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Internet Culture
80 posts filed under Internet Culture.
- Who Owns Travelocity Now? The Roaming Gnome in 2026Travelocity is owned by Expedia Group, which paid Sabre $280 million in cash in January 2015. The site still books trips, and the gnome still works.
- Who Owns WorldCom Now? Verizon Kept the MCI NameWorldCom is gone: it filed Chapter 11 in July 2002 with $103.9 billion in assets, and Verizon has owned the MCI name since January 6, 2006.
- Flooz.com Explained: The Dot-Com Cash That VanishedFlooz.com is still defunct in 2026: the online gift currency suspended its site on August 8, 2001 and filed Chapter 7, with $35 million gone.
- Who Owns EarthLink Now? WaveDivision Capital DoesEarthLink is still in business in 2026, but Trive Capital no longer controls it: a WaveDivision Capital group closed the purchase on October 20, 2026.
- Is the T-Mobile Sidekick Still Around in 2026?The T-Mobile Sidekick is gone: sales ended July 2, 2010, Danger's servers went dark in 2011, and 2G switched off on August 3, 2026.
- Is SkyMall Still Around in 2026? Yes, Online OnlySkyMall is still around in 2026, but online only: C+A Global bought the bankrupt in-flight catalog for $1.9 million back in 2015.
- Is Homestar Runner Still Updating? Yes, 26 Years OnHomestar Runner is still updating in 2026, 26 years on. Mike Chapman and Matt Chapman still own it, and the Flash archive runs on Ruffle.
- Who Owns eToys.com Now? Toys R Us Bought the NameToys R Us has owned eToys.com since February 2009, part of a reported $2.15 million bankruptcy lot. No eToys store has run since 2001.
- Who Owns Broadcast.com Now? Yahoo, Idle Since 2002Yahoo still owns Broadcast.com and has run nothing on it since 2002. It paid $5.7 billion in 1999 for a site with $22.4 million in sales.
- Is EverQuest Still Active in 2026? Yes, 27 Years OnEverQuest is still active in 2026: Darkpaw Games opened the Lethar server in August and put a new expansion into beta in October.
- Is Angelfire Still Online? Lycos Closed It in 2026Angelfire is not still online. Lycos shut the free web host down on April 24, 2026, two months after every hosted page had already broken.
- Is Toonami Still On TV in 2026? Yes, Under SkydanceToonami is still on TV in 2026: Adult Swim airs it Saturdays, midnight to 4 a.m. ET. Skydance took over its parent on October 6, 2026.
- Is Photobucket Still Around in 2026? What It CostsPhotobucket is still around in 2026 as paid storage: plans start at $5 a month, and a limited free plan returned for new sign-ups in 2026.
- Does Yahoo Messenger Still Exist? It Closed in 2018Yahoo Messenger closed on July 17, 2018 and nothing from Yahoo replaced it. Its successor, Yahoo Together, lasted only until April 4, 2019.
- Is Dial-Up Internet Still Available? NetZero IsIs dial-up internet still available? Yes. NetZero, Juno and MSN all sold it in 2026, and NetZero's owner changed its name in January.
- When Did Netflix Stop Mailing DVDs? The Last DiscNetflix stopped mailing DVDs on September 29, 2023, after 25 years and 5.2 billion discs. The last red envelope held a Blu-ray of True Grit.
- Dial-Up Sound Explained: What Each Screech MeantThe dial-up sound was two modems measuring a phone line: answer tone, capability menus, a 21-tone probe. AOL switched it off on September 30, 2025.
- Is Habbo Hotel Still Around? Yes, and Up for SaleHabbo Hotel is still online in 2026 with 300 million registered accounts, and Sulake still runs it, but owner Azerion has put it up for sale.
- Does Yahoo Answers Still Exist? It Closed in 2021Yahoo Answers does not still exist. It went read-only on April 20, 2021 and closed on May 4, 2021, after 300 million questions since 2005.
- Who Owns Napster in 2026? All Six Owners Since 2001Napster is owned by Napster Corporation, formerly Infinite Reality, which paid $207 million in 2025 and shut the music service on January 1, 2026.
