The HP New Media Gallery at the Newseum shows off some very nifty devices fresh from Hewlett-Packard's laboratories, but it begs asking: How many interactive screens do we need in our lives? more ›

While campaigning in Maryland on Thursday, President Obama accused his predecessor, Rutherford B. Hayes, of dismissing the invention of the telephone. Turns out Obama was very, very wrong. more ›

The D.C. time and weather hotline -- which, to our surprise, a whole bunch of city residents still cared deeply about despite the advent of the Internet -- has finally bit the dust. more ›

UPDATE: Looks like we might have helped to blow the service's cover -- we tried calling the service again later this morning and were greeted by a message stating that Verizon would no longer be maintaining the service. Those of you who still use the service will have to keep your fingers crossed that another organization picks up the contract to keep the hotline alive. more ›

While some of us spend chunks of our day in search of a coffee shop with decent WiFi, others have jumped on the 4G train. But finding a signal outside the Beltway has often been a challenge. more ›

While 2010 seemed to be the year that you could hardly set foot on the Metro without bumping into someone entranced by their Kindle, the one big knock on Amazon's popular e-reader was that it did not support any kind of e-book lending program, while the Nook and Sony's e-reader did. That should change later this year. Amazon has announced that it has partnered with Overdrive to launch Kindle Library Lending at 11,000 libraries nationwide, including in the District. more ›

Oh, our Managing Editor will not be pleased: a tipster points us to this Solar Novus Today report, which states that the 2011 Solar Decathalon -- the biennial U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored gathering of collegiate designers and engineers from around the world to show off brilliant, energy-efficient homes -- will not take place on the National Mall. Why? The event is apparently "impacting" the Mall's "long-term health." more ›

Even though the Metro board spent a lot of time debating potential reforms to SmarTrip administration this year, it's no secret that Metro will run out of the cards at some point in 2012, possibly ending the 12-year reign of the ubiquitous pieces of plastic. Curious about how nearly 1.8 million Washingtonians will pay for their daily commute once that happens? You're not alone -- and a request for proposals released by Metro this morning gets the ball rolling on that very issue. more ›

Your inner cranky grandparent will likely be awakened as you read this report by Michael Neibauer. Friendship Tech Prep Academy, a newish charter school which currently serves 240 students in sixth and seventh grades, not only boasts a wireless campus, but now, every single student enrolled at Friendship Tech will receive a free iPad. The D.C. Office of the State Superintendent, backed by the federal government, issued a $410,000 grant to the school to buy 240 of the fancy internet doohickeys. We're excited that these particular D.C. students are learning how to utilize advanced technology -- but are also insanely jealous that they get to tote around a free iPad. Whatever, dying of dysentery was way more fun when it was done on a bulky box. more ›

This week, the Washington Post released its iPad application. DCist reviewed the application and found it to be less than impressive. more ›

Let's face it, this hasn't been the best summer for D.C.'s loyal Metro riders. Whether it's the construction, the fare hikes or the roving melees, it feels like WMATA should be paying you, instead of vice versa. But, hey, how about those shiny new Kindles that Amazon just released? Yes, for the Girl Who Played With Fire crowd out there, the announcement of two cheaper models of the Kindle couldn't have come at a better time than the proverbial dog days of August. more ›

Is the end of men nigh? As Hannah Rosin reports, women have come to dominate the post-industrial market, taking more degrees, more jobs, and more managerial roles than men in 2010 -- for the first time in American history. And if anyone is in a position to permanently ice all bros forever, it's the women whom Fast Company named the most influential women tech players of 2010. more ›

Just as citywide changes to parking meter fares and enforcement hours have taken effect, the District Department of Transportation is installing a number of new solar-powered parking meters as part of a pilot program, officials said. The new meters will also accept credit cards as well as coins. more ›

Metro on Monday will being testing a new software program designed to provide a real-time back-up to the rail system's crash-avoidance system, Lena Sun reports in the Post. The software was developed by WMATA and Annapolis-based developer ARINC following NTSC recommendations after the deadly June 22 Red Line crash. "With the software, a malfunction will trigger a visual and audio alarm on controllers' screens at Metro's operations center; controllers will be required to acknowledge the alarms." It'll be tested for the first time during Monday's rush hour, with no set timeline on when it might go into full and complete use. more ›

