Last night, for the second time in the past week, our eyes and attention were diverted from the big screen during a movie we paid to see by someone unashamedly using their cell phone. Although we resisted a nearly overpowering urge to ask the person who felt so compelled to text or twitter or update their Facebook page with (one imagines) a fetal review of Midnight in Paris that they couldn't even wait until the movie finished exactly where they acquired a mobile device with what was obviously an eight-digit candlepower display, we can't help but get a little Andy Rooney on the subject now. more ›

Since two new laws went into effect banning talking on cell phones while driving through construction and school zones, and texting while driving, the Illinois State Police has pulled over nearly 7,800 motorists for violating the two laws. more ›

The Stew has reported the contents of the most recent Zagat Guide, the 2011 America's Top Restaurant's Guide. We probably don't use Zagat as much as we should, preferring more substantial reviews, but this guide doesn't just have restaurant reviews. The more interesting part of this year's Zagat is the survey data contained within, about general dining preferences. more ›

Do NOT count on your cell phone for texting. Are you planning n meeting up with friends? Pick a specific time and place to do it. If someone says "text me when you get there and I'll find you" it means they don't want to see you because cell coverage in Grant Park (and it's surrounding halo of hotel and club after-parties) is abysmal. Texts take hours to get through. Seriously. more ›

We've joked that if there was an iPhone app that would allow us to have sex with ours, we'd download it in a heartbeat. But it's only a joke. Others are more serious about their cell phone use. A recent survey shows that 3 out of 10 people in Chicago would rather give up sex than their cell phones. [Chicago Breaking News] more ›

• Now at the top of the list for investigators in the Christopher Kelly case: cell phones.
• The IVI-IPO parking meter lawsuit is still churning along.
• Today at the Brown's Chicken murders trial, a Cook County Jail EMT testified that suspect James Degorski admitted the killings to her and claimed to have done it "just for fun."

• Chicago Public Schools head Michael Scott announced he has been subpoenaed by a grand jury in connection with the investigation into admission practices at some of the system's more elite schools.
• Remember the guy who had his wife, mistress, and two other women glue his penis to his body? Now he's going to jail.
• CTA workers caught yammering on cell phones when they should be working will be fired, according to a new edict handed down by the agency.

We've been following the recent proposal to ban texting and web surfing while driving and now it's official: the city council unanimously approved the ban yesterday. You'll be allowed to do so only while your car is in park. Tickets will be $75 for a violation and $200 if the violation results in an accident. Hey! A local ordinance we actually support! Who knew? more ›

In the last year in Illinois, cell phone use was listed as the primary or secondary cause of 1,357 crashes, in which eight people died and 351 were injured. IDOT says these numbers are probably low, given that not all law enforcement officers fill out crash reports as thoroughly as they're supposed to. more ›

Motorola will have its answer for the iPhone out in the next few months, according to Crain's. more ›

. To the Sun-Times and the Tribune: more ›

State Rep Kenneth Duncan (D-Chicago) introduced a bill that would make using a cellphone while crossing the street illegal. more ›

Creepy and awesome? We'll take it. This weird hand art is both fascinating and totally disquieting. Hey, that soccer match one is cool, but this giraffe gets filed under "see you in my nightmares." [via] more ›

Like moths to a flame, like hipsters to a thrift store, like emotional eaters to the cookie dough – such is the overpowering draw of the Golden Tee arcade game to patrons at the neighborhood bar. It’s never part of the plan. A group of buddies meet up for a night of crushing beers and cruising chicks, but inevitably they find themselves in the corner, hovering over the Golden Tee, then wondering why they end up with no new numbers in their cell phones. more ›

The thousands of Chicagoans who have received citations for refusing to wear an ugly head set while driving may feel a bit at ease today. The Law Offices of Blake Horwitz is filing a class action lawsuit against the city, Mayor Daley, and several police officers for illegally ticketing thousands of drivers in violation of the cell phone ban since its inception over two years ago. more ›

