Articles about Frank Catalano – Page 2 of 6

No more coffees with startups: 3 ways they waste everyone’s time

So far in 2015, I’m doing a great job of keeping my only resolution – to give up coffees. Not… Read More

Sneak peek: Check out this galactically-awesome Star Wars costume exhibit debuting in Seattle

It’s not whether you embrace the light side or the dark side. It’s how you dress the part. That, in a… Read More

Can you count to $2 billion? Education technology investment hits new record

Education technology is a weird little industry. But you may never fully appreciate exactly how weird until you start to… Read More

Paper is back: Why ‘real’ books are on the rebound

All hail paper, the book reading technology resurgent. Eight years after the first Amazon Kindle and five years since the… Read More

Preserving the future: A rare glimpse inside the EMP Museum vault

I have seen the future. And it looks a bit ratty. That was my not-so-charitable reaction when I got up-close… Read More

Amazon Echo in the house: Superior streaming speaker with so-so smarts

At one end of the intelligent audio spectrum is the gadget that hangs on to your every word, a vocal… Read More

The geeky tech behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

This month marks the 50th anniversary of one of the technological marvels of modern geek culture. I am, of course,… Read More

Happy Holidays, it’s the Christmas Troll!

I’ll never forget the gift I unwrapped last Christmas. It came by digital delivery: A colorful package of incendiary words… Read More

Santa, all I want for Christmas is my 2.0

Dear Santa Tech, I won’t humblebrag: I’ve been good this year. Very good. I didn’t click on links in email… Read More

By TesseUndDaan (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Scientific literacy: Buried under tech’s trappings

We are living in the era of artificial scientific literacy. And for that I blame iPhones, geek culture, and STEM.… Read More

Interstellar: Dramatic awe, with a science-fiction flaw

Sure, Interstellar is smart spectacle. But is it good science fiction? In short: Interstellar tries hard. Maybe a little too… Read More

How online scammers created a fake identity using little more than my picture

I am not the me that others think I should be. Especially if you judge my identity by those who… Read More

By NIAID (HIV-infected T cell) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

From AIDS to Ebola: In rumor control, only the tech changes

As a species, we don’t seem to get any smarter about rumors and misinformation – even if our technology evolves.… Read More

Alaska Airlines’ biometric boarding pass: Lifting, or giving, a finger?

How much perceived privacy are you willing to give up to reduce pain? That’s one of the questions Alaska Airlines… Read More

By Jeremy Keith (Flickr: Cuddling with multiple devices) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Google, Apple, Microsoft: Propelled, and trapped, by their brands

Thought experiment: You have developed a groundbreaking computing device, a worthy hardware challenger to every laptop, tablet, phablet, and phone… Read More

Finding a good way to share really bad news on social media

I’m about to overshare on sharing. I have good reason. In mid-June, my wife Dee Dee was diagnosed with breast… Read More

How Microsoft can use Minecraft to build its education strategy

Educators had the right to feel a little freaked out about Microsoft’s announcement that it was acquiring Minecraft maker Mojang.… Read More

Why I’ll never again fully buy into Apple’s ecosystem

When I first heard Apple was making a Big Announcement on September 9, I thought it was great that a… Read More

Stealth escalators, driverless subways and more Scandinavian technologies that we need now

At times, the coolest technology isn’t the bright-shiny object that glares at you demanding recognition of its awesomeness. It’s the… Read More

Podcast

GeekWire Radio: Life without Facebook, a 400-year time capsule, and more from columnist Frank Catalano

We have a special episode of the GeekWire radio show for you this week, featuring columnist Frank Catalano revisiting some of his… Read More

Nuking Facebook: 30 days later, the fallout

A month ago I did the unthinkable. I quit Facebook. There’s a lot you might learn from my experience, even… Read More

We are the Keepers: Time Capsule makes 1st stop on 400-year journey

It was like witnessing the creation of a “generation ship” — a vessel that requires multiple human lifespans to reach… Read More

Digitally clueless: Why I finally canceled the Seattle Times

Dear Seattle Times executives, I’m writing you in the traditional letter-to-the-editor format because it’s one with which I’m certain you’re… Read More

How the Seattle Public Library is helping authors overcome the Internet’s big lie

An early and persistent myth of the web is that the Internet levels the playing field for commerce and content.… Read More

Facebook, you are dead to me … for now

Friends, and you are my “friends:” I’m giving up on Facebook. No more status updates, no more vacation photos, no… Read More

I see dead words: Terminology that technology has left behind

There are words that are dead. They just don’t know it yet. The advance of technology has left, in its wake,… Read More

Lies my Fitbit tells me

It started at that stage in a relationship where the exhilaration and newness wears off. After eight months, I could no longer… Read More

Microsoft wades into education again with ‘Office Mix’ tool for PowerPoint

It’s not easy being the big kid at the popular children’s pool. Yet that’s exactly where Microsoft finds itself with… Read More

An open letter to wannabe edtech entrepreneurs: Welcome to the crowd

Hey, thanks for your tweet asking if you should do an edtech startup based on what I saw at this… Read More

By Stomchak (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Phished! Lessons learned from my smartphone stumble

When it comes to tech scams, in the immortal words of Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots, I have shamed myself.… Read More