Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Dec. 11, 2016.
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Most popular stories on GeekWire
Reddit user gets Bill Gates as her Secret Santa, and she’s ‘blown away’ by the awesome gifts he sent
When it comes to Secret Santas, having yours be one of the richest people in the world and and also a total geek is sure to translate to some cool gifts. … Read More
Golden tickets in Amazon Prime Now bags reward hundreds of customers with free stuff
They may not have won a trip to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but hundreds of lucky Amazon Prime Now customers did find golden tickets in their deliveries recently as part of a promotion by the retail giant. … Read More
Will Microsoft leave Seattle? How Amazon’s growth could force the region’s other tech giant out of the urban core
In 2007, Microsoft planted a flag in Seattle, announcing its intention to have approximately 1,400 employees spread around seven locations in the city. … Read More
Amazon Echo is backordered until January — but here’s how to get it before Christmas
The Amazon Echo is a popular holiday gift this year — so much so that the device is backordered on Amazon.com until next month. … Read More
Could your neighborhood give you cancer? Startup uses government data to map environmental health risks
The Pacific Northwest prides itself on its clean air, pristine water, and healthy natural environment. … Read More
Another one bites the dust: Cisco discontinues its $1B cloud initiative as AWS, Azure and others expand
Cisco will abandon its InterCloud cloud-computing offering on March 31 and will move any InterCloud workloads to other, unnamed cloud providers, including “in some cases, public cloud,” VentureBeat quoted Cisco as saying. … Read More
Underwater volcano’s rumblings point the way to improved eruption predictions
An underwater seismic network pioneered by the University of Washington and other institutions is revealing how thousands of tiny shocks can herald huge eruptions. … Read More
Wynn Las Vegas to equip 4,748 hotel rooms with Amazon Echo: It’s ‘seamlessly delicious,’ Steve Wynn says
Alexa, open the curtains? You may soon be able to ask that question when traveling to the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, which announced today that it will place Amazon’s Echo device — powered by the voice assistant Alexa — in all 4,748 hotel rooms. … Read More
Starbucks hires Amazon Web Services and Microsoft vet to build cloud-based ‘digital flywheel’
Tal Saraf, a veteran of Cisco, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, has joined Starbucks as its senior vice president of engineering and architecture, where he’s part of the effort to create what the coffee giant is calling its “digital flywheel.” Saraf is working to hire developers, managers and directors to build out that initiative, which he said on his LinkedIn profile is meant to extend customer engagement through web and mobile experiences, supported by modern, scalable cloud platforms and integrated services. … Read More
Postmates ordered to pay 2+ years of workers’ comp premiums for more than 3,000 couriers
Delivery startup Postmates has been ordered to retroactively pay more than two years of workers’ compensation premiums for more than 3,000 of its couriers in Washington state, but the company is fighting the decision, GeekWire has learned. … Read More