Subtweeting, probably. (Photo: Flickr)

Now social media editors can finally afford to leave their desks and shower. The MTA is announcing later today that it's rolling out cell and Wifi service to 30 additional subway stops, including Times Square, Columbus Circle, and Rockefeller Center. Prior to today, the only stations that offered the free service included the C & E platform at 23rd Street, two stops on the L line, and several platforms at the 14th Street station.

Other stations that went online today include stops from 18th Street to 96th Street on the West Side. The rollout was expected to debut by the end of 2012, but it was delayed because of damage from Superstorm Sandy. The network is being built by Transit Wireless, which currently only has deals with AT&T and T-Mobile, so those using other telco networks are SOL for now. (There's always the Wifi to piggyback off!) (Update: Verizon Wireless emailed us writing that the company is working to "finalize an agreement" with the MTA to bring cell service to some stations.)

Today's announcement is phase one of the MTA's and Transit Wireless' grand plan. Stations in Queens and Midtown Manhattan are expected to be wired sometime in 2014, followed by the East Side and the Bronx the year after. It's part of the transit authority's promise to have all of its 400+ stations wired by 2016.

Now, if that "totally harmless" gas that the MTA is releasing soon is Bahama Breeze scented, then we might never complain again.

(Screencap: YouTube)

Yesterday a video of a 56-year-old woman being brutally mugged in the F train station in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood went viral. The video shows a woman descending the stairs into the station before she is pushed up against a door and hit and kicked. The assailant then empties her purse, grabs some items and chases after her through the station. Though the crime occurred on March 9th, the NYPD released the video with the hopes that viewers would be able to help them ID the perp.

Internet sleuths immediately hopped on the case. Commenters at Daily Intel and Gawker used the police's description--a 20-something, 150 pound man in a hoodie with "'Alpha Phi Delta,' on the front and 'Stugotz' with the number 27 on the back"--to track down the man's Facebook page. His publicly available photos showed that his fraternity pledge name appeared to be "Stugotz" and that he wore a purple bracelet similar to the one seen in the video. Soon, commenters took to his Facebook page to accuse him of the crime.

Now, Gawker reports that the man commenters had identified, 21-year-old Aidan Folan, has been arrested and charged with robbery and assault. Score one for Kinja?

You missed the train; time to watch some Aereo! (Photo: flickr.com/anniemole)

Good to know the MTA is putting the increased cost of our metro cards to good use: Fast Company reports that several stations are getting a high-tech new amenity. The agency has hired a design firm, Control Group, to design and install 90 touchscreen map kiosks across the subway system, starting later this year.

Just like with the subway pole, however, it's a bring-your-own-Purel situation.

To use the kiosks, you'll simply click on your destination and point of origin then abracadabra, your route will appear. Not only will this leave many more maps for NYU freshmen looking to decorate their dorms, the touchscreens will also keep riders updated on delays. No longer will you have to interpret announcements that sound like, "The [mumble mumble] train isn't running; for alternatives, please take the [mumble mumble]."

Best of all: Each kiosk will produce a little halo of Wifi. Finally a way to watch Netflix while you wait for that 2 a.m. N train! (Maybe keep your eyes peeled for would-be muggers, though.)

These machines are also yet another chance for the MTA to make a buck off of ads, of course. Then again, the agency needs some sort of revenue stream for their upkeep, since everything underground is apparently treated as a urinal.

(h/t Gizmodo)

(Photo: IMGUR)

A billboard in the Union Square station is kind of like the Inception of Internet references, collecting every advertiser's notion of what is cool/hip on the web and slapping it onto one delightful subway ad.

First, the ad is for Seamless, a website popular with hipsters and shut-ins and hipster shut-ins that delivers food straight to your door. Secondly, the ad references not only Reddit, but sub-reddits, which is like--whoa, dude. These ad guys "get" me.

Last but not least, it references Seamless users' penchant for customized “special instructions" such as, "I smoked mad weed and I got a new video game so don't break your balls getting here." We're pretty sure that's a shout out to our post, The Most Glorious Special Instructions Customers Have Requested on Seamless. (Maybe not, but we'll take it!)

The only thing that could make this more acceptably Internetty is it was a GIF. Maybe better to save that for the Bedford L stop.

