Bees need all the help they can get. Thus programmer Mat Kelsey created a bee counter to see just how many of his winged honeymakers are hanging out in his hives. His system, which uses a Raspberry Pi and a machine learning algorithm that recognizes the number of individual bees entering a hive, is used to see bee trends over time and see just how the bees are faring.

“The first thing I thought when we setup our beehive was ‘I wonder how you could count the number of bees coming and going?’” wrote Kelsey. “After a little research I discovered it seems no one has a good, non-intrusive system for doing it yet. It can apparently be useful for all sorts of hive health checking.”

The system looks at sets of pictures of the hive door taken every 10 seconds. It then extrapolates out the background, assesses the objects that have moved in the frame, and then counts the things that are likely to be bees. It’s a fascinating problem to solve since the bees are constantly moving and because it can also ignore bees that are coming out of the hive.

You can download the source on Github and check out his detailed blog post here. Given the need for bee protection as we enter an era of colony collapses, tools like this one are wildly important. Plus it’s cool to see a Raspberry Pi do something so complex.

Spain’s parliament has ousted Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote sparked by fury over his party’s corruption woes, paving the way for a takeover by opposition leader Pedro Sanchez.

An absolute majority of 180 lawmakers voted for the motion on Friday, making Rajoy the first prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote since Spain transitioned to democracy in 1977.

Speaking before the vote, Rajoy appeared to have accepted his fate and congratulated Sanchez on his new position.

“It has been an honour to to be the Prime Minister of Spain,” he said.

“It has been an honour to leave behind a better Spain than the one that I found when I took over government.

“I wish my substitute will be able to say the same.” 

‘Mature democracy’

Matt Qvortrup, a professor of political science at Coventry University, the UK, told Al Jazeera the no-confidence vote was a sign that Spain was a “mature democracy”.

“When somebody is not behaving well, then they can be removed by democratic means that is a massive step forward from when…it was a fascist dictatorship,” he said.

“Spain has been one of the most successful countries to democratise and in some ways it’s a sign of maturity.”

Qvortrup said the corruption scandal could force a “change of guard” within Rajoy’s party and warned that Spain’s new leader would struggle to form a government due to opposition within his own party and beyond.

Sanchez’s minority government will now have to set about the task of building alliances with parties, which include an anti-austerity alliance led by Podemos and nationalist parties, notably Basque separatists.

It also faces the challenge of allaying investor fears over political stability and dealing with Catalan separatists.

Al Jazeera’s Neeve Barker, reporting from Madrid, said Rajoy’s demise was unprecedented in recent Spanish history.

“History has been made…it’s the first time a Spanish politician has unseated a sitting prime minister in a vote of no-confidence,” our correspondent said.

“What happens next, we’re entering into uncharted territory.”

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

But apart from losing out on functionality, not using a passcode on your watch means that anyone who got hold of it could potentially gain access to your Health and other app data, and possibly more besides.

Using a passcode on your Apple Watch isn’t like having one on your iPhone or iPad, because you don’t have to enter it every time you use your watch. You’ll only be prompted for it if you remove your Apple Watch from your wrist or if the watch is restarted. Also unlike iOS devices, if you ever forget your Apple Watch passcode, there are steps you can take to regain access.

With those benefits in mind, here’s how to set up your Apple Watch passcode.

How to Add a Passcode to Your Apple Watch

1. Launch the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
   
2. Scroll down the list and tap Passcode.
   
3. Tap Turn Passcode On.
   
4. Enter the four-digit passcode you want to use to lock and unlock the watch.

You can also add a passcode to your Apple Watch through the Watch app on your iPhone. You can find the relevant setting in the My Watch tab under Passcode -> Turn Passcode On.

For an added layer of security, consider using a six-digit passcode on your Apple Watch. Six-digit passcodes offer 1 million possible combinations instead of 10,000, making the passcode harder to crack. To enable a six-digit code from within the iOS Watch app, tap My Watch -> Passcode, and toggle off Simple Passcode. You’ll then be prompted to enter the new six-digit code on your Apple Watch.

Lastly, if you tend to take your watch off during the day, there’s a setting in the Watch app’s Passcode menu that will unlock your Apple Watch whenever you unlock your iPhone, which should make things somewhat more convenient. Toggle on the switch next to Unlock with iPhone to enable it.

What to Do if You Forget Your Passcode

If you forget your Apple Watch passcode, you’ll need to erase the device and then restore from a backup. You can perform this action by launching the Watch app on your paired iPhone: tap the My Watch tab if it’s not already selected, tap General -> Reset, then select Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings.

Alternatively, you can start the erase and restore process on your Apple Watch by connecting the device to its charger and following these steps.

1. Press and hold the side button until you see the Power Off screen.
   
2. Hard press the Power Off slider and then let go.
   
3. Tap Erase all content and settings.
   
4. You’ll be asked to set up your Apple Watch again when the process ends. When you do, be sure to restore from a backup.