Last week we got a little too excited about the impending expansion of cell phone service in the Metro system, but now it's official: T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel customers should be able to use their cell phones inside Metro's 20 busiest stations starting first thing Friday morning (the Post says it'll be turned on at midnight, but of course the system will be closed by then). Verizon customers could already access their network inside the same stations, and they will continue to have that service after the change. more ›

Back in August, WMATA announced that the first phase of the Congressionally imposed expanded cell phone network inside D.C.'s Metro system would be completed by October 16. That date, by which time Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile customers should all be able to access their networks inside the 20 busiest underground Metro stations, is coming up fast. And earlier this week, it appeared as though some of the stations might already be wired up. more ›

Folks subscribed to WMATA's emailed press release service were treated to dozens of news alerts today - except they were from 2003, and full of very, very old news. The errant emails were the result of "technical difficulties," according to Metro spokesperson Angela Gates, and the transit agency's IT department was working to discover the source of the problem. We luckily noticed the 30 or so press releases we got from Metro today seemed funny right away, but the Washington Post's Get There blog wasn't so lucky: they quickly posted a story about how SmarTrip cards weren't going to be available for a couple of months, only to have to pull it down and replace it with an explanation about the press release having been from 2003. Chief Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein was able to joke about the snafu later in the afternoon, after the bad alerts had finally stopped. "Well, at first we were feeling nostalgic," Farbstein quipped in an email. more ›

One day into to the official relaunch of WMATA's Next Bus service, and we've heard a lot positive feedback from bus riders about the usefulness of the system. But some problems with the real-time Metrobus arrival tool are already apparent. more ›

Metro is relaunching Next Bus on Wednesday, July 1. The service originally debuted about two years ago, but WMATA wasn't happy with its accuracy, which it said was only about 80 percent, so they shut down the pilot program in October 2007. After spending almost two years making upgrades, Next Bus is back, and we want to hear from bus riders as they try out the improved real-time Metrobus locating system. more ›

The DTV-pocalypse is finally here, and as broadcasters nationwide officially turn off their analog signals today and boost their digital ones, the local DTV channel line-up could be in flux for a while. A few months ago we rounded up the digital TV channels that have been widely available in the D.C. metro area for some time, but all the advice we're reading suggests you should rescan for possibly new or different available channels at least once a week for the next little while, as things may change or shuffle around. The Post's excellent tech guy, Rob Pegoraro, answered a bunch of questions about the transition in a live chat today, so check that out, too. more ›

There was some lamentation in the local tech community over D.C. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra's decision to leave city government for a post with the Obama administration. Under Kundra's watch the Office of the CTO did some cool things, most notably the city data catalog and the Apps for Democracy contest (which was a great idea, even if the money-saving numbers quoted in relation to it are transparently ridiculous). But — the occasional FBI raid notwithstanding — there are encouraging signs that OCTO* is going to continue to pursue a spirit of innovation even after Kundra's departure. Yes, the diminished quality of the city's crime incident data feed is disappointing, but that seems to be MPD's fault, not OCTO's. More encouragingly, a second Apps For Democracy contest is underway; the city's geographic shapefile repository seems to have removed some of the hoops through which users previously had to jump to acquire its larger datasets; and — most excitingly — OCTO is rolling out a new 311 API. If you haven't checked out the city's online service request center, you really ought to. From scheduling bulk trash pickup to reporting broken streetlights to arranging for graffiti removal, there are nearly forty different city services can be accessed through the system. And although I'm still waiting on a new recycling bin (any year now!), my admittedly anecdotal experience with the system has been mostly positive. By providing a standardized and reliable interface for developers, the new 311 API aims to make these capabilities available through sites and programs other than the dc.gov website. The example most often cited is a theoretical iPhone app for reporting potholes: fire it up, snap a photo of the offending divot, and press submit. The phone could then whisk the information (along with your current latitude and longitude) to the city government without the need for additional information. At least, that's the dream. The API is still under development, and things are in flux. For instance, it's not yet clear exactly how users will obtain the API keys that will let them use the system — or how griefers will be prevented from reporting every parking meter in the city to be broken every hour of every day. But that hasn't stopped developers from beginning to work with the system. For instance, local developers Zvi Band and Aaron Brazell have released Ruby and PHP libraries, respectively, that aim to make it easier for programmers working in those languages to access the API. And we're sure that the next Apps For Democracy will include many entries that make use of the API, whatever state it's in. There are some functions that are already useful, like the capability to convert a geographic position to a nearby street address (which can be surprisingly difficult to do when using conventional mapping services like Google's). It's an exciting time to be a D.C. resident with a computer and a desire to get a streetlight fixed. What kind of apps would you like to see? * Also: is it just us, or is OCTO's logo in desperate need of improvement? The current state of affairs is inexcusable — particularly when you consider the anthropomorphic octopus options that are open to whoever's responsible for the agency's graphics. more ›

