Science and Technology

Michelle Bates

Today in Sex: Runners and Hyper-Texting Teens Hogging All the Sex

​According to a new study out of the UK, "one in ten joggers have sex at least once a day and three per cent of joggers said they have sex twice a day." Oof. So where does that leave the rest of us? Well, this same study asked people who never run how often they went at it and one in four repo ... More >>

Corin Hewitt

​According to a new study out of the UK, "one in ten joggers have sex at least once a day and three per cent of joggers said they have sex twice a day." Oof. So where does that leave the rest of us? Well, this same study asked people who never run how often they went at it and one in four repo ... More >>

If Only Sub Pop Had As Much Faith In Beer Cozies As They Do In eMusic

Sub Pop has sold more than 129,000 digital copies of Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut LP, but not a single Fleet Foxes key chain.​"I'm not an innovation freak on the delivery side," Sub Pop chief Jonathan Poneman told me recently via email. "Content remains my principle interest." The problems afflict ... More >>

Belief in Nothing, Key Chains, and eMusic

An online music retailer changes its system.

The Screen Shot that Shows How eMusic Has Taken a Turn For the Douche

The eMusic business model​ We've got a post up now about how Sub Pop hasn't joined other indie labels in bolting from eMusic in the wake of the latter going lamestream. To which commenter Aaron Sedlak says, "My question is this to the indie labels that left - itunes and amazons online malls ar ... More >>

The Fearless Critic Seattle Restaurant Guide Is Ready for Battle

​The pool of restaurant reviews available - at online review sites, in magazines and newspapers, and on blogs - is deep and murky. User-generated review sites like Urbanspoon and Yelp, offer crowd-sourced restaurant reviews. A few bad reviews from diners miffed about wait times, ketchup brand ... 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.

New Reader Interaction System (Comments) Launched for Seattle Weekly Blogs

​We hate Captchas. You hate Captchas. So why the hell would we want Captchas on our reader commenting system? Boom! No more Captchas. Instead we've got a fancy new reader interaction system from Disqus that will make commenting on Seattle Weekly's website exponentially faster, easier and bette ... More >>

UW Students Hack Kinect to Perform Robotic Surgery

​Manboob simulator? Check. Flying robots? Check. World of Warcraft interface? Check. Robotic surgery scanner? Ch-wait . . . robotic surgery wtf?

Jothan Frakes, Domain Name Guru, Offers Tips on the New "Internet Land Rush"

​So you want to be a domain name millionaire? Now's the time. The obscure California non-profit that controls the domain names of the world--known as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN-- is about to authorize an unlimited number of new suffixes.

How to Make Domain-Name Millions

Four not-so-easy steps to beyond-.com cash.

Did Microsoft Conspire With the CIA to Attack an Iranian Nuclear Plant With a Computer Virus?

Eugene Kaspersky​The Stuxnet computer virus is the "Hiroshima of cyber-war." That's according to an article the latest edition of Vanity Fair. Most folks might remember it as the virus that was rumored to be unleashed by Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear facility--the one that made its urani ... More >>

Alaska Airlines Testing Out In-Flight iPads for Pilots

​Looking at the modern commercial airplane cockpit, one can come to no other conclusion than: pilots really need more gadgets in there. Thankfully, tablet computers that can be worn as knee-pads are available now to give the extra distraction that every aviator craves.

Microsoft Throws in the Towel on Hacker Competition, Releases No Upgrades for Browser

​The Pwn2Own challenge is a contest in which computer-security geeks and hackers face off in a race to hack their way into the four top browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. It's a chance for the Zero Cools of the world to flex their mouse mus ... More >>

Microsoft, Despite Making No Tablet Computers, Sues Barnes & Noble for Patent Infringement Over Its Nook Tablet

​Sure, Microsoft doesn't actually make any form of tablet computer. But as anyone who follows the company will tell you, it owns the licensing rights to everything imaginable, including several tablet designs. Now Barnes & Noble is finding out what happens when a piece of technology sold by a ... More >>

Amazon "Appstore" Debuts Today Amid Fanfare and a Big Fat Lawsuit from Apple

​Two things usually happen when a familiar technology innovation is modified and launched as something new these days. First, there's a big roll-out party/press event. Second, there's an even bigger lawsuit filed by a competitor that claims it's been copied. So on day one of Amazon's big debut ... More >>

Microsoft Buys 666,000 Old Web Addresses in Potential Satanic Tech Rite

​Now, we're not saying that Microsoft's recent purchase of 666,000 old web addresses is a sign of the coming of the Beast. But we're not saying it's not either.

