Taking a cue from police investigators and reality TV shows looking to create a scandal, Harrow Council in northwest London has started to use voice risk analysis -- a type of phone-based lie detector -- to try and catch fraudsters claiming unneeded benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions. How does it work? "The technology detects changes in people's voice patterns such as hesitation or avoiding direct questions, and identifies them as a......

So last Thursday we went to see Londonist-favourites Mitch (whom we interviewed a couple of months ago) play at the rather ambitiously-named Pleasure Unit in Bethnal Green. Here’s what we took away from the gig: A high-pitched ringing in the ears. Two guitars plus one bass plus one drummer plus forceful vocals plus small venue equals a very loud gig. The venue is OK, but not great. Sure, the bar staff are nice. But......

Whether they are singing the praises of greasy spoon cafés in Kentish Town or lazy afternoon walks down Parkway, London certainly belongs to Saint Etienne. Formalising their status as our indie poet laureates, they've spent the year as Artists in Residence at Southbank Centre. Tonight they unveil the fruits of their creative labour, a 75 minute film entitled "This Is Tomorrow". Directed by Paul Kelly and produced by Andrew Hinton, the film presents a......

There are a lot of unsolved mysteries in London. Who was Jack the Ripper? Why can't they figure out a way to keep the tube cool in the summer? Why is London so depressingly expensive? Does anyone really like the 2012 Olympic logo? And the biggest mystery of them all: who threw a pair of trainers over a telephone wire in Gander Green Lane, Sutton? This Is Local London is on a mission to......

We all wear them. We all need them. We all shop furiously to buy the perfect ones for all imaginable occasions. And now it is even possible to accessorize them. We? Them? What? Well, of course, us women and them bras. Bras are usually regarded as things that remain hidden beneath clothing – especially when once-lovely white lace has turned into something grey – but no more! Bra accessorizing is here, thanks to 'Glamorous......

This Is Local London has an interview up with a former gang member about the use of knives in London. It makes for an informative if disturbing read: Knives are normal. They are just like having a mobile phone - everybody has got one... if you get robbed, a knife is handy. If you have got a knife you feel that you have a chance of saving yourself from being attacked. But when you......

A great almost-story from This Is Local London: A six-year-old narrowly escaped losing her toes last week when her shoe became trapped in an escalator in the Bentall Centre That coupled with the Girl’s foot trapped in escalator horror headline conjures up an image of Stephen King like carnage with the runaway metal monster chewing the girl's leg off at the knee. Erm... According to her mother, Sharon, Georgia has lost the tip of......

We'd like to start writing more about comedy here at Londonist. We have (arguably) the best comedy circuit in the world yet it has gone thusfar unwritten about by us at Londonist HQ. But fear not, we have changed our ways. We kick off with an interview with comedian, Richard Herring and a comedy recommendation for the week. Richard Herring is probably best known for his television work with Stewart Lee, 'Fist of Fun'......

A couple of months ago, we wrenched open the doors of the Londonist Demo Dungeon and invited you keen musician types out there to fill our vaults with your tracks. If you missed that post, fret not - the Dungeon's still open for submissions (amongst other things). If you want to send us your demo for review, read this. We promise to be nice. Time now for the inaugral DD review...brace yourselves. First to email......

We missed this yesterday: DEAD football star Emlyn Hughes is using a former policewoman to contact Liverpool FC manager Rafa Benitez. See, now that's a football story. Three years ago the 45-year-old featured in News Shopper, sister newspaper of This Is Local London, when she revealed aliens called "Grays" were giving her orgasms. Miss Cohen is still in touch with the extraterrestrial Casanovas but says her present priority is to meet with Spaniard Mr......

We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Miss Kate Stables on a Southbound train from Clapham Junction. It was Christmas and we were, of course, packed in like sardines. So much for finding one's seat; this Londonista's bags - stuffed with presents for the family - was too heavy and cumbersome to move, let alone navigate down the all-too-narrow aisle (seriously, South West Trains, did luggage not exist when you built your......

