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UK will track thousands of criminals with GPS tags
It's not a novel idea to make criminals wear GPS bracelets, but they could soon be relatively commonplace in the UK. The country's government plans to use them for around-the-clock monitoring of criminals across England and Wales by the summer, with a handful of regions already putting them to use. They'll be used to both track behavior when out of prison (say, to ensure offenders attend rehab) and enforce geographic limits like restraining orders.
Police face recognition misidentified 2,300 as potential criminals
Ask critics of police face recognition why they're so skeptical and they'll likely cite unreliability as one factor. What if the technology flags an innocent person? Unfortunately, that caution appears to have been warranted to some degree. South Wales Police are facing a backlash after they released data showing that their face recognition trial at the 2017 Champions League final misidentified thousands as potential criminals. Out out of 2,470 initial matches, 2,297 were false positives -- about 92 percent.
UK police make first arrest triggered by facial recognition
Police in South Wales have arrested a man using automatic facial recognition software. It's the first time a person has been seized this way in the UK, according to Wales Online, following a series of trials at large-scale public events including Download music festival and Notting Hill Carnival. The most recent was the Champions League final in Cardiff, which took place last Saturday (June 3rd). The man, however, was arrested three days beforehand (May 31st). In a statement to Ars Technica UK, police confirmed he was a local resident and "unconnected" to the game in Cardiff.
Wales to ban e-cigarettes in public places
While the debate over the risks of e-cigarettes continues to rage on, some governments aren't taking any chances and have enforced new rules to limit their use. Belgium and Spain have already introduced public bans, and now Wales is planning to do the same. The Welsh Government today announced that it will seek to prohibit vaping in "enclosed public spaces" as part of a new Public Health Bill designed to "protect the health and wellbeing" of people living in the country.
BBC iPlayer apps now offer live channels based on where you live
If you're on the move or struggling to gain control of the TV remote in your living room, the BBC's iPlayer apps are an easy way to watch its live programming. The problem, until now, has been that the mobile apps would only let you stream the England-specific versions of BBC One and BBC Two. So if you lived in Edinburgh and wanted to watch Reporting Scotland, you were out of luck until it was made available to stream on-demand. It wasn't the most accommodating setup, so the BBC is updating both its iOS and Android apps to support the regional versions of BBC One and BBC Two broadcast in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Just choose your preferred location in the app's settings and you'll receive exactly the same programming as you would normally on the telly.
UK plans to build first spaceport outside the US by 2018
The UK may not have the best history when it comes to space exploration, but that doesn't mean it's not interested in boldly going where only a few people have gone before. According to Sky News, Britain could play host to one of the first spaceports built outside of the US, with a shortlist of eight possible sites expected to be confirmed later this week. As it stands, six of the possible locations are in Scotland, suggesting places like Prestwick, Stornoway and Kinloss, with one in Wales (Llanbedr) and the other in England (Newquay). According to the report, construction could begin as early as 2018, although we're not sure what effect the Scottish Independence referendum would have on the plans. Still, we're loving the fact that any visiting aliens who've hitched a ride on a Virgin Galactic flight will be able to load up on Irn Bru or Teisen radell before heading back to space.
Microsoft says 'shwmae' to the Welsh language
If you've ever struggled to understand what Cymru am byth means, you'll have found that few web translators are prepared to help you out. That's changed now, thanks to a deal between Microsoft and the Welsh Assembly, which teamed up to bring the language to Office, Bing and the Windows and Windows Phone translator apps. The country's national body passed a law back in 2012 requiring public bodies to treat both English and Welsh equally, but didn't have the tech necessary to ensure all employees had access to translation gear. Both parties are keen to stress that, despite the official involvement, it's just as (un)reliable as translators for other languages, but hey, at least one or two kids might avoid our childhood fate of having gau'r drws barked us by an annoyed Grandmother and not knowing what the hell it meant.
Premier Farnell, Sony, team up to move Raspberry PI manufacturing to the UK
One of the biggest holdups to owning a Raspberry Pi was its stuttering availability, so much so that it even prompted a few copycat boards. Creator Eben Upton and equipment makers Premier Farnell might have found the solution, teaming up with Sony to produce an initial run of 300,000 of the educational computers at the company's UK Technology Center, in Pencoed, near Bridgend in Wales. Upton hopes to keep the cost at $25 and $35 for two boards, thanks to employing Sony's "lean manufacturing techniques," and the Japanese company has already spent £50,000 ($80,000) on new package-on-package assembly equipment -- ensuring that we'll all be able to get our hands on one soon enough.
