After students were caught smuggling in contraband items like cellphones into class, a Pennsylvania middle school has banned Uggs—or other "outdoor, open top boots." The Pottstown Mercury reports, 'In a letter sent home with students Wednesday, Principal Gail Cooper announced the ban, saying “we have been experiencing problems with some students wearing open top boots and carrying items in their boots that are prohibited in school.'" more ›

Few muggers posses the sophisticated refinement to appreciate the finer things in life: a nice bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a Whole Body Robotic Massage Chair from Sharper Image, and the latest version of whatever iPhone has been bestowned upon the unworthy masses (preferably the white one). So it's nice to know there's at least one discerning thief out there showing a little class. Police tell DNAinfo there's a cell phone robber targeting people in the neighborhood around Columbia University, and if he tries to rob you, don't even think about handing over your vulgar BlackBerry. more ›

Alec Baldwin may have tried to apologize to his fellow American Airlines passengers delayed by his Tuesday tantrum, but now he's offended a 9/11 widow. Cheryl McGuinness Hutchins, whose husband Tom McGuinness was a pilot aboard AA 11, which hit the World Trade Center, told TMZ that Baldwin's reference to 9/11 was "inappropriate." more ›

December 6, 2011 is a day that Alec Baldwin will never forget. After being kicked off an American Airlines flight from LAX to JFK—and delaying things for the other travelers—Baldwin deactivated his Twitter account and allowed gleeful tabloids and American Airlines to explain that he basically had a tantrum over being asked to stop using his phone. But don't worry: Baldwin has used his soapbox at the Huffington Post to give his side of the story. more ›

Remember when everyone freaked out for a hot second because it looked like Apple was tracking your every movement? Well, users of nearly every phone out there, you are not going to like this. Security researcher Trevor Eckhart seems to have found a piece of "diagnostic software" created by a company called Carrier IQ that phone carriers have been installing on phones so as to spy better serve you. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] And here we have video of a NJ Transit private bus driver multitasking while cruising down the highway on Friday. He's probably just sending a text to his wife to let her know he's going to be home late because he picked up a second shift at the other job he works as part of a desperate attempt to pay off their mortgage. Hopefully he won't get fired, but we have to weigh this man's pension against the public's right to not die in a fiery bus crash. Also, page views! more ›

Cellphone-related violence continues to be a problem in Gotham, and not just on the subways. In addition to the Brooklyn man who was murdered over his iPhone this weekend, police are seeking a 21-year-old named Julius Wright (alias "Stinky") who they say sexually assaulted a 24-year-old Brooklyn man while screaming homophobic slurs earlier this month. The incident occurred after Wright allegedly stole the man's phone at fake-gunpoint. more ›

There are plenty of "distinctive" scents in the city. From stinky restaurants to the herbal recreation that your upstairs neighbor partakes in, there's no escaping the smells. But at least the typical scents don't cause mass amounts of people to head to the hospital, like the chemical fumes at a cellphone company did yesterday. more ›

Police are looking for a man who has allegedly robbed two women at Queens subway stations. According to WABC 7, "The suspect approached the victim's, verbally abused them, grabbed their cell phones, and fled on foot." Surveillance footage shows the suspect fleeing down the street, without his shirt. more ›

Nearly unrecognizable with his clothes on, former Congressman Anthony "Crotch Shot" Weiner was spotted in Manhattan yesterday with wife Huma Abedin. The couple had brunch at La Bottega in Chelsea—a waiter told the Daily News, "No one was really positive that it was him, but then we saw the name on the credit card and we were like, 'Wow, it's really him." And the waiter revealed Weiner seemed "really tense" and left a bad tip. more ›

The city's surveillance cameras have captured another despicable crime: a man was caught on tape attacking a 29-year-old woman in an elevator in Washington Heights. According to the Daily News—who describe the "goon" as a "Latino who shaves his balding head"—the violent effort was all to get a hold of the woman's cell phone. NY1 reports that the incident took place on June 9th. more ›

Last night Patton Oswalt Tweeted: "I love you, Alamo Drafthouse. Culling the morons," with a link to the below video. The movie theater explains that the video "is an actual voicemail from a woman that was kicked out of one of our Austin theaters" (for using her cell phone). They have a strict policy on cell phones, and warn their patrons via signage that cell phone use will not be tolerated. more ›

The World Heath Organization' International Agency for Research on Cancer today announced that it now classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans [PDF]. What does that mean in English? The agency now considers mobile phone use to be in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust, DDT and coffee. Our theories about how Scully got cancer have clearly been vindicated! more ›

Guess that tune: "Ba-bum…ba-ba-ba-ba-bum." Are visions of Jerry Orbach and S. Epatha Merkerson drifting through your head? The iconic "Law & Order" opening theme song, instantly recognizable to fans pretty much everywhere, helped cops find a robbery suspect in New Jersey yesterday. more ›

