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Op-Ed: Who Will Own the Driverless Car?

Michael van Baker — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:55:43 +0000

What's most disruptive about the technology of driverless cars might be the economics of scale they offer, making their use more of a mandate than any legal requirement. It seems rational to spend $30,000 on a car, until it doesn't.

Car2Go, Shared Life, and the Productivity of Possessions

Michael van Baker — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:09:35 +0000

Now there are company-run car-sharing services (Zipcar, who'll give you $75 in driving credit if you sign up now; Car2Go, offering 30 minutes of drive time) and individual car-sharing services employing electronic thumbs: Sidecar matches drivers with passengers, who can tip if they want, as does Lyft (also coming to Seattle). RelayRides lets car owners rent their actual cars.

Mr. Jimbo Metastasizing, or, You Can’t Always Death What You Want: Greil Marcus On The Doors

Andrew Hamlin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:30:43 +0000

Greil Marcus' new book tackles sex, death, decadence, flirting with disaster, the many-spendored harvest of dedicated disaster, and the toxic effects of the '60s as a cultural consensus, all refracted through the Doors' signature tunes.

Washington’s Employee Unions Like Qliance’s Direct Primary Care Costs

Michael van Baker — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:30:49 +0000

"This means," explains Qliance helpfully, "all Sound Health & Wellness Trust members, including the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 21, Washington state’s largest employee union, can now choose to receive direct primary care from Qliance in addition to coverage from their current SoundPlus PPO benefit plan, and doing so will actually lower their individual weekly premium. For example, employee-only coverage premiums would be reduced from $9 per week to $5 per week."

From the Publisher: The SunBreak’s Progress, Chapter 3

Michael van Baker — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:35:55 +0000

What's new-ish? We just anointed Tony Kay as our new music editor. Audrey Hendrickson is now our managing arts editor. Philippa Kiraly writes for us occasionally about classical music. I always feel like I need to get out there and interview more people just for being themselves, but you know Seattle--people are shy. I believe we're in the double digits in actual paying subscribers now. It's always thrilling to get that email from PayPal.

Earthquake Prep: Is the Northwest Tech Sector Ready?

Arne Christensen — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:30:57 +0000

Bellevue does sit right on top of the Seattle Fault Zone, on a section that has broken the surface and thrust itself upward. As such, the area has experienced repeated very intense shaking, much larger than any of the earthquakes we’ve had since the city was founded. Are Eastside buildings ready for that earthquake? It is worth taking the time to work out how well the buildings you occupy handle quakes: Were they built with earthquakes in mind?