Google Maps to soon include waterway travel in England and Wales
Here in America, avid motorists tend to tick that 'Avoid Ferries' option whenever possible. In England and Wales, however, travel including waterways is looked quite fondly upon. To that end, Google has reportedly started the process of mapping towpaths in the two nations, as it attempts to map bridges, locks and some 2,000 miles of canal / river paths. The Guardian quotes Ed Parsons, a geospatial technologist at Google UK, as saying the following: "Canal towpaths offer green routes through our towns and cities, and by working with the Canal and River Trust we're adding towpaths to Google Maps and encouraging people to discover their local waterway." As delightful as the news may be, we still can't help but focus on a single mental image. That image, if you're curious, is embedded after the break.
Monmouthpedia: Wikipedia's very own QR-coated Welsh town (video)
Wikipedia's credence as a fount of reliable knowledge is indubitably dubious. That said, its penchant for community contribution is what's snowballed the site into a go-to digital destination for most online denizens. But forebear of a QR-indexed, former principality? Surely, there's a limit to the social web's reach. Well, come May 19th, that odd, but apt distinction will officially encapsulate Monmouthpedia, née Monmouth, Wales -- an experiment in informational graffiti. The project, originally born from a Bristol-based TEDx talk, has taken half a year for founder John Cummings to execute given the need for County Council and local business support, the installation of a pervasive, free WiFi network and additional article contributions from site volunteers. And thanks to QRpedia, curious mobile-wielding tourists that chance upon the quaint Welsh town will need only to scan the omnipresent codes for an easy redirect to a corresponding language-appropriate article. Lest you think this web-to-real world experiment is merely a one-off, bear in mind those code-bearing ceramic plates are built to last. Hop on past the break for a French-subbed informational video tour.
UK courts to introduce tablets, vow to cut back on tree killing ways
It may not be retiring the powdered wigs just yet, but according to The Guardian, the British government is ready to replace traditional paper documents with tablets in UK courtrooms. Starting in April, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will give slates to Welsh and English prosecutors to store all forms and evidentiary items, later extending the offer to judges, jurors and defense lawyers. To start, administrators will give 35 Hewlett-Packard tablets to prosecutors in Norfolk as a test for the bigger roll out, which is estimated to save around £50 million (or around $78 million) in dead trees across the UK. There's no word yet which tablet HP has in mind, but chances are it will not be the discount rack TouchPad -- perhaps a Windows tablet is more in order in this court.
Galaxy shocker: laws of physics may vary throughout the universe
Oh, brother. Just when you thought you had everything figured out, along comes a team of astrophysicists based in Australia and England to turn your world upside-down. As the story goes, a new "report describes how one of the supposed fundamental constants of nature appears not to be constant after all," with the fine-structure constant actually varying throughout testing. The crew measured the number, dubbed "alpha," in about 300 faraway galaxies, and they consistently found that it measured differently than on Earth. Professor John Webb from the University of New South Wales even stated that it "seemed to vary continuously along a preferred axis through the universe," which effectively means we're back to square one on figuring just about everything out. Burn the books, kids.
Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving
Alright, texting while driving? Obviously stupid -- but that doesn't stop tons and tons of people from doing it. The Gwent Police department in Wales hopes that its newest PSA film will help deter this bad behavior. In much the same spirit as the drunk driving on prom night films we ourselves had to sit thorough in high school, this film is pretty graphic. Okay, it's actually shockingly graphic -- but we're pretty sure that's the idea. Video is after the break.[Via Gizmodo]
Welsh nab their first native-tongued phone and iPhone app in one month's time -- Cymru am byth!
Native speakers of Welsh, take heed! Orange has announced that a Welsh-language version of the Samsung S5600 will be made available in September. This would make it the first cellphone to handle the language, which has some 600,000 native speakers in Wales. The phone will contain 44,000 Welsh words, and was recently unveiled in Bala, Gwynedd. Also unveiled simultaneously was the first Welsh iPhone app, developed with English-speakers learning the language in mind, and will have a companion "Learn Welsh" phrasebook available in the iTunes store. Iechyd Da!