After several fatal car accidents in recent years, NY has been trying to crack down on texting-while-driving. And now, the State Senate has passed a bill which will make it infinitely easier for police to pull over people for the offense. Which means no more romancing while driving, as well. more ›

The police are looking into the fatal shooting of a man on Nostrand Avenue (near Glenwood) in Brooklyn. Trevonne Winn, a South Carolina resident who was in town visiting his relatives, was talking on his cell phone when a man suddenly fired at him around 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. NY1 reports that there's surveillance video of Winn being killed—it's pretty haunting—"The video shows a hooded man in dark clothing walk out of a nearby store, stand around for a few minutes and then fire two shots point blank." more ›

Yesterday, DEP workers became heroes for Queena Feng after they retrieved her iPhone from a sewer. Feng said the phone slipped out of her pocket and down the drain after leaving her boyfriend's car, but after calling 311 and leaving her number, the DEP scheduled a retrieval date and got her phone back. Because according to the Daily News, the DEP "has a squad of city workers on call, ready to fish dropped valuables out of Gotham's catch basins for free." But what about our tax dollars, etc! more ›

Over a year after admitting its NYC service sucks, AT&T has apparently made good on plans to improve cell phone service for the Big Apple. Crain's reports, "As part of an initiative implemented long before last week's merger deal with T-Mobile, the No. 2 wireless carrier will soon announce a series of just-completed upgrades to its broadband service in the media capital." more ›

The police arrested three teens for the fatal mugging of a Queens woman last week. Rabia Mohammed, 23, apparently refused to give up her purse, which held $20 in cash, an iPod and her cell phone, and she was shot in the heart. The suspects are 16 and 17 years old and will be charged with second-degree murder, robbery and possession of a criminal weapon, but one's mother spoke to the Post, "He told me, ‘Mommy, I just didn’t do it’ ... but they’re trying to pin me with murder. I didn’t kill no one.'" more ›

The NYPD is almost halfway through its 24-hour crackdown (it started at midnight) on drivers who are using cell phones. Here's what NY's Finest had to say about the effort: more ›

A city correction officer has been suspended for 15 days and placed on modified duty with no inmate contact after she was busted bringing her cell phone to work to chat with her boyfriend—a Bloods member doing time at Rikers. Rosalyn Wilkes, 43, was charged with promoting prison contraband after taking her personal cell phone to jail, which is prohibited. She allegedly used the phone to talk to her boyfriend while she was working at the Tombs in Lower Manhattan, and even let other inmates use it to talk to him. more ›

With a rash of cell phone thefts in the Harlem-Morningside Heights-Columbia University area, some wary residents are admitting that maybe walking and talking on the cell phones isn't the greatest idea. One pointed out that the increasingly-popular smartphones cost $300-600 a pop and told WCBS 2, "Sometimes somebody could come and grab your phone or take anything from you, because you’re not paying attention to what’s going on." And a former cop-turned-self-defense expert suggests smartphone owners get hands-free headsets. more ›

The police are looking for a group of men who are allegedly snatching cellphones up—and more—from people near Columbia University. The Daily News reports that five men allegedly "ran up to a 44-year-old woman and grabbed her phone from her hand as she walked down W. 110th St. near Broadway in the middle of the day" on September 12. On October 18, "A 27-year-old man was attacked on the same street near Morningside Drive in another of the five attacks. He was punched by the men before they stole his phone at 2:40 p.m." Then, "The ruthless crew last struck on Oct. 27, when they grabbed a 22-year-old man on W. 113th St. and took his phone and wallet, police said." Maybe this is why Columbia kids are so unfriendly! more ›

If you're one of those people who must chat or—gasp—even text on the cell phone while driving, you better watch out today: The NYPD is cracking down on people who are using handheld cell phones in their cars. Which means chatting on headsets is okay, but Twittering is not. The boys in blue will hand out $130 fines for the transgressions—last October, the NYPD issued over 7,500 tickets. more ›

We have a complicated relationship with cell phones. They piss us off at concerts and they're ruining our social skills, but they are also great for sexting. Well yesterday, all that was made irrelevant when a cell phone stopped a bullet, saving a man's life and earning Superman's respect all at the same time. more ›

T-Mobile and AT&T subscribers will be able to get a cellphone signal in the subway sooner than expected. Yesterday the MTA announced a 10-year agreement with the companies to provide cell and WiFi service in several Manhattan subway stations by the end of 2011. "For too long, the subway system has been an information black hole in our lives, and bringing cell and Wi-Fi service to stations is one of the ways we are working to change that," said MTA chief Jay Walden tells the Post. Here are the subway stations that will get the first taste; for some reason they're all in Chelsea: more ›