Cell Tower Workers Die for Your '4 Bars'

Two days after PBS aired a Frontline report on high rates of fatal injuries among cell tower workers, one of AT&T's major construction management partners has halted tower work in several states to complete a review of safety practices.

Goodman Networks of Plano, Texas, notified workers of the mandatory stand-down on 24 May, eight days after technician Shad Lierley fell 100 feet from a tower near Austin, Texas. Reports say he was a subcontractor, hired by Goodman for an AT&T project on the site. Goodman confirmed the stoppage; AT&T refused comment.

Interestingly, AT&T had been a focus of that Frontline program, 'Cell Tower Deaths'.

Tokyo Team Demos 3Gbps Terahertz WiFi

tl;dr Researchers set new record with world's first terahertz-band WifI -- 3Gbps.

That's a big bump over the 'blisteringly quick' 1.5Gbps recorded last year.

Who accomplished this feat? How'd they do it? What are 'terahertz', anyway? How much time would this save if using home WiFi to download every episode of 'Game of Thrones'? And the really important bit: what's the catch?

Excellent questions! Let's take them one at a time...

Microsoft Supports New BitTorrent Killer

Would you buy an operating system from this man?

Can "Pirate Pay" stop BitTorrent sharing at the seeding server?

Engineers from the Russian start-up say they can do just that. Now they have funding -- including $100,000 from Microsoft Seed Finance -- to aid them in further developing their methodology.

Whether they can or can't, the claim raises two questions that could be even more important : (1) How does their system work? (2) Is it legal to block BitTorrent, whether in this manner or any other?

Want Free WiFi with That? (War-Driving Tips)

...in which our intrepid correspondent shows road warriors how to get free WiFi just about anywhere. It's a fun video with lots of tips, but we have doubts about the concept as well as some of the methods on display. Watch it for yourself, after the break.

Google Buys Gold's Gym...Revenge of the Nerds?

Do Larry and Sergey have interns lift the weights for them?

BloggerJason Stern reports that Google has inked a deal to buy Gold's Gym.

Yes, that wacky crew of Silicon Valley propeller heads will soon own the world's most famous monument to sweat and muscles. But they didn't buy the Venice, California, icon as a going concern. Instead, Stern says they bought Gold's for the real estate...and possibly because they drove past it every day.