BBC4's Synth Britannia was a sufficiently comprehensive look into the electronic music of postpunk Britain, from the pioneering soundtrack to "A Clockwork Orange" by Wendy Carlos, to experimental groups like OMD, Throbbing Gristle, and early Human League...

on to the pop greats that were my first real introduction to synth music, Depeche Mode and New Order. It ends in the middle '80s as synth music transitioned to club music and rave culture, getting nowhere near this decade's full-circle acceptance of '80s synth and chip sounds in pop.

A lovely way to spend 90 minutes, especially for dorks of a certain age who felt a kinship between early synth pop and the captivating other of both Britain and anything electronic. Too bad it's not available for watching on the BBC's iPlayer. You'll have to check the box where you keep your synthesized television experience.

Around 1,000 laptops and iPods are also lost in the depths of black cabs each month, with the VP of security company Credant Technologies, who carried out a survey on the matter, commenting that in ye olde London times, "It used to be small items like brollies and briefcases stuffed full of boring office papers. Now it's laptops, smartphones and thumb drives, all chock-full of valuable information to an identity thief." [Credant Technologies, via The Reg]

Image credit: Annie Mole

Sure it's been the lead story on CNN and a big story on Gawker, but there just wasn't enough DIY mechanics or cellphone-related mayhem for us to pounce on this little gem. As a dad, I don't like seeing shit like this, but knowing there's a happy ending made it a bit easier to view. Oops, did I give too much away? [Gawker]

Hairband balladeers from the roaring '80s will be disappointed to learn that holes in the heart previously only able to be filled by some girl who is already dating some other guy can now be filled by a patch made of stem cells. As for the rest of us, we naturally assumed that if stem cells could give Christopher "Butthole" Reeve real Superman strength and build replica's of Shakey's Pizza, well, of course they can patch heart holes. [PopSci]

By March of next year, many British police officers will be handed a smartphone in order to maintain communication while increasing time in the field. It may work, assuming they block like a million distractions. Frankly, the only reason I wanted to even mention this in Remainders was to remind the world of that stroke of British police genius, Hot Fuzz, through Photoshop. It was that or an image of the gmilfy Prime Suspect herself, Helen Mirren. Did I choose wrong? [BBC via Engadget]

Science produces explanations great and small, and finally got around to one we've been waiting for since Heinrich "Coca" Cola invented the fizzy beverage: Why do we love the carbonation? Everyone used to think it was the exploding carbonation bubbles, but sure enough, it's the carbon dioxide itself—you listening, Al Gore???—that sends a message to open up the sour taste buds, delivering a genuine flavor change. Sure, it's not gadget news, but now, when you head out to the bars, you can order beer in the name of science. [Daily Mail UK]

The justification for this action is that if kids have structured upbringings, they won't get sucked into street crime and drugs. And because the housing is subsidized, the government isn't technically putting cameras in private homes; these are public homes.

But still, the precedent this sets is terrifying. This is the definition of a nanny state, a government that doesn't trust its citizens to live their lives autonomously so it sticks its nose into every little aspect of them for their own good.

Really, I think this can all be traced back to the Children's Secretary, Ed Balls. I mean, obviously Mr. Balls was mocked mercilessly as a child for his hilarious name. But really, Balls, do you have to take it out on the children of Britain? [Daily Express via Gadget Lab]

British local councils now have this, as well as the famous "mosquito" speaker that produces an annoying high-pitched tone that only young people can hear, at their disposal to give to shopkeepers who hate kids. It's all very dickish and over-the-top.

Is it just me, or does Britain seem like a downright fucking horrible place? Between bullshit like this, their decent into an Orwellian surveillance state, the terrible food and lousy climate, it's definitely fallen near the bottom of my list of places I want to go. Nice work, Britain. [Dan Lockton via Boing Boing]

Andy Burnham wants the US and UK governments to work together to police the internet to keep it safe for kids. In addition to his brilliant ratings idea, he also wants to force ISPs to offer services that only serve kid-friendly websites and "take-down times" that require sites to remove "harmful" content in a designated time period.

