Welcome to ‘Start-Ups: Silicon Valley’: Another dimension of hell

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As a Bravo junkie, I’ll give any show a shot. And now that Andy Cohen and Co. have moved their exploitation machine into Silicon Valley, it’s time to watch what the kids in northern Cali are up to. Yesterday, we dropped into the Seattle offices of Cheezburger. Today we meet the malcontents of “Start-Ups: Silicon… Read More…

Review: Is Bravo’s new ‘LOLWork’ reality TV show a Fail for Cheezburger?

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As Bravo continues its march across tech land, it looks north to our own lovely Seattle and Cheezburger, the creators of the Daily What, FAIL blog, Memebase and more. Yes, the lolcat creators have landed on the network known for housewives, love gurus and house flippers. “LOLWork” debuts Wednesday, but it is already available on Hulu…. Read More…

5 Questions: How author Maria Semple nailed Microsoft’s culture

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Maria Semple’s new Seattle-based book, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, is a hilarious take on our fair city and all it has to offer — Craftsman houses, helicopter parents and, of course, the importance of tech in this town. None other than Microsoft plays a big part in this story of Bernadette, a MacArthur Genius Award-winning… Read More…

Oregon medical-records company Kryptiq sold to Surescripts

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Oregon is more than that little bastion of ‘Portlandia’ jokes sandwiched in between Seattle and Silicon Valley — they have tech, too. And this week Hillsboro-based Kryptiq, an electronic medical records company, announced that it has been sold to Virginia-based Surescripts. As Oregonlive.com reports, Surescripts already owned a small stake in Kryptiq (acquired in 2010),… Read More…

Paul McCartney returns to streaming music sites

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In February, we reported that Paul McCartney had pulled his music from streaming sites, like Rhapsody, Spotify and Rdio. It appears that the Beatle’s camp has changed their minds — some of McCartney’s music is back online. Spotify has added his solo album, Ram (1971). Memory Almost Full (2007) and this year’s Kisses on the… Read More…

Uber Entertainment closer to ‘Planetary Annihilation’ with $900,000 Kickstarter effort

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Do you sit around all day, wishing you could engage in some post-apocalyptic planet-destroying action, pitting your strategy against other wannabe planet-destroyers in real time? Well, ‘Planetary Annihilation’ is one step closer to becoming the reality to pin all your intergalactic planetary destruction hopes and energies on. Because that stuff really needs to get channeled… Read More…

Put your John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence with DocuSign

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If slapping your signature on the Declaration of Independence is a dream of yours, then today is your lucky day. Seattle and San Fran-based DocuSign and the Spirit of Liberty Foundation are allowing everyday folks to electronically sign the iconic document to show their support of American troops and their families. If you’d like to… Read More…

Zappos to let Pinterest users show picks via PinPointing

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With all the social networking and such online it was only a matter of time until shopping got more into the act, too. Zappos has announced a new page called PinPointing that recommends products based on Pinterest posts. As Bloomberg reports, San Francisco-based Zappos Labs created PinPointing, which loads Zappos products — shoes, clothes, etc…. Read More…

Oatmeal’s Tesla fundraising campaign tops $1 million

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It seemed like such a miniscule amount when Mike Myers asked for “one million dollars” as Dr. Evil. But, seriously, a million is a lot of coin. And the Oatmeal, a.k.a. Seattle online cartoonist Matt Inman, has made more than a cool million for his “Let’s Build a Goddamn Tesla Museum” campaign. It all kicked… Read More…

Space elevators: 5 questions for conference chair Bryan Laubscher

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The Space Elevator Conference is in town this weekend. Intrigued by the concept, we talked to the general chair of the event, Bryan Laubscher, who also owns Odysseus Technologies located right here in Washington state. Laubscher answered five quick questions on why space elevator technology matters: What are the top three things you wish to… Read More…

Microsoft’s Xbox Live gets political with election portal

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Election Day may still be more than two months away, but Microsoft announced some efforts today to get more young people informed about this upcoming election. And their medium of choice to convey this message? Xbox, of course. Sorry, but you won’t be able to vote for Master Chief. “Election 2012″ on Xbox Live will be… Read More…

Study of Seattle consumers shows how weather influences online shopping

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One particularly bleak January day, while staring at my computer screen for what seemed the 17th hour on an incredibly tedious, time-consuming freelance project, I did what many would do — I turned to Zappos. Two days later, more than $800 in Frye boots landed at my doorstep. It was then that I realized that… Read More…

Live on Twitter, Paul Allen covers battleship salvage

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When he’s not partying with has-been celebs, Paul Allen is hosting a salvage crew aboard his Octopus yacht — and reporting back to the world about what’s happening. In a series of tweets started earlier today, the Microsoft co-founder is documenting the recovery process of the bell from the HMS Hood battleship in the North Atlantic…. Read More…

Going up? Space Elevator dreams will be alive in Seattle this weekend

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Space elevators may not be a reality — yet — but if you want to revel in talks about these awesome lifts to the sky and beyond, then this is your weekend. The 2012 Space Elevator Conference is landing at the Museum of Flight right here in Seattle. That’s right, Saturday through Monday, scientists, engineers… Read More…

This week in Facebook: Stock lows and ‘Sub-Zero’ back-up plans

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Wow, what another crummy week for the social media master Facebook. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Facebook stock hit a new low, much like your drunk, shirtless Uncle Jimmy at the 4th of July barbecue when he attempted to light fireworks from a lit cigarette in his mouth. OK, maybe not that low,… Read More…

Highlighter, 20MM release free interactive sociology book

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Do you remember hitting ye olde campus bookstore back in your college days and getting sticker-shock from the final tally on your books? Yep, it’s expensive. Educational nonprofit 20 Million Minds Foundation (20MM) and publishing platform developer Highlighter announced their partnership on a new book for fall, Introduction to Sociology. And it’s free. Both organizations… Read More…

PopCap launches new game, Plants vs. Zombies store amid EA buyout speculation

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Much is happening for PopCap this week, with the launch of new game Vacation Quest and an online Plants v. Zombies store. All in the midst of buyout rumors of its parent company, Electronic Arts, reported by that little scamp of New York journalism, the New York Post. Let’s start with the EA thing: Yesterday,… Read More…

Katniss vs. Harry: Hunger Games outsells Harry Potter on Amazon

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It’s happened. Something has outsold the Harry Potter series on Amazon. And that something is Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series. Heck, even Bill Gates liked it. Amazon announced today that the three-book Hunger Games series following hero Katniss Everdeen’s adventures of survival and derring-do have outsold the seven-book Potter series that followed those lovable wizards… Read More…

The Oatmeal channels awesome money-making powers of Internet again for Tesla Museum

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The Oatmeal, aka Matt Inman, tested his Internet rainmaking prowess just a bit ago with his hilarious and awesome Operation BearLove Good, Cancer Bad campaign against Funny Junk, raising more than $200,000  and snapping a nice “FU” pic to boot. Now, he’s set on helping to create a Tesla Museum. No, not Tesla the band…. Read More…