Two new studies have shown that pedestrians using cellphones are significantly more likely to get smacked by a car than anybody else. A simulation indicated that older people are especially likely to be distracted, even more so if they're unsteady on their feet to begin with (so maybe think about getting Grandma a nice large-print novel for Christmas instead of a Droid).

Interestingly, listening to music was found to have no effect on pedestrian safety, which I'd like to personally refute. I can say without a doubt that while listening to certain music (Spank Rock, I'm looking at you), I am noticeably more cocky and likely to get hit by a car while strutting across a busy street. But then, I'm not a scientist; thus, I trust the results of these studies and will continue to blare loud, filthy rap music while disregarding all pedestrian laws and guidelines. [LabSpaces]

I'm a huge, unabashed, and unembarrassed Girl Talk fan, yet even I'm not sure that, like he says, "Software and computers are the most punk rock thing that's happened, ever." I think punk rock might actually hold that crown. But hey, Night Ripper was the unofficial dance party soundtrack for my entire fourth year at college, so whatever you say, dude. [YouTube]

Before we go on, if you haven't already read io9's amazing How to Be an Opinionated Commenter on io9 and Not Get Banned post we suggest you do. We at Gizmodo don't think we need to go over what being a decent commenter is all about. But if you are still unsure of which comments are appropriate please check out that io9 guide, we'll all be happier you did.

Please Keep it On-Topic
So here's the problem, the comment threads are still becoming too off-topic. We're not gonna point fingers at specific commenters; we just want everyone to understand what affect this has on the Giz community.

Let us first say that our comments are usually filled with a wealth of information, and that's why we love 'em. We here at Gizmodo—just like you readers—visit the comments section of every story wanting to learn more from each and every commenter. By engaging in on-topic discussion, the comments can provide an amazing amount of insight for any given story, such as similar products that do something as good or better than what we feature. Sadly, what is happening is that a few off-topic comments will get posted amongst all the on-topic ones and then the whole comment thread derails and turns sour. Our comment threads, which are our communal pool of knowledge, end up completely ruined because of a few horny idiots.

So we are asking all you guys again, please don't pee in our pool. It hurts all of us in the end and no one will be happy when the POOL'S CLOSED...

New Pre-Banning Feature: Disemvoweling
For those of you who continue to ruin it for the rest of us, instead of just banning you on the spot, we now have a new feature which will note your idiotic comments. It's called disemvoweling and what it does is take the comment in question and strip all the lovely vowels out of it. The comment is then left looking like a jumbled mess, and since this disemvoweling can not be reversed it will stay vowelless FOORRREEEVVVERRR! So here's a warning, if you find one of your comments disemovoweling you better straighten up before the banhammer comes knockin'. This also serves as a notification to other commenters as to what type of comments are NOT acceptable.

And if commenters keep making off-topic posts even after the disemvoweling, we will have to put them on a temporary time-out.

We wish we could take credit for this nifty disemvoweling feature but we can't. We tip our hats to Boing Boing for this one.

If you guys have any questions about the new disemvoweled feature or simply want to apologize for making off-topic comments please send all those messages to comments@gizmodo.com.

Instead of writing a sympathetic conclusion to this post, we thought it would be best to leave you with words from your own Pope John Peeps II.

Comment Email Address - For All Your Commenting Needs
We're not sure why we never had it before, but Gizmodo now has a specific email address just for comment related concerns. Emails about account approval, account problems, banning questions, thread problems and even requests for banning will all be handled through this email. So here it is, COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM , shouldn't be too hard to remember.

Off Topic Comments
Over the past few weeks, we at Giz have been becoming unhappy with the direction some comment threads are turning. Even some commenters have let us know that they are concerned with what's going on. Long story short, some of the comment threads are getting way too off topic. Gizmodo is not high school social shit site, and we expect the commenters to be mature enough to contribute ON TOPIC conversation. Sure, we all enjoy reading some light off topic banter, but we've noticed complete mongo-tard discussions that have NO PLACE on a gadget site. So next time you're thinking of writing a comment with the word PENIS or HORNY in it, please spare us..

Why We Ban
If you didn't already know, we have an all-mighty banhammer that we can use to silence commenters. Why would we use such a weapon? Well, some commenters feel the need to speak with obscene, racists, troller, mean, spammer, stupid, or completely off topic words. These types of commenters are NOT WELCOMED, and must be banned. So if you see your account has been banned, please check your stupid ass comments before you send an email to COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM asking why you can't comment. I'm sure you'll see why.

Other Bannable Offenses
From here on out, asking "Will It Blend?" welcoming any kind of overlord, or any other horribly tacky and cliche comment, unless used exceptionally, hilariously ironically, makes you a total banhammer target.

So I hope our little talk wasn't too harsh. We value all you commenters and enjoy the additional insight you add to Gizmodo. If you guys have any ideas or features you would like to see happen in the Giz comment world, please feel free to let us know. And don't forget COMMENTS@GIZMODO.COM is where your gonna send all that comment related junk.

UPDATE: We want to personally apologize to carmen-whatever her new name is, for singling her out. We understand that it wasn't cool, and we're sorry.

AT&T will charge you 15 cents a minute for doing PTT, which you can then convert to a real phone call to save on PTT minutes. Other features like availability status (like IM status), call-me alerts, contact alerts, and quick group calling are also available. – Jason Chen

Press Release [Cingular via Mobile Tech Review]

Seems like a bargain until you remember that the press photos never include the entirely necessary USB cable sticking out the phone's butt. So while Amex Digital claims the phone is "Easy to use like mobile phone," the only way you get a mobile phone is the old fashion way - with about 300 feet worth of cords. We guess it could be a nice Skype introduction for the parents who just got used to their cell phone layout, but we will probably buy it out of pity for the Apple wannabe. We buy a lot of crap. – Mark Wilson

Press Release