The day: Tuesday, June 16, at 4 p.m. The mission: find out what the laptop nomads are working on at two Bushwick coffee hangs: Café Orwell and The Archive Café. First up: Yoko (left), a 27-year-old web-site designer at Orwell. “I’m currently doing a web-site update for some friends. I’m on www.ojallday.com, a web site for a festival that my band is playing in this weekend. I’m also doing updates for the new Cakeshop in Brooklyn, at www.bruarfalls.com.” Click the arrow to find out what six more Orwellians and Archivists are working on. (more…)

For those who always say they’re going to catch First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum but never think of it until the second or third Saturday, here’s your reminder: it’s tonight. An all-Islam program is headed by the Brooklyn Qawwali Party (left), a slamming 11-piece orchestra that adapts the music of Pakistani vocal giant Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They perform at 5 and 9:30. Also, from 9 to 11 in the parking lot, an Islamic rhythm-infused DJ dance party. Tonight’s full lineup is available here.

If it’s spring in Brooklyn, there must be an open-studio event somewhere. This weekend there are two: an art crawl in Bushwick, where you’ll see the likes of this elegantly twisted painting from Hannah Mishin (That girl’s on a mission!) along with work presented by 249 other galleries and artists. Open studios are tomorrow and Sunday from noon to 7. Get more info and a downloadable map here. Then there’s the Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk, with loads of artists and deals at 35 area restaurants. From 1 to 6 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. (more…)

Ever wonder what those laptop nomads at your local coffee place are actually working on? We stopped into Greenpoint’s Cafe Grumpy on a recent afternoon to find out.

Brian, 25, Williamsburg (left)
I am at work right now. I’m a writer for treehugger.com. I’m using WordPress software. I’m writing about the climate bill that the Democrats introduced to the House. I was on a phone conference earlier with Nancy Pelosi and Ed Markey. It’s gonna be good stuff. I love my job. I am always multi-tasking, too. I’m using Skype with my editors and boss, and I’m also on Firefox perusing the web. (more…)

Photo by Scott Beale/Liquid Sky.

Tuesdays are training days at the tattoorific Woodley & Bunny salon in Williamsburg, which means pro bono coifs at the hands of assistants who are apprenticing to become full-fledged stylists. We stopped by for a gratis blowout recently, which was unexpectedly excellent and a likely gateway to riskier hair experiments on some future Tuesday. (more…)

Eventually, one must accept that six cups of coffee per day will turn pearly whites into canary yellows. What to do when you’ve decided that you wouldn’t mind smiling on occasion? Get ‘em bleached—but don’t just go with whatever price your dentist rattles off. We comparison shopped for the three major teeth-whitening procedures at 100 licensed dentists from all over Brooklyn and found the cheapest ones. (more…)