Apple Stores worldwide are shutting down for an hour (10-11 Pacific) today to watch a live stream of a memorial for Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder, company-rescuer, and industry-revolutionizer who died two weeks ago. The memorial will take place at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. more ›

Scrap that green blazer you bought: Amanda Knox is probably the season's worst Halloween costumer. And not because it's too soon. Also, Microsoft is acquiring Skype! more ›

While the protests at Westlake seem to have finally gotten the attention of the rest of the media (arrests have that effect), that's not all that's going on. Here's what you may have missed while you were Occupying Seattle: more ›

A Microsoft blogger says that, since 2006, Hotmail users have experienced a dramatic decrease in spam. Unfortunately, that still doesn't stop us from judging people with an email address ending in "@hotmail.com." more ›

Before you head out to happy hour or whatever sunshine-stuffed activity you're planning, catch up on the news of the day with our afternoon round-up. It involves Xboxes, interns, and armed robbery! more ›

Whales involved in questionable mating practices, Microsoft makes questionable naming choices, and there's no question about getting impounded if you get caught driving drunk. more ›

Hikes and declines in the news today. Tuition is up, the Mayor is down and Weinergate rages on. more ›

A super scientific poll, in which we decide who we'd pick--Paul or Bill. more ›

Our fair city is still small enough that it's exciting when we get a mention in the New York Times. It's especially exciting when our history is dissected into what's basically a glowing review of our priorities and way of life. more ›

• Seattle Hempfest organizers are suing the city over its refusal to grant permits to hold the event at its usual site, Myrtle Edward Park. [KING]
• Nokia reached a ginormous deal with Microsoft to run the 'Soft's operating system on its phones. [NYT]
• The police probe into an off-duty officer who kicked a man's head may hurt the case against the three men who were attacking the officer in the first place. [Seattle Times]

For the first time ever in the history of the universe, someone has drawn a few parallels between the ascent of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and our own Bill Gates with Microsoft back in the day. more ›

Microsoft has caught some flak for trailing behind (far behind) Apple in producing a tablet computer that can compete with the popular iPad. However the New York Times is reporting that CEO Steve Ballmer will announce details about Microsoft's own slate-like devices next month, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, to be precise. more ›

Love her or hate her, everyone knows Barbie. She's an iconic American standard for all things female and boy oh boy does she get railed against. First it's her body then it's her tumultuous relationship with Ken (including last year’s ill-planned Ken tramp stamp tattoo), then it's her materialism and phew, when Barbie said "math is hard," it was the sound bite heard 'round the world. The girl can do nothing right. more ›

People were lining up over a day in advance to get into the awesome launch party for Microsoft's latest offering in their critically acclaimed Halo franchise, Halo: Reach. The event gave rabid Halo fans the chance to playtest the game and count down to the midnight launch together in the futuristic comfort of a hazy, laser-filled auditorium at Seattle's Experience Music Project. While the fans fragged each other at one of the many stations set up to demo the title, this Seattlest snuck in behind enemy lines to get some exclusive time with two of the key people behind the game: Bonnie Ross, the general manager for the Halo franchise, and Josh Holmes, the studio creative director and the visionary behind the Halo: Reach experience. more ›

Mayor Mike McGinn invited Steve Ballmer to a public town hall to discuss the proposed 520 bridge plan in a letter sent to the Microsoft CEO. Microsoft took out a full-page ad in the Seattle Times calling for immediate action on the 520 bridge. We have the full text: more ›

But some people who live near the bridge are ready to keep fighting, to make sure a light rail line is included, which right now isn't part of the Washington Department of Transportation's plan. more ›

If the first couple days of this week were any indication, this won't be a bad week for Seattle-area businesses to take a long weekend and spend some time licking their wounds in the company of their nearest and dearest. more ›

William Whitteker makes up with confidence what he lacks in any coherent business strategy, saying: "Bill Gates is going to have to move down the line. He's not going to be top dog anymore." more ›

TechFlash sat in on Microsoft's Mac unit conference call this morning, thinking the surprise announcement might be about Office on the iPhone (honestly, like our phone doesn't crash enough already), but it turns out they're just getting around to burying Entourage, and will offer an Office for Mac suite that contains Outlook. Finally Mac users in an Exchange environment won't feel like a red-headed stepchild. In the meantime, current Office 2008 users can download a more Exchange-friendly Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition here. more ›

After years of swatting away (or paying up) those pesky patent infringement cases, Microsoft finally got stung by the court system. more ›

After 18 long months of on-again, off-again online business romance, Microsoft and Yahoo have final sealed the deal. The two announced today they will team up in an effort to chip away at Google's dominating lead in the search engine marketplace. more ›

Amazon buys Zappos, the online shoe store. Amazon already runs high-end shoes and accessories site Endless.com. Zymogenetics stock is up with promising new lupus treatment. more ›

Amazon is getting sued for broken Kindles and promises to replace them at no charge. JP Morgan says there will be no new layoffs in Seattle, where it purged WaMu's operations after taking it over several months ago. More UW scientists are cashing in on their lab work and raising venture capital to go into the biofuel business. more ›

Ouch! TechFlash reported this morning that Microsoft has hired Morgan Stanley to unload digital ad agency Razorfish, possibly on some unsuspecting French ad giant. TechFlash theorizes that the Razorfish layoffs of late have been prep work, to get the firm into auction-block shape. One place Razorfish laid-offs can skip applying at is Wongdoody, which just cut its staff by 17 (or 10 percent). This is what they get for colorizing penguins. more ›

So we thought Microsoft's big ol' ray of Bing was a one time deal. Then last night, the UFO-esque light was back again shining in all its blurry glory. So, was it a re-do from Tuesday's celebration? Or was the light for the decision engine's new travel section? We wonder if we'll see it again tonight. Until then Bing, you've left us all in the dark. more ›

Welp, it's either coincidence or the signs of a major midlife crisis. First, Bill Gates signed a pair of cowboy boots for charity. Now, according to the Cody (WY) Enterprise, Gates has purchased historic Irma Lake Lodge, a property once owned by Buffalo Bill Cody. Is the software king going cowboy on us? more ›

In case you missed it or were just confused, the racket from the helicopters circling around the Space Needle last night was caused by the the giant light beam celebrating the launch of Microsoft's new decision engine, Bing. more ›

Attempting to compete with the wide world of Google search, this morning Microsoft introduced their newest (overhauled) search engine, Bing. The new engine has been designed as a "decision engine," to help navigate through the ridiculous amounts of trash we have cluttering the Internetz and provide a more productive and highly organized Internet search experience, as fast as computer-ly possible. The new search-a-roo, at www.bing.com is expected to be live on June 3. more ›

• Dog people, stop reading and just look at these cute puppies instead. Cat people, keep reading. PhinneyWood blog reports that Greenwood's cat-loving-adoption organization PAWS celebrates the adoption of it 10,000th kitty.
• Still wringing out their clothes, photos and soggy possessions, the residents of the recently flooded Wedgwood neighborhood want the city to foot the bill for all the damages the broken water main caused.
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