"Yeeeah... I just had a brief conversation with the most powerful man in the world. On the downtown 3 train. Nice guy," he tweeted last night.

(Photo: Noah Zerkin, Twitter)

Look at that hat! Mr. Brin would look quite at home in any hip New York neighborhood, though he should probably be wary of the fact that someone could snatch that $1,500 prototype off his face at any moment. Welcome to New York!

(Photo: Flickr.com/mtaphotos)

Any self-respecting New Yorker can effortlessly call to mind a host of complaints about the subway system, that dingy portal between work and home that we grudgingly wade into day in and day out. While the train certainly gets you from points A to B faster and cheaper than a cab, rat-infested stations, painfully long wait times and people who decide to pee and then take a shower in the middle of the car can add up to a pretty unpleasant riding experience. Not to mention all those fare hikes.

Still, the MTA--an institution as beloved as ConEd or even Time Warner--is doing its best to make hurdling through that century-old series of tubes worth your $2.25. And for its next act, the MTA has begun to install "high-tech Help Point intercoms" in stations around the city.

According to the Daily News:

The high-tech intercoms known as Help Point that the authority has been testing on the Lexington Ave. line will be placed in 102 stations by the end of 2014.

For the first time, passengers waiting for trains will be able to get basic travel information or summon help in an emergency with the push of a button.

Despite the Help Point's ability to help make stations safer and spread information about delayed trains, New Yorkers are naturally skeptical about the system, which has been on the docket for seven years and won't roll out fully until 2014. (The first Help Points debuted in 2011.)

"They keep making it more expensive for riders, but the services aren’t worth it. The trains are always broken. They never take you where you need to go. What are we paying more for?” lamented one 55-year-old straphanger to the Daily News.

Poor guy--he must not be located on the Silicon Alley subway line.

Just hanging out, maybe collecting some emails. (Photo: flickr.com/paul_everett82

Ronald McDonald probably isn't the first person who comes to mind when parents think "internet dangers," but you probably don't want your kids getting unsolicited emails about the glories of french fries, either.

Well, bad news: The New York Times reports that several advocacy organizations have filed a complaint with the FTC, alleging that Micky D's and four other companies--Viacom, General Mills, Subway and Turner--are exploiting a legal loophole in their online marketing to kids.

In true corporate fashion, however, these companies aren't doing anything so straightforward as simply asking for 9-year-olds' email addresses. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in fact requires sites to get parents' "verifiable consent"  before they can collect the personal info of kids younger than 13.

But that's just so involved, you know? And there are McNuggets to be peddled. Instead, HappyMeal.com and five other sites stand accused of an underhanded-looking work-around:

But, in complaints to the F.T.C., the coalition says six popular Web sites aimed at children have violated that law by encouraging children who play brand-related games or engage in other activities to provide friends’ e-mail addresses — without seeking prior parental consent.

Say what?

Obtaining information about adults’ social networks to e-mail marketing messages to their friends is a common industry practice called “tell a friend” or “refer a friend.” But now an increasing number of children’s sites are using the technique by inviting children to make customized videos promoting certain products, for example, and then sending them to friends.

There is, in fact, a loophole in the law that allows companies to collect friends' addresses and send one--and only one--email, and the companies who responded to the Times piece insist that they are fully compliant with existing laws.

However, let's put this in its proper context: The FTC is currently updating rules regarding kids' online privacy, taking into account technologies like cookies (of the tracking variety, not the Cookie Monster kind).

Better get to hamburglering those email addresses while you still can, McDonald's.

(Vimeo)

A Brooklyn filmmaker named Dean Peterson noticed something curious about his subway station at 36th St. in Sunset Park. One of the steps near the top of the staircase appeared to be just slightly taller than the other stairs, but the difference is so miniscule that it's not noticeably visible. In fact, Mr. Peterson only noticed it when he realized that everyone trips on the step. And of course, being a cinephile, he decided to film it.

The Vimeo video, entitled "New York City Subway Stairs," hit the front page of Reddit this afternoon, and as of this writing had accrued over 2,000 upvotes.

