According to police, the armed suspect entered the java joint in the 2200 block of Georgia Avenue NW and (instead of specifying tall, grande or venti) demanded cash.

The man fled after the crime, but police caught up with him. "A subsequent search resulted in the recovery of a weapon, a bag used in the commission of the crime, and drugs," writes Lt. Alberto Jova in an email.

The same coffee shop was robbed on March 22 as well, around the same time. Cops don't yet know if it's the same perp.

"Wait a minute. Clinton Portis is on this team?"

"Wow DC is as cold as Denver. I don't see what the big difference is going to be. Oh yeah, all the losing."

"I'm ironing my clothes for tomorrow's Press Conference announcing my hire"

"Mr. Snyder asked me something about a 'Rooney Rule'. That Dan, what a card."

(Hat Tip: the awesome Sports Bog)

Dee Does The District had a cold first day of class. Someone left a window open in their classroom all during the break. And "Dee" heard about problems in other DCPS schools:

"If the unhinged screen door to my balcony is any indication, it's been very windy (and very cold) recently. The daytime high, with windchill, was in the teens today. And how many of you were taught at a school without heat today? Three of my colleagues reported no heat at their respective schools today, which is just ridiculous.

Can you imagine the outrage and ruckus parents would bring if this situation occurred somewhere other than DCPS?"

Prince of Petworth puts up a completely weak-sourced rumor that Ben's Next Door may open an outpost in Petworth.

The Washington Teacher reports on some serious in-fighting within the teacher's union.

The 42 reviews Tynan Coffee in Columbia Heights.

Slate discovers Animal Collective.

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

This week, The Modern Times Coffeehouse has become the first coffee shop in the District to throw down the gauntlet at Wi-Fi loafers: The management has covered up some of the electrical outlets in an attempt to herd its laptop loiterers toward communal tables, where they can still plug in.

This particular gambit was first seen after the economy took a nosedive in New York City and has since spread elsewhere as independent shops try to cope with hordes of wireless customers, including laid off workers with plenty of time but little disposable income. Washington, as usual, is fashionably late to join in. The Modern Times appears to be the first  in the District to take similar measures.

But, not all local café owners see this as a good option. At Tynan Coffee and Tea, a Columbia Heights joint that opened in October, special care was taken to ensure the electrical outlets were close to the tables and plentiful enough to satisfy demand from laptop owners, according to Jim Sullivan, who owns the place with his brother Brian.

Now that McDonald’s franchises offer free Wi-Fi, Starbucks no longer charges its customers to get online, and even bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble double as hotspots, independent coffeehouses are in no position to forgo the complimentary hookups.

“It’s a balance,” says Dan Silverman, A.K.A. the Prince of Petworth, whose site has played host to the online furor over changes in the Wi-Fi policies at Tynan and Sticky Fingers Bakery. “They are not running Starbucks or a Dunkin’ Donuts. They want to foster an independent feeling and not just cycle people in and out.”

Beyond questions of profitability, many café owners find themselves caught between their wired and unwired customers.

Moderating the growing strife has proved more complicated than the Sullivan brothers had imagined. Last month, the shop cut back on the Internet service and turned it off altogether during some weekend hours, after a flurry of complaints from the sans-computer crowd.

“We got a fair amount of feedback from people in the neighborhood, saying: ‘Love your place but I couldn’t find a seat,” Sullivan says. But the changes fueled new controversy from the digital nomads in the neighborhood.

At The Modern Times, the debate has taken on a generational dimension.

"It's a shame that some folks feel that they are being pushed out by a new technology – one, that, honestly, I'm still coming to terms with myself. I understand that this sentiment is partly derived from a slight fear of the new and perhaps a manifestation of an increasing generational gap, but, nonetheless, it is a valid concern that creates conflict, worry, much argument and division,” Javier, one of the café’s operators, wrote on its blog earlier this month.

Informal readers’ poll: Should more café’s pull the plug on unlimited Internet usage?

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

If you are just tuning to this new WCP series on Internet cafes around the District, let me introduce myself: I am the Wi-Fi loafer on assignment, your faithful correspondent on wired café culture.

