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Time Warner: Netflix Is Unfairly Withholding High-Quality Content

Netflix is currently rolling out infrastructure to pump 3D and higher-quality HD content through the pipes to your home. But Time Warner is upset : it thinks that Netflix’s plan to only offer the new conent to ISPs that participate in its Open Connect initiative is unfair on consumers. More »

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Time Warner: Netflix Is Unfairly Withholding High-Quality Content

An astonishing shampoo-related physics mystery

In the 1960s, when some were exploring the mysteries of outer space and quantum mechanics, one engineer noticed an extraordinary unexplained phenomenon in shampoo. The sudden, energetic, and seemingly spontaneous bursts of liquid that seemed to randomly squirt out from ordinary shampoo were a mystery for forty years. Here’s why your shampoo, while being poured, sometimes leaps up and tries to get you. More »

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An astonishing shampoo-related physics mystery

FCC adds spectrum to Wi-Fi—but you likely need a new router to use it

Jason Alley The Federal Communications Commission last week said it will add 195MHz of spectrum to Wi-Fi’s 5GHz band. This move is designed to relieve congestion in Wi-Fi networks, particularly in areas of widespread simultaneous usage like airports and sports stadiums . It could help your home network too, but not right away—routers available in stores today may not be able to use the new spectrum at all . Finding out definitively whether today’s routers will support the new spectrum is difficult, partly because the FCC still has to issue specific rules governing its use. We’ve hit up router vendors and other industry people to find out whether software updates might let current routers access the new spectrum. While the results were a bit muddled, it seems safe to say no one is guaranteeing today’s routers will get the benefit of the new 195MHz. Even the latest routers supporting the ultra-modern 802.11ac standard may be left behind. Cisco refused to comment at all, telling us only “Cisco has not made any announcements about this so cannot discuss at this time.” Buffalo told us “the chip vendors will need to work on it” and that “they will at least to have to make changes to the hardware driver. … The magnitude of that change will determine if Buffalo is able to use the same hardware.” Read 21 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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FCC adds spectrum to Wi-Fi—but you likely need a new router to use it

Facebook’s Open Compute Project splits up monolithic servers with help from Intel, more

As much as it’s important to have every component of a PC stuck together in a laptop, that same monolithic strategy is a major liability for server clusters: if one part breaks or grows obsolete, it can drag down everything else. Facebook and its Open Compute Project partners have just unveiled plans to loosen things up at the datacenter. A prototype, Atom -based rackmount server from Quanta Computer uses 100Gbps silicon photonics from Intel to connect parts at full speed, anywhere on the rack. Facebook has also garnered support for a new system-on-chip connection standard, rather affectionately named Group Hug, that would let owners swap in new mini systems from any vendor through PCI Express cards. The combined effect doesn’t just simplify repairs and upgrades — it lets companies build the exact servers they need without having to scrap other crucial elements in the process. There’s no definite timeframe for when we’ll see modular servers put to work, but the hope is that a cluster’s foundations will stay relevant for years instead of months. Continue reading Facebook’s Open Compute Project splits up monolithic servers with help from Intel, more Filed under: Intel , Facebook Comments Source: Open Compute Project

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Facebook’s Open Compute Project splits up monolithic servers with help from Intel, more

AT&T now offering FaceTime over Cellular on all tiered data plans

It’s been a slow process, but AT&T is gradually making FaceTime over Cellular (Apple’s video chat service) available to more people. The feature was introduced with iOS 6, but it was up to carriers on how they wanted to implement the service — if at all. AT&T chose to offer it to only shared data customers at first, to ensure that the carrier’s network could handle the additional load. Finally, the top GSM operator in the US has announced that it will now allow the feature on all tiered data plans, and it should be rolling out to customers over the course of the next two weeks. There’s still no word on grandfathered unlimited plans, but don’t get your hopes up on that happening any time soon. To get the full explanation, head to the source link below. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Apple , AT&T Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: AT&T

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AT&T now offering FaceTime over Cellular on all tiered data plans

“Once-in-a-century” ISON comet could be visible from Earth during the daytime

Last year, astronomers using the Russian International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) spied something intriguing just beyond the orbit of Jupiter: a cometary body so large, and with a trajectory that will bring it so close to the Sun, that it could potentially be visible from Earth in the middle of the day (not unlike Comet McNaught, pictured above, was in 2007), and outshine the Moon at night. More »

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“Once-in-a-century” ISON comet could be visible from Earth during the daytime

Microsoft Is Finally Bringing XBLA Games to Windows 8 and RT (Updated)

This has been a long time coming. Microsoft Play just added has (see update below) 15 Xbox Live Arcade games to Windows 8 and RT through the Windows Store. And it’s about time. More »

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Microsoft Is Finally Bringing XBLA Games to Windows 8 and RT (Updated)

Finally, proof that all movie trailers use the same color palette

The contrasting colors orange and blue appear together so often in movie posters and videogame box art as to inspire countless blog posts , tumblrs , and even their own entry on TV Tropes . Intrigued by the entertainment industry’s orange/blue affinity, Edmund Helmer — a masters student studying statistics at Stanford — decided to visualize the use of different hues in film trailers. The end result is as telling as it is beautiful. More »

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Finally, proof that all movie trailers use the same color palette