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The latest “state of the internet” inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now seeking comment regarding the default speed for mobile “broadband” connectivity. The document lists 10 megabits per second (10Mbps) as the standard download speed, and 1Mbps for uploads. It’s part of the FCC’s yearly investigation into the rate at which internet connectivity is being deployed to the general American population.

At one time, the term “broadband” was used to classify always-on internet access that’s faster than a dial-up modem. In 2010, the FCC determined that basic broadband access had a standard download speed of 4Mbps, and an upload speed of 1Mbps. Those numbers increased in 2015 to 25Mbps for downloads, and 3Mbps for uploads, which still remain effective.

Meanwhile, mobile internet connection speeds are throttled by a device’s proximity to the closest cellular tower. The method is similar to moving a wireless device away from a home network’s router: both have theoretical maximum speeds, but real-world data transfers are significantly lower when traveling through the air. Transfer speeds continue to diminish as you move away from the router.

Given that theoretical speeds and actual real-world speeds are two different animals, the FCC is looking for a solid benchmark to determine if mobile broadband is rolling out to Americans on a timely schedule. This is especially important for determining if internet hardware is being deployed into rural areas in a timely fashion.

“Would a download speed benchmark higher or lower than 10Mbps be appropriate for the purpose of assessing American consumers’ access to advanced telecommunications capability?” the FCC asks. “How should we appropriately consider edge speed in setting a mobile speed benchmark? How should we take into account the important issues of reliability/consistency of service and latency in the mobile broadband environment?”

The FCC determined that in early 2016, 80 percent of the Americans subscribing to a mobile internet service relied on a smartphone, up from 50 percent in the same timeframe in 2012. Actual smartphone sales rose as well, with 90 percent of the new mobile devices sold in the first quarter of 2016 consisting of smartphones. By comparison, smartphones comprised 67 percent of the mobile device sales in 2012.

According to the FCC, mobile internet subscribers saw download speeds ranging from 8Mbps to 15Mbps during the second half of 2015. Now mobile service providers like AT&T and Verizon are beefing up their unlimited data plans to accommodate the growing use of mobile internet services. Americans are supposedly feeding most of their YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook addictions using a mobile device rather than relying on a desktop or laptop.

Ultimately, the FCC believes that we need both land-based and mobile internet connections. Mobile will likely never be faster than wired, and both serve as solutions for different workloads that either work best on a smartphone, or on a desktop or laptop. To that extent, the FCC wants to make sure internet connectivity is rolled out to all Americans as quickly as possible, especially mobile broadband.

Comments regarding the FCC’s proposal for mobile broadband can be made here.

Y'mean that game that is 20 years old and on everything ever already?

What else is new... Braid? Cave Story?

WastelandCowboy posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNJxDWX

"This video does not exist."

Does this link work for anyone else?

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK - Two hikers walking a High Sierra trail in California's wilderness encountered a wild mountain lion in their path, videotaping part of the nerve-wracking stare-down with the big cat that lasted nearly half an hour.

The video shows the adult lion scurry down a winding trail out of sight. Moments later the hikers slowly round a turn to see it peering down on them from a rocky perch feet away.

Its ears are perked up and head cocked.

"What are you supposed to do?" one hiker whispers. The other answers: "I don't know. I don't think you're supposed to run."

Rangers at Sequoia National Park on Monday posted a link to the two-minute video captured July 23.

The clip ends with the hikers slowly backing away, but they said the encounter didn't end there.

Sam Vonderheide, who pressed record on his camera, and his hiking companion, Brian McKinney, told The Tribune newspaper in San Luis Obispo that they were on the first day of an 11-day hike through the Central California mountains.

They waited for the cat to leave and tried rousing it from the trail, so they could continue onto the place they wanted to set up camp. The lion didn't budge.''

"For a good 20 to 25 minutes, we tried to scare it, to make noise," McKinney told the newspaper. "It just looked at us."

The two hikers then turned back and set up camp for a restless night's sleep in another area, never seeing it again, they said.

Wildlife biologist Daniel Gammons said the men did the right thing by staying calm. Biologists say you should make yourself appear big by waving your arms overhead and scare off the animal, as the men did.

"The big thing these visitors did right was that they didn't panic and run," Gammons said. "Probably the most important message to get out to visitors is not to act like prey if they encounter a mountain lion."

Glen Campbell, the upbeat guitarist from Delight, Arkansas, whose smooth vocals and down-home manner made him a mainstay of music and television for decades, has died, his family announced on Facebook on Tuesday. He was 81.

"It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and legendary singer and guitarist, Glen Travis Campbell ... following his long and courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease," a Facebook statement said.

