Melinda Gates ranks #3 on list of most powerful women

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Move over Oprah. Melinda Gates is out to change the world, and she’s moving up the list of the most powerful women. Forbes released its annual ranking of the 100 most powerful women in the world, and Seattle’s very own philanthropic powerhouse ranked third behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. I guess that’s what… Read More…

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

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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, others bankroll Seattle fund to accelerate Indian startups

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Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, former Microsoft executive Mike Murray, former Bain Capital managing director Bob Gay and others have joined with several leading investors in India to bankroll the Unitus Seed Fund, an $8 million venture capital fund that’s designed to help entrepreneurs in India get new ventures off the ground. The Unitus Seed Fund… Read More…

GeekWire Podcast: Tablets, travel, kids, and a ukulele rock band, live in studio

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We usually talk about a wide variety of topics on the GeekWire radio show and podcast, but even by our normal standards, the breadth of stuff on this week’s show was a little crazy. Don’t worry, we were able to tie it all together! (For the most part, at least.) John and I kick off the… Read More…

Good work Seattle: Here are the winners of the Geeks Give Back campaign

GeekWire chairman Jonathan Sposato with Vittana's Kushal

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the GeekWire Gala. We had a blast partying with more than 800 folks, recognizing some of the top Newsmakers of the Year and celebrating a fabulous year in tech. But one of the coolest things about the evening is how the community came together to support… Read More…

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

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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…

Startup Spotlight: Flash Volunteer leverages the fun of flash mobs for social good

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Flash mobs have been around for a while (the term was coined in 2003, according to Wikipedia) and seemingly have been getting less and less cool ever since.  The base idea is still awesome, but the novelty wore off after it seems yet another mediocre flash mob occurred almost weekly.  Flash Volunteer utilizes the awesome… Read More…

Malcolm Gladwell: In 50 years, Bill Gates will be revered and Steve Jobs will be forgotten

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In a recent appearance at the Toronto Public Library’s Appel Salon, author Malcolm Gladwell provided some fascinating remarks about the role of entrepreneurs in society, drawing some interesting conclusions about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Gladwell called Gates “the most ruthless capitalist” until the day when he “wakes up one morning and says… Read More…

A ‘TB breathalyzer’ and other wild ideas backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced more than 100 winners of its Grand Challenges Explorations initiative, an effort whereby the foundation provides $100,000 grants to solving global health problems. Obviously, there are some big problems facing the planet, from lack of drinking water to airborne diseases to the methods by which immunizations are administered. And… Read More…

Guest column: Let’s celebrate the geeks who ‘GiveBig’

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Today is Seattle Foundation’s 1-day GiveBIG challenge. Seattleites will compete for $500,000 in matching donations for their favorite local charities. I’m really excited. Why? Some very worthy causes will get serious love today. And, it’ll show off Seattle’s electrifying intersection of technology and philanthropy. Expect your Twitter to light up like a 1985-vintage DeLorean strung… Read More…

Jeff Bezos, Melinda Gates named to Academy of Arts and Sciences

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Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, philanthropist Melinda Gates and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center director Dr. Larry Corey are among those who’ve been named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a more than 230-year old organization that recognizes scholars, scientists, writers, artists and philanthropic leaders. “Election to the Academy is both an honor for extraordinary accomplishment and… Read More…

Amazon.com dubbed a corporate scrooge by hometown newspaper

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Amazon.com’s lack of philanthropic involvement in its hometown of Seattle is getting renewed attention as The Seattle Times kicked off a 4-part series on the company today. Reporters Kristi Heim and Amy Martinez explore how the giant online retailer is a “virtual no-show in hometown philanthropy,” writing that the company is ”a minor player in local charitable… Read More…

Paul Allen bankrolls Wikidata: Project to help Wikipedia editors more easily enter information

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It sure has been a busy couple of weeks for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. From squashing rumors about the sale of the Portland Trail Blazers to donating $300 million to brain science to live Tweeting James Cameron’s historic submarine voyage to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, it has been a full slate of… Read More…

How a high-five changed this Microsoft GM’s life, and helped a bunch of kids

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Bill Hilf spends his days as a general manager for Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing platform, based in Redmond. He spends his nights, weekends, vacations and spare moments running a program that uses basketball and other team sports to teach homeless and imprisoned kids in the Philippines about teamwork, friendship, commitment, trust and other values… Read More…

Bill Gates: ‘Cheap energy is like a fantastic vaccine’

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is back in the news, talking about the importance of nuclear power. And while the software titan is bullish on the energy source, it will likely be another decade until we see a nuclear reactor from the Bellevue company he’s backing alongside Intellectual Ventures founder Nathan Myhrvold. Speaking at at The Wall… Read More…

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen donates $300M to help solve the mysteries of the human brain

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is doubling down on his efforts to better understand the human brain, announcing plans today to donate $300 million to the Allen Insitute of Brain Science. That brings total fundraising in the 9-year-old non-profit scientific organization to $500 million, one of the largest philanthropic commitments ever to fund neuroscience. In a… Read More…

Seattle’s Melodic Caring Project streams personalized concerts to hospitalized kids

Baydon Hutchison, 11, and Melodic Caring Project founder Levi Ware jam at the Ronald McDonald House in Seattle. (Photo: Melodic Caring Project)

On Friday, Dec. 2 at Seattle Children’s Hospital, 11-year-old Braydon Hutchison was crying. It wasn’t because of his leukemia, which kept him quarantined, or the nausea and vomiting that had made him sick all day. A musician he’d never met was playing a concert across town in his honor, calling out his name to the… Read More…

From film festivals to art museums, Paul Allen’s giving has a distinctive local flair

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s philanthropic efforts don’t get quite as much attention as the sweeping global health efforts of Bill Gates. And part of the reason for that is that Allen pumps a lot of his money into the low-profile projects in the local community. The hyperlocal focus was on full display today as The… Read More…

Bill Gates as modern-day Batman: Microsoft co-founder saves 5.8M lives (sans Batmobile)

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The Frugal Dad has created an awesome infographic, detailing the impact that Bill Gates’ philanthropic efforts have had on the world. Taking a phrase from comedian and talk show host Jon Stewart, the Frugal Dad notes that the Microsoft co-founder is better than Batman. The infographic estimates that Gates — through donations to global health… Read More…

Video: GameHouse chief almost loses shorts in charity hunger dip

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It’s that time of year when members of the tech community give back. But RealNetworks executive Matt Hulett, who runs the company’s GameHouse unit, almost gave back a little too much in a stunt Tuesday morning. To cap a fundraising effort by RealNetworks for Northwest Harvest, Hulett and RealNetworks Chief Marketing Officer Judy Bitterli dove… Read More…