gasps from an audience of many middle-aged women. Executives at GammaTime, founded by former Miramax CEO Bill Block, said they target "mainstream women who are part of this mobile-first movement," including former daytime TV viewers.

After screenshots on X showed YouTube's dislike button moved into the three-dot menu, YouTube told The Verge on Oct. 21 that it is "not testing hiding the dislike button on YouTube for users." Spokesperson Kimberly Taylor said a new layout is coming for creators viewing their own uploads, with dislike behind the menu; creators can still see full dislike counts in YouTube Studio. It rolls out "in the coming weeks."

The Verge notes YouTube hid public dislike counts in 2021 to curb harassment and removed the dislike button from Shorts earlier this year.

An exotic green bird, possibly a parrot, flew into Terminal 5 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and perched on passengers' heads and luggage near the Air France check-in line, pecking anyone who tried to catch it, UPI reports. The visit was on Oct. 13, according to the worker who filmed it; the videos spread in the following week.

Paris Elbert, the O'Hare worker who filmed it, told CBS Chicago the bird "chose fight, not flight." A janitor eventually caught it in a shirt and took it to a veterinarian to be checked and scanned for a microchip.

Searches on TikTok for peptides such as semaglutide, BPC-157, TB-500 and retatrutide now return a "no results found" page, The Verge reports. Videos have not been removed, a general search for "peptides" still works, and slight spelling variations get around the block. TikTok's U.S. owner did not immediately respond to The Verge.

Peptides include approved drugs like insulin and GLP-1s, but also unapproved substances that influencers promote, sometimes pointing followers to compounding pharmacies, for uses from weight loss to wound healing with little clinical data, The Verge says. Influencer Jeff Tang flagged the change and blamed Eli Lilly in a video.

Brady Rogers, 33, won a seat on the city council in Kelowna, British Columbia, in the Oct. 17 municipal election after a campaign of self-mocking signs such as "How hard could it be?", "Fine. I'll do it" and "Under 60!", Daily Hive and IBTimes UK report. IBTimes says he placed fourth of 37 candidates for eight seats, with more than 12,600 votes.

Rogers, a former robotic automation engineer who runs a downtown shop, told Daily Hive he had conflicted feelings about politics and thought that "genuine tension was a great place to start a campaign." He acknowledged the signs sought attention, saying he wanted it because he has meaningful things to say.