Information Technology Sector

The Matrix

The Matrix

Novell-Microsoft Lawsuit Ends In Mistrial--Bill Gates Lives to Testify Another Day

​A $1 billion lawsuit that saw Bill Gates dragged in front of federal judge to testify has proved too hazy for jurors to piece together. But the Microsoft-Novell saga still looks to be far from over.

Electronic Arts to Buy Seattle-Based PopCap Games for $1 Billion, Sources Say

​Rumor has it that local video-game maker PopCap Games (Plants vs Zombies, Bejeweled 3) is about to bought for a whopping $1 billion. That's billion. With a B. But until late last night, no one knew who the buyer was.

WSJ: Seattle Is Becoming the New Silicon Valley

​This may not come as news to the legions of local computer programmers who are already working for satellite hubs of companies like Facebook, Zynga and Salesforce, but Seattle is on a path to eclipse the Bay Area as America's technology hub.

Amazon Quotes Steve Jobs Himself in Defense of "Appstore" Trademark Suit

​Ever since Apple sued Amazon to keep the company from using the term "Appstore" to describe its "Store" that sells "Apps," the online retailer has been struggling to come up with an airtight defense to use in court. Thankfully for Amazon, Steve Jobs himself is helping them out on that front.

Nintendo Profits Plummet by 66 Percent, 3DS Touted as Company's Saving Grace

​It's easy to forget sometimes that Microsoft isn't the only major video game maker with a headquarters in Redmond. Little Nintendo (you know, the folks that pioneered video game as we know it) has its American headquarters there and has been toiling away quietly for years. Perhaps the second- ... More >>

What's Missing From This Photograph of Obama and the Tech Titans?

​We'll give you a hint: It begins with "Ball" and ends with a sweat-soaked polo shirt.

IBM Supercomputer Watson Destroys Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter--Ready Now to Become Doctor/Car Mechanic/Counterterrorism Expert

​IBM's overpriced circuit board "Watson" thoroughly mopped the floor with inferior humanoids Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter last night on Jeopardy! (insert Skynet/machine takeover joke here). So what's next for the estimated $3 billion box of bolts? Career opportunities are already lining up.

Ken Jennings Gets Schooled by Supercomputer Watson and Brad Rutter on Day 1 of Jeopardy Human/Comp Showdown

​The only thing currently standing between IBM supercomputer Watson and its inevitable rise as humanity's all-powerful overlord is a young, flawlessly stubbly man from Pennsylvania named Brad Rutter. Hometown hero and winningest Jeopardy player ever, Ken Jennings, spent day one of the much hyp ... More >>

IBM Supercomputer "Watson" Will Destroy Ken Jennings on Jeopardy, Says Odds-Maker

​Next week Seattle's human computer Ken Jennings will finally face off against IBM's actual computer "Watson" along with fellow smartypants Brad Rutter in a $1 million grand prize trivia duel to the death on Jeopardy. So who will triumph, man or machine? If you believe a leading gambling websi ... More >>

Washington's Ban On Online Gambling May Affect Players Outside Washington

​Washington State's ban on internet gambling may be keeping people who don't live in Washington from playing too.

Seattle Doesn't Make List of Crappiest Commutes

​Although we really (REALLY) like to bitch about the traffic around here, it turns out things aren't so bad. At least as long as you think globally. IBM punched a bunch of numbers into a computer and out came something called the commuter pain index (graph after the jump) which, if it's at all ... More >>

What's the Real Difference Between a Mac and a PC? One is Very Rich

Where's the Zune bump?​Contrary to what your TV will tell you, the difference between a Mac and a PC isn't measured in cool. It's measured in cash. Sure, that dude who dated Drew Barrymore looks hipper than the stodgy Daily Show guy. But did you know, assuming stock options are a part of his ... More >>

Bill Gates on Google's China Stance: "They've Done Nothing and Gotten a lot of Credit For It."

"And furthermore, these 'O' glasses are too foggy. Harumph, harumph."​Before flying to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to accept his crown as Emperor of the New World Order announce an expansion of his foundation's vaccine program, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stopped by the offices ... More >>

Reader: Microsoft Would be Smart to Avoid IBM Comparisons

What do a mouse and elephant have to do with Microsoft and IBM? Read on.​Reader lurker responds to Uh-Oh: Ex-Employee Says Microsoft Today Is Like IBM in 1985. It's worth reading just for the quote at the end. "And let's not forget the highly relevant fact that Microsoft got its start by pigg ... More >>

Uh-Oh: Ex-Employee Says Microsoft Today Is Like IBM in 1985

Time for Microsoft to give up the throne?​Don Dodge was the start-up guru for Microsoft until he got laid off in November. Within a week he was hired at Google. (And thus able to play with all the fun new toys he'd been denied in Redmond.) Now, in an interview with Nick Eaton at the Microsoft ... More >>

Now Tim Eyman's Going to F**k Up Your Computer, Too

Even the man’s software is malicious.

