Can Your Christmas Lights Slow Your WiFi Speeds?
UK communications regulator Ofcom is warning that your Christmas lights may be slowing your WiFi. The company released a WiFi checking app to check internet speeds, noting that many routers are not setup correctly, which can lead to "interference from other electronic devices, such as a microwave oven, baby monitor, a lamp—or even Christmas fairy lights."
Sure, Christmas lights do give off a small electromagnetic field, but is it enough to interfere with the radio waves emitted from your routed? Many scientists say no—Christmas lights are unlikely to cause major interferences with your WiFi connection, though it's not impossible.
“It is possible that the wire in a string of lights could act as an antenna if not properly grounded and could, in principal, generate a radio signal if a sufficiently strong alternating current passes through the wire or if there is a strong radio signal that is retransmitted through this wire ,” Tom Coughlin, senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers told Wired. “However this signal would have to be at the right frequency to cause problems to Wi-Fi, so even this is unlikely.”
Check Out This Sonic Screwdriver Lightsaber
Hampton Handcrafted Lightsabers has managed to make the lightsaber cooler than ever with its Doctor Who-inspired Time Lord lightsaber.
The base is the 11th Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and it's got all the all the iconic sound effects you'd expect from a lightsaber—plus more.
Ken from Hampton Handcrafted Lighsabers shows it off in a video posted to the company's Youtube. Check it out below:
The sonic screwdriver lightsaber was the hardest build Ken has ever attempted, he says, but mostly because he wanted to get it just right. And here's the really cool thing—behind the signature lightsaber hum, Ken has added in the sonic screwdriver's sound effects.
Star Wars Trilogy Reimagined in 8-Bit
Now where did that Droid go off to? Cinefix finds out in its new 8-bit (and a little 16-bit) reimagining of the original Star Wars trilogy. With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, CineFix launched its retelling of the story—"No quarters or controllers required."
Check out the video below.
The video starts with A New Hope, where Han totally shoots first. After all, he is legally justified. The five-minute clip runs through The Empire Strikes back, with Luke escaping Hoth Mega Man-style, and moves on to Return of the Jedi, where digital Leia destroys Jabba the Hutt.
Fan Watches 30 Hours of Star Wars
An Austin-area man sat through 30 hours of Star Wars films to win Alamo Drafthouse's "most insane Star Wars marathon competition in the galaxy."
Along with six other diehard fans of the series, Jim Braden entered the cinema at 4 am on December 17 and watched Episodes I through VI before getting to see The Force Awakens for the very first time...and then having to watch it over and over again until he was the last man sitting.
After nine rounds of that on top of the first six movies, 15 in total, Braden won a seven-year pass to Alamo Drafthouse theaters, Star Wars memorabilia, and getting a seat at the movie house named after him.
Deadpool: Christmas Eve Sneak Peek at New Trailer
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, except that Merc with a Mouth.
20th Century Fox has released a snippet from their new Deadpool trailer, which is set to drop tomorrow, Christmas Day.
Check out this sneak peek at it below:
Wolverine star Hugh Jackman tweeted about the sneak peek, which can't help but stir visions of the X-Man appearing in Deadpool's solo movie in the minds of fans.
Deadpool busts into theaters in February.
Monster Hunter X Ships Over 3 Million in Japan
Monster Hunter X has shipped over 3 million units since its release last month in Japan, Capcom has announced.
According to the publisher's announcement, this figure also includes download cards and digital sales through the Nintendo eShop. Monster Hunter X launched on November 28 in the region, reaching the 2 million milestone in less than a week.
Capcom also announced that lifetime sales for the Monster Hunter franchise have now climbed to a whopping 36 million units. The series made its debut back on the PlayStation 2 in 2004 and has gone on to be an incredible success for the company.
Pokken Tournament Controller Coming West
If you want to play Pokken Tournament on your Wii U, while remaining pure to the arcade control scheme, you're in luck. The specialized Pokken Tournament controller from HORI will be available in the west.
While there's no product image for the controller on the site currently, Amazon has it listed for a March 16 release and you can
for just $25.
In Japan, the controller will be part of the Pokken Tournament Wii U bundle, as well as being available separately. There's no news on whether or not the Wii U bundle will come to regions outside of Japan. Pokken Tournament has been in arcades there since July, but the game will see simultaneous worldwide release on the Wii U on March 16.
The Beatles Are Finally Coming to Streaming Services
One of the worlds best selling band in history, is finally coming to a streaming service. The Beatles have decided to team up with nine streaming services to bring you their discography.
Releasing on December 24th at 12:01AM local time, The Beatles catalogue will be available on Google Play Music, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Groove, Slacker, Rhapsody, Deezer, and Amazon’s Prime music to bring all 13 of their iconic albums, and four essential Beatles collections to listeners. For Spotify users, it has been confirmed that all of The Beatles' tracks will be made available for both free and premium users.
Rock Band 4 Dev to Fix Score Exploits by Wiping Leaderboard
Harmonix is addressing potential score exploits by wiping the leaderboard scores for Rock Band 4, the company announced today.
The multiplayer rhythm game shipped with "a handful of gnarly bugs, including an issue where experienced drummers can double-deploy overdrive by hitting green 'Overdrive' gems at the end of dynamic drum fills."
However, Harmonix has identified the exploits and are working to fix the issue. The company has to clear the leaderboard scores because the improvements made will affect "almost every song, instrument, and difficulty in the game."
During the fix, Harmonix will adjust the code so that if these exploits appear in the future, the company will be able to "issue targeted leaderboard wipes," instead of clearing the whole thing. The "score fidelity fixes" for individual songs will be launched throughout the spring.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Russell on Casting Rumors
Following reports last week that Kurt Russell was being eyed to play Peter Quill's father in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2., the Hateful Eight star has confirmed he's currently in negotations with Marvel for the role.
"I literally got a phone call two days ago about this," Russell said on the Wolfpop podcast (via Comic Book Movie), admitting he never saw the the first film and was unaware James Gunn wrote and directed it.