The new IEEE 802.22 standard has been published and will finally allow manufacturers to start producing standardized devices that will use the white space vacated by analog TVs over two years ago. The standards will provide networking in areas over a 62 mile radius at speeds of up to 22Mbps.

In theory, that means as few as 307 devices could cover the entire United States. (In reality, it would likely take many more than that.)

The use of white space was mired in debate for years, even after television stations were no longer using the analog channels once they’d switched to digital. The frequencies now available, from 54MHz to 698MHz, can maintain signal over vast distances, so a single device may provide an incredibly large coverage area.

According to the new IEEE standard, 802.22-capable equipment will broadcast WRANs (wireless regional area networks) that can deliver signal to around 62 miles away at rates of up to 22Mbps. In the context of the push for gigabit fiber, 22Mbps doesn't seem that fast—and remember, that's a theoretical maximum speed.

However, 802.22 will have a huge impact on areas without access: the standard would make it very easy to blanket rural areas in wireless broadband and could also see use in developing countries.

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New white space standard: up to 22Mbps over 12,000 square miles

Automated, computer-targeting machine guns are okay in a pinch, but sometimes putting 180 25mm slugs down range every minute just isn’t enough. Sometimes you need a little more energy, and that’s when you strap a laser on the thing. Boeing and BAE are partnering up to take the existing Mk 38 Mod 2 Machine Gun System, which offers a 25mm M242 barrel, and pair it with Boeing’s directed energy system. The resulting beautiful machine is called the Mk 38 Mod 2 Tactical Laser System, offering the ability to fling both hot metal and even hotter photons against whatever targets would dare come in range. This integration is said to allow for these upgraded turrets to be easily installed and controlled on our naval vessels, vessels that are, for now, still stuck on the water. Apparently we’re still a few years away from the Wave Motion Engine and FTL battleship travel.

Continue reading Boeing and BAE partner to put a laser on a machine gun, make the world a better place

Boeing and BAE partner to put a laser on a machine gun, make the world a better place originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iOS: Evoz is a free app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad that replaces yesterday’s limited-range baby monitors with your Apple devices so you can listen to your baby wherever you may be (away from your baby). More

deadeyefred writes “Even though it's still only in alpha, it appears as though the forthcoming version of Ubuntu, version 11.10, will be much faster than earlier versions, according to this story. Quoting: 'After installing the OS onto a PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 at 3.00 GHz and a hard disk drive, we stop-watched boot-up time at 12 seconds — more than three seconds faster than the previous best time we’ve measured.' It looks as if the switch from GDM to LightDM will have a significant impact as Ubuntu gets closer to 'instant on' status.”

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Ubuntu 11.10 Down To 12-Second Boot

An anonymous reader writes “Dons at Oxford University were on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ program this morning asking for help from listeners to transcribe unearthed ancient Egyptian texts and scrolls via their website. Visitors to the site are asked to match-up letters on scanned fragments of papyrus with an on-screen Greek alphabet. By doing so, they can help reveal some of the amazing documents that the ancient Egyptians last read. You too can become a papyrologist!”

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Crowdsourcing Ancient Egyptian Scrolls