Hey, you know those awful flatscreen maps in the subways? The ones with the confusing station names and the pixelated Alcatel diagrams that look like a screengrab from an Atari 2600? Don't get too accustomed to them, because Muni and NextBus are working on something better. It'll take a few weeks -- at least -- but eventually, they'll be replaced by nicer, prettier, more accurate, data. Hooray! That only took, what, a billion fucking years? more ›

A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games. more ›

We don't usually read the Op Ed pages of the Chronicle, because it's always either rehashed columnists from other papers or something like "give birth control pills to deer in Point Reyes" -- but can you believe it? The Chron actually got someone local to write about a local issue today -- if we're going to build out the MUNI underground, why not actually build it out and have a subway that runs to Fisherman's Wharf? more ›

• Gothamist found that an explosive set off outside the Times Square army recruiting center may be similar to five past bombings in New York City.
• Seattlest worried when severed right feet and bottles of rat poison started washing up on local beaches.
• Shanghaiist was surprised by Bjork's rooting for Tibetan independence at her concert (see video), and the political fallout has only just begun.
• SFist debated the merits of new bronze plaques that will be placed in locations where San Francisco's homeless have died.
• DCist was obliged to respond to the worst Washington Post Outlook column ever published, in which conservative writer Charlotte Allen tried to make the case that women are dumb.
• LAist found Satan's ice cream truck trolling the streets, and they recorded the music.
• Some crafty Torontoist readers didn't like the dearth of ski hills in downtown Toronto, so they just built one of their own on their deck and (of course) recorded a video of them all taking turns on it.
• Bostonist knows the city's subway and bus system, the MBTA, has problems. So does this 17-year-old who submitted a report and told the MBTA brass how to fix it.
• Phillyist explored the possibility of an Ivy League prostitute, while their commenters debated the most ethical approach to proving or debunking the story.
• Londonist spent a little too much time looking at airbrushed operatic private parts, and enjoyed an enlightening comment from someone who was there. more ›

After their American Idol hour was unforgivably interrupted by the San Francisco Police Department making an announcement last night, a reader writes to SFist asking: more ›

Mating season, it's on. This wild turkey was found inside the city limits of San Jose. Who knew? more ›

535 San Francisco Unified School District teachers will receive layoff notices this morning due to state cuts in education funding. Today's pink slip handouts stem from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget '09, which will see San Francisco schools losing around $40 million. According to CBS 5, Mayor Newsom is doing what he can, even if it's a Band-Aid solution to a longterm problem. more ›

For better or for worse, spring is in the air. And with that comes the many AIDS Lifecycle Fundraisers that will litter the city for the next few months or so. While AIDS charities aren't necessarily our bag -- they come off as a tad too insufferably A-gay for us or for anyone who makes less than a six-figure income -- this one will surely make the gays squeal for a while. more ›

An unidentified person was shot and killed on the 1600 block of Russell in Berkeley last night, brining the city's murder tally to three. (The much larger city of San Francisco, BTW, is at 14.) The Chron goes on to report: more ›

Matier & Ross were all over this nugget of news today: bronze plaques will be placed in locations where the city's homeless have died. The "memorials" will be placed in Chris Daly and Ross Mirkarimi's districts, which include the Tenderloin, Civic Center, Haight-Ashbury and Western Addition. Each will be 2 feet by 2 feet "human-shaped plaques" and "[inscribed] with details of the deceased's lives and the circumstances of their deaths," according to the Chron. Let's just hope they don't look like the mockup the Gate created above. more ›

God, sometimes we love Orange County. It's such a parody of itself at times, which we admire. Especially when it comes to brilliance like the following found over at Laughing Squid. You see, the city of Santa Ana (oy) wants to help parents determine, via the graphic above, whether or not their child is a rat bastard tagger. The city of Santa Ana's site explains their accusatory and unfair image, along with the final word as to what is and is not art, thusly: more ›

