“The inventor of cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more, was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler. Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas.”

This tweet of Xerox confirmed the death of Larry Tesler and sent the world into mourning. Tesler  helped the computer world to get better with many of his inventions.

His vision for a work life made easier through machines started in the 60s, and he made an impact every computer user is grateful for before he bade the world goodbye.

Here is how Gizmodo told his story.

The advent of the personal computer wasn’t just about making these powerful machines available to everyone, it was also about making them accessible and usable, even for those lacking a computer science degree. Larry Tesler, who passed away on Monday, might not be a household name like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, but his contributions to making computers and mobile devices easier to use are the highlight of a long career influencing modern computing.

Born in 1945 in New York, Tesler went on to study computer science at Stanford University, and after graduation he dabbled in artificial intelligence research (long before it became a deeply concerning tool) and became involved in the anti-war and anti-corporate monopoly movements, with companies like IBM as one of his deserving targets. In 1973 Tesler took a job at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) where he worked until 1980. Xerox PARC is famously known for developing the mouse-driven graphical user interface we now all take for granted, and during his time at the lab Tesler worked with Tim Mott to create a word processor called Gypsy that is best known for coining the terms “cut,” “copy,” and “paste” when it comes to commands for removing, duplicating, or repositioning chunks of text.

Xerox PARC is also well known for not capitalizing on the groundbreaking research it did in terms of personal computing, so in 1980 Tesler transitioned to Apple Computer where he worked until 1997. Over the years he held countless positions at the company including Vice President of AppleNet (Apple’s in-house local area networking system that was eventually canceled), and even served as Apple’s Chief Scientist, a position that at one time was held by Steve Wozniak, before eventually leaving the company.

In addition to his contributions to some of Apple’s most famous hardware, Tesler was also known for his efforts to make software and user interfaces more accessible. In addition to the now ubiquitous “cut,” “copy,” and “paste” terminologies, Tesler was also an advocate for an approach to UI design known as modeless computing, which is reflected in his personal website. In essence, it ensures that user actions remain consistent throughout an operating system’s various functions and apps. When they’ve opened a word processor, for instance, users now just automatically assume that hitting any of the alphanumeric keys on their keyboard will result in that character showing up on-screen at the cursor’s insertion point. But there was a time when word processors could be switched between multiple modes where typing on the keyboard would either add characters to a document or alternately allow functional commands to be entered.

There are still plenty of software applications where tools and functionality change depending on the mode they’re in (complex apps like Photoshop, for example, where various tools behave differently and perform very distinct functions) but for the most part modern operating systems like Apple’s macOS and Microsoft’s Windows have embraced user-friendliness through a less complicated modeless approach.

After leaving Apple in 1997, Tesler co-founded a company called Stagecast Software which developed applications that made it easier and more accessible for children to learn programming concepts. In 2001 he joined Amazon and eventually became the VP of Shopping Experience there, in 2005 he switched to Yahoo where he headed up that company’s user experience and design group, and then in 2008 he became a product fellow at 23andMe. According to his CV, Tesler left 23andMe in 2009 and from then on mostly focused on consulting work.

While there are undoubtedly countless other contributions Tesler made to modern computing as part of his work on teams at Xerox and Apple that may never come to light, his known contributions are immense. Tesler is one of the major reasons computer moved out of research centers and into homes.

When President Obasanjo created the Excess Crude Account (ECA) in 2004, it was in a bid to save for the rainy days from the excesses of oil revenue. The idea was to remit excess of the budgeted benchmark into the account. By January 2009, the ECA was boasting of $20 billion and counting. There was hope that the status quo would be maintained, and in due time, Nigeria will have enough for many of its infrastructural projects.

It did not take long before the hope started getting pinched from stakeholders of the ECA, mainly, states and local governments. There was an incessant request for fund from the account in the name of many projects across the states and local government areas by governors. In 2012, the account was depleted of N2.07 trillion, a remarkable outflow that kicked off the push for even more.

Henceforth, the three tiers of government were struck with incessant needs for fund and there was no other source than the Excess Crude Account. The sum of N483 billion was used from the withdrawn N2.07 trillion by the federal government for fuel subsidy and N190.58 billion was transferred to a special intervention fund.