It's funny and slightly uncomfortable to watch the presumably non-regular 36th St. passengers react to the surprise step. All of them manically speed up as if that by pretending they'd meant to jog the last few steps it will cover for the fact that they almost faceplanted. Sigh... been there.

One Reddit user, a veritable peddler of interesting castle facts, informed the social news site's audience that, "They used to put random different height steps into castles as part of the fortification so that attacking forces would stumble and give the residents more time to defend properly." The more you know!

Mr. Peterson, for his part, seems unimpressed by the fleeting flicker of Reddit fame. "Holy shit, you're on the Reddit front page!" tweeted one of his followers. "Yeah I just saw that, pretty crazy," replied Mr. Peterson, probably while shrugging and rolling his eyes, simultaneously.

UPDATE:

When reached for comment by phone, the MTA media relations department had already heard of the video and began to search their email for the corresponding comment. When the email couldn't be unearthed for what seemed like one million years, the MTA representative told us, "We will send someone out to take a look and take corrective measures."

UPDATE #2:

The MTA has blocked off the offending staircase in preparation for fixing it. Yay, Internet!

(Photo: Travelpod)

The dog days of summer are upon us, but there's a bright spot gleaming like Gatsby's green light from the West side of Manhattan. Google Offers, which apparently still exists, has teamed up with Boingo to provide free Wifi in six subway stations this summer. Can you imagine the awesomeness of being able to check your email while waiting on a sticky, rat-ridden platform for the ever-elusive M train?

Google, you are a benign overlord indeed. But unfortunately for East siders and those in the outer boroughs, all of the Wifi-equipped stations are on the West side of Manhattan:

• A, C, E station at Eighth Avenue and West 14th Street
• L station at Eighth Avenue and West 14th Street
• C, E station at Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street
• 1, 2, 3 station at Seventh Avenue and West 14th Street
• F, M station at Sixth Avenue and West 14th Street
• L station at Sixth Avenue and West 14th Street

Actually, though Google is advertising this as "six NYC subway stations," the list shows that it's more like four, since the A, C, E and L trains are at the same 8th Ave station, as are the F, M and L at Sixth Ave.

But, all good things must come to an end sometime: Google and Boingo's goodnatured Wifi experiment expires on September 7th.

There's a lot to learn (San Diego Air and Space Museum archive photo | flickr.com)

MEET. Ten dollars gets you into the NY Tech Meetup at NYU this evening. The meetup will take place at the Skirball Center For The Performing Arts at 566 LaGuardia Place where NYC startups will demo all the cool things they're doing.

BestVendor, CartoDB, Everything Butt Art,Lenddo, MVF, MyMatchmaker, Scroll Kit, Paperlex and Umami will all be showing off their startup skills.

GIRL POWER. DailyWorth, an online resource for women in business with backing from the likes of Joanne Wilson is launching a new financial newsletter devoted to female entrepreneurs: CreateWorth. Lady entrepreneurs who sign up will recieve a "bi-weekly forum" detailing personal experiences from DailyWorth founder Amanda Steinberg, and encouragement and tips to "master business-building fundamentals."

TECH RUSH. Reuters TV hits up ZocDoc, HiiDef and LivePerson in a new video for their tech show, Tech Tonic.

GET EDUCATED. Startups Unplugged, a multi-part course taught by Paul Orlando begins in the Lower East Side this evening. The course will focus on "customer development methodology" and is best suited for both business and technical "early startup people." The first part of the $95 four-part course will run from 7-8:30 p.m. at Skillshare HQ, 407 Broome St, 5A. Only a handful of spots are left so hurry!

SHOWOFF. Tomorrow is the NJIT Startupalooza and this year the event is free to attend and only $20 to exhibit. The event touts itself as an excellent opportunity to pitch to investors. Six selected startups will have the opportunity to present to the entire investment panel and one winner will be chosen. The event begins at 3 p.m. on Thursday at 154 Summit St. Newark, NJ 07102.

PRE-GAME. #Techdrinkup is hosting a massive pre-party for Social Media Week at venues all over the city. Only tech's "brightest and savviest people" will be allowed. If this applies to you, RSVP here.

DRINK AT YOUR NEW JOB. SEO giant Conductor is hiring. And not just for tech positions. And they have a kegerator?