10 questions: ‘Existence’ author David Brin on science fiction, science and geeks

David Brin

One could successfully argue that modern geek culture wouldn’t exist in its current form without 20th century science fiction and its fan culture, the true Ancient Geeks. Tech’s unconferences have their roots in PowerPoint-free, volunteer-organized, fan-driven science-fiction conventions run by organizations such as the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS), which go back nearly eight… Read More…

The Geek’s Guide to Air Travel

geeksguideairtravel

You say you know what it’s like to live like a geek. But do you know how to fly like one? I do. And not like the annoyingly self-important “look at these cool-expensive-huge headphones that I just bought with the red light that make me look like a Star Wars Cloud City administrative aide“ road warriors…. Read More…

Two GeekWire weeks, three entrepreneurial lessons

geekwiretumbles

Twice in the span of one month I did something I hadn’t done for a decade — worked in a newsroom. Those two partial weeks that I spent enfolded, tauntaun like, in the guts of GeekWire taught me more about the current state of journalism and entrepreneurship than a year of reading armchair opinions ever… Read More…

Science fiction writers inspired as asteroid miners make fiction fact

eonbook

It was the very last question at the news conference announcing Planetary Resources’ plans to find mineral-rich asteroids, pull them into near-Earth orbit, and mine them. Did science fiction play a role? The response was an accurate, but unsatisfyingly vague, “Science fiction is fiction right up to the point that it’s science fact.” The Seattle area, which hosted… Read More…

Will a $199 Google tablet hurt or help the Kindle Fire?

kindlefire1-small

Next to politics, perhaps no industry loves speculation more than tech. We may couch it as “analysis” or — if we’re being especially honest with ourselves — as “commentary” or “opinion.” But at its best, even when fact-based, it’s informed guesswork. Which leads me to the latest rumor of a Google Nexus tablet. Digitimes was… Read More…

7 steps to raise a geek child

Photo via Bigstock

It’s inevitable. New babies are coming into the world. I began to notice this when former colleagues were no longer available for a chat, coffee or Words with Friends. Instead, I heard them use long-forgotten phrases, terms such as “t-ball practice” or “play date.” And I suddenly realized my geek acquaintances were producing little geeklets…. Read More…

Inside Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing Sky Interior

Sculpted ceiling, sloping bins and window recesses add to a feel of spaciousness

For 17 years, I have qualified to be a sardine. That is to say that — since some time in 1996 —  I have so often tightly packed my 6’4″ self into winged metal containers filled with people that I have qualified for MVP Gold status on Alaska Airlines every year. “Sardine” is one of… Read More…

How car dealers embrace, and erode, the web

prius200

We may finally be seeing how business, when faced with a technological threat, adapts. Not by changing practices. But by waiting until it can develop antibodies to overwhelm the intruder. Twelve years ago, I bought my first car online. Routine as it might sound now, it was a Big Deal back then. The web (still… Read More…

When eBooks attack, mass paperbacks die

kindle79

The mass market paperback is dead. It just doesn’t know it yet. Ailing for months, its demise is now all but assured by Amazon’s recent bold announcement. Not the over-analyzed, over-iPad-compared Kindle Fire announcement. Rather, by the far less interesting news – to the gadgetphiles – that the least expensive, wonderfully readable and portable Kindle… Read More…

GeekWire Radio: Apple, Facebook and more, with Frank Catalano, Chris Pirillo

Chris Pirillo and Frank Catalano point fingers after the show in the KIRO studios (Erynn Rose photo)

This week on the GeekWire radio show and podcast, we put Steve Jobs’ resignation as Apple CEO into perspective and listen back to a classic moment from a classic product introduction by the Apple co-founder. We also talk about the latest Facebook privacy change and get some very interesting news about the future of the… Read More…