Beyond the obvious logistical problems here (Who rates the websites? What websites would assent to this? Where's the line between kid-friendly and kid-unfriendly?), this is clearly an attack on freedom of speech rights. Luckily, I'm pretty sure the chances of pro-net-neutrality Barack Obama agreeing to these idiotic plans are slim to none, so we'll just let Burnham talk all he wants. As long as they stay on his side of the pond, he can say whatever he likes. [Reuters]

While the laundry was indeed being washed, pressed and dry cleaned, it had one additional cycle — every garment, sheet, glove, pair of pants, was first sent through an analyzer, located in the basement, that checked for bomb-making residue. The analyzer was disguised as just another piece of the laundry equipment; good OPSEC [operational security]. Within a few weeks, multiple positives had shown up, indicating the ingredients of bomb residue, and intelligence had determined which areas of the city were involved. To narrow their target list, [the laundry] simply sent out more specific coupons [numbered] to all houses in the area, and before long they had good addresses. After confirming addresses, authorities with the SAS teams swooped down on the multiple homes and arrested multiple personnel and confiscated numerous assembled bombs, weapons and ingredients. During the entire operation, no one was injured or killed.

What an amazing operation. On the one hand, the privacy-minded part of me wants to object to tricking normal people into having their clothes inspected my the feds. On the other hand, this operation arrested bomb-makers who were planning to kill people without ending a single human life.

In any case, this is an amazing example of thinking outside of the box and a real-life operation that rivals any Hollywood movie. [Washington Post via Kottke]

After all that, you've gotta wait through a one-hour holding time. And I didn't even get to use my visa for a student discount. So the sad fact of the matter is that the UK is hardly exceptional in its attempt to track everyone who buys a mobile phone, and I expect it to increasingly be the case—don't be surprised when this particular aspect of Big Brother is imported stateside. After all, can't have no crim'nals or turrists running around with cellphones, and a big database of everyone that legitimately buys one will totally cut off their access. [Times Online via The Raw Feed]

Some of you may be wondering when the US going to get something like the Hero robot. Interestingly enough, the military has been testing a similar robot called Odis in Iraq and Afghanistan for some time now—but whether we will see one patrolling our borders in the States anytime soon remains to be seen. [BAE via Telegraph via Danger Room]

[Daily Mail via Neatorama]

Beyond the self-sufficient floor, the club will also sell organic spirits served in polycarbon cups; and the bathrooms will feature a recycled water system for flushing the toilets.

Entry to the club costs about $20, but clubbers who can prove they arrived on foot, bicycle or public transportation will get a free pass (so long as they sign a pledge promising to work towards curbing climate change too, that is). Charalambous hopes to open the club on July 10, with US-based clubs in New York to follow, as part of his Club4Climate campaign. [Evening Standard]

The cameras, which record traffic coming from both the front and the back, mounted on the lollipop lady's cap, and attached to an Archos portable DVR, have been developed by a British firm, Routesafe. Several local authorities have invested in the technology to counter the increasingly aggressive behavior on British roads.

"It's unbelievable that we have to take this action," says the chairman of the Local Government Association's transport board, "but the lives of children are at risk from increasing numbers of drivers who are so selfish that they are willing to put lives at risk by refusing to stop for 30 seconds at a school crossing." Miscreants will be fined the sterling equivalent of $2,000 and be given three points on their licenses.

All of this raises the question: what is next for the CCTV state that Britain has become? I'm betting on Bathroom attendants with cameras to make sure you don't abuse the soap or toilet paper, and school dinner ladies with serving-spoon cams that make sure that "ver kidz" are eating their greens. [Daily Mail]

Government scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, Wiltshire, are behind the breakthrough. Ion-Mask is a protective layer that bonds to the device using a plasma, or electronically charged gas, and its chemical properties allow oil and water to be repelled easily. Originally developed for treating soldiers' uniforms to repel toxic vapors and liquids in chemical or biological attacks, the technology will be used to protect devices thought to be too small to be fitted with waterproof seals, such as mobiles and MP3 players.

