Facial recognition software operates on the principle that people never make expressions ever, and just wander the earth looking like dead-eyed zombies. Thus the Virginia DMV, in order to make driver’s license pictures more compatible with the latest facial recognition techmologies, has decreed that you can’t smile in your photo. MORE »

The Bear is back! And now he’s in the cross hairs of the mean old Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles for having a really gay license plate. I guess this is the sort of low-level, left-handed payback you get when you cross the very powerful Sen. Larry Craig. MORE »

* “Imagine my surprise when I got to the DMV on M St SE this morning, just as they opened, and got my brand new DC driver’s license in about a half an hour. The metal detectors at the door were a little unexpected, but the rest of the experience was totally pleasant.” [From Harvard Street]
* “MC with the hispanic guy on the bike who grabbed my ass last night…furiously pedaling down 16th Street north of Adams Morgan.” [EJ Takes Life]
* Fundraiser for Eastern Market tonight at Marty’s. [The DC Concierge]
* Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon hit you up at the Happy Booker today. [The Happy Booker]

* Here’s a terrifying sketch of the man who raped a woman in broad daylight outside a Checkers at 14th Street and Maryland Avenue while another man restrained her 3-year-old daughter. [Frozen Tropics]
* Yesterday a man was stabbed to death in broad daylight at 51st Street and Banks Place, NE. [stop, blog and roll]
* Last night there was a big apartment fire at 6th and O Streets, NW. 40 people lost their homes. [Life in Mount Vernon Square]
* DMV moving from Gallery Place to SW. [Gallery Place Living]
* The DC Madam’s Shock and Ahhhhh … [City Desk]