Linus Torvalds, Mythic Smith of Linux, Declares Microsoft Dead, Victory for Communism

Comrade Linus Torvalds.​Dealing with Microsoft is "like kicking a puppy," declares Linus Torvalds to Network World on Monday. The Finnish radical and hacker turned Portland software mogul says that Linux-inspired technology has overpowered Microsoft's grip on the market in every category they ... More >>

Amazon to Offer Discount Kindle (That's Crammed Full of Ads)

​How much is the fact that your Kindle doesn't try and sell you toothpaste worth? Because if it's worth $25 or less, then Amazon has quite the deal!

Amazon Looks to Make Libraries Obsolete With Kindle Lending Program

​Libraries are on their way to being only utilized by high school field trippers and homeless people in need of a shave. And who's leading the traditional literary lending establishments down the road of obscurity? Why, Amazon of course.

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.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble Use Stupid Math to Magically Double Kindle and Nook's Battery Life

​On Tuesday, shoppers in the market for a new E-reader tablet would have seen graphics and advertisements that said the Amazon Kindle has a one-month battery life. By Wednesday, those same graphics and ads would have showed the device's battery life had suddenly doubled. A technological break ... More >>

Meet the Bloggers Behind The Nudie Foodies

​After Japan's devastating earthquake, charity fund-raisers were abundant, and the food community contributed to the outpouring of support. There have been benefit dinners, auctions, and fund-raising drives. And now there is a cookbook. Bloggers from coast to coast dropped their clothes and pi ... More >>

What Nudie Foodies Can Teach Us About Cooking Naked

​ The Nudie Foodies cookbook features 18 food bloggers from around the country, their partially clad bodies, and delicious recipes. Today we continue our Q&A with Linda Nicholson, aka Salty Seattle, about the project. Read Part I of the Q&A

The Physics of Very Hot Kitchens

​The arrival of warmer weather this week was accompanied by a stream of Twitter and Facebook missives from local restaurants, urging home cooks who can't stand the heat to get out of their kitchens. But a leading physicist says it's unlikely to get too hot to cook in Seattle. Lou Bloomfield, ... More >>

Amazon Wins the "Appstore" Fight With Apple (For Now)

​As we've reported before, Apple thinks the term "Appstore", "App Store" or any combination thereof is solely owned by Apple. Amazon thinks otherwise and is in the midst of getting sued by Steve Jobs' legal wolves for calling its Android online market an "Appstore." So what do the courts have ... More >>

Jeff Bezos, Boeing Move Ahead with New Space Funding (Update: Bezos' Craft Blows, is 'Lost')

Blue Origin logo​Update, Sept. 4 - Jeff Bezos reports on his website this weekend that Blue Origin "lost" its vehicle in an apparent test flight crash. Details, photos, after the jump. July 19 - With NASA's historic spaceflights ending this week - yesterday was the last undocking from the Int ... More >>

Rhapsody, MOG Execs Say Spotify's U.S. Launch Validates the Music-Subscription Business

Last week, after years of false starts, Spotify, the much-hyped music-subscription service launched in the U.S., three years after it opened up shop in Europe. Like its U.S. rivals such as Seattle-based subscription-pionneers Rhapsody, Spotify offers its paying users unlimited streaming of millio ... More >>

Bill Nye the Science Guy Explains to FOX News Why Volcanoes on Moon Don't Disprove Climate Change on Earth

​Watch as former Seattleite and current genius Bill Nye "The Science Guy" betrays only the slightest vocal hint of are-you-fucking-kidding-me when FOX News anchor Jon Scott tries to connect the discovery of ancient volcanoes on the moon with climate change denial on earth.

Theresa Deisher, Seattle Scientist Who Likened Embryonic Stem Cell Research to Nazi Medical Experiments, Loses Court Battle

Theresa Deisher​A federal court ruled yesterday against a lawsuit filed in part by a Seattle scientist who sought to restrict federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Under former President George W. Bush, the federal government was restricted from using taxpayer dollars to fund res ... More >>

Use Internet Explorer? You're Probably Dumb, Study Says

​People who use Internet Explorer have lower IQs than people who use other browsers like Firefox or Google Chrome, a new study finds. AptiQuant, a Vancouver, B.C., company founded in 2006, administered 101,326 IQ tests to people who visited their website over a four-week period. Researchers h ... More >>

Amazon Appstore Is a Bum Deal for Developers, Says App Company

​Russell Ivanovic runs a small mobile-app company called Shifty Jelly, which makes a pod-casting program called Pocket Casts. The app enjoys favorable reviews on the Apple Store and is quite popular in Ivanovic's home country of Australia. Until recently Ivanovic also had his app on the Amaz ... More >>

Porn, Piracy, & BitTorrent

The film industry mounts a sketchy legal strategy in response to illegal downloads.

