1) San Francisco is holding a garbage can beauty pageant. Six custom-built models — Salt and Pepper, Slim Silhouette, Soft Square, BearSaver, Ren Bin, and Open Wire Mesh — are being tested on the streets, with each trial unit costing $12k+.
2) Today, Instagram’s tag line is, “Bringing you closer to the people and things you love.” So, like TikTok, right? Since launching Reels, its TikTok clone, engagement on regular, in-feed posts has dropped 44%, according to an analysis of 81m posts.
3) The USPS is going more green than originally planned. Now, 50%+ of its initial $3B order for 50k new vans will be electric, up from 20%. The service’s 212k cars make up ~⅓ of all federally owned vehicles in the US.
4) J.K. Rowling may not have expected Quidditch — the wizards-flying-on-brooms version of rugby she contrived for Hogwarts — to take off in the real world, but it has. It’s now played by ~600 teams across 40+ countries in leagues such as Major League Quidditch and the International Quidditch Association.
5) Toronto — ehem, Torono, as the locals say it — is winning the award for the city with the worst airport of the summer. More than 53% of departing flights between June 1 and July 18 arrived late to their destinations.