It's a Capitol catastrophe, folks. The Hill is reporting that the entire U.S. House, both members and staffers, don't have access to their email right now. Apparently a circuit breaker overloaded a House data center Thursday afternoon, making the whole system go kablooey. Engineers are working to resolve the problem, and they hope to have the House back up and emailing away at some point today. Guess it's a good thing this happened while Congress wasn't here. more ›

We know that plenty of you are getting all psyched about the new 3G iPhone, which is set to deliver tomorrow morning. (Hopefully, this release won't result in as much cutting in line as the first incarnation of the much-sought after gadget.) Via We Love DC, it appears that some intrepid developers have created a new iPhone navigation application called iTrans DC (link requires iTunes), which allows you to access published Metro times. Sounds cool, but $15 seems like an outrageous amount to pay for information that you can easily get from WMATA or Meenster, with just a couple additional clicks of your finger. Some of the early iTrans DC reviewers are also skeptical. We've pasted them below: more ›

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? You want me to call who? Just send me a text, ZOMG!!1!), what's the rule on the arguably more dangerous practice of texting while driving? Turns out, there is none, and in Virginia at least, some legislators would like to change that. more ›

You may have noticed that our user profiles were down for the last week, but I'm happy to report that they are now back online and better than ever. Take a minute to check out their new look: log in with your commenter username and click on "View Profile" in the upper left hand corner of our home page. You'll see that you can now choose from three tabs across the top whether you want to see comments, posts (if you're a DCist contributor) or which posts you've recommended. A shot of my profile is above. more ›

You may have noticed a number of new features on DCist today, thanks to an -ist network wide upgrade. Since these features are brand new, they're also wreaking a normal amount of havoc on our servers as the Gothamist tech team races to fix bugs and get everything up and running smoothly. That said, our servers are going down on and off right now, so we're not at 100 percent today. We appreciate you being... more ›

With the opening of its ongoing Exploring the Early Americas exhibit today, the Library of Congress marks the beginning of a transformation that by the Summer of 2008 will “merge cutting-edge technology with the knowledge and inspiration embodied in the Library’s unparalleled collections and curators.” The exhibit features some of the 3,000 items representing the "beginning" of America (that is, the beginning of European documented America), that Jay I. Kislak has been collecting for more... more ›

On Sunday the Post ran a big story on the future of SmarTrip cards containing some good news for DCist commenters who have long complained that the problem with SmarTrip is that you can't use them and take advantage of any of Metro's special discount passes. WMATA has announced that by the end of 2008, SmarTrip technology will allow customers to realize the benefits of its special passes like the 7-Day Fast Pass, Montgomery County's... more ›

If you've noticed a ton of error messages in DCist comments over the last few days, you're not alone -- our technology team up in New York is working to fix the problem as we speak, as it's affecting the entire -Ist Network. We appreciate your patience while they implement a solution as quickly as possible. In the meantime, please don't repost your comments. Even if you do get an error message that says your... more ›