D.C. culture may have its faults, but laziness certainly isn’t one of them. We work hard here (and, according to a recent Men’s Health poll, we play hard, too). We work so hard that many organizations and companies, particularly those in D.C., try to recruit new employees by promising a “work-life balance” -- something that used to be called simply “time off” or “after 5 p.m.” only a few short years ago. In a culture......

About 100 people were lined up outside the Apple Store in Clarendon at 2:45 p.m. today in advance of the 6 p.m. release of the wildly anticipated new iPhone. The first people in line arrived at 8:15 p.m. last night to stake out their ground, though at the halfway point, about 50 people in, one man said he had only been there since noon. Several people in line indicated they were waiting in shifts......

As April showers wane and spring becomes summer, much of Washington looks toward the shore for respite from city life. Just a few hours (and one long bridge) separate us from Ocean City, Md., home of crabs, boardwalk fries and recently-transplanted Fractured Prune donuts. Local Ocean City businessmen, unwilling to rest on these laurels, have begun stocking the ideal summertime accessory: the flask/flip flop hybrid. WUSA told us about it last night, but the shoe......

Don’t let the threat of Polonium poisoning crush your dreams of becoming a spy or the inevitable prison sentence keep you from robbing a bank. We understand your desire to solve ancient religious conspiracies shrouded in mystery and international intrigue, but perhaps you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Joshua Czarda, the brains behind Ravenchase Adventures, has a solution. He and his crack team of writers and actors want you to step inside a......

Written by DCist contributor Lindsay Gibson. As we mentioned earlier, a new grid of high-tech sensors meant to pinpoint gunshots is being tested in D.C. as part of a pilot program by the FBI. The sensors, which use a technology called ShotSpotter, picks up the distinct noise of gunfire and automatically alerts police to its location within a few feet. District officials credit the system with last week's rapid arrest of a suspect after the......

Washington is no stranger to the submarining of eco-friendly technologies; back in the 1950s, Capital Transit's extensive and successful District streetcar system was stripped of its license to operate and sold to new owners charged expressly with replacing the electric system with buses. Now a green techology that rose and fell in the 1990s is the subject of new debate in the city, and the Smithsonian is facing public scrutiny over its role in the......

We know that this whole blog thing is confusing. We're pretty comfortable with it, but we certainly understand and sympathize with those who aren't. So when we receive press requests that assume we're obligated to run everything we're sent, we respond gently. When prospective writers stop emailing upon hearing that they won't get paid, we understand. But we receive enough of the following requests — surprisingly many, in fact — that we thought some......

If you just can't keep yourself from licking your hands and/or those delicious train poles while riding the Metro, the folks at City Mitts may have a solution for you. The City Mitt gloves are made out of a "brand new antimicrobial microfilter embedded with silver ions" which they claim will "prevent the growth of bacteria." Similar anti-bacterial silver treatments have been given to some cellphones, as well. The gloves are designed to provide sufficient......

Let's face it: most of the technology in the D.C. area is pretty boring. Okay, so the Raytheons and Lockheed Martins of the world get to play with their killer satellites, gigantic robotic spiders and assorted deadly curiousities. But aside from the de rigeur Blackberry, average Washingtonians haven't got many D.C.-specific gadgets for us to obsess over. With one exception: WMATA's SmarTrip card. Ever wonder how it works — or better yet, how to disassemble......

Welcome back, Washington. We hope you had a Turkey Day filled with food, family, and football triumphs. Now it's back to work, maggot! Hey, at least it'll be warm: today is likely to be rainy, but will have temperatures in the sixties. That's not bad for being on the cold side of Thanksgiving. Annapolis Fire Destroys Building, Costs Millions: The weekend's big news was the blaze that tore through Annapolis's historic district. No one was......

Have you ever bought this book? Well you then probably have some left over electronics when you attempted the "Sonic Phasor Cannon, Electromagnetic Launcher, Tesla Coi [and] Ultrasonic Microphone." For those who have "obsolete electronics," the District will dispose of them free of charge this Saturday. According to the Department of Public Works: Many types of electronics contain significant amounts of potentially hazardous materials such as arsenic, lead and mercury. In the US it is......

(Editor's Note: With visitors from near and far flooding the city to look at the various popular tourist attractions, many locals retreat inward and often stay clear of the Mall and the monumental corridors. Today, DCist's Susan Breitkopf starts a series that will continue over the next few weeks where we'll look at some of the area's overlooked musuems.) Spring may be the most beautiful time in D.C., but it also means wall-to-wall tourists in......

The Howard University student newspaper The Hilltop has just finished its first week of daily publication. The change makes Howard University the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to have a daily student newspaper. Editors at the award-winning 81-year-old paper told the Washington Informer they were inspired to switch from publication twice weekly to every weekday after meeting the editors of Wayne State University's South End. Editor-in-chief Ruth Tisdale told the Informer: "I thought......

DCist walked into National Treasure last weekend with high hopes. Although the Post may have maligned it as a "'Raiders of the Lost Ark' for people who slept through American history class," as a guilty fan of quasi-historical action flicks, we were expecting to be entertained. On that count the film didn't disappoint -- for the most part, the whizzes whizzed, the bangs banged, and the nonstop action was sprinkled with enough plot twists and......

The Post explores today the electronic etiquette of the BlackBerry, the popular wireless email device. Although it was news to us, the Post assures us they're "sometimes referred to as CrackBerrys among addicted adherents." (Mmmm ... CrackBerry) The sprawling 3-page (online) feature titled "No Escape From E-Mail" predicts etiquette predicaments to proliferate as the price of the gadgets decline and their use becomes more widespread. Overall, though, it seems the little devices are winning out:......