New WiFi Protocol Boosts Congested Wireless Network Throughput By 700% 130
MrSeb writes "Engineers at NC State University (NCSU) have discovered a way of boosting the throughput of busy WiFi networks by up to 700%. Perhaps most importantly, the breakthrough is purely software-based, meaning it could be rolled out to existing WiFi networks relatively easily — instantly improving the throughput and latency of the network. As wireless networking becomes ever more prevalent, you may have noticed that your home network is much faster than the WiFi network at the airport or a busy conference center. The primary reason for this is that a WiFi access point, along with every device connected to it, operates on the same wireless channel. This single-channel problem is also compounded by the fact that it isn't just one-way; the access point also needs to send data back to every connected device. To solve this problem, NC State University has devised a scheme called WiFox. In essence, WiFox is some software that runs on a WiFi access point (i.e. it's part of the firmware) and keeps track of the congestion level. If WiFox detects a backlog of data due to congestion, it kicks in and enables high-priority mode. In this mode, the access point gains complete control of the wireless network channel, allowing it to clear its backlog of data. Then, with the backlog clear, the network returns to normal. We don't have the exact details of the WiFox scheme/protocol (it's being presented at the ACM CoNEXT conference in December), but apparently it increased the throughput of a 45-device WiFi network by 700%, and reduced latency by 30-40%."
Comment Re:Get rid of the unions (Score 0) 430
Not sure how it works in the US. But in Europe a typical valid answer is "if management did not treat the workers like shit, they would not be unionized."
Not sure how it works in Europe, but in the U.S. a typical valid comeback is "If unions didn't raise our cost of manufacturing to become globally anticompetitive, we wouldn't have to move to 3rd world countries for manufacturing."
Comment Re:You don't need Google Maps... (Score 1) 347
Yep, you just need to ask where cheap plastic junk is sold. Then you know it's an Android device.
Look, I'm a huge Apple fanboy on the desk/laptop. I love my MBP. I love my Air. I love my 27" Thunderbolt monitor. You can pry them from my cold, dead hands.
For my portable devices, however, I am not a fan of iOS. Android on the phone and the Nexus 7. IMO, OS X is king of desktop productivity, Android is king of mobile productivity. Android is available on some excellent devices.
(Admittedly, though, if I could only choose one ecosystem, it would be Apple. It would be very difficult to give up my Nexus 7, but I just couldn't like without my Air + Thunderbolt display.)
Comment Re:Um... (Score 0) 60
Of course, that's not what Linaro is about. They are looking forward to stop the explosion of code and architecture within the ARM familly.
Agreed, it even says that in the summary, lol.
Comment Re:Makes sense. (Score 3, Informative) 60
FTFA: "Facebook and AMD are joining the Linaro Enterprise Group, which was formed to focus on "the development of foundational software for ARM server Linux," as the announcement put it."
Comment Re:MS killed the Nokia star (Score 0) 215
Agreed. Nokia == BlackBerry. Device manufacturer means NOTHING in the mobile marketplace - operating system does!
Windows mobile is terrible and will continue to be terrible, so I'm not sure that it was much of a lifeline to begin with.
The market wants iOS and Android. Nobody else matters. Microsoft just has a lot of money so they pretend that people care about them as a mobile OS provider. They would make more money by manufacturing Android phones.
Thousands of Lab Mice Lost In Sandy Flooding 88
An anonymous reader writes "While New York University's Langone Medical Center in lower Manhattan was the site of heroism as 260 patients were evacuated from flooded floors and a nearly complete loss of power, similar floods at NYU's nearby Smilow Research Building killed thousands of laboratory mice, including genetically altered specimens in-bred over many generations as research subjects for melanoma and other diseases. Other laboratory animals, cells, and living tissue used in medical research were also lost; because of the gestation period involved, some projects were likely set back a number of years. Past experience with storms such as Allison in Houston and Katrina in New Orleans has shown that keeping laboratory animals in basements is not good practice, but research institutions keep doing it anyway."
Comment Re:they make sense as commuter cars (Score 0) 303
If you're a single person driving tens of miles to work then tens of miles back, it totally makes sense to have a tiny electric car. Charge it at home, charge it at work, you're good to go.
So their target market is young enough to not have a family or has too long of a neckbeard to post on Craigslist M4W (and, incidently, has enough money to afford one), and basically never goes anywhere.
Why don't I see more ads here on
Comment Re:The wrong car won. (Score 1) 303
The C-Max Hybrid only has electric top speed of 62mph!
lol, really? What is that in kilometers? Because I couldn't imagine the average American buying one.
Comment Re:great products (Score 1) 303
Yes, I keep hoping that I'll win the lottery too. Of course, if I did, the X wouldn't be my primary car, but I'd probably want one in my massive garage that I'd have built.
Comment Re:And here I thought it was going to be Lamborghi (Score 1) 303
Anyone who drives less than 30 miles to work every day (which is the majority of Americans) is a potential EV owner.
Don't you drive anywhere else?
When you compare EVs to similarly-tricked-out gas cars, the prices are close
No, my VW Jetta TDI was considerably cheaper and is much less of a hassle.
and when you include fuel and maintenance savings the EV wins outright
No, how much gas and maintenance (are we including replacing the batteries here?) can you get for $50k?
I don't know about you, but my personal driving habits don't include spontaneous trips of more than 100 miles without at least stopping to trade cars with a relative for the weekend.
Really? Do you live in the future, or perhaps a parallel universe?
The marginally-reduced flexibility is totally worth the savings, moral satisfaction, and pedal-flooring fun of driving a clean electric vehicle.
I'm glad you like it. I can't afford it, though. Plus, I don't want one.
Comment Re:Car of the year my ass.... (Score 1) 303
I don't think that it's ugly, but I would never buy one for the price. Ever.
Comment Re:Will it still run IE6? (Score 1) 93
You know, if they would just ditch the desktop in favor of the typewriter, they could save SO much money. I suppose NCSA Mosaic could be a compromise, though, so you could still get your random vacation notifications from coworkers that you don't know via OWA.
Atlantic Hurricane Season 30 Percent Stronger Than Normal 448
MatthewVD writes "The National Hurricane Center reported today that the combined energy and duration of all the storms in the Atlantic basin hurricane season was 30 percent above the average from 1981 to 2010. At Weather Underground, Dr. Jeff Masters blogs that record low levels of arctic ice could have caused a 'blocking ridge' over Greenland that pushed Hurricane Sandy west. Meanwhile, Bloomberg BusinessWeek says, 'it's global warming, stupid.'"
