Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). There they were introduced to the experimental Alto computer and the Smalltalk language and computing environment, developed by Alan Kay’s Learning Research Group. Smalltalk was a breakthrough in object-oriented programming, an approach that’s used in many of the most popular programming languages today. During his visit, Jobs was taken with Smalltalk’s graphical user interface, ...read more

TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Editor's take: Does Mark Zuckerberg regret his decision to go all-in on the metaverse? In addition to the billions of dollars it's already cost the company and the general apathy from the public, the rise of AI has put a shadow over virtual/augmented reality universes. Now, the metaverse is facing more problems in the form of two Democratic senators who want to stop Meta from introduci ...read more

from the papers-please dept I keep hearing people pretend that the GOP in general, and Florida GOPers more specifically, and Governor Ron DeSantis most specifically, are fighting for “free speech,” when they continually seem to push blatantly unconstitutional legislation designed to attack free speech and the 1st Amendment in a way that keeps getting Florida shot down in court by judges (while wasting tons of taxpayer money). But they just don’t stop. The latest is a laughably unconstit ...read more

TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. In a nutshell: The Biden administration might be limiting China's ability to manufacture advanced chips, but according to an independent think tank, the Asian nation is still ahead of the US when it comes to research in 37 out of 44 crucial and emerging technologies, including AI, defense, and key quantum tech areas. Insider reports that the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy ...read more

Laura Butler. (Armoire Photo) — Online clothing rental startup Armoire hired Seattle investor and Microsoft veteran Laura Butler as its chief technology officer. Butler spent more than 20 years at Microsoft, starting as an engineering intern and becoming the first female distinguished engineer and technical fellow at the company. Most recently, she was the chief technology officer and co-founder of UpLift Group, a startup that provided input about homeowner associations to buyers a ...read more

Scout Motors, the VW Group spinoff taking aim at the U.S. market with rugged all-electric vehicles, is deepening its investment with plans to build a $2 billion factory capable of producing 200,000 EVs a year in South Carolina. There are a growing number of reasons for Scout Motors to keep the brand as red, white and blue as possible. And it’s not just to market itself to U.S. consumers. There are actual incentives on the line thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act and likely some kind of ince ...read more

Amit Mathradas. (Nintex Photo) Amit Mathradas, a longtime tech leader and former Avalara president, is joining Bellevue, Wash.-based workflow automation company Nintex as its new CEO. A company spokesperson confirmed the news to GeekWire. Mathradas will start the new role April 3. Mathradas joined tax software giant Avalara in 2019 and was also its chief operating officer. Avalara, which went public in 2018, was acquired late last year by Vista Equity Partners in a $8.4 billion deal ...read more

TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Why it matters: Discovered in October 2022, BlackLotus is a powerful UEFI-compatible bootkit sold on underground marketplaces at $5,000 per license. The malware provides impressive capabilities, and a new analysis now confirms security experts' worst fears. BlackLotus is a potent threat against modern firmware-based computer security. This UEFI bootkit provides offensive capabilities ...read more

Seattle’s South Lake Union with Mount Rainier in the background. (GeekWire Photo / Nate Bek) The latest venture capital data highlights an ongoing slowdown as interest rates remain high and expenses are throttled. We compared year-over-year numbers from GeekWire’s fundings list and spoke to investors to get a pulse on the state of startup investment activity. There were just 18 funding deals through February and $246 million deployed, according to GeekWire’s recent fundings list that ...read more

Wildfires in 2018 created hazy sunsets over Washington’s Puget Sound. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser) Geoengineering is the in-case-of-emergency-break-glass response to climate change. It means taking action to alter the atmosphere to reflect the sun’s radiation and temporarily slow global warming. The controversial idea has largely been seen as a last resort given concerns that a geoengineering intervention could go wrong and have unintended negative impacts. Now nearly 100 c ...read more