Since this is a confessional column I figure you might want to know how I became a Wi-Fi loafer, a café idler and usurper of table space.

Until recently, I was more of what you might call a Wi-Fi café dilettante, not the harden loafer I’ve become. I might have spent an hour comfortably ensconced in one of those faux living room setups at Busboys & Poets or checked the movie listings on a lazy Sunday in the afterwords part of Kramer Books. For getting any real work done, though, I pretty much stuck to my apartment/office, where it’s easy to do phone interviews and the coffee is free, plentiful and always fresh.

My loafing days began last summer when we had a lot of visitors. DC is a great place to live. It certainly makes you popular with friends and family; the same folks who would never visit you when you live in Des Moines or Columbus with a REAL need of outside stimulus. Nope. Those folks don’t make the trek to places like Des Moines. But move to DC and you’d better be ready for a steady onslaught.

While it’s nice of them to visit, those of you who work from home know as well as I do that having your in-laws in town for two weeks can put a real cramp in your productivity. I took to sneaking away to Internet cafes.

That’s when I discovered that despite the friendly service Wi-Fi cafe owners really don’t like it when you stay all day. And, while they may offer free refills, they consider it rather rude when you replenish your coffee cup – like 15 times – during the hours you toil there, books and papers sprawled across an entire table. While many proprietors go out of their way to make you feel at home, they don’t want you to get THAT comfortable.

But four hours can go by fast when you are actually trying to meet a deadline and not just checking the movie listings or obsessing over email.

Still, nobody’s going to come over and evict you as long as you've made some minimum purchase. (At least, I have yet to be asked to leave, though there have been a few cases around the country where Wi-Fi scofflaws have been led away in handcuffs for pirating shop connections without buying as much as a teabag. I’m not making this stuff up, check out this story.)  The baristas may not toss out a paying customer but you don’t have to have extrasensory perception to pick up on the disapproving vibes.

And, sometimes it goes beyond vibes. At least one DC coffeehouse has started covering up the electrical outlets, following an example set by New York City shop owners who pulled the plug on loafers months ago. The Modern Times Coffeehouse inside Politics & Prose bookstore that was featured in Tuesday’s Confessions column has covered  some of its electric outlets, according to a post on its blog.

The Internet has apparently been an ongoing source of tension at the upper Connecticut Avenue NW coffeehouse for sometime now. The café managers sent me an email this morning with a link to an online discussion they started about a week ago that brought out some strong feelings on both sides. Here’s an excerpt:

"It's a shame that some folks feel that they are being pushed out by a new technology – one, that, honestly, I'm still coming to terms with myself. I understand that this sentiment is partly derived from a slight fear of the new and perhaps a manifestation of an increasing generational gap, but, nonetheless, it is a valid concern that creates conflict, worry, much argument and division. I must also note that many laptop users – writers, students, those working from "home"- here are aware of our spatial (and economic) limitations and try their best to share tables and purchase something every hour or so.

“I guess the spectrum of possibilities range from not offering wireless at all, limiting it to certain times of the day or days of the week, limiting it to certain tables, charging an hourly fee (!), plugging up all the electrical outlets and have people rely on their batteries, to not changing anything at all. I don't want you – laptop users – to feel that we are waging a war against you, but want you to understand this ongoing concern of ours and that we want you to be part of shaping our new policy in this ever-changing landscape and environment.”

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

Just in case you missed the inaugural post yesterday, this is the second installment in a new series about “digital nomads,” who wander the District setting up their laptops wherever they can find free Wi-Fi and coffee drinks. Before we delve any deeper, let’s define some basic terminology:

Wi-Fi
n.
a certification mark —used to certify the interoperability of wireless computer networking devices.  Stands for “wireless fidelity.”

Loaf·er
n.
1 : one that loafs : idler
2 : a low step-in shoe

Wi–Fi loaf·er
n.
1 : An Internet-surfing freeloader, who arrives early, orders little, and stays all day.
2 : A Digital nomad

Coffee shop
n.
A small restaurant in which coffee and light meals are served.

Internet café
n.
1 : The high-tech equivalent of the coffee house.

