Everyone knows by now that talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving in the District is illegal -- even if it is a poorly enforced and largely ignored law. But given the increasing popularity of SMS (and really, who actually talks on the phone anymore? I recently found myself incredibly frustrated that a close friend left me a voicemail. Who leaves garbled voicemail when you can shoot a quick, clear text?......

Jim Bowden has been a busy man this offseason. Since we last left the Nationals, they have acquired outfielder Elijah Dukes, infielder Aaron Boone, pitcher Tyler Clippard, and catcher Paul Lo Duca. They have also signed outfielder Wily Mo Pena to a one year deal. Betting that he can't possibly have two horrible years in a row, the Nats have also signed outfielder Ryan "more strikeouts than total bases" Langerhans to a one year deal.......

Though it is District law that cars must stop for pedestrians in every crosswalk, let's be honest -- very few actually do so. When I choose to walk to work, I'm often left to navigate the harrowing crosswalk at Connecticut Avenue and Wyoming Avenue NW, where even a sign reminding drivers of their responsibility to stop is regularly (and at high-speed) ignored. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) is hoping to change that. Cheh's office......

Good morning, Washington. It's news of the weird day today on DCist, as the Post tells the bizarre story of two 2nd-year engineering students from U-Va. who have been charged with the kidnapping of a man in Tysons Corner and demanding $500,000 in ransom. Both the two kidnappers and the victim are Chinese nationals who had been living with host families in Virginia while attending college. Police arrested Guanyu Lu and Baichuan Shu, both 19,......

Word of mouth is considered an important marketing tool these days; call it what you will, but it's still a great way to hear about new music, movies, TV, whatever. Usually the best way to find the good stuff is to talk to somebody whose opinions you respect, but sometimes just random folks can tell you about neat new stuff — some person at a party, a friend of a friend, or whoever. And sometimes......

>> It's Halloween! Spooky, Scary! Despite the taxi strike, SoberRide is still offering free taxi rides for people who have had too much to drink celebrating the holiday: If you need a ride home between 8 p.m. tonight and 4 a.m. tomorrow morning, call 1-800-200-TAXI and you should be able to get a free ride home of up to $50. How long you'll have to wait for that ride is an open question, but......

>> A police officer from the Seventh District is claiming his commander ordered him to give special treatment to a member of Mayor Fenty's staff who was caught talking on her cell phone while driving. [Examiner] >> "District Fire and Emergency Medical Services officials are investigating the death this morning of a recruit who became ill during training exercises yesterday." [WaPo] >> AOL plans to cut 2,000 more jobs, including 750 from their Dulles offices.......

Good morning, D.C. If by any chance you're a contractor with the city, you may be in for a rude awakening this morning, as City Manager Dan "The Man" Tangherlini and Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra have ordered your cell phone to be returned. Apparently some non-employee contractors have been getting a pretty sweet deal from the District for some time in the form of free cell phones, the end of which will save the......

Temp work is more than just a last resort to keep from having to beg your parents for money after getting fired for youthful indiscretions at your previous job. It can be a valuable learning experience. Not only can you discover that it really is possible to be even more expendable than an intern, but you can find your way to parts of office life you might never have considered before. There's the ever-popular......

UPDATE (4:10pm): Nuthin! Per Barry Svrluga, the Nats passed the trade deadline without making a move, despite a flurry of late rumors. While they might make minor moves in August (like last year with Livan), they decided against moving Rauch or Cordero. Let's hope Chief's feelings aren't hurt and he strikes out Dunn for the save tonight! UPDATE (2:35pm): The Red Sox, rumored to have sought after Cordero since last winter, have reportedly filled their......

It was just about a year ago when word first emerged about a plan to expand cell phone service in Metro tunnels to include Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile and Cingular. Reaction was decidedly mixed. On the one hand, Verizon customers have had it too good for too long, smugly lording their coverage superiority over non-Verizon subscribers like that annoying kid from elementary school who always got everything he wanted for Christmas. On the other, the potential for......

Well, there’s Rick Foucheaux in a chair playing a dead guy again. And look — Sarah Marshall is acting crazy as only she can. And come to think of it, this is another Sarah Ruhl play that concerns itself with the afterlife. Is there anything original happening here? Yep. Pretty much everything, actually. Dead Man’s Cell Phone, the world-premiere Ruhl now onstage at Woolly Mammoth, tests your patience a bit in the early going,......

With military recruitment numbers continuing to spiral downward, this week's quote of the week got us thinking. All the military really needs is better marketing. You can't really envy their task in trying to get people to sign up for an unpopular war. Maybe they need to play down the grim realities. Play up the softer side of the military. Use things like the volleyball montage from Top Gun to show that doing your duty......

It's Friday, D.C., and if you live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, you may have suffered a lengthy power outage yesterday after a manhole exploded and injured a Pepco worker in the area. The worker suffered second degree burns but will recover. If you're a bit of a science geek like us, you immediately began Googling something like "How exactly do manholes explode?" after you read the above story, so allow us to save you......

