Boeing has found a very low-tech method for testing a high-tech service: it’s used 20,000 pounds of potatoes to test Wi-Fi signals on planes. The bizarre sounding technique was necessary because the company wants to improve its Wi-Fi to make signal strength more consistent throughout a plane without it interfering with on-board electrical systems. Boeing […]
Computers will have the ability to mimic human senses in five years according to IBM. But not only is this more guesswork than informed forecast, but the way in which each sense will be incorporated varies hugely. The suggestion comes in IBM’s annual “5 in 5” report in which the company’s analysts come up with […]
The threat of either Apple or Samsung products being pulled from the shelves has largely faded away thanks to two key developments in the ongoing legal saga between the two. The first comes in the most high-profile case, the mutual lawsuits in the US that wound up with Apple getting a $1.05 billion judgment. Judge […]
NASA is planning to test an $11.2 million lighting system to try to better regulate astronaut’s body clocks. The technology could help studies into sleeping problems back on earth. The idea is to tackle the problem that natural light doesn’t follow usual patterns when you are in orbit. That means astronauts don’t sleep as much […]
A federal agency wants everyone convicted of drunk driving offenses to be forced to have a breathalyzer fitted to their vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board says that current rules that make such set-ups mandatory in 17 states need to go nationwide. The NTSB made the recommendation after concluding a study looking at crashes between […]
Not all parents who download smartphone apps for their children, or allow their children to pick their own apps, check up on the privacy consequences. But according to a government agency those parents who do try to look for possible drawbacks will often be out of luck. The Federal Trade Commission looked at a sample […]
YouTuber DJ Omnimaga created ‘Portal’ on a Texas Instruments graphing calculator using Axe Parser program. You can find out more about the program and Omnimaga himself here. [Via DJOmnimaga]
It’s time to get real about the rules governing electrical device use on flights. That’s what one government agency is telling another. Earlier this year the Federal Aviation Administration began a study of whether the current strict rules on gadget use need to be updated. The main issue was whether devices that aren’t emitting radio […]
A federal judge has made the first of several rulings in a case that could have a major effect on the patent wars that have plagued the smartphone and tablet markets. As we covered recently, the case between Microsoft and Motorola (now part of Google) involves patents that related to widely used technical standards. It’s […]
So, the election here in the US is over. After months and months of constant reminders, attack ads, political discussions all over Facebook, it’s finally come to a close. I, for one, am extremely glad. Not just of the outcome, but the return to normalcy. I don’t have to fear my Facebook feed like I […]