“2020 may be the year where tech unionizing efforts gain some actual traction for the first time,” argues GeekWire: The chances of this happening in 2020 reflect several factors in the industry and political landscape coming together in the right way for the first time ever. The “Streisand Effect” is basically where the actions you take to prevent what you most…
Tag: seattle
Is Fry’s Electronics in Trouble?
The tagline “Your best buys are always at Fry’s” once blanketed Bay Area airwaves, but that’s no longer true of the computer retailer’s Palo Alto store. From a report: A temple of electronics known as “ground zero for geek culture,” the Portage Avenue Fry’s Electronics closed last week after almost 30 years in business. “The Palo Alto store was a fixture…
Amazon is Opening the Largest Family Shelter in Washington State Right Inside Its Headquarters
Amazon is building a homeless shelter on its Seattle campus. From a report: The proposed shelter, which is being co-created by nonprofit Mary’s Place, will live in Amazon’s Seattle headquarters and is set to open sometime in the first quarter of 2020. The new shelter will have the capacity to serve approximately 275 people each night. This is only about two…
New Amazon Scanner Can Identify Shoppers By The Veins In Their Hand
An anonymous reader quotes USA Today: What if you could pay for your groceries using your veins? Amazon filed a patent for technology that could identify you by scanning the wrinkles in the palm of your hand and by using a light to see beneath your skin to your blood vessels. The resulting images could be used to identify you as…
Five Cities Account For Vast Majority of Growth In Tech Jobs, Study Finds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Just five metropolitan areas — Boston; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; and San Jose, Calif. — accounted for 90% of all U.S. high-tech job growth between 2005 to 2017 (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source), according to the research (PDF) by think-tank scholars Mark Muro and Jacob Whiton of the Brookings…
The Case For Portland-To-Vancouver High-Speed Rail
At the Cascadia Rail Summit outside Seattle, a fledgling scheme to bring high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver found an enthusiastic reception. Gregory Scruggs writes via CityLab: Only 175 miles separate Portland from Seattle. Then it’s another 140 miles north to Vancouver, British Columbia. The three Pacific Northwest cities, which together form the Cascadia megaregion, are currently served by Amtrak service…
A better way to convert dog years to human years
Researchers collected DNA samples from 104 Labrador retrievers over a 16-year period. They compared changes in their DNA samples against DNA previously collected from humans. The result? A better sense of what a “dog year” really means. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/a-better-way-to-convert-dog-years-to-human-years…
Mystery Sounds From Storms Could Help Predict Tornadoes
Mysterious rumbles that herald tornadoes could one day be used to predict when and where they will strike, according to researchers. From a report: Storms emit sounds before tornadoes form, but the signals at less than 20Hz are below the limit for human hearing. What causes these rumbles has also been a conundrum. Now researchers said they have narrowed down the…
Amazon Is Planning To Open Cashierless Supermarkets Next Year
Amazon.com is preparing to open Amazon Go supermarkets and pop-up stores, an expansion of the company’s cashierless ambitions that includes the possibility of licensing the technology to other retailers. From a report: The new store formats and licensing initiative could launch as soon as the first quarter of 2020, according to a person familiar with the project. Amazon is testing a…
Why Two Pentesters In Iowa Are Facing A Criminal Investigation and Trespassing Charges
Ars Technica’s security editor re-visits the story of two security penetration testers from Coalfire who were arrested one midnight in the county courthouse in Adel, Iowa (population 3,682): “They were crouched down like turkeys peeking over the balcony,” Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard said in an interview. “Here we are at 12:30 in the morning confronted with this issue — on…