We need more geeks: Hadi and Ali Partovi form Code.org to solve the computer science education crisis

Hadi Partovi

Ali and Hadi Partovi have used their entrepreneurial talents to change the music, advertising and communications industries. Now, the twin brothers are turning their sights to a much bigger problem: computer science education. In the words of Hadi Partovi, the dearth of computer scientists emerging from U.S. high schools and colleges is a “big hairy challenge”… Read More…

Vinod Khosla, Rich Barton lead Vittana’s new ‘League of Extraordinary Tech Superheroes’

Rich Barton

Venture capital Vinod Khosla and Zillow co-founder Rich Barton have joined forces to bankroll Vittana, the Seattle non-profit that’s attempting to wipe out youth poverty through education-oriented microloans. The contributions of Khosla and Barton mark the largest in Vittana’s history, and set the organization on a path to become self sustainable. The exact amount of… Read More…

One-time popular music service iLike officially bites the dust

Freddie Mercury. Wikipedia photo

“And another one gone, and another one gone. Another one bites the dust.” Freddie Mercury of Queen may have summarized the current market perfectly. As we’ve previously reported, a number of high-profile Internet services have announced in recent weeks that they will be closing their doors following acquisitions by corporate parents. (Namely Picnik, TeachStreet and Summify). Now, we can add another… Read More…

iLike vets launch Familiar, turning your computer screen into a digital picture frame

familiar1

Marcus Womack, Josh Hepfer, Mike Bohlander and Ray Fortna were core members of the team at iLike, the Seattle online social music service that sold to MySpace in 2009. Today, they launched the first public trials of Familiar, a new online photo service that turns your computer into a “social picture frame.” What that means… Read More…