The region's...er...inclement weather must have given an extra boost to Amazon.com's sales this season. Or maybe depressed, laid-off people everywhere felt like the malls were too much to handle and decided to shop online, instead. Either way, Amazon had the best Christmas ever! All that money couldn't plow the roads, though, and Seattlest's gifts, guaranteed by Amazon to arrive at our house by Christmas Eve, still haven't landed on our doorstep. We pulled the trusty "print out a picture from the website and put it in a pretty envelope" trick to make up for it. more ›

Weirdly, the case of Amazon's disappearing "Buy Now" button does, in fact, have something to do with Harry Potter. But it's more about accounting wizardry than the fun kind. more ›

MUSIC: We'd never heard of any of these bands before, but we're pretty sure the bill of Crap Happy Hookers, Eight Hour Disease [mp3] and Wack Job [mp3] at the Central tonight will, at the very least, be loud. It's part of the Central's weekly "Punks and Pints" series. more ›

To your roster of historic and colorful rhizomes (Russets, White Rose, Blue Victor, Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, Red Ruby...Cascade, Nooksack, Ontario, Seminole) you can now add the Ozette. It's a fingerling grown for centuries in the gardens of Makah Indians on Washington's most western coastline, brought there, it's believed, by Spanish conquistadors who had discovered all manner of edible tubers in the South American Andes. more ›

Who delivers the best customer service in the country? Amazon.com: According to the National Retail Federation/American Express survey gauging consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service, which was released Thursday, Amazon topped a number of venerable retailers for best meeting consumer needs. Who came in second? Nordstrom. Seventh? REI. That's right: local companies took 3 of the top 10 spots on the survey. A nationwide survey. "Online consumers are completely changing the definition of service," said... more ›

Tonight, Capitol Hill officially joins the club, with their first (ever?) Capitol Hill Art Walk at 7-9pm. The CHAW, as people who enjoy smokeless tobacco like to say, will be a monthly First Thursday event, just like the ones in Pioneer Square and Downtown. more ›