Tim Burgess (bottom left), Rachel Smith (top right), Kieran Snyder (bottom right) and presenter Mike Lewis from GeekWire There is no denying that Seattle is having a homelessness crisis; how to solve it. In the midst of the fray is Compassion Seattle, an initiative attempting to rewrite the city charter with a roadmap that prescribes … Read more
Hello friends and welcome back to the week in retrospect! Last week I wrote about how tech is fighting Disney. This week, I’m talking about finding a new crypto messiah. If you’re reading this on the TechCrunch site, you can get it in your inbox from the Newsletter page, and follow my tweets @lucasmtny. The … Read more
Twitter faces another setback for taking action against a political leader’s tweets. According to Reuters, Nigeria has suspended Twitter for allegedly “undermining” the country by removing a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari. Twitter said the post violated its abuse policy by threatening to punish secessionists who allegedly attacked government buildings. Attorney General Abubakar Malami meanwhile … Read more
Merging physical and digital: A crowd at The International, Valve’s Dota 2 eSports tournament in Seattle in 2017, three years before the pandemic. (GeekWire file photo / Kevin Lisota) The pandemic had a seismic impact on face-to-face meetings and events, requiring organizers and attendees to adapt to a whole new reality. The aftermath could prove … Read more
TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec reported today that the autonomous vehicle startup Aurora is on the verge of signing a merger agreement with one of three blank check companies previously founded by renowned entrepreneurs Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus and a third partner in these transactions, Michael Thompson, who managed special funds for a long time. The … Read more
Last month’s oil pipeline ransomware incident that resulted in fuel shortages / hoarding and a payout of $ 4.4 to the attackers was apparently attributed to an unused but still active VPN login. Mandiant manager Charles Carmakal told Bloomberg that their analysis of the attack revealed that suspicious activity on the Colonial Pipeline network began … Read more
A team led by Washington State University has developed a process to turn polyethylene or number 1 plastic bottles into jet fuel. (Michael Coghlan photo via Creative Commons) Humans produce more than 6 billion tons of plastic each year, and its buildup in landfills and oceans is viewed by many as an environmental crisis. Only … Read more
Facebook is facing new antitrust investigations in Europe. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the EU Competition Commission both announced a formal investigation into the social media giant’s activities today – with likely coordinated timing. Competition regulators will look into how Facebook uses data from advertisers and users of its single sign-on tool … Read more
Apple could release an iPad Pro with wireless charging sometime next year. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant is currently working on a new iPad Pro and a new iPad mini. Apple is reportedly replacing the Pro tablet’s aluminum case with a glass back, similar to the latest iPhones, in part to enable … Read more
(Image via Governor Jay Inslee) YOU get an Xbox! YOU get an echo! YOU get a switch! … But did you get a shot? Stand aside, Oprah. Washington Governor Jay Inslee is playing the giveaway as part of a plan to encourage people in the state to get their COVID-19 vaccination. Awards from some of … Read more