- Who Voiced AOL's 'You've Got Mail'? Elwood EdwardsElwood Edwards recorded AOL's 'You've Got Mail' in his living room in 1989 for $200. He died in 2024, and AOL's new owner still plays the tape.
- Is RuneScape Still Popular in 2026? OSRS vs RS3Is RuneScape still popular? Old School RuneScape peaked at 240,851 players at once in August 2025, about eight times RuneScape 3. Jagex owners inside.
- Is MySpace Still Around in 2026? What Is Left of ItIs MySpace still around in 2026? Yes, myspace.com is online and owned by Viant Technology, but the 50 million songs uploaded before 2016 are gone.
- Is Netscape Still Around in 2026? What Is LeftIs Netscape still around? No. The browser died on March 1, 2008 and the Netscape ISP closed in November 2025. Bending Spoons owns the brand now.
- Does AOL Still Exist? Bending Spoons Owns It NowDoes AOL still exist? Yes. Bending Spoons bought it for about $1.5 billion in January 2026, cut 108 jobs, and now charges $9.99 a month.
- Are Furbies Still Made? The 1999 NSA Ban ExplainedFurbies are still made: Hasbro's Furby Vibes reached US stores on July 15, 2026 at $44.99. The NSA banned the 1998 original as a suspected bug.
- Is HyperCard Still Around? Apple Killed It in 2004Apple pulled HyperCard from sale in March 2004, but its stacks still boot in a browser at the Internet Archive. Here is where it went and why.
- The First Banner Ad of 1994: What AT&T Really PaidThe first banner ad ran on HotWired on October 27, 1994. AT&T paid about $30,000 for 12 weeks and got a reported 44 percent click rate.
- Is Geocaching Still Around in 2026? 3.4M CachesGeocaching is still around in 2026: 3.4 million active caches in 191 countries, run by Groundspeak in Seattle. Premium costs $39.99 a year.
- theGlobe.com Today: The 606% IPO That Left a ShelltheGlobe.com is now an empty shell company with no employees and $15,115 in cash. Its 1998 IPO closed up 606 percent, a record that still stands.
- Does Excite Still Exist? IAC Closed It in 2026Excite does not still exist. IAC shut excite.com down in August 2026, 27 years after CEO George Bell passed on buying Google for $750,000.
- Is PointCast Still Around? AOL Bought What Was LeftPointCast is gone: the push network stopped in March 2000 and AOL bought the successor in 2003. It had refused $450 million in 1997.
- Is TechTV Still Around? The Screen Savers in 2026TechTV is gone. Comcast paid about $300 million in 2004 and dropped the name on February 15, 2005. Where the shows, hosts and archive went.
- Who Owns Wine.com Now? The 2001 Bankruptcy SaleWine.com is still in business in 2026, owned by the private company founded as eVineyard, which bought the name out of the 2001 collapse.
- Is NCSA Mosaic Still Around? The Browser in 2026NCSA Mosaic is not still around: development ended January 7, 1997. The University of Illinois owns the name, and the code is a free download.
- Is Prodigy Still Around? Only as an Email DomainProdigy, the IBM and Sears service that outgrew AOL, is gone. Only prodigy.net email survives, and the 1996 sale fetched $78.12 million.
- Is Xanga Still Around in 2026? What Is Left of ItXanga still loads as Xanga 2.0, a paid WordPress blog closed to new members since 2013. Peak: 27 million accounts and a $1 million FTC fine.
- Is StarCraft Still Played in 2026? Yes, and FreeStarCraft is still played in 2026: the Brood War ASL finished a 21st season in May, and Blizzard revealed a new StarCraft shooter for 2030.
- Who Owns Tumblr Now? Automattic Paid $3 MillionTumblr is owned by Automattic, which paid about $3 million in 2019. Yahoo had paid $1.1 billion in 2013 and wrote off $482 million of it.
