Photo via senseable city lab When MoMA and MIT join forces, the result is the highlight of an exhibition that zeros in on "current examples of successful design translations of disruptive scientific and technological innovations, and reflects on how the figure of the designer has changed from form giver to fundamental interpreter of an extraordinarily dynamic reality.” Translation: cool design developments meet scientific concepts meet human nature. The Design and the Elastic Mind is......

An attempt by NYC Transit to communicate accurate bus arrival times has been partially abandoned out of concerns that it just was not feasible to accomplish by the MTA. A pilot program has been in place on six separate bus lines, but those notification services have been scrapped because the digital displays at bus stops were just not capable of providing accurate information to riders. While in the planning for a dozen years, the actual......

There’s such a dizzying number of ways to throw money away on New Year’s Eve that it’s always tempting to just stay home and avoid the throngs of staggering amateurs altogether. But what to do about dinner? If you're not in the mood to cook, it's really not such a bad night to sample some of the New Year's Eve restaurant specials, as long as you're willing to a few extra bucks. Rather than deluge......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a death investigation on Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, an unstable building on Cherry St. and Robinson Ave. in Queens, and a homicide on East 29th St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have different views over torture. Texting and talking on the phone are about to be banned in the Garden State. It's possible that news of a sniper on the Saw Mill River Parkway......

While hosting a live edition of "Real Time With Bill Maher," a number of 9/11 conspiracy theorists began to shout statements and questions at Bill Maher and guest Chris Matthews. When studio security was slow to respond, Maher left the set himself to remove the disruptive audience member. Other conspiracy theorists continued to interrupt the program by shouting from the audience. Maher yelled back, "This is not a debate. This is a debate between......

Mayor Bloomberg returned from London convinced more than ever that NYC needs to emulate the British capital's "Ring of Steel" surveillance system, which places cameras throughout the city to observe and help identify people in real time. He said that the danger of terrorism necessitated a similar system in New York, where plans are underfoot to install thousands of cameras and license plate readers in downtown Manhattan. "In London, they have two or three cameras......

Thousands of cameras, license plate readers, radiation detectors, and street barriers to be installed downtown won't just observe and record the activity of vehicles and individuals, but will be programmed to sound alarms if they spot suspicious activity. The Lower Manhattan Security Initiative, patterned after London's Ring of Steel surveillance system, will place 3,000 cameras below Canal St., install 100 license plate readers at bridges and tunnels and around downtown, locate an undisclosed number of......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The Star Jones Show (Monday, 3:00 p.m., CourTV) Star Jones returns to the talk show racket with her own talk show focusing on pop culture, crime and law. Secrets of New York - New York Connections: The Bridges of New York (Tuesday, 8:00 p.m., WNYE 25) In light of recent events, this look at the secrets of the city's bridges should be a must watch. God's Warriors......

New Anchor, Same Old Tardiness There must be something about the morning shift at WABC. After just four days on the job as the permanent replacement for Steve Bartelstein, Ken Rosato, overslept and was late for the 5 a.m. edition of Eyewitness News. We think it is pretty safe to assume that he just overslept, since he probably hasn’t adjusted his body clock fully to the new hours, and that he wasn’t spending the night......

Yesterday, a suicidal man on he George Washington Bridge caused traffic delays up to two hours. Newsday reported that the man was "armed with a box-cutter razor climbed a bridge cable, slashed his arms and wrists repeatedly and threatened to jump," but police officers were able to talk him down. We wrote about New York bridge jumpers last month. Interesting, Newsday was also the one to tell the NY State Department of Transportation about the......

The search is already on to replace Rosie O'Donnell on The View. Rumors are that Rosanne Barr may be first choice to fill the seat. Though Barr was on "Larry King Live" recently and said that she was "not looking for the job," on KVVU-TV in Las Vegas Monday, she seemed to have a change of heart. She told the station, "I'd love it. Yeah, definitely. I think I would do a real good job,"......

Girl Talk get it right Last Friday, crowds packed into Studio B to see the NYC return of laptop mashup extraordinaire Girl Talk deliver his most satisfying local set to date. 90 minutes of ADD jamz that kept the capacity crowd moving the entire time. This might sound odd, the best parts of a Girl Talk set are the mixes that don't work perfectly. They're few and far between, but sometimes two songs just don't......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The 49th Annual Grammy Awards (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. WCBS 2) The reunion of The Police will most likely be the highlight of the night. As for the rest of the show. . . 2006 BAFTA Awards (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. BBC America) If you want to watch a better awards show tonight, we suggest British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. Masterpiece Theatre: Dracula (Sunday, 9:00 p.m.......

As we know, yesterday's problems on the N, W, and R lines were caused by a "rail condition" on the N line at Lexington and 59th Street. Today, the NY Times delves into the cracked rail situation; we have cobbled together thsi timeline:6:55AM Queens-bound N operator sees a red signal when it should have been green 7:15AM Track maintainers investigate and find a crack in the rail 1,200 feet from the "east edge of......

Those of you who are jealous of the real time information boards popping up along the L line, don't worry: The MTA will be rolling out the system to the numbered lines later this year. Which actually means 2008, but progress is progress, even if it's MTA style progress. And as the real time boards are finessed on the L platforms, it seems that the MTA is also bringing back the plans for the......