2 : Eating and drinking establishments that feature wireless Internet connection. Early versions offered communal computers but no actual beverages, possibly out of fear that patrons would spill on the equipment. Anyone who travels much knows these cafes – sans café – are still big abroad. But the District and most U.S. cities have moved to the Wi-Fi model that actually includes coffee and sometimes beer, wine, other libations and full dinner service. Since people now bring their own hardware, proprietors apparently a no longer see libations as a liability.

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

It’s an early Saturday afternoon inside the cozy basement café at Politics & Prose bookstore on Connecticut Avenue NW. I’ve been here awhile – a good long while.

I arrive with my laptop and a yellow legal pad before 10 a.m. and install myself at one of the little tables along the wall that leads to the stacks. After ordering a cappuccino, I fire up my computer and get right to work. When the battery wanes, I fish around behind a pedestal holding a lamp and find an electrical outlet to plug into. There is even an extension cord handy – what convenience!

All the while, I nurse the same cappuccino. Eventually, what was lacey white foam has congealed into a dingy crust around the porcelain cup.

Every now and then, I catch the gaze of one of the baristas – a woman with long brown hair and tattoos, who keeps up an incessant banter with the other barista, while the patrons come and go with their coffee drinks, bagels, soup of the day.

There she goes again. She’s giving me the eye, the sign that the coffee shop staff has made you – that you are bagged, spotted, scoped, identified as a Wi-Fi loafer, one of those Internet-surfing freeloaders who arrives early, orders little, and stays all day.

Sometimes referred to as “digital nomads,” the café vagabonds have inspired countless features and were even toasted in the Washington Post as harbingers of a future business culture, in which we will all one day be untethered from bland cubicles and dreary office parks.

No sooner has digital nomad culture been feted as trendsetting, however, than it has become apparent that not everyone is so happy with the Wi-Fi wanderers who move between establishments such as the Big Bear in Bloomingdale, Tryst in Adams Morgan and Mid-City Caffé in Columbia Heights.

One could assume that coffee shops lose money on these one-cuppa customers who spread out across tabletops from breakfast through teatime. There are signs that this has been the case. Some popular establishments like Tryst have turned off the Wi-Fi on weekends, while others contract with Internet providers that allow them to dole out the online access an hour or two at a time and only to paying customers.

And the issue has sparked heated debate among customers as well. Just check out the eruption on Prince of Petworth earlier this month when one local nomad expressed “shock” upon hearing that Sticky Fingers Bakery had banished Internet service on Saturdays.

While people voice strong views online, where they remain comfortably anonymous, the same issues are rarely aired in real time and face-to-face.

Take my experience at Politics & Prose’s café. Despite my suspicions about the eye, I’m left to my online reverie as the morning coffee and pastry crowd comes and goes – many without even sitting down – followed by some gatherings of mommies with baby strollers in tow, the dads with young kids who are stopping in after Saturday morning sports practice, and a few other laptop luggers like myself. They eventually are joined by late-rising American University students, here to rehash the night before and plot the one ahead. The students are holding fast to their table too but sans computers.

My crusty coffee cup forgotten at the corner of my screen, I’m open season for the Upper Northwest matrons who just popped in. They’ve come for lunch but, by now, all the tables are taken. So one of the women sidles up to mine and asks: “Are you going to be staying long?”

Her companion looks slightly mortified by her friend’s nerve. My inquisitor rolls her eyes, as if to acknowledge the breaking of a social code. But her look says she is more displeased by my audacity at hogging a scarce patch of coffee shop real estate more than her own cheek at trying to nudge my computer and me toward the door.

This is the first real challenge I’ve had in several weeks of Internet loafing.  My first reaction: shame. I am taken aback by the woman’s righteous indignation. After all, it cannot be denied that I am hogging table space from customers who are willing to plunk down lots more money than the two bucks and change I spent on a cappuccino several hours ago.

I mumble faintly: “Yes, yes, I’m planning to stay.”

The barista looks over and gives me the eye again. Or is she?  At some point it becomes hard to distinguish whether you’re getting the eye or simply projecting – “They’re thinking I’m a Wi-Fi loafer! Right now, they are thinking, ‘what a deadbeat!’”