Want to go to a play--but you don't know how? The Trib has you covered. This "Theater 101" article is full of such helpful tips as "If the show starts at 8:00, get there at 7:50." Honest to God, we can't tell if the item "Applause: When the play ends, there's a blackout, then the lights come back on and all the actors come on stage to take a bow. This is when you should... more ›

In an effort to increase safety for officers on the job and to address concerns about police misconduct, some cops in Chicago Lawn will soon carry cell phones with GPS tracking. A group of 50 officers in the city's largest district will soon be tracked by their superiors in real time as a part of a 30-day pilot program that the department hopes to expand to the entire city. Department officials want to be able... more ›

Where drivers in Oak Lawn once ignored octagonal red signs demanding they halt, they will now encounter little addendums to make them take notice and, well, stop. At least, that’s what mayor Dave Heilmann is hoping since he went balls-out with ironic nerdery by implementing a new plan to install signs with wacky messages underneath official stop signs. more ›

We once dreamed of free municipal WiFi. Now, we'll settle for cheap WiMax, the new standard that will offer WiFi-like speeds but with about ten times the range, which cuts down on the number of towers needed in a coverage area. Tech website Ars Technica was on the Chicago River earlier this week for Sprint's demonstration of its new XOHM WiMax service. The testers were given laptops with XOHM plug-in cards and Motorola cell phones hooked up to the network. more ›

This weekend’s music festival inspired us to check out some local indie talent with our kiddo this week. We’ve heard rumors that Mr. Singer (with or without his band the Sharp Cookies) was the best around: a talented guitarist whose folksy music set featured music you could bob your head to, a kids’ musician who was more Springsteen and less Old MacDonald. We were not disappointed. We arrived at the concert venue, the yellow barn... more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts... more ›

When we are alone on the train or on the street late at night, especially if we are (maybe just a little) impaired in any way, we are pretty cautious. We turn off our music and just generally try to be aware of our surroundings without being afraid of them. That being said, we've found in recent years that the very best defense against would-be attackers is a ponytail directly on top of the head.... more ›

Sometimes we long for the old days when there were no cell phones. Text messaging was only for the über-rich Skytel set, and there was no reminder to silence your phones at the beginning of every concert, movie, poetry reading, dance recital, etc. It was much quieter then. And much, much cheaper. But in 2007 we are all carrying around computers in our pockets. Just over thirty years ago, in order to get a fraction... more ›

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they... more ›

You heard it here first (and by "here first" we mean "not here first at all, even a little bit"): Illinois lawmakers are looking at passing a cell phone lemon law. more ›

Chicagoist loves our commute to work. We get to sit on the bus or train and listen to music, people watch, put on makeup, knit, or just relax. Most often we read books, although sometimes we get carried away reading and miss our stop. more ›

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... Gothamist spent the week writing about New Yorkers behaving badly: at the post office, at the Garden, and at the fertility clinic. Calvin Klein may not be misbehaving, but he's just a little dirty, and in a completely different way than some NYC kitchens. SFist had its share of misbehave-rs, too, like... more ›

This photo shows what you do not want to see when you look out the CTA train's window. There was a "small track fire" on the Brown Line tonight. More» more ›

We hope you're reading this weekend's blotter on a laptop outside somewhere. A homeless woman is being questioned concerning a fatal fire in Wrigleyville Saturday morning. Around 7 a.m. a fire broke out in a three-story apartment building at 3553 N. Fremont in a stairwell, quickly spreading throughout the structure. Three unidentified men and one woman, 24-year-old Jennifer Carlson, were found dead. Witnesses saw an unkempt woman hovering around three smaller fires the previous night... more ›

Democratic state Representative Mike Boland of East Moline, has proposed a bill in the Illinois house stating that it will be illegal for drivers to smoke with children younger than eight years of age in the car. Boland says it's the state's responsibility "to protect children from adverse health effects from second-hand smoke." But only in the car? And kids who are nine-years-old are ready to suck down some Marlboro leftovers? more ›