Microsoft research: 4 habits of the multi-screen viewer

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Nowadays, with all the gadgets available to us, multi-tasking with multiple devices has become a regularity. While watching the game on TV, we’ll Tweet about it on our smartphone. When shopping on our PCs, we might use a tablet to find reviews. And if we have more questions about the cast members while watching The… Read More…

Youth movement: Paul Allen donates $7.5 million to five up-and-coming scientists

Paul Allen

Paul Allen is giving his money to five young scientists he thinks need a little cash to answer fundamental questions in biology. The Paul G. Allen Foundation announced today $7.5 million in funding to the second round of the Allen Distinguished Investigators, a three-year grant program that supports scientists’ research. The foundation says that these five… Read More…

Leaning left or right? This browser plugin looks to bring balance to political news

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It’s an election year, which means a lot of mud is being slung in various media outlets. Oftentimes, it’s hard to find the truth among all of the clutter. But a new online tool could help identify biases in news reporting, pointing consumers of news to other viewpoints, especially when they’ve been fed too many… Read More…

U.S. Census Bureau opens new research center at UW

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The U.S. Census Bureau and the University of Washington today formally announced the opening of a new Census Research Data Center at the university’s College of Arts and Sciences. It becomes one of 15 Research Data Centers (RDCs) across the country, allowing researchers to dig deep into demographic, economic, public health and household surveys. “This Census Research… Read More…

Many residents in state live in ‘rural information ghetto’

P-I newspaper boxes. Photo Kurt Schlosser

Researchers at Washington State University have concluded that large segments of the state are marooned in what they call a “rural information ghetto,” stuck with a lack of news coverage exacerbated by poor Internet access, bad cellular coverage and dwindling local journalism. For example, the report notes that 3.8 percent of the state’s residents do not… Read More…

Data furnaces: The next big thing in home heating?

Facebook's data center in Prineville, Oregon

Data centers produce massive amounts of heat, so much so that companies like Facebook have gone to extreme lengths to develop innovative cooling systems to make sure that servers don’t overheat. But what if you could turn the excess heat from data centers into a home heating solution? Researchers at Microsoft and The University of… Read More…

Amazon.com, Costco among the most trusted brands

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Amazon.com has been taking some hits lately, with at least two congressmen arguing that the company’s new Silk browser for Kindle could violate the privacy of consumers. But that possible setback isn’t having an impact on American shoppers –at least not yet. Amazon.com ranked that the second most trusted company in a new study released… Read More…

IPO window closes, raises fears among venture capitalists

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Over the course of the past week, I’ve bumped into a venture capitalist and a high-tech lawyer who shared with me nearly identical information. Basically, they said things are slowing down. And now here’s more evidence of that fact. During the third quarter, just three venture-backed companies completed IPOs. That’s down 77 percent from the… Read More…