Reader Ryan sent this photograph of the real time information boards the Bedford stop. Yes, we know the boards are in a testing period and "may not be accurate" yet this forecast of when the L is coming seem all too-familiar. However, when the testing period is over, if people see this displayed, we expect a riot. More reactions to the L's new signs. You can send us your photos either by emailing them......

Where do the MTA's executive director and the TWU's president lunch? The Old Homestead! The NY Times reveals that Executive Director Elliot Sander ordered the rack of lamb while TWU President Roger Toussaint had the herb-rubbed roast chicken (what, no one ordered the Kobe Beef Hamburger?) and split the bill. If only we were a fly or a cow on the wall! We bet they discussed how much Pataki sucks, how the real time information......

The Sun has some hilarious quotes about the new "real time" information signs the MTA has put up in L train stations. Our favorite is from designer Christian Rudder, who said, "If it were conceivable to walk when the wait was going to be long, I might leave. But in Brooklyn, there's no other option, so what's the point of even knowing?" Ha! Other riders were underwhelmed, too, perhaps hoping for something more flashy......

Blogs aren’t just for socially-awkward shut-ins anymore and we’ve got proof: many successful, outgoing theater types maintain weblogs. While they don't get as much glory (or contempt) as their influential music-blog counterparts, they do have their dignity. And there's sometimes drama! Here’s a small sampling of some theater blogs that keep us busy at work. If you like James Urbaniak the actor, you’ll want to know James Urbaniak the blogger. At Voucher Ankles, the man......

This week at the movies, two actors known for their intensity on (and off) screen have new flicks coming out. The Oscar-winning over-reactor Russell Crowe goes the romantic comedy route with A Good Year about an English businessman softened by life in Provence. With a script by Peter Mayle, a novelist well versed in the French countryside, and direction by Ridley Scott, Crowe as Max Skinner actually comes across as incredibly charming. He's sure to......

This week, New York focuses on moolah in a number of ways: The difficulties when friends make different amounts of money, five spending diaries of different New Yorkers, a story on a security guard who earns $10/hour, and more. But the real time-sucking feature is the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Cost-of-Living Calculator. You pick certain items (housing, lifestyle expenses, getaways) and a total is tallied for you. Then you get the most likely distressing news about what you......

Comedian Dane Cook has a massive following, from his huge record sales to his zillions of MySpace friends. This weekend we'll see if he can extend the brand loyalty to the cineplex, as his first starring role in Employee of the Month hits theaters. Cook plays the slacker box boy Zach who's the Parker Lewis of the bulk bargain store, SuperMart. However, Zach decides to buckle down and shape up when he discovers the new......

Note from the publisher: today we're announcing a new experimental feature in our Gothamist Labs section: the Gothamist News Map. In nearly real time, it's mapping all the police, fire, and breaking news alerts that we receive from the various wire services. Check it out-- you'd be amazed by all the shootings, suicides, fires, and crane-collapses that you're not hearing about on the 6pm news. Some of the data that comes in is unmappable......

Wired Magazine's yearly traveling technology shindig, NextFest, plants its roots in NYC this weekend. After starting in San Francisco in 2004 the show finally makes it to NYC. Billed as a WIRED's vision of a new world's fair, here you can "experience more than 130 exhibits from scientists, researchers, and inventors around the globe. WIRED NextFest features innovations in communication, design, entertainment, exploration, health, transportation, security, and green living." We were able to get......

THEATER: P.S. 122’s Fall Season opens tonight with the U.S. premiere of “Tower of Babel” by Dutch artists Lidy Six and Robert Steijn. Running four nights only - for only 25 audience members at a time – the event is described as “a one-of-a kind, full immersion theatre experience”. Each audience member will be personally welcomed with tea and tucked into one of twenty-five individual beds (complete with nightstands). A live VJ and DJ will......

Last November, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was marred by an incident where Red and Yellow M&M parade balloons fell into a streetlight. The lamp fell on top of sisters Sarah and Mary Chamberlain (ages 11 and 26) from upstate New York who watching the parade; luckily, the two were not seriously injured. Mayor Bloomberg promised to form a task force, and, yesterday, he released the findings of the Thanksgiving Day Parade Safety Task......

I read Harlan Coben’s Promise Me in a quest to broaden my literary horizons – that is, I’m not widely read in mysteries or thrillers. In fact, even the great hook about Promise Me, that it’s Myron Bolitar’s return, was lost on me since I haven’t read the prior seven books. But if I’ve learned something as a reader, it’s to always branch into genres you haven’t read, because you’ll often be surprised. This adventurous......

The MTA officially announced that the L train will get "real time" information boards this July. While this is an exciting leap into the future (or recent past, as other subway stations around the world have been using this technology) for the MTA, could this be a way to make L train riders feel better, given all the crap they have to go through? The MTA is looking to bring the technology to 155 other......

Gawker is launching their new map feature today. It's a pretty simple concept: each day they'll have an intern manning an email address, and as "Gawker Stalker" missives come in, the intern will plot them on a map. This way, you can stalk your favorite celebrities in real time. Why you would want to stalk Lindsay Lohan is beyond us-- but that's an entirely different story. The new map feature brings up some obvious......

New York Times food columnist Frank Bruni has joined the ranks of the bloggerati with Diner's Journal. Bruni describes the purpose of the new site, which will replace his weekly column of the same name:This new blog is an attempt to capture and share more of my notes from the field. To provide, in something closer to real time, a sense of what’s being served in the city’s newest, oldest, most delightful and most......