As well as covering the devices, Ion-Mask is versatile enough to be able to coat individual components, in order to up the level of protection. Having an Ion-Mask device might help lower insurance rates for cellphones too, as more than 1.2 mobiles were lost in 2006 to toilets, drinks and washing machines. [Telegraph]

Right now, it's all talk, with no real solid ideas behind it. The politicians have suggested that completely switching to alternative fuel sources and raising highway tolls to fund a national rail system are key — but we'll see if any of it actually happens. Both my lungs and I pray to God that it will. [Scotsman via Wired]

A whole 23 complaints (and an eternity after the campaign) later, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority decided it "condoned" violence and banned it, even though it was only displayed by Yahoo to registered users (who at least claimed they were) over the age of 18.

One of the other ads in the series reviewed by the authority (the one you probably remember) showed a women chilling on a commode in her underwear. It was given the A-OK, presumably because it only condones using the potty properly. [Destructoid]

This is the British Royal Navy's newest class of submarine, the Astute. And this is what the nuclear-powered behemoth can do: generate its own air and water; sit in the English Channel and fire cruise missiles at North Africa; but perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the British-built sub is that it will never need to be refuelled throughout its 25-year lifespan, meaning it can sail round the world 40 times without surfacing—if your seamen don't need feeding, that is.

The Brits have put in an initial order for three of the subs—a snip at $2.33 billion each—and each one is expected to enter into service in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The contractor, BAE Systems, in Barrow, says it learned a lot from US sub builder Electric Boat —namely to build sections of the sub vertically (hence the 12-story construction towers at the plant) which saved on manpower. Check the big beast in the gallery below, and the specs after the jump.

Weight: 7,800 tons
Length: 97m
Time to build: 6 years, 4 months
Power: pressurized water reactor, fueled for life
Crew: 98
Astute Combat Management System (ACMS) receives data from the sonars and other sensors and, through advanced algorithms and data handling, displays real time images on the command consoles.
Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile from Raytheon fired from 533mm torpedo tubes (range 1,000 miles, flies at 533mph)
I-band navigation radars
Thales Underwater Systems Sonar 2076
Atlas Hydrographic echosounder, the DESO 25, is capable of precise depth measurements down to 10,000m.
Rolls Royce PWR 2 pressurized water reactor
2 Alsthom turbines
Rolls Royce pump jet propulsor

Alien submarine breaks technical barriers [BBC News]

– Ad Dugdale

Sure, it's great to be able to charge tolls without the traffic snarls that tollbooths cause, but giving the government the ability to track exactly where any of their citizens are going at any given time opens the door for some serious abuses. There's already been a petition against the system that's garnered 1.8 million signatures, so it's safe to say that the public is wary of the plan.

What do you think, are the benefits of less traffic and fewer greenhouse emissions worth the sacrifice in privacy? –Adam Frucci

Reuters [via GadgetLab]

In an attempt to make its people behave better on the streets, the British Government is to roll out a talking CCTV camera scheme. The (not-so-)good citizens of the northern town of Middlesbrough have already been subjected to the idea, which is to stick a loudhailer on top of various CCTV cameras and get control center staff to tick off unsavory members of society who are caught indulging in anti-social behavior. This can be anything from littering the streets, drunk and disorderly behavior, fighting and (probably) doing The Sex with that girl you picked up in your local "niterie" half an hour ago.

With 4.2 million CCTV cameras on its streets, Britain is the surveillance capital of the world. But does the government really think that the scheme will work? Home Secretary John Reid thinks so, and revealed that competitions were being held at local schools for children to become the voice of Big Brother. "By funding and supporting these local schemes, the government is encouraging children to send this clear message to grown-ups: act anti-socially and you will face the shame of being publicly embarrassed."

Not everyone is so fond of the idea, however. "Apart from being absurd, I think it's rather sad that we should have faceless cameras barking at us on orders from high," said Steve Hills, an anti-surveillance campaigner. "Who sets these cameras up?" The man, Steve, the man. – Ad Dugdale

'Talking' CCTV camera scheme expanding [BBC News]

WorldSpace seems to think that 50 stations could be available within the next two years. The service could be a low as 5 per month. – Travis Hudson

Satellite radio tuning in to Britain [T3]

Hidden camera footage appeared to show individuals walking up to the rock by the side of a Moscow street, according to media reports. One man was seen on camera carrying the rock away. The rock appears to be about the size of a thick book.

Nifty idea. Question is, what sort of devices would you use to conduct an espionage operation like this one?

Russia: British used 'rock' to spy [CNN (via Designboom)]