As If Tim Eyman Hasn't Done Enough Damage, Now His Web Site Can F**k Up Your Computer

The black means he's evil...​Or so says Google. According to a "Safe Browsing" advisory from the search giant, Eyman's site, www.permanent-offense.org [don't click, for the love of humanity!], is "listed as suspicious" and "may harm your computer." It seems that destroying our state's tax b ... More >>

Newsweek's Massive F U to Ballmer

​Guess who's about to wake up next to a horse's severed head? Newsweek technology writer Daniel Lyons. In a blog post yesterday, which goes into print next week, he offers up some choice words for the Microsoft CEO. Some select quotes: "Instead of being scary, Microsoft has become a bit of a ... More >>

CD Reviews: Soul Kata and Ramona Falls

​Guess who's about to wake up next to a horse's severed head? Newsweek technology writer Daniel Lyons. In a blog post yesterday, which goes into print next week, he offers up some choice words for the Microsoft CEO. Some select quotes: "Instead of being scary, Microsoft has become a bit of a ... More >>

This Day in History: Microsoft Bails Out Apple

Uncle Bill got a chilly welcome from Apple's shareholders​It was August 6, 1997, Microsoft was being sued by the federal government, and Apple was struggling. No one had even heard of an iPod. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced to the company's shareholders that Microsoft was buying $150 million i ... More >>

Bada-Powered-by-Bing: Microsoft and Yahoo Finally Make a Deal

Dude, it's made!​Steve Ballmer probably "loves this company" even more today, as Microsoft finally got its search deal with Yahoo!. (Wouldn't it be cool if, as part of the deal, Microsoft had to add an exclamation point to its name as well?) For at least the next ten years, Microsoft's Bing wi ... More >>

NYT Lauds Seattle E-Waste Efforts

Americans are scrapping their pre-digital TV sets in astonishing numbers, and Seattle is at the vanguard of the e-waste movement. As The New York Times reports, local companies like tech salvage shop RE-PC and commercial recycling operation Total Reclaim are doing booming business. We reported on th ... More >>

Seattle Oscar Nominee in Trouble in Iran

Northwest filmmaker James Longley received an Academy Award nomination for his 2006 documentary Iraq in Fragments, which he rather courageously filmed during the early stages of the Iraq War. Now he's turned his camera to Iran, as he reports in the Huffington Post. Longley was detained by police in ... More >>

Ballmer Says Microsoft Will Get "Tenacious" With Bing Bling

How awesome is Microsoft? Let us count the ways: Its new web browser is supposedly pretty cool. Its new search engine, Bing, gained a little market share. After a period of intense reflection, Steve Ballmer says the company should have gotten into the search business sooner. But now that the ... More >>

The Dow of Shrooms

Within four days of shopping at the market, I saw the price of morels and porcinis fluctuate more than Apple stock on a Jobs death watch. The four day high for morels came to $40 per pound on Thursday, though that may have been pay back to me from the vendor who I made cut my porcinis in half on T ... More >>

The Matrix

Within four days of shopping at the market, I saw the price of morels and porcinis fluctuate more than Apple stock on a Jobs death watch. The four day high for morels came to $40 per pound on Thursday, though that may have been pay back to me from the vendor who I made cut my porcinis in half on T ... More >>

The Golden Compass

Within four days of shopping at the market, I saw the price of morels and porcinis fluctuate more than Apple stock on a Jobs death watch. The four day high for morels came to $40 per pound on Thursday, though that may have been pay back to me from the vendor who I made cut my porcinis in half on T ... More >>

Looking Up

Concrete, glass, steel, and egos

Best Buy Swallows Speakeasy

Concrete, glass, steel, and egos

Pocket Jukebox

iPod might be the best known, maybe even the best, but it's not the only digital-music option.

Found Money

As Microsoft and Yahoo! prepare take on Google, Seattle and UW continue to be a hotbed of Web-search innovation.

Thanks For The Digitally Enhanced Memories

The HP DVD Movie Writer takes home movies into the 21st century.

(PC - P) + E = CE

This year, all cables lead to consumer electronics.

Toxic computers

Manufacturers agree a fee might encourage computer recycling.

News Clips— Needle Exchange

Manufacturers agree a fee might encourage computer recycling.

Wired but wireless

Without much ado, Starbucks edges toward 'unwiring' its coffee shops.

More is less

Without much ado, Starbucks edges toward 'unwiring' its coffee shops.

How broad is your bandwidth?

Serving up high-speed hope to home Web surfers.

Alexa, DoubleClick: private, shmivate

Serving up high-speed hope to home Web surfers.

Patently mine

The US Patent office has opened the door to all kinds of new patent claims. Microsoft and Amazon are in the first test cases.

Where did you go today?

Avenue A tells advertisers what works on the Web.

AD NAUSEAM?

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

Virtual roller coaster

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

An industry divided

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

Vive la differFrance

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

Undeveloped

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

Drag-and-shop

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.

Submerging channels

The wide-open spaces of the Internet present advertisers with a peculiar mix of opportunity and peril.