Then, I snap out of it, remembering I’m not just some Wi-Fi loafer, I am a Wi-Fi loafer on assignment. Confessions of a Wi-Fi Loafer—that's the title of this series.

I have not resorted to such guerrilla reporting tactics lightly. I tried the standard interviewing techniques. But café owners are understandably reluctant to publicly dis their customers – even the Wi-Fi moocher variety. And, who in their right mind – especially in this status-oriented city – is going to allow a reporter to identify them on the record as an Internet café idler, an exploiter of bandwidth and table space?

Ever the dedicated public service journalist, and with few other avenues open to me, I have taken it upon myself to become the ultimate Wi-Fi loafer. I’m your faithful correspondent on the frontlines of cafes in every corner of the city wherever Internet connections and electrical outlets beckon and coffee is sold. Please feel free to share your own Internet loafing experiences or your feelings – either for or against the loafers you have encountered.  You can post them here or email me at thegreendistrict@gmail.com.

This morning a very small faction of possible IMF/World Bank Protesters–six jerks–vandalized two banks on P Street. A drive through downtown and in the surrounding area shows that the protesters did not hit any other banks or symbols of crass yuppiedom/corporate greed. The biggest crowds were the ones gathering at a street food cart. The biggest police/fire department scene concerned a man passed out on 16th Street just below Columbia Road.

If the protesters really wanted to do harm to District residents, disrupt their Saturday brunch rituals, they screwed up. Two takeaways from this incident: The protesters don't know anything about D.C, and city residents showed serious courage by not staying indoors on this beautiful day. Here's a rundown of safe activities that residents are currently enjoying.

ACKC: Still a hot spot:

You are free to shop at Pulp and Home Rule:

Miss Pixie's gets the City Desk all-clear sign:

Feel free to drink at Saint Ex:

You can enjoy fast food:

Big Oil is safe:

You can sit outside and drink coffee at 15th and U:

You can even leave your bike unattended for a few seconds on Hobart Street NW:

Despite speculation over at DCist, Nick Cho says it's not an April Fool's joke: He's closing Murky Coffee in Arlington and moving back to the District. He and, he says, most of his remaining staff will move over to a new spot, Wrecking Ball Coffee , at 475 H St. NW.

"We just couldn't make the business model work in Arlington," says the barista made quasi-famous for wanting to punch someone on his dick after he was made quasi-famous for not paying his D.C. taxes. The  new shop will have a new owner, thus avoiding that whole lien problem. (DCist says it'll be Cho's girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.) Cho says he will collect a salary and keep far away from the money end.  "There are some things I'm good at and some things I'm not,"  he says. "This frees me up to do what I'm good at." Like run for president?

Cho's public announcement, posted to his site, after the jump:

Dear valued customer,

It's with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.

The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.

In the coming months, I hope that you'll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown "Liberty Tavern" just up the street. They'll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you'll join us in welcoming and supporting them.

Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called "Wrecking Ball Coffee") in a new neighborhood. While we're excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn't going to be easy. We've made many friends here, and we're very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.

We've been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years–especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.

Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.

We hope that you'll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.

I welcome your questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Nick

Flickr photo by cerbuside.

DCist is reporting that Mocha Hut has closed. We agree with the bloggers that its brunch was super awesome and relatively cheap. It literally was one of two decent options in the corridor. It was always Mocha Hut or Busboys and Poets for brunch. This will surely mean the lines at Busboys will be that much longer.  I wonder why they went out of business considering that the U Street coffee shop always seemed busy (at least on weekends). DCist writes:

"A notice posted on the door this morning reads simply, "Mocha Hut is closed. We sincerely thank you for all of our support," and is ironically posted only a few feet away from a plea for votes in the Washington City Paper's Best of D.C. awards."

Sad.

The Washington Business Journal reports that another coffee shop will be taking Mocha Hut's place. But what are the odds that its egg specials will be as tasty and as cheap?

New Columbia Heights reports that a new coffee shop has opened at 786 Harvard. It also sells hot tea and cheap sandwiches. Prince of Petworth recently spotted a new coffee shop on Georgia Avenue. The shop is called Fresh Off The Roast.