One of the federal buildings in the Tenderloin is thoughtlessly tagged with some thoughtful graffiti. According to livinintheloin: more ›

Lance Farber, the 47 year old new age chiropractor boyfriend of our new city planning director John Rahaim, who last weekend set their bed on fire and smeared crushed tomatoes all over the historic landmark apartment the city had put them up in, had a brief appearance in court today, where his bail was set at $1 million. Farber would have been in court longer, except that his attorney, noted local criminal lawyer (and Matt Gonzalez for Mayor campaign treasurer) Randy Knox, said Farber's been suffering terrible migraines ever since he set the place on fire and fled the scene. more ›

We're a little late to this story, in part because we spent all day yesterday trying to separate out the hilarious comments from the offensive ones on SFGate.com (it looks like the homophobic ones have already been taken out as of today) -- but in a nutshell, last Friday, Lance Farber, the 47-year-old boyfriend of the city's new planning director John Rahaim trashed their temporary apartment, which the city put them up in and which is located in the ceremonial fire chief's house in downtown SF. more ›

State Senator Leland Yee introduced a bill in the State Legislature this morning that, if passed, would see traffic fines double for violations occurring along the deadly strip of San Francisco road known as 19th Avenue. (Shudder.) more ›

In January we mentioned a global Monopoly board game where you could vote on which cities you want on Hasbro's latest version of the popular board game, Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition. Fun, right? Well, not for some. Hasbro recently removed the country name "Israel" after "Jerusalem" when it received complaints from pro-Palestinian groups. And then, you guessed it, Hasbro received even more heat from people online who noticed the only city without a country was Jerusalem. more ›

Hey, which would you rather have: a bus that comes on time, or a bus that comes late but has a nifty antenna on top? Well who cares what you want! You're getting the antenna. more ›

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We shamelessly stole today's photo of the day from SF Metblogs. It was reportedly taken at the Ferry Building's farmers market. And while we can imagine such a gruesome display occurring in more parts of the city, we always thought this kind of scene was better hidden at downtown's farmers market. Tsk, tsk. Shameful. more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

Where do we start? How about Mr. Fluffface on a leash. We love it. Why don't we see more of this around the city? Adorable doesn't even begin to describe how we feel about a cat on a leash. more ›

Republican (it goes without saying) Assemblyman Guy Houston of San Ramon wants to slice off more than $3 million in state funding from Berkeley for their stance against Marine recruiting. He will introduce legislation to "withhold state transportation money until Berkeley rescinds its 'war on the U.S. Marine Corps.'" more ›

60-year-old attorney William McGrane is fit to be tied. Why? Because of noted Ferry Building street percussionist John King's daily performances. It seems that his groovy beats, which stem from the many plastic buckets and pans and whatnot he uses as instruments, are flowing into the Ferry Building and disrupting the work flow of the hardworking lawyer, okay? (We always forget that people work on the other floors of the Ferry Building in offices. It's like realizing that people live above Forever 21 on Market Street. Freaks us out a tiny bit.) Now he's suing the city of San Francisco for $100,000, claiming the sounds hinder with his work. more ›

You want to be in a Brooks Brothers riot? Just dress sharp, and be tomorrow at 8:15am at the east entrance of City Hall! The SF TIC coalition is sponsoring a gathering to celebrate the Condo Conversion lottery, which will take place inside at 9am. You'll get free Peet's coffee, and you'll hear the plight off these poor TIC owners who can't convert there place into a condo, and how it's a heavy cross to bear, and how everyone hates Chris Daly. more ›

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum more ›

Aaron, what's going on? Things okay at home? You can tell us, man. Because: more ›

The suspect, Pierre Ragland, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, assault, carrying a loaded firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon. Oops. And the victim was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, and it looks like he's pull through. (And to add insult to injury: "Oh my God, who shot you?" "This guy named Pierre." Ouch.) more ›

SFist interviews artist Misako Inaoka more ›

Someone reports, asks the following about city-enforced personal hygiene of the homeless population: more ›