July 20, 2006

And For My Next Trick... Lead Into Gold!

So apparently muggings are on the rise in London, and it's all the iPod's fault:

Just a week ago, Gamespot journalist Guy Cocker, who works in the same building as Crave, was mugged ten minutes away from the CNET offices here in central London. His assailants held what felt like a semi-automatic weapon to the back of Cocker's head and told him, "we're taking all your stuff".

. . .

The papers this morning would seem to agree with Cocker. "Rise in crime blamed on iPods", yells the front page of London's Metro. "Muggers targeting iPod users," says ITV. This is the reaction to the government's revelation that robberies across the UK have risen 8 per cent in the last year, from 90,747 to 98,204. The Home Secretary, John Reid, attributes this to the irresistible lure of "young people carrying expensive goods, such as mobile phones and MP3 players". A separate British Crime Survey, however, suggests robbery has risen by 22 per cent, to 311,000.

Crave then comes up with several ways to hide your iPod when you're in what the Brits would call 'a dodgy neighborhood,' including this one:

Get a Coke can, drink the contents, rinse out the can. Carefully cut the lid section off the can. Superglue a small magnet to the inside of the upper lip of the can so that it's flush with the open top of the can. Place the iPod inside and put the lid on the can. If you've cut the can correctly, the magnet should hold the lid tightly shut. Unless your mugger is exceptionally thirsty, they're unlikely to steal your Coke.

Getting a magnet to hold down the lid on an aluminum can would be a neat trick (unless they've re-introduced steel beverage cans in the UK).

Posted by Chris at July 20, 2006 05:21 PM

Category: Unclear On The Concept
Comments

Okay, so it is technically not an iPod, but there is a project (http://web.media.mit.edu/%7Eladyada/make/minty/index.html) you can do to build your own MP3 player in an Altoids tin. And we all know that an Altoids tin is much cooler than a Coke can.

On second thought, would an iPod fit in an Altoids tin?

Posted by: Jim of St. Grimblefig's Monastery at July 20, 2006 11:17 PM