Campbell is best remembered for a string of country-inflected hits that ran from the mid-'60s to the late '80s: "Gentle on My Mind," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" among them.

They fit in neatly on both pop and country radio, with two of them -- "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights" -- hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He was also famous for "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," a TV variety show that ran from 1969 to 1972.

Before he became a solo star, Campbell was one of the music business' most in-demand session guitarists, known for his astonishing speed and his brilliant ear.

He was part of the famed "Wrecking Crew" of L.A. session musicians that included Hal Blaine, Leon Russell, Larry Knechtel and Carol Kaye. The crack band played on records by Phil Spector, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, the Monkees, the Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra.

That's Campbell's fretwork on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "Help Me Rhonda," Sinatra's "Something in the Night" and Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas," among hundreds of recordings.

Such versatility was a necessity to get work and stay fresh, Campbell said in an interview. As a teenager, he was in a band with his uncle and the group had a regular radio gig.

"Music was my world before they started putting a label on it," he told ClassicBands.com in 1999. "We had a five-day-a-week radio show, six, seven years. You use up a lot of material doing that. We did everything from country to pop, when rock came along."

Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Brian Wilson, Lenny Kravitz and other musicians flooded Twitter with tributes to Campbell.

"Thank you Glen Campbell for sharing your talent with us for so many years May you rest in peace my friend You will never be forgotten," said fellow country star Charlie Daniels.

"RIP my dear old friend Glen Campbell. Music has lost a giant of a man & a talent. I shall be forever grateful for everything he did for me," said singer Anne Murray.

The singer's daughter, Ashley Campbell, said she is "heartbroken. I owe him everything I am, and everything I ever will be. He will be remembered so well and with so much love."

helly posted...

no, they've probably just been sitting on it and was planning to release it in 2021.

with ryzens release, intel has been scrambling to do everything they can to compete, and the one thing they've consistently done is push releases ahead of schedule.

Lolwut. It's only a small step over the last one that's out right now... waiting for 4 more years? Christ do you have such a hardon that it's smacking you in the face so you can't see the truth?

helly posted...

basically because amd is absolutely wrecking intels house right now, so intel is trying whatever they can

Like they just whipped this up in the past 3 months.

http://users.content.ytmnd.com/0/f/5/0f540ccc1854aac7719a07c6be303a7a.gif
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Intel's monstrous 18-core, 36-thread Core i9-7980XE CPU launches September 25 for a whopping $2,000, Intel announced today. It will be joined by the $1,700 16C/32T i9-7960X and the $1,400 14C/28T i9-7940X, while the 12C/12T i9-7920X launches a month earlier on August 28 for $1,200. UK prices are TBC, but the top-end chip will likely start at around £1,900 and then work its way down from there.

Alongside release dates, Intel also revealed TDPs and boost clock speeds—information that was curiously missing from the original X299 announcement back in May. The Core i9-7980XE features a 2.6GHz base clock, a Turbo Boost 2.0 clock of 4.2GHz, and a Turbo Boost 3.0 clock (up to two cores) of 4.4GHz. That's accompanied by 24.75MB of L3 cache, 44 PCIe lanes, and a 165W TDP (the 10-core i9-7900K has a 140W TDP).

Boost and turbo clocks for the remaining i9 chips are largely the same with a mere 100MHz variance, although the i9-7940X sports a higher 3.1GHz base clock. PC Gamer dug up a more detailed look at stock clock speeds, which shows the variance depending on how many cores are under load. In the case of the i9-7980XE, clock speeds vary from 4.2GHz to 3.9GHz up to 12 cores, dropping to 3.4GHz when all 18 cores are active.

The Core i9-7980XE and other i9 CPUs follow on from the launch of the 10C/20T i9-7900X and accompanying X299 platform in July. Reviews of the i9-7900X showed it to be the fastest consumer chip around, but it's still a poor value when compared to AMD's Ryzen CPUs. The addition of a quad-core i7-7740X, which can't take full advantage of the X299 platform, further took the shine off Intel's latest release.

Alongside increased competition from AMD's mainstream Ryzen CPUs, it also has to contend with the upcoming launch of Threadripper, which offers 16C/32T for $1,000 (~£950)—a significant saving over Intel's chips. Threadripper also offers 64 PCIe lanes across the board without the limitations Intel imposes on the cheaper X299 chips. Threadripper also offers more efficient cooling thanks to the use of solder instead of thermal material underneath the heat spreader.

Some users have taken to "delidding" Core i9 CPUs like the 7900X to replace the thermal material, resulting in a drop in temperature by as much as 20°C.