Over five years ago the Newseum shut its doors in its Rosslyn neighborhood and started laying down bricks on Pennsylvania Avenue. The venue dedicated to the First Amendment is still on schedule for its grand opening this October, and in the meantime has been stoking its coffers with donations from news makers all over the country. This week they received their biggest gift so far, $15 million from The Annenberg Foundation. Newseum will name its......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

There's good news for residents of Georgetown. District police says the two men wanted in connection with three robberies are now in a Maryland jail on unrelated charges. The armed robberies took place between April 11, 12 and 17 in the area between 27th and 31st, and N and Q Streets in Northwest. In two cases the assailants had a gun. Second District police sent an e-mail yesterday warning women not to walk alone in......

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version......

Pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers beware! As we mentioned this morning, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' annual Street Smart Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Campaign kicked off yesterday. In addition to a flurry of ads on the radio, billboards, buses, and local papers, this campaign will also include a month of increased enforcement of traffic laws by local police. We’re not sure which to be more worried about, the potential jaywalking tickets or the relentless march......

Written by DCist Contributor Vince Wadhwani, of BuyIndie.net Joe. Bean. Murk. Black Venom. Go Juice. The Nectar of Life. Call it what you want, but we love our coffee. And when you talk coffee it's hard not to think about the ever present Starbucks. Recently, they launched a service making it even easier to get your fix. Send a text message from your cell phone and get back the location of the three closest Starbucks.......

The Wizards and Timberwolves both played like they were still suffering from Las Vegas induced hangovers last night but Washington rode the hot hand of Gilbert Arenas and got some timely contributions from his teammates in the Wiz's 112-100 win. Honestly, this game was a bit of a snoozer. The Wizards shot over 50% from the field and built up a sizable lead in the first half, weathered the inevitable run from the TWolves......

By DCist contributor Mike Roscoe They may have problems managing income inequality in their post-independence, Hacienda-style economies, or dealing with the lingering social effects of the brutal military dictatorships of the past, but there is one thing that South Americans have got down pat: grilling meat. As skilled and deft as any Texan tending smoking mesquite, South Americans know how to raise it, season it and cook it. From the churrascarias of Brazil to the......

Tom Chats It Up Fishbowl DC decided it was high time to figure out what was lurking underneath Postie Tom Sietsema's mysterious fisog. Though they were unable to get him to reveal his disguises, they did show us a side of Tom we may not have seen before. For instance, did you know that he likes the letter "T" best, buys his coffee from a San Francisco roaster (we're guessing either Blue Bottle or Peerless),......

Santa's workshop has come a long way in the last 40 years. In the most accurate historical documentary available on the subject, as recently as the mid-60s, the elves were equipped with only the skills necessary to turn out dolls, sleds, toy cars and trains, and other fairly rudimentary wood and fabric-based toys. Somewhere along the line, the Kringles must have signed up the little people for some intensive training, because the electronics coming......

Breakfast at Dos Gringos feels like--and kind of is--dining at an eclectic friend’s place. Signs in the converted Mount Pleasant row house gently remind company that it’s a cell phone-free zone. Mismatched tables and chairs make it feel homey. Fresh squeezed juice is served in soda fountain glasses, and the coffee in house mugs. Thankfully, though, the café stops short of getting too cutesy. The fare isn’t completely vegetarian, but it’s definitely a wee bit......

Back in September, we told you all about how you, too, could walk in the footsteps of legions of spiky-haired, leather jacketed youths armed with just your cell phone and the force of memory. The Yellow Arrow Capitol of Punk tour gives participants an interactive walking tour of the people and places associated with D.C. punk’s salad days, and has received an enthusiastic response, according to organizers. This Saturday at the Warehouse Theater, you can......

It was a beautiful Saturday at Pimlico; the predicted scattered showers never materialized and the temperature never went too far in either direction. Stages were set up for the innaugural U.S. edition of V Fest. And what fine stages they were. Never having gone to the Preakness, I didn't realize how massive Pimlico really is. The man who makes cross-Atlantic flight comfy, spacious and fun did the same for his music festival. Compared to past......

Watch carefully in the coming weeks and you may see them. People roaming the streets of Chinatown, Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant. They'll stop to check their cell phone, punch the keys, wait, check again, then move walk down the street looking with strange interest at empty buildings, houses and random Starbucks. Yellow Arrow's Capitol of Punk tour, which we previewed in May, kicked off this week, turning D.C. streets into an impromptu museum for a......

The Smithsonian Insititution announced Monday that it will install a Common Wireless Access System in phases over the next two years, a step which means both free wireless Internet and improved mobile phone reception in and around their museums. The announcement comes 2 years after non-profit Open Park began a push to provide Wi-Fi across the National Mall, which resulted in three hotspots in the area — a good start, but without the Smithsonian's cooperation......

Hey there, D.C. It's another bright, sunny day in our fair city, with an expected high of 89 degrees. While it's certainly not as hot as it was earlier this month, we feel sure George Allen is feeling the heat this this morning, as he struggles to explain what was one of the most blogged-about topics on the Internet yesterday. Who else might be feeling the heat this morning? Anyone trying to sell their homes......