- Is LiveJournal Still Around in 2026? Yes, in RussiaLiveJournal is still online in 2026, owned by Russia's Rambler Group after Sber bought it outright in 2020. Most of its traffic now comes from Russia.
- Is WebTV Still Around? Microsoft Killed It in 2013WebTV is not still around: Microsoft shut the service down on September 30, 2013. The 1996 boxes now run on servers built by fans.
- Is Flickr Still Around in 2026? SmugMug Owns ItFlickr is still around in 2026. SmugMug has owned it since 2018, free accounts cap at 1,000 photos, and Flickr Pro runs $82 a year.
- Is IRC Still Around in 2026? Yes, 162,000 UsersIRC still exists in 2026: over 162,000 users across the top 100 networks. Libera.Chat leads at 31,500 after freenode fell from 90,000 to 5,000.
- Is Eudora Still Around? The Email Client in 2026Eudora is gone as a product: Qualcomm shipped the last version on October 11, 2006. The Computer History Museum owns the code and the name now.
- Newgrounds Is Still Online in 2026, 31 Years LaterNewgrounds is still online in 2026, owned and run by founder Tom Fulp, funded by supporters from $36 a year, with its Flash archive kept alive by Ruffle.
- Is BonziBuddy Still Around? Gone From PCs in 2004BonziBuddy is gone. Bonzi Software pulled the purple gorilla in 2004 after a $75,000 FTC fine, and Microsoft Defender still flags it as adware.
- Does Kazaa Still Exist? The P2P Network in 2026Kazaa does not still exist: the licensed service died in August 2012, six years after a $115 million settlement. Here is who owned it last.
- Is Club Penguin Coming Back? Who Owns It in 2026Club Penguin closed in 2017 and Disney still owns it, with no revival announced. Fan servers run it, and a co-founder joined Imagineering in 2026.
- Is Neopets Still Around in 2026? Yes, and GrowingNeopets is still online in 2026, owned by World of Neopia after a 2023 management buyout. It passed 400,000 monthly players in February 2025.
- Is Lycos Still Around in 2026? Who Owns It NowLycos is still online in 2026 as a small portal owned through Brightcom Group. Terra Networks paid $12.5 billion for it; Ybrant paid $36 million.
- Is Craigslist Still Around in 2026? Who Owns It NowCraigslist is still online in 2026 and still owned by Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster, but revenue fell from $1.034 billion to $302 million.
- Who Owns CompuServe Now? Yahoo Runs the PortalCompuServe survives as a news portal owned by Yahoo. The dial-up service ended in 2009 and the forums closed on December 15, 2017.
- Who Owns Boo.com Now? Hostelworld Holds the NameBoo.com burned about $135 million in 18 months and died on 18 May 2000. Hostelworld owns the name now, bought in a $375,000 fire sale.
- Why Google Reader Died and What Replaced It in 2026Google Reader shut down on July 1, 2013 so Google could push Google+. Feedly and Inoreader took over, and 100,000 petition signatures changed nothing.
- Is Excite@Home Still Around? AT&T Took the NetworkExcite@Home is gone. It filed for Chapter 11 in September 2001 and AT&T took the network for $307 million, about one percent of its $35 billion peak.
- Is AOL Time Warner Still a Company? What Is LeftAOL Time Warner stopped existing in 2009. AOL is being sold to Bending Spoons for $1.5 billion; Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rest.
- Is Kozmo.com Still Around? The Brand's Fate in 2026Kozmo.com died in April 2001 after a $280 million loss. Los Angeles grocer Yummy Foods owns the name now, and the site has been dark since 2023.
- Did Amazon Almost Go Bankrupt in the Dot-Com Crash?Amazon never went bankrupt, but it came close: a Lehman analyst gave it four quarters of cash. A $672 million bond bought the time it needed.
- Is eBay Still Around in 2026? 135 Million BuyerseBay is still around in 2026: a public Nasdaq company with 135 million buyers and $79.6 billion sold in 2025. It started with a broken laser pointer.
- Is Friendster Still Around? It Came Back in 2026Friendster deleted every profile in 2011 and shut down in 2015, but the name relaunched in April 2026 as an app with no ads and no algorithm.
