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.

The Sunday Times has reported that Amazon's currently looking for "bricks-and-mortar stores" to open up in, hopefully adding to its $59.1 billion value. Somewhere customers can get their hands on a Kindle, or perhaps pick up a TV they pre-bought on the website makes sense, but why change a winning formula so late in the game? And why in the UK? [The Sunday Times]

UPDATE: Amazon has refuted claims it's opening a high street store in the UK, stating "We have no plans to open physical stores anywhere in the world."

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

Google and the Phantom Town of Argleton

For ages, map makers have protected their own maps by adding little landmarks and towns that don't exist, sort of a hiding-in-plain-sight watermark. Well, the Telegraph UK reported that it had spotted one such town in a Google Map, which was using Tele Atlas data. Argleton, in Lancashire, simply doesn't exist, even though you can plainly see it. What happened? Apparently, the name was quite possibly sucked up with other data when Tele Atlas' map makers were busy inputting info from old maps. This isn't unusual, though you'd think there'd be a more rapid fact checking process. By the way, we didn't cover it because nowadays, the story isn't really whether or not Tele Atlas is stealing maps from old dead cartographers, but whether or not Google is stealing the map business from Tele Atlas. [Telegraph UK via Valleywag]

10 Years of Steve Jobs' Apple Product Unveilings

MacLife created a choppy but thorough video of Steve Jobs unveiling everything from the original CRT iMac to the video-camera equipped iPod Nano, with bits of Schiller thrown in out of necessity. It's a fun encyclopedic romp (though I'm sure some of you can tell me what's missing). The biggest reason we didn't post it? We didn't want to be sued for all the fanboys who suffered heart attacks—or the ones who maybe escaped cardiac arrest but came away with Teen Wolf palms. [MacLife via 9to5Mac]

AT&T's Foray Into In-Car Satellite TV Goes Miserably Wrong

After four months up and running, the CruiseCast satellite-TV service for cars bit the dust hard, with refunds and paid un-installations going out to current subscribers. What was AT&T and its partner, RaySat, thinking when they launched it? $1300 up front and no major sports channels or adult programming to speak of? That just doesn't—excuse me, didn't—make sense. Good thing zero point zero readers fell for it. Right guys? [Engadget]

Robots Will Soon Learn How to Smell Fear

Just as drug-sniffing dogs can be replaced by machines that aren't so prone to smack addiction, scientists are developing sensors—nowhere near ready but due in 2012—that home in on the pheromone released when people experience stress or fear. Like what Leslie Nielsen must have felt when he got that call from OJ, asking about the Naked Gun 10-year reunion. [PopSci]

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]

ATMs run by a company called Bank Machine offer a language option allowing customers to enter their "Huckleberry Finn" instead of their PIN, and rather worryingly informs them that the machine is reading their "bladder of lard" at a prompt about examining their card.

The origins of Cockney rhyming slang are obscure. It is thought to have been used by market traders who needed a way of communicating without tipping off their customers.

It works by replacing a word with a short rhyming phrase. For example: "Money" becomes "bread and honey," which in turn is shortened to "bread." Similarly, "head" becomes "loaf of bread," and then just simply "loaf."

Jesus—the last thing I need is confusion and stress when dealing with my bank. But the thought of some cockney thugs trying to haul one of these away in a Guy Richie film is amusing to me. [Yahoo and Times Online]

Indeed, when the relatively isolated RNLI, a tidal estuary station in Northern England, wanted a better connection, they took shovel to earth and installed it. That simple.

The fiber and other tech necessary for the deployment were eagerly supplied by FiberStream, which enjoyed the PR while the RNLI finally got the Internet speeds they thought they deserved. [ISP Review via Slashdot]

May, known to many in the U.K. for his affinity of automobiles, speed being "Captain Slow," and other wheeled insanity, is prepped and ready to construct the two-story Lego house next weekend. More than 3 million bricks have been delivered to the building site so far.

The building plans state that everything must be constructed with Lego bricks, if possible. This includes the planned working Lego toilet, Lego plumbing and maybe even parts of the power supply. May has put out a call for brick donations, should you be in the area next week with a big bag of Lego.

Oh, and that sound you hear is just Jesus beginning work on his inevitable 1 trillion brick skyscraper. No biggie. [BBC]

As the designer notes:

Mr Cornock, 42, from Swindon, said that the knife will cut vegetables, but will make it almost impossible to stab someone to death and will reduce the risk of accidental injuries.

He said: "It can never be a totally safe knife, but the idea is you can't inflict a fatal wound. Nobody could just grab one out of the kitchen drawer and kill someone.