In 2013 fiscal year, N1.99 trillion was again withdrawn by the federal government. There were revenue shortfalls that needed to be augmented and about N1.08 trillion was used to fill the gap while N505 billion was used for subsidy payment and special intervention fund gulped N405.63 billion.

There was a surge in oil revenue during this period and the moral expectation was for an increase in the excess crude revenue too. But the withdrawal kept happening despite the increase in oil prices.

In 2014, the account was further depleted by N927.33 billion. Out of the amount, N400.23 billion was used to service fuel subsidy, N303.56 billion was doled out for revenue augmentation and N223.54 billion was sent to special intervention fund.

By 2015, the oil revenue was already dwindling and falling short of the budget benchmark, creating even a better alibi for the government to increase their visitation to the ECA. During this period, the government took N458.14 billion off the account. And once again, fuel subsidy took the lion share of the withdrawn sum – N359.39 billion, and the augmentation of revenue to the three tiers of government took N98.19 billion.

The government’s yearly visit to the account did not end in 2015. For the 2016 fiscal period, the government went again to withdraw the sum of N85.17 billion for the augmentation of revenue for the three tiers of government. Each year since 2012 had come with one responsibility or the other that requires the generosity of the Excess Crude Account.

In 2017, the sum of N76.25 billion was transferred to the Nigerian Investment Authority which was instituted to manage the Sovereign Wealth Fund where the surplus from oil revenue is invested on behalf of the government. Unfortunately, the establishment has been underfunded due to the use of excess crude funds for other issues by the three tiers of government.

2018 was another year of urgent national needs. The ECA suffered a huge withdrawal of $2.87 billion that was meant for so many governmental expenditures. $1.76 billion was used for the Paris Club refund to state governments. During the fiscal period, the sum of $496.37 million was also approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for the purchase of Super Tucano fighters from the United States.

Apart from these major expenses, two other significant transactions happened from the proceeds of the $2.87 billion. Presidential approval was given for the use of $380.51 million for the procurement of critical equipment for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Defence Intelligence Agency.

There was also approval for the use of $233.29 million for states matching grant to the Universal Basic Education Commission.

Though there were inflows from excess crude proceeds into the ECA during these times. A total of N2, 427.02 trillion went into the account during these six years. But it was notably deficient enough to expose the emaciation of the account. In August 2019, the balance of the Excess Crude Account stood for $274 million, and it was obvious the coming year would yield further depletion considering the downturn in oil prices and the lax revenue generation from other sources. Though there was a little increase of about $51 million between August 2019 and January 2020, it was preemptive to sustainability.

So it was not surprising when the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) announced on Wednesday that the strategic reserve account has been reduced to $71.814 million from $324.968 million recorded in January.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned the fiscal authorities to build up buffers against revenue shocks by depositing more and withdrawing less from the rainy days account. But it is clear the government can’t keep its hands away from the reserved purse due to the current revenue challenges.

The federal and some state governments have been on borrowing spree for some time now, and they keep seeking for more funds, an indication that the non-oil revenue does not measure up to the expenditures. The Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Dr. Muda Yusuf said it’s all evidence that the government of all levels in the country is broken.

“There is a strong temptation to draw down on the savings, which the excess crude account represents. One key factor is the weak oil prices.

“This naturally affects the fiscal stability of the various tiers and levels of government. These shocks would remain as long as we remain critically dependent on crude oil both for revenue and foreign exchange earnings.”

Apparently, the decline in oil prices pushed the government’s onslaught on the savings that was supposed to save the country in rainy days. The implication is likely going to instigate another recession and consequently, the devaluation of naira. The World Bank has warned that the depletion of the Excess Crude Account could easily plunge the economy into shock.

The former Executive Director of Keystone Bank, Richard Obire said that the depletion of the ECA and government’s desperate borrowing is a bad sign.

“We are still holding the exchange rate through the CBN’s weekly dollar interventions in the foreign exchange market. Today, with the level of buffer available to the economy, naira devaluation will be staring at us in the face.

“Remember we are not selling petrol at market prices due to subsidies enjoyed by the product and that has also put pressure on the fiscal side of the economy,” he said.

Experts believe that Nigeria’s economy is currently sitting on a keg of gunpowder, and if nothing is done quickly to diversify the economy and remove focus from oil, recession is going to hit Nigeria once again with unimaginable rate.