This week on the GeekWire radio show, we take a break from Seattle’s ongoing ride-sharing debate to discuss a couple of interesting stories that didn’t get as much attention this week: Microsoft’s defense of its decision to read the emails of one of its Hotmail customers as part of an investigation into alleged leaks by a former Microsoft employee; and Zillow’s poaching of executives from Move Inc., which prompted a lawsuit from the rival this week.

mikebrittain
Mike Brittain, Etsy engineering director.

Then we get an insider’s view on engineering at Etsy, the popular online marketplace for handmade and vintage products and supplies. Joining us on the phone from New York is Mike Brittain, engineering director at Etsy, who is one of the speakers at the upcoming ALM Forum in Seattle.

In addition to a deep dive on Etsy’s engineering practices and methods for “continuous deployment,” we get Brittain’s views on native mobile apps vs. web apps, a topic he is interested in not only because of his role at Etsy but also because of his side project, One tsp., a web-based recipe organizer. In this extended podcast version of the show, we also talk about the thriving New York tech scene and get Brittain’s views on the state of the community there.

Listen to the show in the audio player below or via this MP3 file.

GeekWire is a media partner of the ALM Forum, and we also recently spoke with Ken Schwaber, the co-creator of Scrum, the keynoter at the event.

App of the Week: Steller storytelling app for iPhone.

Name that Tech Tune: The answer to last week’s challenge: RBI Baseball, circa 1988, for the NES. Congrats to our winner, Don Amick, who won tickets to the GeekWire Bash, and even competed in the ping-pong tournament, winning a match before falling to the eventual champ.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.