And Now, Anacostia declares that DHCD is finally moving to Anacostia Gateway: "You may have noticed all the work being done on the interior of Anacostia Gateway recently: walls are up, cubicles are in, and bright accent walls are painted. Even though their entrance is coming six months later than originally planned, the Department of Housing and Community Development will finally move into their space next weekend, and will be open for business on the morning of February 2."

Bloomingdale (for now) reports on the scuttlebutt over a complaint filed against an ANC Commissioner. The complaint stems from the commissioner publishing a newsletter. It's a must read (and too complicated to go into here).

River East Idealist writes perhaps the only inauguration-themed post that targets panhandling. He She watches a panhandler in Dupont Circle before attending a ball:

"Over a span of 30 minutes, he managed to collect a nice sum of cash.  The problem is that he never got on a train.  Finally, after discrete inspection of his eyes, lips, and twittering arms, I concluded that the young man was a junkie in training.  At first, I was angry. I was angry with him for ruining this glorious night. Then, I was angry that he was such a horrible representative of African American males on a day where African American's seemed to be vindicated from centuries of negative stereotypes. I was angry that he was using drugs.  Most of all, I was angry that there was nothing I could do to help him"

On a side note, some of the best inauguration photos I've seen have come from Prince of Petworth's photo contest. (Our own contest's winner will be announced soon). You can see more of the blog's entries here and here.

JDLand runs down the many changes coming to the Nats Stadium. No word yet on the Nats acquiring a few decent pitchers or a star slugger.

Penn Quarter Living spots some portable toilets being removed during a recent rush hour. But these are not the toilets from the Mall.

Intangible Arts reports that districtofnoise.org has launched for all you local experimental music geeks: "The site is a group effort from the local experimental music culture, and pulls together gig listings from across the scene. It's a one-stop-shopping deal, which includes Sonic Circuits, Electric Possible, Lighthouse, Velvet Lounge, and other events as they arise. All mashed together in a gory digital hellhole for you to enjoy." You can check out the noise site. Meanwhile our own music blog has the rundown on the latest leaked songs.

Chicago Tribune has an interview with Palin. The Veep nominee says this: "If people only knew how frugal we are."

New Columbia Heights asks: Know any brothels in the Hood?

And Now, Anacostia reports that Big Chair Coffee is close to opening its doors. This is just one more bit of good news coming out of Anacostia–stuff this blogger is always on top of! And they have the perfect line among all the pictures: "it's just nice seeing the word restaurant."

Metrocurean has a confession: It loves ginger. This means a piece on a new ginger-flavored booze: "Of my absolute favorite flavors, ginger ranks right near the top. So I was eager to learn more about Domaine de Canton, a new ginger liqueur, at its DC launch dinner at Central this week."

D.C. Foodies has some fightin' words: "Yeah, Mr. Smarty McHealthypants! There is nothing wrong with high fructose corn syrup; its made from F@$#ing CORN for Christ's sake! All natural and all American! What you got to say to that? Yeah, that's what I thought... Eat your popsicle, commie. But seriously, what the hell?" Yeah. Seriously.

WTOP is reporting that someone painted "Scam" on a road in front of a speed camera in MOCO:

There have been at least two other instances where the words 'GREEDY SCAM' and 'GOV. SCAM' have been written in large letters on Montgomery County roads, directly in front of fixed speed cameras.

Speed cameras have been in use in the county since May 2007. If a driver goes more than 10 miles per hour over the posted the speed limit, a picture of the license plate is taken and a $40 fine is sent in the mail.

The Montgomery County police department maintains it is not trying to catch drivers off guard, just slow them down."

Pop Cesspool is feelin' angry too: "Dear Tampa Bay Rays fans: Your stadium is shit. We Philly fans know all about shit stadiums. Yours is one. We don't have one anymore. I hate looking at the roof of your stadium, but I can't stop thinking about it, either." Awesome collage if you click on the link.

TPM notes a former Bush Spokesperson says he is now voting for Obama.

*photo from Mingering story.