Jeff Bezos Applies for Smartphone Airbag Patent, Over Thinks Things

​Sometimes thinking like a genius has its advantages. And sometimes it just makes you forget that there are much simpler solutions to some of life's more mundane problems. Take the problem of cell phones. Or, more specifically, the fact that while they have become ever more central to our liv ... More >>

Jeff Bezos' Smartphone Airbag

The Amazon CEO's ridiculous patent that never was.

Meet Steve Parker, the Issaquah Entrepreneur Whose iPhone Hurricane App Outsold Angry Birds

Steve Parker​For years, Steve Parker worked as an insurance claims adjuster in Texas. Then, inspired when Apple began accepting phone apps from independent developers, he went to Barnes & Noble, bought a few books and taught himself programming. Though supportive, his wife and friends told hi ... More >>

Steve Parker's Hurricane Tracker

The Angry Birds-besting Issaquah app-man's biggest hit yet.

Rhapsody: Perfecting the Pitch

The Netflix of music is celebrating 10 years of being the next big thing. Is it primed to finally turn that prophecy into reality?

Amazon Sells Author's Book for Free on Accident, Then Offers Him $0 to Compensate

​For a few thousand fans of independently-published books about zombies, Christmas came early this year. That's because author James Crawford's book Blood Soaked & Contagious was recently reduced from $5.99 to free. More than 6,000 people downloaded the free flesh-eater book. The only problem ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Kindle Swindle Is Bad PR

​On Friday we shared with you the tale of zombie-novel author James Crawford and his book Blood Soaked & Contagious--particularly the hellacious trouble Mr. Crawford had when he tried to sell the book via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. One reader put into perspective the trade off between ... More >>

Napster, Digital Rights Management, and Lawsuits Against 12-Year-Olds: 10 Defining Moments in Digital Music History

November's edition of Reverb Monthly featured an article ("Rhapsody: Perfecting the Pitch") by Chris Kornelis about Seattle-based music subscription service Rhapsody that detailed the pioneering company's past and future in the context of the digital music revolution. Here's a look at 10 milestones ... More >>

Food Bloggers Cook Up a Bigger Bake Sale

glutenfreefoodies.blogspot.com​Most buyers at this weekend's Will Bake For Food, an annual food blogger bake sale benefiting the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County, will choose their sweets according to which blogger made them. "People are definitely attracted by the names," ... More >>

2011's Top Six Developments for Seattle's Lazy

James Lee, 2010.​ It's most definitely still December. That means two things for certain when it comes to pop culture: there isn't a whole lot to watch on television, and you've probably been reading a lot of yawn-worthy, boilerplate "Best of 2011" lists lately. After this week's dramatic fina ... More >>

Seattle Weekly's Reverb Monthly Now Available on Amazon's Kindle and Kindle Fire!

You can now subscribe to the Kindle and Kindle Fire edition of Seattle Weekly's Reverb Monthly.​Reverb Monthly, Seattle Weekly's new music magazine, is now available on the world's most popular e-reader, the Kindle, along with Amazon's new tablet, Kindle Fire. The Kindle edition includes every ... More >>

Get a Kindle or Kindle Fire for Christmas? Subscribe to SW's Music Mag, Reverb Monthly!

​If you're among the millions of Americans who got a Kindle or Kindle Fire for Christmas (or giftted one to yourself), you're just now beginning to enjoy the quiet of the eReader. While you're considering which publications to add to your subscription list, be sure to give Seattle Weekly's R ... More >>

A Message to Reverb Monthly's Kindle Subscribers

​Due to a technical error, Reverb Monthly's Kindle subscribers were originally sent the December issue's content inside the issue labeled "Jan. 1." The error was caught quickly, and Amazon tells us that subscribers saw a pop-up message alerting them to the need to re-download the current issue ... More >>

Japan Tsunami Debris May Not Be Giant Floating Field of Doom After All

​Scientists and government officials initially believed that the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan last year sent millions of tons of trash on a collision course with Hawaii and the West Coast. But nine months later, the flotsam is still lost at sea somewhere and perhaps not nearly ... More >>

Barnes & Noble Goes To War With Amazon

​Barnes & Noble is waging a desperate battle to remain relevant and viable in a world where cheaper online rivals and discount bookstores are threatening its very survival. The country's largest traditional bookseller now says it will no longer sell in its 700 consumer stores any books publish ... More >>

Man on a Mission: A Travel Movie From Space

​Barnes & Noble is waging a desperate battle to remain relevant and viable in a world where cheaper online rivals and discount bookstores are threatening its very survival. The country's largest traditional bookseller now says it will no longer sell in its 700 consumer stores any books publish ... More >>