Anyone who's ever idly channel-hopped the digital channels of a late night will sooner or later stumble across a programme which purports to be a documentary but in reality is a simple excuse to show some people having anything other than vanilla sex. Sit through enough repeats and you will go blind encounter a character by the name of George McCoy. McCoy is responsible for a guide to the oldest profession as practised in......

One of the briefs for Londonist's music writers has always been to cover London's new, unsigned or unheard bands. And maybe a few from out of town who we think are particularly special. We run reviews and interviews but the proof of the pudding is in the listening so we're also collecting songs for you to listen to. Rather than browse our collection of interviews or music posts to track down these terrific tunes,......

This Is London have just put up an article claiming that London may see snow as early as this Thursday. "The Met Office said London's daytime temperature will drop below freezing this week," explains the article, "with maximum readings of 2C (36F) expected at the weekend." There's also a warning from the RAC regarding black ice and travel delays, which even extends to the Tube: "The cold snap is also likely to slow public......

Two hundred million miles from London, in the sand-blasted foothills of the solar system’s largest volcano, sits a rather interesting crater (as these things go). Interesting to scientists because it is relatively new; interesting to us because it has been named Tooting Crater. The tag was chosen by former Tooting resident Pete Mouginis-Mark, who works in the nascent field of Martian geology. No high-resolution pictures of the crater are currently available, but This Is......

Wi-fi is a marvellous thing. It allows all our dear readers, who we imagine are sophisticated early-adopter types who swan around with the latest PalmOne, Pocket PC or PowerBook, to read Londonist in whatever part of London is trendy today. But Wi-fi has a dark side. For one thing, it means the Londonist slave-drivers editors constantly hounding the poor Londonist writers to make sure we're always online ready to do their bidding. According to......

The big 'indie' release this week is Garbage's Bleed Like Me and after a major PR assault, with 'not too threateningly sexy sex symbol for geeks' Shirley Manson even doing a photoshoot disguised as an interview (geeks can keep the kleenex in the box, there's no pictures in the online article) for The Guardian's fashion pages, Garbage are clearly hoping to raise their profile back to the level it was in those heady early......

Local councils are apparently not above hiring private detectives to keep tabs on the coming and goings of certain gentleman's clubs. It was revealed today that two London lapdancing venues were investigated last year by a council-hired PI after claims that sex was for sale along with the overpriced drinks and pole dancing: Arriving for a Friday night Gentleman's Evening in September last year, the investigator paid £10 membership and £15 to enter. He......

A new anti-terror campaign was launched across London today "to encourage the public to be vigilant and to contact police with any suspicions". New posters should already be up showing an abandoned backpack with the warning: TWO WAYS TO FIND OUT IF IT'S SUSPICIOUS: CALL 999 THE OTHER DOESN'T BEAR THINKING ABOUT Unfortunately it seems that London Underground staff may have a third option for dealing with the occasional suspected terror device. Shout at......

The 'noughties' were meant to be the caring decade but we're buggered if we noticed it at Londonist, especially with a whip-cracking editor having no sympathy for fingers bleeding through too much typing. It seems, however, that the softly softly approach is now de rigeur. First off, the coppers in Wandsworth have decided to send letters to people who don't turn up for court and bail appearances. This Is Local London's story quotes Inspector......

An appealing headline for an appalling story appeared on This Is London: Pensioner Trapped By Hole In Road. The story relates how Londonist's favourite London water supplier Thames Water had dug a hole outside a 78-year-old man's front gate. The story takes a 'half-empty' view of the fact that Thames Water had thoughtfully cordoned off the hole with a barrier and cones. The way we see it, if it hadn't been cordoned off, a......

This Is Local London reports that the London Assembly is set to ask Londoners for their views on where responsibility for aspects of London life should lie. The report quotes a member of the Assembly, Darren Johnson, thus: We are in a ridiculous situation where we are supposed to have devolution but the budget and power of the Government Office for London is growing and growing and growing. It should be the directly elected London......