The Daily Crunch 08/19/16

It's Friday, which means the working week is nearly over, and the working weekend can begin! In the news, Gawker is winding down, marking the end of an era, astronauts are literally opening the door to ISS commercial crew missions and doors are closing left and right at Rothenberg Ventures. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for August 19, 2016. And watch the skies – CNN might be watching.

1. Gawker to stop gawking

Web publishing pioneer Gawker.com will cease operations as of Monday, as the anchor site for the Gawker Media empire isn't coming along for the ride with new owner Univision. Gawker founder Nick Denton revealed the news, and regardless of what you think about the work the gossip-focused site produced, it's a sad day for journalism as a whole. Gawker.com's closure is a direct result of the bankruptcy it was forced to enter after Terry 'Hulk Hogan' Bollea successfully sued the site because it published a sex tape featuring the wrestler in 2012. The lawsuit was bankrolled by billionaire SV investor Peter Thiel, which sets a terrifying precedent.

2. Rothenberg's dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it

Wait, you mean the man who bought out AT&T Park every year to host a lavish party for startups over spent? That's the story behind Rothenberg Ventures, a VC firm with a reputation among those in the industry for the eccentricities and abundances of its young founder, Mike Rothenberg. TC's Connie Loizos and Sarah Buhr investigate the firm, and find a house of cards on the edge of collapse.

3. The ISS gets its SpaceX crew delivery dock

Elon Musk can soon start sending real humans to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts are spacewalking right now to install the new international docking adapter, a port for commercial vehicles to use in delivering crew. Both Musk's SpaceX and Boeing are set to start ferrying people up to the ISS in 2017. NASA says this and the installation of a second docking adapter to follow are key parts of its plan to commercialize the station, which ultimately it hopes will result in a private entity taking over operation of the ISS altogether sometime in the 2020s.

4. Why everyone is trying to cram a mobile payment solution down your throat

Mobile payments should be something that delivers increased convenience for consumers, letting them leave behind bulky wallets. In practice, though, dealing with mobile payments means keeping track of what seems like hundreds of proprietary systems with their own apps, rules and limitations. John Mannes explains the big snaggle in a piece exposing the motivation behind all these store-branded payment mechanics – essentially, good old-fashioned avarice.

5. Coding compensation

Federal assistance for low-income students looking to bulk up their coding expertise is a good thing, and it's on the way. The U.S. Department of Education is launching a pilot program to help students pay the high price tags associated with so-called coding bootcamps (shorter term intensive courses focused on practical skills). The programs selected for the pilot all have tie-ins to established, accredited universities and colleges, which is a good thing given the frothiness of the coder bootcamp market.

6. New meaning to 'eye in the sky'

CNN Air sounds vaguely threatening, and the new drone-based reporting arm of the 24-hour cable news network might just be that. The company has used drones in the past, but now it has its own sub-org dedicated to drone reporting, with two full-time pilots controlling its airborne cameras. Nearer the Panopticon we edge.

7. Twitter takes steps to stem terror

Twitter is clamping down on accounts using the service to foster extremist behavior. The social network has suspended an additional 235,000 accounts, adding to 125,000 accounts suspected between the middle of 2015 and early 2016. Good on ya, Twitter, but that's actually a huge boatload of accounts. How many users are actually non-terrorist active users?