Microsoft's Dean Hachmanovitch, John Hrvartin, Sylvain Galineau , Kris Krueger, John Jansen, Jason Weber, Patrick Dengler, Rob Mauceri wear blue beanies, real and virtual, in support of web standards.

Our random roundup of interesting news and notes on a Wednesday afternoon … 

Artist's rendering of Boeing's 737 MAX.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team is breaking out the blue beanies today on its Twitter account, its engineering team and even that cool neon sign at the IE headquarters. Why? Web standards. Microsoft’s Jason McConnell explains the background.

Spotify took steps to make itself more of a technology platform today, announcing the availability of third-party apps from such services as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Last.fm inside the music service. GigaOm, for one, was hoping for something more.

In a boost for the Seattle region’s economy, Boeing plans to build the 737 MAX, the next generation of its workhorse airplane, in Renton, Wash., under a tentative deal with the machinists union. The Seattle Times has the story as it’s unfolding.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley wants to know who’s buying all those Xbox 360s that Microsoft is selling.

Speaking of Boeing, the mysterious X37-B robotic space plane that the company built for the Air Force will continue circling the Earth even longer than the scheduled nine-month duration of its flight, the Los Angeles Times reports. (Via Daily Tech.)

Privacy audits? Say what? Forbes takes a closer look at what Facebook and Google will need to do under their respective settlements with the Federal Trade Commission.

Meanwhile, in local zombie-steampunk news: Boneshaker, the acclaimed Cherie Priest sci-fi novel in which zombies meet steampunk in an alternative version of 1880s Seattle, is being made into a feature film, Variety reports today.

Thanks to Isaac Alexander for his help. 

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