Around the Web 7.29.08: Rough start for Cuil, just the beginning for XM-Sirius
-- "The Dark Knight" was cool, but the White Knight Two sounds more fun: Richard Branson showed off a spacecraft to help launch thrill-seekers into the outer atmosphere. LAT
-- T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire investor, says he's dumped his 10 million Yahoo shares out of frustration with the company's management, which he called "pathetic." SF Chronicle
-- BT, the British telecom, snapped up Ribbit, a Silicon Valley company that provides online calling services and voice-enabled applications, for $105 million. VentureBeat
-- Sirius and XM finally complete their merger, forming an even bigger struggling satellite radio company. Wired
-- Yahoo Music is offering refunds to people who bought digital downloads. On Sept. 30 Yahoo is going to stop supporting downloads it sold. CNet
-- Intel, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard team up with research institutes to work on cloud computing. GigaOm
-- Chip makers' interest in the solar power business is heating up. USA Today
-- All hat, no cattle? The launch of the Cuil search engine fizzled. Silicon Alley Insider
-- Farhad Manjoo says Google's virtual world, Lively, is like an amusement park with no rides, games, entertainers or junk food. Slate
-- Analysts say NBC's Olympics coverage is too Web 1.0. ClickZ
-- Chris Gaither
Photo: Billionaire Richard Branson, left, and aircraft designer Burt Rutan unveil the White Knight Two spacecraft. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
