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Keep NASA Strong Sign a Petition

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NASAmeatball

Help keep NASA going strong by helping them keep their budget from dropping below 1% of Federal Funding. There are many things that make the United States successful and advancing our knowledge and ability, which NASA greatly contributes to, is clearly one program worth keeping strong.

So, if you feel the same, then let’s take action and let the government know how we feel by signing a petition.

In 1961, at the height of the space race, the NASA budget was 4.41% of federal outlays. In 2005, despite the federal government spending only ~$15 billion on NASA.

The 2013 budget expects ~$19 billion of funding for NASA or half of a percent of spending; truly this is a pittance, but one that yields vast economic and scientific rewards.

NASA advances our nation when well-funded; by guaranteeing that no less than 1% of federal spending will be on NASA, we promote job creation, encourage creativity in the economy, and gain insight on our universe.

1% is a small financial guarantee of progress in the final frontier!

Apple Pushes Out OS X Update 10.8.3 and SMC That Fixes Game Lag

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Apple Logo

Just the other day I put together a brief article on how to fix low frame rate issues on the Macbook Pro Retina, which were being caused after a recent update. Fortunately, You should no longer have to worry about those issues as Apple has just pushed out update 10.8.3 which also came with an SMC update version 1.1 that has corrected these frame rate issues.

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Update 10.8.3 Details

  • The ability to redeem iTunes gift cards in the Mac App Store using your Mac’s built-in camera
  • Boot Camp support for installing Windows 8
  • Boot Camp support for Macs with a 3 TB hard drive
  • A fix for an issue that could cause a file URL to quit apps unexpectedly
  • A fix for an issue that may cause Logic Pro to become unresponsive when using certain plug-ins
  • A fix for an issue that may cause audio to stutter on 2011 iMacs
  • A fix for an issue in Contacts that may cause cards to print out of order
  • A fix for an issue that may cause the desktop picture to change after logging out or restarting
  • A fix for an issue in Messages that may cause messages to appear out of order after waking from sleep
  • A fix for an issue that may cause the screen to display incorrectly after waking from sleep
  • Improves compatibility with IMAP servers in the Notes app
  • Allows the Slideshow screen saver to display photos located in a subfolder
  • A fix for an issue in Contacts that may cause addresses to print in the wrong location
  • Reliability improvements when using a Microsoft Exchange account in Mail
  • Xsan reliability improvements
  • A fix for an issue that could cause Active Directory accounts to be locked out after accessing the Security & Privacy pane in System Preferences
  • A fix for an issue that could cause link aggregation to not complete after a restart
  • A fix for an issue that could cause delays when logging into an Active Directory account on high latency networks

For more information on the OS X 10.8.3 update you can head to Apple’s official support page.

SimCity Launch A Complete Disaster

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SimCityMeteor

I can’t help but be amazed at the level of failure going on with with EA’s recent launch of SimCity. The game has been plagued with server issues that cause users to experience extremely long log-in times and even data loss. If you are able to get online, the game will usually end up freezing up or crashing all together.  The game has basically been unplayable since it’s launch, an issue that has caused Amazon to temporarily pull the game from it’s online stores.

Many people are using the launch failure as an opportunity to talk about how bad “online-only DRM” is and not to support it. I don’t really have an issue with online gaming and normally I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that an online game is having issues, it’s a difficult project to undertake, but EA is a veteran and they need to step up and make this work. I was initially pretty excited to hear about the SimCity Launch but this is a major disappointment.

EA has clearly recognized that they have messed up and are now offering up a free PC game download.

Here’s their statement.

The good news is that SimCity is a solid hit in all major markets. The consensus among critics and players is that this is fundamentally a great game. But this SimCity is made to be played online, and if you can’t get a stable connection, you’re NOT having a good experience. So we’re not going to rest until we’ve fixed the remaining server issues.

And to get us back in your good graces, we’re going to offer you a free PC download game from the EA portfolio. On March 18, SimCityplayers who have activated their game will receive an email telling them how to redeem their free game.

I know that’s a little contrived – kind of like buying a present for a friend after you did something crummy. But we feel bad about what happened. We’re hoping you won’t stay mad and that we’ll be friends again when SimCity is running at 100 percent.

SimCity is a GREAT game and the people who made it are incredibly proud. Hang in there – we’ll be providing more updates throughout the weekend.

 

 

Possible Battlefield 4 Reveal

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Battlefield 3 SS
Battlefield 3

EA is creating a lot of buzz, some of it not so good, like the major issues plaguing the launch of SimCity. On the other hand EA seems to be getting ready to announce Battlefield 4 at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC).

Invitations were sent out asking to “Save the Date”, which was marked as March 26, 2013 – 7 PM. The invitations were recently sent to IGN. We currently no nothing about Battlefield 4 or if EA has anything else it would like to share but the timing feels right for the announcement.

Carrie Fisher Takes Back Confirmation of Role

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Leia

It appears that Carrie Fisher is now taking back the confirmation that she will be in the next Star Wars film. A representative on behalf of Fisher apparently told CNN that she was “joking” around and that, “Nothing has been announced.”.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t happen but it’s definitely not official. I guess we will have to just wait until we get some more information from Disney.