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Wireless Networking

Submission + - What causes degradation of wireless signals over time? 4

Submitted by acer123
acer123 writes: Lately I have replaced several home wireless routers because the signal strength has been found to be degraded. These devices, when new (2+ years ago) would cover an entire house. Over the years, the strength seems to decrease to a point where it might only cover one or two rooms. Of the three that I have replaced for friends, I have not found a common brand, age, etc. It just seems that after time, the signal strength decreases. I know that routers are cheap and easy to replace but I'm curious what actually causes this. I would have assumed that the components would either work or not work; we would either have a full signal or have no signal. I am not an electrical engineer and I can't find the answer online so I'm reaching out to you.

Can someone explain how a transmitter can /slowly/ go bad?
Patents

Submission + - Patent Reform Bill Approved by House Committe

Submitted by Alex Forster
Alex Forster writes: The House Committee on the Judiciary approved far-reaching legislation to reform the nation's patent system Wednesday. The Patent Reform Act of 2007 largely reflects the IT sector's lobbying effort to curtail lengthy, expensive patent infringement lawsuits, but Wednesday's committee deliberations centered on finding compromises acceptable to opponents — namely the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, manufacturers, and large research universities — so that the bill could win approval. Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., described the current patent system as inefficient, bogged down by inappropriate litigation rules, unreliably funded, and resulting in patents of "questionable quality." The bill would make it harder to secure a patent and easier for rivals to challenge one, and it would change how courts determine an infringed patent's value.

Feed Engadget: LG's new LN790 Portable Navigator (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video


LG is still pretty fresh to the GPS market, but it's already kicking off a second round of devices with the LN790 Portable Navigator. The device features a 4.3-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth phone pairing, video and music playback and photo viewing, with an SD card slot to store the goodies. Oh, and that map stuff all those kids go for these days, with US, Canada and Puerto Rico pre-loaded, and live traffic info for 50 North American cities. You should be seeing this one hit shelves in September for around $699. More shots after the break.

Continue reading LG's new LN790 Portable Navigator

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Microsoft

Some Journals Rejecting Office 2007 Format 474

Posted by kdawson from the embrace-extend-extinguish-yourself dept.
hormiga writes "Some scholarly journals are rejecting submissions made using new Office 2007 formats. Science and Nature are among publishers unwilling to deal with incompatibilities in the new formats, and recommend using older versions of Office or converting to older formats before submission. The new equation editor is cited as a specific problem. Rob Wier recommends that those publishers consider using ODF instead."
Space

Journal Journal: The Big Bang Vs The Big Rumble 220

Journal by Alien54
We all know the story, delivered in grade school textbooks across the country, of how the universe began. The Big Bang. Fourteen billion years ago. Space and time and everything, exploding into being in a flash, and still exploding as celestial bodies race apart across the cosmos. Well, maybe so. But the Big Bang theory has taken its lumps in recent years. Now, renegade physicists are making a new case. That it didn't all start in an in

Feed 17-inch PowerBooks starting to see new vertical-line screen defects? (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Displays, Laptops

We have no idea how widespread the problem is, but there is certainly a group of people trying to raise some hell in their own corner of the internets over some supposed vertical-line issues that later-gen PowerBooks are claimed to experience between 12-24 months into their lives. We understand that not everyone buys a laptop a year like your average (broke-ass) Engadget editor, so if these issues are in fact that common, we hope Apple does see it fit to extend that Display Repair Extension Program to users experiencing this new kind of screen issue.

P.S. -You having the issue yourself? Shout it out in comments.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Novell

Microsoft Gets Novell Docs Before OSS Community 77

Posted by kdawson from the spirit-of-the-law dept.
flydpnkrtn sends in an InformationWeek article arising out of Novell's SEC filing yesterday, asking: "Is this just more Novell-bashing material? Or is this no big deal? And of course this type of thing runs contrary to the 'spirit of the GPL'..." "Under its controversial alliance with Novell, Microsoft is entitled to receive key technical documentation from the Linux distributor even if that documentation is not generally available to open source software developers, according to a Novell document."

Feed KornTech Rogun robot recognises faces, friend or foe (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Robots

KornTech, a Korean venture company (entirely unrelated to the nu-metal band Kon), has developed a one meter tall robot named Rogun that can identify faces, walk on two feet, and alert owners to intruders via cellphone. Rogun's primary claim to robot fame is his facial recognition using embedded cameras and "high-end face-tracking software," and his ability to walk (a skill which humans take years to learn). Proving once and for all that the Teletubbies were robots underneath their cuddly exteriors, Rogun has a 7-inch LCD in his stomach region for displaying brainwashing material entertainment for the kids. If adults don't mind talking to Rogun's middle region, his screen can even route through a video call thanks to included WiFi: just say "Eh-Oh." Due to translation issues with the original article, we're not completely sure that this is an accurate figure, but as far as we can tell the Rogun is going for $1 million, each. A rather large amount to plunk down on a security system that can be disabled through a well placed push, but as with all technology, the price will come down as things get more advanced.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
OS X

Apple Mac OS X Update For 17 Vulnerabilities 259

Posted by Zonk from the enjoy-a-less-wormy-apple dept.
BSDetector writes "Apple has released fixes for 17 OSX vulnerabilities, ranging from system takeover to denial-of-service attacks. It was the fifth security update released this year. It also marked the first time this year that an operating system security update from Apple did not patch a vulnerability disclosed by the January Month of Apple Bugs project. Today's update pushed Apple's year-to-date patch total to over 100. More than one of the affected flaws were called 'critical' or 'dangerous'."

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