Disney wants to own a bigger piece of the streaming pie.

The company announced during its latest earnings report on Tuesday it intends to remove its movies from Netflix.

Instead, Disney plans to launch a branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019 starting in the U.S. and expanding globally.

CEO Bob Iger told CNBC's Julia Boorstin Disney had a "good relationship" with Netflix, but decided to exercise an option to move its content off the platform. Movies to be removed include Disney as well as Pixar's titles, according to Iger. Netflix said Disney movies will be available through the end of 2018 on its platform. Marvel TV shows will remain.

The new platform will be the home for all Disney movies going forward, starting with the 2019 theatrical slate which includes "Toy Story 4," "Frozen 2," and the upcoming live-action "The Lion King." It will also be making a "significant investment" in exclusive movies and television series for the new platform.

The company will also launch its own ESPN video streaming service in early 2018. The platform, which will feature about 10,000 sporting events each year, will have content from the MLB, NHL, MLS, collegiate sports and tennis' Grand Slam events.

To power the services, Disney is buying a majority ownership of BAM Tech for $1.58 billion. Disney bought a 33 percent stake in the company, which was spun off from digital media company MLB Advanced Media, in August 2016.

"This represents a big strategic shift for the company," Iger said to CNBC. "We felt that having control of a platform we've been very impressed with after buying 33 percent of it a year ago would give us control of our destiny."

Netflix stock dropped more than 5 percent upon announcement of the news.

Porn?

LPT: if your LPT is about fucking coconuts, it will be removed and you will be banned.

home

Thats what happen when you take care of your body instead of your topic.

Can we just stop with these outdated jokes?

Whatever happened to the investigation into that passenger plane that was "accidentally" shot down?

A conversation between militants thought to have shot down flight MH17 has been released by Ukrainian security services.

The transcript, published in English by the Kyiv Post, is a series of phone calls intercepted by the Security Services of Ukraine believed to be between Russian Military intelligence officers and members of terrorist groups.

One of the phone calls appears to be between two militants nicknamed Major and Greek inspecting the crash scene less than an hour after the plane crashed.

In the calls, Major and Greek can be overheard discussing that the plane "fell apart in the air" and noting that the flight was "100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft".

Major can be heard describing to the Greek seeing parts of the plane and "bodies".

Greek then asks Major if he can see any documents. Major replies that he has found one from an Indonesian student studying at a "university in Thompson".

In another intercepted call, the Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin and and an unidentified militant can be overheard discussing the many "bodies of women and children" they have found at the crash scene.

The militant is then heard asking the commander why the plane was in Ukrainian territory. To which the commanders replies: "That means they were carrying spies.

"They shouldn't be f***ing flying. There is a war going on."

WASHINGTON — A recommendation to send high-tech tank-killing weapons to Ukraine to help in its fight against Russia is now at the White House, according to three U.S. officials.

The officials said a proposed aid package includes Javelin anti-tank missiles with an estimated cost of about $50 million.

"It is the right move and I see the fingerprints of Secretary of Defense Mattis all over it," said Ret. Adm. James Stavridis, former commander of NATO and an NBC News analyst.

"This is a very logical and sensible move which will increase deterrence — because it will place doubt in the minds of Russian aggressors in terms of their use of offensive weapons systems."

Russia invaded and annexed the Crimea in 2014 and continues to support pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The proposal for providing weapons to Ukraine comes amid tension between the White House and Congress over how to respond to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. President Trump signed a bill imposing sanctions on Russia for its cyberhacking and its actions in Ukraine but complained that it harmed relations.

While the three officials said no final decision has been made on providing the weapons, they agreed that the Pentagon is in favor of the move.

A Pentagon spokesperson would not confirm the details of the package, saying only, "we haven't ruled anything out."

"I can certainly say that we have not provided defensive weapons nor have we ruled out the option to do so," said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert during a briefing Thursday.

Still undecided, said the three officials, is whether the U.S. would provide the Javelins through an intermediary and whether U.S. service members would train the Ukrainian military on how to operate them.

The most common Russian tank is the T-90, according to Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank. The Javelin attacks tanks from above, one of the most vulnerable spots of the tank, he explained, adding that other shoulder-fired weapons like an RPG could not take out a Russian tank.

Thompson warned that providing lethal weapons to Ukraine — a country "on Russia's doorstep" — is not without peril for the U.S. "What would we think if the Russians were arming Mexico?" he asked. "This could potentially spark a wider war."

Former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, an NBC News analyst, said that the Russians had "earned" the U.S. aid to Ukraine, "but will see it as an escalation even though it poses no immediate danger to their forces given the disposition of the two sides and the nature of the current skirmishing."

