Sandy cuts a path of destruction, takes out 25% of cell towers

Sandy was definitely an unwanted visitor on the East Coast, but the tenacity of the human spirit continues to prevail over natural disasters. As for cell towers, those did not fare too well, as Sandy knocked out approximately 25% of cell towers across an area that spread across 10 states in the US. Federal regulators said that this is not all, as the entire situation could end up a whole lot worse sometime down the road.

The remaining cell towers that still function are barely working, thanks to aid from generators. The situation could change for the worse as the generators eventually run out of fuel before commercial power is restored, at least according to the Federal Communications Commission. Good thing the landline phone network (logically) held up better where Sandy made her mark, in a land area that stretches from Virginia to Massachusetts. No idea on the number for folks who are affected by 25% of the cell towers going down, but let us keep our fingers crossed and whisper a prayer that whatever could be done was done, leaving the rest to fate.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AT&T sells cell tower in a suitcase , Hacker Demonstrates A $1,500 Setup To Intercept Your Calls,

BAE Systems’ NAVSOP does positioning without GPS, makes sure the only jammin’ going on is yours

BAE Systems' NAVSOP can do positioning without GPS, makes sure the only jammin' going on is your own

Just in case GPS and GLONASS didn’t make for enough of an acronym soup, BAE Systems wants to add one more to the navigation broth. NAVSOP (Navigation via Signals of Opportunity) uses some of the basic concepts we know from cell tower triangulation and WiFi location-finding to lock down a position, but goes much further to geolocate from nearly anything that pushes out a signal, such as nearby radios and TVs. It doesn’t even need to know what kind of signal it’s looking at, and it can get its position in places there’s no GPS to work from, whether it’s in an urban canyon or the natural kind. BAE is most excited about the prospects of ending GPS jamming against soldiers and UAVs, once and for all: not only is the new technology mostly impervious to attempts to block its signal, it can use the jamming attempt itself to get the position fix. Thankfully, the company’s roots in defense aren’t precluding use for civilians, so there’s a chance that future smartphones might never have to use guesswork to get their bearings — provided that governments around the world sign off on the idea, that is.

BAE Systems’ NAVSOP does positioning without GPS, makes sure the only jammin’ going on is yours originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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