Via Avon & Somerset Constabulary:

Shortly before 9.30pm on Saturday 24 July 2010 a bus was stopped in Magdalene Street, Glastonbury while the driver picked up a passenger. As he was taking the fare a laser was shone into the bus cab which hit his face and cause inflammation to one of his eyes.

A thoughtless act, for which the perpetrator is now facing charges of assault.

The press release about this incident includes a remarkably sensible and reasonable statement from Inspector Mark Nicholson.

"Laser pens are easily accessible and can be both useful and fun if used safely. However, they can also be dangerous if pointed at people and particularly if directed at their faces. They can cause blindness, that's how dangerous they are.”

"I would discourage people from using laser torches in public areas and warn people that we will act robustly if they are used to cause injury to people. I ask parents to warn their children of the potential dangers of these items and to be aware of what their children are up to. "

It would be easy for a police officer to leap into a statement calling for controls or bans of useful items with a potential criminal use, as seems to be the norm these days amongst public servants. But this statement highlights the utility of an item (in this case laser pointers), emphasises that it is the criminal use of said item that will gain the attention of the police rather than simple possession, and reminds parents of their duty to keep an eye on their offspring.

It’s a great template for any police officer required to publicly comment on an incident involving criminal use of an otherwise perfectly useful tool.

Almost exactly one year after I predicted is was coming soon, the Amazon Kindle will be available in the UK. How’s that for awesome consumer technology commentary? Third Generation devices are available for pre-order, and will be on general release from August 27th 2010.

The model with built-in 3G Wireless device (and free bandwidth) will retail at £149. For £109 you can get one with only 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.

These new third generation Kindles are rather spiffy; as well as Wi-Fi as standard they are lighter, with better contrast, a one month battery life (as long as you don’t hit the wi-fi too much) and more storage space.