Really? Couldn't you go all Jack the Ripper on someone's throat with it? At any rate, if your wife or husband decides to replace your current knives with these anti-stab versions, that really says something about how they feel about you. Either they have the wrong impression, or they are on to you. [New Point Knives and Times Online via Fark]

The tiny tankers are designed to realistically mimic the driving conditions of their full-sized brothers, with a slightly gentler learning curve. Emergency situations (like a failing engine) can be remotely triggered for training purposes. Oh, and feel free to quote that episode of The Simpsons with the big guy in the tiny car. That's what you guys are here for. [DVICE]

Reports the BBC:

Marc Stephens watched the videos as a precaution when his wife Jo started to feel some discomfort.

Four hours later, his wife went into labour and started giving birth before an ambulance could arrive at their home in Redruth. "I Googled how to deliver a baby, watched a few videos and basically swotted up," Mr Stephens told the BBC.

That said, don't let Stephens fool you. He's a natural. "This is our fourth child now and while for our first I spent most of the time at my wife's head, now I'm not afraid to go down to the business end."

Truly, a heart-warming story in an age that sees despicable baby-related smartphone apps being approved for the general populace without missing a beat. [BBC News via Google Blogoscoped]

Visitors to Delta Golf will be able to experience a short 'flight' on the simulator for free. Outside museum hours it will be available for private hire with a Concorde captain on hand to provide tuition on how to fly the aircraft.

The simulator—which opened on April 9 to coincide with the anniversary of the Concorde—is the one used to train British Airways' Concorde pilots, in all its knobulous glory. Here you can see it in action:

[Concorde Project via Flight Global]

The brainchild of culinary adventurers Sam Bompas and Harry Parr, Alcoholic Architecture creates a intoxicating vapor using the same ultrasonic humidifier system found in Antony Gormley's installation at the Hayward in 2007 called Blind Light. Patrons pay around $7 for hourly slots between 7 and 9pm where they can don protective suits and get drunk off the air. It's a novelty for sure, but $7 isn't a bad price for an hours worth of gin and tonic no matter how you look at it. [Jellymongers and Metro and View London]

A local photographer in the village of Wool in Dorset spotted the Google car mapping the area and decided to capture a few shots of it. The driver of the car was not pleased:

The Google driver then proceeded to shout at the photographer and said: "Don't you take pictures of me, mate." He then asked the photographer to blur his face out of the pictures as Google does in its Street View images.

HA! The photographer managed to get several shots of the vehicle without having to resort to fistcuffs, but we will be sure to keep an eye on the powderkeg that is Google Street View's UK adventure. [Telegraph]

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]

"I saw this thread started by this guy. It didn't seem serious at first. It said that today at 11:30 a.m. GMT I will commit violence and other forms of arson against my school [in Norfolk]. He had posted a picture of a gas can," Neufeld told CBC News.

Police were able to track down information about the suspect and school—leading them to an arrest. A 16-year-old male in possession of a knife, matches and canister of flammable liquid was taken into custody outside the school.

"You don't make threats like that idly. Either it was a hoax or something he was going to go through with"

Damn straight. People need to take this crap seriously—kids are screwed up nowadays. Thankfully, there was someone out there with the balls to take action for a change. [CBC Image via CTV Montreal and Newgrounds]

Two things. One, it's obviously Christmastime. Unless, of course, it's Halloween and Reindeer Man's wearing the world's laziest costume. Two, what's his friend doing? Holding his hair? Holding his head down so he doesn't splatter on his shoes? Google Street View should really stop and ask for clarification when they pass by scenes like this. [Google Maps UK via T3]

Update: British people are saying it's after a stag party, not at Christmas time. A thousand pardons, drunkards.

It's blatantly a commercial (for Samsung LEDs), but hey - if that's what it takes to get those crazy next-level herding abilities displayed, I'm all for it. The sheep reenact a game of Pong, fireworks, and line up to form a pretty dead on representation of the Mona Lisa. [- Thanks Claudio!]

All-in-all, Paul and Amanda Cregan have been ratted out six times by neighbors since 2006. When those warnings were ignored, officials finally arrived with a warrant and took a 52-inch plasma along with their stereo equipment—leaving only the remote.

"They took the main TV and left me with the remote. The woman laughed and said `You can keep that - it's no use now'.

"They were even going to take away the TV from the kids' rooms and the clock radios. We pleaded with them and my wife was arrested but eventually they felt sorry for us and left them."

If the Cregans want to get their stuff back, it will cost them about $550. On top of that, the city council warns that any future incidents could result in further seizures. So, the question is: were the actions of the city council appropriate given the situation? [Telegraph Image via ifyourstupid]