Month: June 2016

(credit: Imagination Technologies)

A company that designs MIPS processors for networking hardware says it is developing technology that would allow installation of open source firmware on wireless routers while still complying with the US Federal Communications Commission's latest anti-interference rules.

The FCC now requires router makers to prevent third-party firmware from changing radio frequency parameters in ways that could cause interference with other devices, such as FAA Doppler weather radar systems.

The easiest way for router makers to comply is to simply prevent installation of open source firmware altogether. Linksys came up with its own way of allowing open source firmware, but so far there's no method that scales across the industry, and at least some routers from TP-Link and Asus are being locked down.

(credit: Getty Images | Dimitri Otis)

Internet speed tests have shown that Time Warner Cable has repeatedly failed to provide the speeds it promises customers, according to a New York state government official. New York has not publicly released any data to back up the claim, but apparently shared the results with the cable company. Charter—TWC's new owner—received a letter demanding improvement yesterday from the New York attorney general's office.

"We recently called on New York customers of major broadband providers to use open-source tools to test the Internet speeds they were experiencing," NY Senior Enforcement Counsel Tim Wu wrote to Charter CEO Tom Rutledge. "The results we received from Time Warner Cable customers were abysmal. Not only did Time Warner Cable fail to achieve the speeds its customers were promised and paid for (which Time Warner Cable blamed on the testing method), it generally performed worse in this regard than other New York broadband providers."

The Washington Post published the full letter and has a related article.

This is a still from the December 2015 flamethrower drone video. (credit: Hogwit)

The outcome of new drone lawsuit out of Connecticut turns on what seems to be a simple question: does the Federal Aviation Administration have the authority to regulate consumer drones? More specifically, can the FAA come after a student who rigged up a gun to a drone and fired it in his backyard, with no one else around?

The FAA clearly thinks that it does and can. But some drone enthusiasts disagree, and believe that the FAA has exceeded its regulatory power—at least for now.

On July 6, FAA lawyers will face off in a New Haven courtroom against attorneys representing a Connecticut student who produced two provocative drone-related videos, one involving a handgun mounted on a drone, and another with a flamethrower.

(credit: US State Department)

Lower-income and minority college students often have trouble sticking with higher education. But past studies have indicated they’d be less likely to drop out of school if they receive appropriate counseling once they start experiencing academic problems. A new study published in PNAS demonstrates that if students receive this kind of intervention prior to college enrollment and during their first year at college, they are more likely to avoid having academic trouble in the first place. And the counseling can be done over the Internet.

The counseling involves letting students know that it is common for students to struggle with the transition to college, and that this transition will get easier with time. This is known as a “lay theory intervention.”

The researchers conducted three double-blind randomized experiments to test the effects of internet-based interventions for students who come from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Students in experimental groups received one of the following: an intervention focused on developing their confidence; an intervention focused on developing their feelings of social belonging in college; or an intervention that included both of these.