- Does AltaVista Still Exist? Yahoo Closed It in 2013AltaVista no longer exists: Yahoo closed the search engine on July 8, 2013. Apollo-owned Yahoo still holds the domain that sold for $140 million in 2003.
- Is ICQ Still Around? VK Shut It Down in June 2024ICQ shut down on June 26, 2024 after 28 years, and VK still owns the name. Free NINA servers now run ICQ 2000 through ICQ 8 clients.
- Does Ask Jeeves Still Exist? Ask.com Closed in 2026Ask Jeeves is gone: IAC closed Ask.com on May 1, 2026, sixteen years after it quit running its own search engine. Google paid for the last decade.
- Is Digg Still Around in 2026? Yes, as an AI SiteDigg still exists in 2026, but as an AI news aggregator run by Kevin Rose, not a Reddit rival. The relaunched app shut down on March 14, 2026.
- Is Second Life Still Around in 2026? Yes, 23 Years LaterSecond Life is still running in 2026, 23 years after launch, with daily concurrency in the mid-30,000s and an economy near $650 million a year.
- Who Owns MTV Now, and Does It Still Play Music?MTV is still on the air in 2026 and owned by Paramount Skydance, but its last five music-only channels went dark on December 31, 2025.
- Is Encarta Still Available in 2026? Why It EndedMicrosoft Encarta is not available in 2026: disc sales ended in June 2009 and MSN Encarta closed October 31, 2009. How to run it now, free.
- Is RealPlayer Still Around? Yes, Free From Real.comRealPlayer still exists: RealNetworks shipped version 25 in 2026 and still gives it away free, with Plus at $39.99. It sells computer vision now.
- How MySpace Lost to Facebook and Sold for $35MMySpace lost to Facebook after News Corporation tied the site to a $900 million Google ad deal. It sold for $35 million in June 2011.
- Is Adobe Flash Still Around? Flash Player in 2026Adobe Flash Player died on December 31, 2020, but Flash is not fully gone: China still ships version 34 and over 200,000 games survive.
- Does Hotmail Still Exist? Outlook.com Runs It NowHotmail still exists. Microsoft retired the name in May 2013 and moved 300 million accounts to Outlook.com, where old addresses still work.
- Does GeoCities Still Exist? Where the Pages WentGeoCities does not still exist. Yahoo deleted it on October 26, 2009, taking about 38 million pages. Archive Team saved 641 GB of them.
- Is MSN Messenger Still Around? Yes, on EscargotMSN Messenger died in 2013 and Skype, the thing that replaced it, died in 2025. A free fan server called Escargot still runs it in 2026.
- Is AIM Still Around? AOL Instant Messenger in 2026Is AIM still around? No. AOL Instant Messenger shut down on December 15, 2017, and hobby servers are now the only way to sign on.
- Is the Windows XP Bliss Hill Still There in 2026?The Windows XP wallpaper hill is real, on private land off Highway 121 in Sonoma County, and it turned bare and green again on 18 February 2026.
- Y2K Explained: What Really Broke on January 1, 2000The Y2K bug was real and the US spent over $100 billion killing it. Here is what still broke on January 1, 2000, and why 2038 is next.
- 90s Websites Still Online in 2026: 5 That SurvivedYes, 90s websites are still online in 2026: the 1996 Space Jam site lives at spacejam.com/1996 and info.cern.ch has run since 1991.
- Dial-Up Speed vs 2026 Internet: How Slow Was 56k?Dial-up speed peaked at 53.3 kbit/s, about 1,876 times slower than the 100 Mbps broadband floor. Only 127,000 US homes still dial in.
- What Was the First Thing Sold Online? PizzaNet vs a CDThe first thing sold online was not a pizza. PizzaNet took orders in August 1994, eleven days after a Sting CD sold for $12.48.
- Did Yahoo Turn Down Google for $1 Million in 1998?Yahoo never bought Google and Google never bought Yahoo. The $1 million story is thinly sourced, and the real offer in 2002 was $3 billion.