Artificial Intelligence solves boring science experiments, makes interns obsolete
Researchers at Aberystwyth University in Wales have developed a robot that is being heralded as the first machine to have discovered new scientific knowledge independently of a human operator. Named Adam, the device has already identified the role of several genes in yeast cells, and has the ability to plan further experiments to test its own hypotheses. Ross King, from the university's computer science department, remarked that the robot is meant to take care of the tedious aspects of the scientific method, freeing up human scientists for "more advanced experiments." Across the pond at Cornell, researchers have developed a computer that can find established laws in the natural world -- without any prior scientific knowledge. According to PhysOrg, they've tested the AI on "simple mechanical systems" and plan on applying it to more complex problems in areas such as biology to cosmology where there are mountains of data to be poured through. It sure is nice to hear about robots doing something helpful for a change.[Thanks, bo3of]Read: Robo-scientist's first findingsRead: Being Isaac Newton: Computer derives natural laws from raw data
England, Wales prisoners lose access to 18-rated games
The Prison Service in England and Wales will not allow prisoners to play 18-rated games after September 30. The BBC reports that well-behaved residents and those at risk of suicide will still be allowed to play games -- we hope the suicide folks aren't playing Persona.The government apparently spent £10k ($19,763 USD) last year on consoles and games for inmates. Effective immediately, inmates will have to buy their own consoles and games. Those who can't afford the video game distraction are sure to occupy their time with more constructive ventures ... like shiv production.[Via GI.biz]
Trucker blindly follows GPS, gets wedged in farm lane
At first glance, we seriously assumed that we had mentioned this exact same story before. Turns out, one particular Maxi Haulage driver doesn't tune into Engadget, as he pulled the exact same trick in (almost) the same circumstances. Reportedly, this timber haul was cut short as the driver followed his personal GPS system down a "farm lane" suitable only for (presumably small) tractors, and needless to say, the 45-foot vehicle has been wedged ever since. Additionally, the owner of the property is quite irate, as the mishap is forcing her to drive an extra two miles until rescue arrives. Still, the motorist did cruise right by a sign noting that the upcoming road was unfit for heavy goods vehicles, so at least the sat nav can't take all of the blame this go 'round.[Thanks, Carl H.]
Welsh village under attack by GPS-blind drivers
We tend to shed a tear or two for humanity each time one of these stories crosses our radar, and unfortunately, this one had us bawling. Apparently, residents in Llangadog have been frustrated time and time again as drivers of large trucks came rumbling through blindly following directions spat out by navigation systems. Wide vehicles have now failed to successfully traverse a very narrow road and not destroy any property in the process not once, not even twice, but three times, leaving a previously restored building in the community damaged (thrice) by recklessness. Reportedly, around £1.5 million ($3.12 million) is being spent to beautify landmark properties in Llangadog and Llandovery, but there's mounting concern that GPS-reliant motorists could reverse any progress by striking buildings as they attempt to squeeze through. It sounds as if signs are being erected to inform drivers of their navigator's cluelessness, but who knows if folks will actually take their eyes off of the LCD long enough to notice.[Thanks, Josh]
Welsh get incomprehensible anti-GPS signs
Apparently looking to avoid unfortunate incidents like this (or this, or this), the Welsh Assembly recently agreed to put up signs warning drivers not to use their GPS along narrow lanes. Problem is, the drivers may end up spending more time trying to figure out the meaning of the signs than they ever did staring at their GPS. According to Sky News, the signs are aimed specifically at lorry drivers, who seem to have been particularly prone to getting stuck along roadways around St. Hilary in the Vale of Glamorgan -- a problem one local resident described as a "nightmare." Despite those potential issues of comprehension, that region has now gotten four of the signs as part of a one-year trial period, although there doesn't appear have to been any word on their effectiveness (or lack thereof) just yet.[Thanks, Barry T]
Greenbox converts carbon emissions into biofuel
A breakthrough technology developed by three engineering lads in Wales could hold the key to converting carbon emissions into beneficial substances such as biodiesel, methane gas, and fertilizer. The cleverly-dubbed Greenbox was designed to be fixed underneath one's vehicle where it could gobble up carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide until the next fill up, at which point the box would be switched out for a new one while the filled canister headed to a bioreactor for processing. Sounds complicated, we know, but strapping these bad boys beneath every gasoline-powered vehicle in a given nation could boost its biofuel production exponentially -- all without spending another penny (or pence) on research. Unsurprisingly, the trio of inventors are staying mum until they (hopefully) convince the government or a private company to grab ahold, but unless these boxes learn to swap themselves, we can't imagine too many individuals bustin' out the creeper for underbody work at each fuel stop.[Thanks, Jamie]
