Pepsi's plan to pay a Russian company called Startrocket to loft an artificial constellation of cubesats with mylar sails to advertise a "nonalcoholic energy beverage" has been cancelled for unspecified reasons (the company says its prototype launch using high-altitude balloons was a "one-time event").
Pepsi won't put a billboard in space after all
Florida town accidentally sold its water tower to local businessman
In Brooksville, Florida, personal trainer Bobby Read purchased a municipal building to convert into a fitness center. He paid $55,000. Turns out though that the deed also included the town's water tower. While the right thing to do would have been for Read to start selling the water back to the town at inflated prices,… READ THE REST
Verizon dumps AOL and Yahoo in fire sale
There was a time when AOL was on track to becoming the biggest media empire in the world (in 2000 AOL bought Time Warner for $182 billion). There was a time when Yahoo was synonymous with the World Wide Web (in 1999 its market cap was $125 billion). Today Verizon managed to get fifty cents… READ THE REST
China's Ant Group plans to sell EyeVerify, U.S.-based biometric security firm that scans your eyeballs
China's Ant Group plans to sell off its U.S.-based biometric security firm EyeVerify, which identifies you by scanning your eyeballs. The sale comes as tension grows between Beijing and Washington over how and where sensitive user data is hosted, the Financial Times reports. From Reuters: EyeVerify, based in Kansas City, Missouri, designs eye verification technology… READ THE REST
Get a Sam's Club membership for only $20 this weekend only
You may not have heard about it, but earlier this month, America took another important step toward restoring life to normalcy in our post-COVID world: Sam's Club announced samples were back. Look, it might not seem like a huge milestone, but nobody can deny that noshing on a bite of a new cold cut variety… READ THE REST
17 apps, software, streaming services, and more on sale for this weekend only
For all their everything-ness, there are still some areas where even the great and powerful Amazon isn't all that. Sure, you can find just about any physical item being sold in the depths of Amazon product pages somewhere, but when it comes to software and apps, well, that's an area where the eCommerce giant mostly steers… READ THE REST
Amazon can't beat the prices on these killer portable monitors
There's only so much squinting you can do at a tiny smartphone screen before you start wondering why we ever thought it was a good idea to build devices so small in the first place. Sure, portability is a plus, but when you're trying to watch videos on your phone, that itty-bitty baby screen won't… READ THE REST