It’ll surely be rocking at Lumen Field in Seattle on Saturday when the Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL playoff matchup. But will it be “Beast Quake” rocking?

Seismic sensors installed at the stadium this week will determine whether the 12s — the Seahawks’ energetic fan base — can move the earth while cheering for the team.

It’s the latest scientific study with a sports tie-in from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN), an organization that monitors earthquakes and volcanoes in Washington and Oregon.

On Monday, a PNSN field operations team installed six stations throughout Lumen Field to capture seismic energy produced by the collective movement of fans.

“With these six seismometers, we have Lumen Field ‘wired up’ and we can record exactly how the excitement of the crowd leads to shaking of the ground, much like an earthquake does,” PNSN Director Harold Tobin at the University of Washington said in a news release. “We expect the massive crowd of 12s to generate measurable seismic energy. It’s a fun way to show the world exactly how much, in a scientific way, and to learn something about the seismic waves in the process.”

The project builds on previous in-stadium deployments during Seahawks playoff games in 2014, 2015, and 2017. Marshawn Lynch’s legendary Beast Quake run against the New Orleans Saints was recorded in 2011.

Last fall, PNSN recorded the shaking down the street at T-Mobile Park during the Mariners’ historic playoff run. Seismic activity was recorded when Jorge Polanco hit a game-winning single to win a 15-inning marathon against the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series and when Geno Suárez hit a grand slam in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Based at the UW within the College of the Environment, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network operates over 700 seismic stations across Washington and Oregon.

PNSN will stream results Saturday through real-time seismograms available on pnsn.org during the Seahawks game. PNSN’s social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Bluesky will also share updates.

Related:

• Will Seahawks fans have reason to cheer against 49ers? Stadium cameras will capture the reaction

For every action during Saturday’s Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers NFL playoff game, there will hopefully be an equal and positive reaction from fans at Lumen Field. And it will all be caught on camera.

Whether or not there’s another dramatic tip to send the Niners packing, more than 68,000 fans in the stands will be captured in their seats by a multicamera system from Momento.

Chicago-based Momento first partnered with the Seahawks in October 2023. The company also captures images during Seattle Mariners and Kraken games.

There are 16 cameras positioned around Lumen Field, snapped by an operator during big plays when fans get to their feet and show excitement. Fans can search the Seahawks/Momento website for their section, row and seat number and see and download a variety of photos.

For the Seahawks vs. Rams “Thursday Night Football” game on Dec. 18, fans could search a drop-down menu for several big plays such as “JSN in in!” and “O-M-G Shaheed!”

The Seattle Times reported that Seahawks fans have downloaded 48,000 images so far this season, according to Momento founder and CEO Austin Fletcher. Mariners fans downloaded 100,000 images during the team’s postseason run, he added.

In a post on Facebook three years ago, Fletcher likened the technology to roller coaster ride photos, but for sports fans. The company partners with teams to drive increased fan engagement and revenue opportunities by selling photo prints and commemorative physical tickets featuring captured images.

Momento expanded its NFL partner roster in 2025 with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, and Washington Commanders. 

Fans worried about privacy or how their likeness is being used give up some of those rights based on the NFL’s and Lumen Field’s terms of use agreement for ticket holders. The Times noted that Momento does honor opt-out requests for fans who don’t want their images shown.

In an appearance on FOX 13 Seattle a few weeks ago, Momento COO Todd Albright said website visitors looking for images are only allowed to enter a couple of seat locations rather than being able to search endlessly for faces in the crowd.

The Seahawks and the 49ers play in an NFC divisional round playoff game Saturday in Seattle at 5 p.m. on FOX.

Holiday cheers turned to jeers directed at Amazon last week as some film fans were surprised by a gutted version of the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Prime Video.

The 1946 film stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a man who learns the value of his life after seeing what the world would be like without him.

In a story on Christmas Day, the New York Post called out Amazon for airing a “butchered” version of the film that is shorter than the original and missing a key sequence that the newspaper calls “the movie’s emotional core.”

Unsuspecting viewers who clicked on the cut copy vented on social media, calling it “an abomination” and “sacrilege.”

A search of the movie title on Prime Video on Monday morning brought up a few options, including a black and white version, a color version, and one clearly marked “abridged.” That version included a description which read, in part, “a condensed ending but still contains all the sweetness and Christmas wonder.”

It’s unclear if Amazon recently added the “abridged” labeling on that version. We reached out to the company for comment and will update when we hear back.

The Post story, and an accompanying video (below), detailed how the missing sequence factors into the film as a distraught George Bailey — who wishes he’d never been born — sees how his hometown of Bedford Falls devolves into a corrupt, neon-lit “Pottersville” without his existence.

The sequence helps Bailey realize how important his simple life is in shaping the fate of many, and his despair turns to joy.

The existence of the shorter version of the movie is not the work of Amazon editors, but rather is rooted in the copyright history of the film, as the Post points out.

A 2022 University of Connecticut law school blog post explains how the film fell into the public domain when its distributor failed to renew its copyright in 1974. This lapse helped turn “It’s a Wonderful Life” into a holiday classic because TV stations freely aired the movie for decades around Christmas without paying royalties.

In the 1990s, Republic Pictures regained control of the movie when it argued that it held properly maintained rights to two underlying elements: the original short story “The Greatest Gift,” by Philip Van Doren Stern, and the musical score by Dimitri Timokin.

Television networks were directed to stop playing “It’s a Wonderful Life” without permission or the payment of royalties. The Post reported that the abridged version appears to be a workaround that removes the “Pottersville” sequence to avoid infringing on a key portion most directly adapted from the short story.

