As you can see on the invite, the HD2 will be getting all official like on Wednesday. No doubt we’ll hear something about U.S availability and pricing then. Stay tuned. [T-Mobile UK and PocketNow]

Sure it’s been the lead story on CNN and a big story on Gawker, but there just wasn’t enough DIY mechanics or mobile-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 flavour 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]

Designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the 72-storey tower has several twisting glass facets on its exterior, and inside, will have offices, apartments, restaurants and a 15-storey observation gallery.

It looks amazingly sci-fi, but every time I hear the word “shard”, I can’t help but think of Dark Crystal. [Shard London Bridge via Core 77]

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]

Power to the People: The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, not content with their local service provider, recently took matters into their own hands and literally dug a ditch to install their own modest 100Mbps fibre optic Internet connection.

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 fibre 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 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]

And by September! At least, according to the Telegraph, who says that the company is working out the terms of a deal that will open up streaming for over 3,000 hours of American content, as well as content from Channel 4 and ITV. That the Hulu content wall will come down is obviously great news, but that ITV and 4 will finally be moving to a decent VOD solution is exciting in its own right. [Telegraph]

The Mail has assembled the above infographic to explain how the ISA system works, but it’s fairly simple: Cars are outfitted with computers loaded with speed limit data for public roads, and monitored via satellite. In “Advisory” mode, the dash readout indicates if you need to slow down, and smiles at you if you do. In the hilariously named “Voluntary” mode, the computer will actually seize control of your throttle, letting off the gas until you ease back down to the speed limit.

You can’t blame people for having a mid-scale privacy freakout over this one, but a few crucial factors keep it from being downright Orwellian: First, it’s being deployed in London cabs, government cars and buses, so it’s not being expressly imposed on private citizens; second, the system is local—as in, it reads its own GPS data to calculate speed and decides on a course of action without remote input—and has an override switch, which, based on my experiences with London cabbies, I suspect will get plenty of use. (And serve as a brilliant rant subject conversation piece).

But still, satellite speed control? That’s worse than speed cameras. And the mere existence of this technology—not to mention the government’s involvement in its development—certainly feels like a step in the wrong direction, even if this particular use is relatively benign. [Daily Mail]