"The U.S. should portray this as an enhancement of Ukrainian defensive capabilities, and part of the deal with Kiev should be that they not use the Javelins to provoke fighting but instead hold onto them for a contingency in which Russia actually uses armor to extend its invasion — which it has not been doing lately."

Fuckin deep bro

WastelandCowboy posted...

Why the hell do you people get so bent out of shape about me closing topics?

And this isn't a gimmick. It's just something I do frequently.

I don't do gimmicks anymore.

You people that keep riding my ass need to back the hell off and get a life.

idk, when you close topics before anybody even has the chance to post -- such as you did not that long ago with one of your Trump topics -- it seems like a gimmick.

Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests.

Rockstar parent company Take-Two has a very high opinion of the PC market and the opportunities it provides, but it’s still playing coy when asked if Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to PC.

Following the most recent earnings report, the publisher hosted a call to investors where it received many questions about Red Dead Redemption, GTA Online, and the PC market.

Asked directly if PC is a consideration for the company’s major titles, president Karl Slatoff said that it depends on the title. “Some titles are actually heavily weighted to PC, for example, Civilization and XCOM,” he said.

“The great news is that the PC market is vibrant for us. It’s a great market for us. It’s a big market. It’s a core market in consumers that are highly engaged. It’s a predominantly digital market, which also removes friction in terms of ongoing engagement with a consumer. So, for us, the PC market as a company is very important and very exciting and something we focus on.”

Elsewhere in the call, another investor asked CEO Strauss Zelnick if he’s able to share any updates about a PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2. Unfortunately, Zelnick gave the typical “any updates about any of our titles will come from our labels” answer.

Though a PC version was not announced, it’s more than likely in the works. All bets are on this version releasing a few months after consoles. Rockstar did the same with GTA 5, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t repeat the same tactic with Red Dead.

The PS4, and Xbox One version is out in the spring.

I am a Legend.

Both in real life

President Donald Trump is touting new legislation to overhaul the US immigration system, drastically cutting the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country and implementing a "merit-based" visa scheme.

If passed, the RAISE Act would cut the number of immigrants allowed into the United States by 50 per cent over the next 10 years. It would eliminate diversity lottery visas and crack down on so-called "chain immigration" – visas provided based on family connections, rather than jobs skills.

Mr Trump promoted the act alongside Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue on Wednesday, claiming it would "reduce poverty, increase wages, and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars".

And it would do so, he said, by favouring English-speaking, financially stable immigrants.

"This competitive application system will favour applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that can contribute to the US economy," Mr Trump said.

He added: "They’re not going to come in and just immediately collect welfare."

Under current US law, the majority of immigrants cannot receive food stamps, Medicaid, and Social Security until they have been in the US for at least five years.

Mr Cotton and Mr Perdue first introduced the RAISE Act to the Senate in February, but the legislation has since stalled in Congress. The Senators now plan to re-introduce it with a few changes – and the President's backing.

Mr Trump frequently spoke out against illegal immigration during his campaign, accusing immigrants of stealing jobs from American workers and bringing crime into the country. As President, he has pushed for the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border, and implemented a travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.

To Kamal Essaheb, director of policy and advocacy for the National Immigration Law Center, these policies are an attempt to shift the blame for Mr Trump's legislative failures onto the immigrant community.

"We’ve seen this during the campaign and we’re now seeing this, unfortunately, in his policies," Mr Essaheb told The Independent. "This is a President who has found his scapegoat."

Despite his harsh words about illegal immigrants, the RAISE Act marks Mr Trump's first significant attempt at reforming the legal immigration system – and the country's most dramatic attempt in more than 50 years.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Mr Trump decried the current immigration system as "unfair," saying it benefits new immigrants over "struggling American families". In an accompanying statement, the White House claimed that an influx of unskilled workers has depressed American wages and harmed working families.

Mr Essheb dismissed these claims as "simply untrue".

"All the evidence shows that immigration is not only good for the economy in terms of GDP growth, but also good for wages of Americans themselves," he said.

A 2010 report from the Economic Policy Institute, for example, found that immigration increased the wages of native-born workers by an almost half a percent between 1994 and 2007.

Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Mr Trump's private, South Florida estate had requested permission to hire 70 foreign, low-wage workers. The Trump National Golf Club has also requested permission to hire six foreign cooks.

Defending his hiring practises last year, Mr Trump said it is "very, very hard" to find employees in Palm Beach during peak tourism seasons.

"We, sometimes, we have to bring people in," he said.