Anxious skiers and snowboarders refreshing social media and other websites for updates on Washington’s Stevens Pass have a new tool to track the resort’s delayed opening: a streamlined status page built by a snowboarding software engineer.

Matheus Gonçalves, a 25-year tech veteran, started snowboarding about five years ago. He’s been a pass holder at Stevens since he learned to ride, and like many winter sports enthusiasts, he’s been watching and waiting as the region recovers from extreme rainfall and flooding.

Posting on Reddit as @toadgeek, Gonçalves said he created his simple website as a one-stop update spot for Stevens and U.S. Highway 2 because he “got tired of playing browser tab whack a mole” while seeking information.

“For those of us who rely on snow sports as a physical activity, winter mental health and happiness outlet, the uncertainty and closures have been frustrating,” Gonçalves told GeekWire via email.

He acknowledged that anyone feeling anxious or impatient about getting to the mountain should remember all that has happened this month.

“The region has dealt with serious weather impacts, including flooding, landslides, and road washouts,” Gonçalves said. “WSDOT crews have been working hard to keep people safe and restore access. They are the highest priority now.”

While the weather dealt a blow to openings at other Washington resorts, the prospects for the season at Stevens have looked especially dire because of flood damage on Highway 2.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Stevens, which is owned by Vail Resorts, said the mountain has “received a good amount of snow” and is “working through intermittent power outages.” The resort added that it’s “encouraged by the recent updates from WSDOT.”

The delay has sparked friction over Vail’s refund policies. In another Instagram post, the resort noted that passes remain non-refundable because they are valid all season. “Our Epic Coverage refund policy does not extend to road or traffic challenges,” the resort stated.

Gonçalves said it’s important to remember that beyond the road repairs and broader weather impacts, “opening dates can swing a lot year to year, and this kind of timing is not unheard of.”

Gonçalves built his website to provide a data-driven answer without predictions. It pulls road status from WSDOT public APIs, pulls resort operations from Stevens Pass official pages, and loosely uses official social accounts only as secondary confirmation.

He’s been iterating after hours, keeping it intentionally simple, with a cache that refreshes every 20 minutes. He plans to add small context improvements like separate eastbound and westbound road status, clearer timestamps, and maybe some direct links back to each official source. He also might add a minimal weather station snapshot and links out to NOAA forecasts. He plans to keep the site up after everything opens.

Gonçalves isn’t alone in coding for the community. Another snowboarder on Reddit, OtoNoOto, highlighted a site called Stevens Pass Companion that shares similar information and plans to expand to data on all Washington resorts.

For Gonçalves, who grew up surfing and skateboarding in Brazil before moving to the U.S. more than a decade ago, the project is about maximizing a fleeting season.

“Snow is unbeatable,” he said. “I’m not getting any younger, so I’m going to make the best of every season I can for as long as my body allows.”

Plenty of people wear their heart on their sleeve. Yerjasn (Jason) Ait wore his resume on his chest.

Smartly taking advantage of an event attended by more than 750 members of Seattle’s tech community, Ait showed up at the GeekWire Gala Thursday night sporting a white T-shirt with his resume printed on the front.

For those who missed the fine print, a larger notice across his back read, “Internship Wanted. CV’s on the front.”

During a time of mass layoffs and a tough labor market, when many tech job seekers are having an unusually difficult time landing their next gig, Ait’s fashion choice was a prime example of reading the room — or having it read him.

“I was wondering how I can stand out in a crowd, because I’m an international student, my English is not perfect, and I’m still learning a lot of things,” Ait told GeekWire.

He grew up in Kazakhstan in the city of Almaty and moved to the U.S. a year and half ago to get his Master’s in Communication at the University of Washington.

“It was a big dream when I was a kid to study abroad, especially in the best university,” he said.

Ait is due to graduate in June, and, like the T-shirt says, he’s looking for an internship or early career role that would utilize his skills in people management, product development, problem solving, and more.

The T-shirt definitely got people’s attention at the Gala, where Ait said 25 or 30 attendees tapped him on the shoulder to compliment his idea or extend a business card. It was only his second time attending an event of that kind, and there was some fear to overcome.

“I was so scared to speak with people who are very successful — they’re professionals, experts — and it was like imposter syndrome at the beginning,” he said. “Somehow I overcame this fear and just started talking with people. And that’s fun.”

Ait was especially frazzled because he was still getting the T-shirt printed two hours before the event, and a QR code linking to his digital resume was supposed to be part of the design but didn’t make it. Then he had to sit in Seattle traffic getting south to the Showbox SoDo.

The struggle to find work is a real one for people who have far fewer obstacles to overcome than some of the ones Ait has faced. Indeed recently reported on how tech-related job postings remain stuck well below pre-pandemic levels in Seattle. Macroeconomic headwinds and a climate of change in the artificial intelligence era add to increased uncertainty.

“I had everything in my home country. I had a nice job, nice house. It was a great comfort zone,” Ait said. “But I challenged myself to be here in a new country with a total new environment, new language, new people. And sometimes I felt kind of insecure, unsure what I’m doing. But right now, I can see I’m on the right direction. Maybe someday I’ll find my dream job.”

The morning after the Gala, Ait wrote a post on LinkedIn about some of the insights he gained from wearing the shirt. He offered it up as a “small playbook for international students” who are also looking for work or an internship.

Among what he learned: “Go to more events like this. It’s a muscle. You train it. Each time, I get better — more confident, more sharp, more clear.”