Living

For years now, the U.S. Air Force's F-22 Raptors have been relentlessly plagued by some mystery flaw that keeps threatening to suffocate pilots. The previous best guess had something to do with glue but now the USAF is saying it's found the culprit: vests. According to Air Force Major General Charles Lyon, who presented the findings to the Pentagon, a faulty valve connected to pilots' Combat Edge upper pressure garment caused the vests to inflate too early. The vests, designed to control pilots' breathing at high altitudes and high speeds, were triggering before the extreme G-forces for which they were intended. "It's like putting a corset around your chest," Lyon said. The vests in question were also used by F-15 and F-16 pilots starting in 1992, but were abandoned in 2004 when officials decided the vests weren't helping as much as expected. F-22s, on the other hand, kept on using the vests since they go a bit higher than their predecessors. The Air...

Jul 31, 2012 5:01 PM   The FCC and Verizon put an ongoing dispute to rest today when the carrier agreed to allow is customers to use tethering apps with its data plans. You're damn right! Until now, Verizon worked with Google to block tethering apps from being downloaded to Android devices from Google Play. The company instead demanded that customers who wanted to tether pay a $20 per month fee—including users who had a capped data plans. Turns out this isn't just asinine, it violates an FCC regulation. You see, Verizon owns a special segment of spectrum at 700 MHz. The purchase came with a rule: Verizon had "to allow customers to freely use the devices and applications of their choosing." But Verizon turned around and broke the rule anyway. To help set things right, Verizon also accepted a $1.25 million fine. Booya Verizon. Booya. [FCC via GigaOm via Ars Technica] View the original article here This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.o...