Hey, Seattlest doesn't have any bestsellers, gay or straight, banned or otherwise, but "software glitch?" C'mon. Even if it wasn't a deliberate wardrobe malfunction, Amazon's response was just pitiful, akin to the woman in charge of snowplows leaving town during December's storm. Twitter's out there pushing conspiracy theories, and Amazon's all "Nevermind." You'd think the company that pioneered online book sales would do a better job of managing an online crisis. Jeff Bezos, where are you? more ›

In a grim, darkly hilarious special report, the Times has confirmed that the guys in charge of dealing with Snowmageddon in December didn't know what they were doing--as in, they had no experience dealing with a major snowstorm and they made "questionable calls" right and left. From the report:

"Mr. Jackson had no idea of what was going on," said Sione Kongaika, a plow driver who recently retired after 31 years with the Seattle Department of Transportation. Two or three days into the first major snowfall, "all he was doing is yelling, 'We have to get more plows downtown. The mayor can't get to the office.' "

UW atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass became a local internet celebrity seemingly overnight during last year's Snowmageddon, when he was forecasting weather in circles around all the other so-called weathermen. In addition to his blog, he's got a book, The Weather of the Pacific Northwest, that came out last fall. His next lecture, "The Secrets of Northwest Weather Prediction," is tomorrow night at Town Hall (7:30 p.m.). Tickets are $5. more ›

We can't help but laugh at the news from snowed-in London, especially this bit: "As London ground to a virtual standstill Mayor Boris Johnson also faced questions over the inability of the capital's infrastructure to cope with six inches of snow. Mr Johnson admitted London did not have enough snow ploughs to keep the roads clear and defended the decision to suspend all bus services, which left thousands of angry commuters stranded." Seems like Seattle's Mayor Nickels could provide some detailed messaging help for Boris Johnson on 6-inch snowfalls, a paucity of snow plows, and suspended transit. more ›