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UK's abandoned tin mines could be reopened to help build EVs
The last of Britain's tin mines were closed in the late 90s due to plummeting metal prices and languishing global demand. Now, with the advent of smartphones and electric vehicles, demand -- and prices -- are on the up, and these forgotten facilities could be reopened to help the UK gain a stronger foothold in the market.
UK police are using detection dogs that can sniff out USB drives
Devon & Cornwall and Dorset Police have begun utilising special FBI-trained sniffer dogs that have been specifically trained to detect hidden storage devices. Police dogs Tweed, a 19-month-old springer spaniel, and Rob, a 20-month-old black Labrador, are the first dogs outside of the US that will help track "terrorists, paedophiles and fraudsters" by tracing the unique chemicals found in hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards.
Devon police will establish the UK's first 24/7 drone squad
The Devon and Cornwall Police force is to become the first in the UK with a permanent, 24-hour drone assistance unit. The flying fuzz will be on hand to search for missing persons, seek out suspects and generally provide an eye in the sky whenever needed, gathering intel at crime scenes and responding to road accidents. The dedicated unit, which will also help out police in neighbouring Dorset, is set to launch this summer after a new "drone manager" is hired to oversee the nine sites the coppercopters will operate out of.
DJI drones to help Devon, Cornwall and Dorset police fight crime
Drones have been used for all sorts of devious deeds, but now they're being used to save lives too. Police in two English counties, Devon and Cornwall, have recruited a pair of DJI Inspire 1 drones to help with crime scene photography and missing people searches. The two new quadcopters are based in Exeter and Plymouth, and so far three officers have obtained the CAA qualification necessary to fly them. Police in Dorset are now preparing for a similar trial, and hope to have access to their own drone from November 26th.
Apple assuming retail lease, plans to open new UK Apple Store
Apple's march to world domination continues, this time with a new Apple Store planned for the UK seaside city of Plymouth. What's surprising about this store announcement is that Apple apparently made managers of a successful Zara fashion store at the Drake Circus Shopping Centre (above) in Plymouth "an offer they can't refuse." The Zara store, which fills a 21,045 square-foot space in the mall, has about ten years to go on a fifteen-year lease. Zara is out; Apple will assume the lease for the remainder of the time. ifoAppleStore notes that this space is almost double the size of the standard Apple Store, so Apple may just occupy the ground floor and sublet the upper level. 26 Zara employees are losing their jobs as a result of the announced closing, but there's a good chance that more jobs than that will be created when the Apple Store opens. The Drake Circus store is about 45 miles from the Princesshay Apple Store in Exeter, and fills in coverage for the Devon and Cornwall region of the country.
Devon Works Tread 1 belt-driven, bulletproof wristwatch tested, proven to actually tell time (video)
The last time we saw the Devon Works Tread 1 wristwatch it existed only in digital form, rendered and swirling about with respect neither mass nor volume. Now it has come to reside in the physical plane, and aBlogtoRead has managed to get one of its belt-driven manifestations to test out. Naturally it's a little less pristine looking than the computer-generated version and, pictured next to a fleshy hand, we can now see just how big the thing is -- its crown actually large enough to wear on your head. For $15k you at least know you're getting your money's worth when it comes to raw materials, but whether you agree that this is a "novel timepiece that will make a satisfying addition to any collector's treasure trove" depends on your sense of taste, depth of pockets, and desire to make your forearms look meek and feeble.
Devon Works Tread 1 is the bulletproof Droid of wristwatches (video)
Forget the fact that this thing is bulletproof or that its internal battery is recharged wirelessly, just look at it. Built around an array of four microstep motors -- each driving one of an interwoven quartet of time belts -- the Devon Works Tread 1 creates a veritable visual symphony of precise motion to accompany the typically mundane task of checking the time. The watch was designed with the help of a Californian aerospace engineering company, which should go some way to justifying its $15,000 asking price. The rest of that justification will have to come from the "oohs" and "aahs" you incite in stupefied onlookers. Go past the break to see the promo video, it achieves rare heights of machismo that are not to be missed.
MacHeist offers free licenses for DEVONthink via Twitter promotion
MacHeist is calling it a "TweetBlast," we'll call it savvy marketing, but you'll probably just call it "free software, woo!" In an effort to pump up the number of Twitter followers for the MacHeist challenges & software bundle, the team is offering followers (who are willing to post a promotional message) a free license for DEVONthink. The software, normally $50US, allows you to store your files and personal data in lots of structured, tagged and classified ways -- Brett previewed the 2.0 beta in December. Getting your free copy is pretty straightforward; you'll have to follow the MacHeist Twitter account, and then as noted you're required to tweet a promo message for the TweetBlast itself; not sure whether that's 'recursive advertising,' a recession-buster special or plain ol' viral marketing, but free apps are free apps. When you get DEVONthink, you'll also get Hyperspaces and Overflow as well. Also, participants should know that the DEVONthink licenses are for the soon-to-be-obsoleted 1.x version of the app, but if you want to roll your copy forward to the upcoming 2.0 version you'll be able to do so for the upgrade price of $20. Full details are at the MacHeist website.
