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Xbox One Offline Gaming Only 24 Hours

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xbox one

If there was any uncertainty about whether or not Xbox One would be an always-on console, it’s pretty much clear now.

It’s not technically online “all of the time” but Xbox One will only allow you 24 hours of offline gaming and anything after that you will only be able to watch movies and television. If you are on another console besides your own, you will only get one hour of offline gameplay. This will likely rub gamers the wrong way and many who are already on the fence may choose the Wii U or Playstation 4 instead, based on this feature alone.

With Xbox One you can game offline for up to 24 hours on your primary console, or one hour if you are logged on to a separate console accessing your library. Offline gaming is not possible after these prescribed times until you re-establish a connection, but you can still watch live TV and enjoy Blu-ray and DVD movies.  ” -Microsoft

Xbox One games will be tied to your console but you will be able to trade in disc based games, that is, if the publisher allows it and they are likely to charge you a fee. You will also be able to give disc based games to your friends as a gift but they must be on your friend list for at least thirty days and you can only do it once.

One plus about the console is that you will be able to buy games online or in-store on day one of a game’s release. I’m hoping that this particular feature becomes the standard for all consoles.

It’s also important to note that Microsoft may change things up in the future, especially if things go sour with sales or complaints. So remember it’s still early and we have yet to see how this all plays out.

You can get full details on Xbox One game licensing here and you can also see the online requirements here.

Tornado Path Seen From Space

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Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The devastating E-F5 tornado that struck central Oklahoma on May 20th 2013 caused 2 billion dollars in damage and has taken up to 24 lives. This powerful storm has left a scar on the Earth’s surface that can easily be identified in this image from far above the Earth.

The photo was taken using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra spacecraft. This is a false-color image that clearly shows the path of the powerful tornado that lasted nearly 40 minutes as it continued to move along for 17 miles.

You can see a larger view of the image with it’s caption from NASA.

Asteroid With It’s Own Moon

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Radar images of 1998 QE2 (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR)

What’s cooler than an asteroid? How about an astroid with it’s own moon!

The asteroid is 1998 QE2 and NASA scientists have used radar technology to take images of it, as seen at the top of this article. This type of asteroid is known as a binary asteroid and some even have two orbiting moons, those are referred to as triple systems. This asteroid is in the Near-Earth population of asteroids and is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) in diameter.

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70 Meter Deep Space Network Antenna in Goldstone, Calif. ( Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR)

The image was taken May 29th, 2013 using the Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone California which is very large.

The antenna itself is 70 meters or 230 feet in diameter and that makes it the largest and most sensitive Deep Space Network antenna on Earth. The DSN antenna is capable of  tracking a spacecraft travelling more than 16 billion kilometers (10 billion miles) from Earth.

You can read the full article on this asteroid from NASA/JPL.

Google Launches Music Subscription Service

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Google play Music

Google has recently launched a music subscription service, “Google Play Music, All Access“. The launch followed it’s initial announcement at Google’s I/O conference in San Francisco. The service currently comes in two flavors, Standard and All Access. The Standard edition let’s you store up to  20,000 of your songs, have sync-free access to your music from anywhere, and of course you can always buy music from the Google Play library. The All Access option has all of the aforementioned features but also includes an unlimited online radio mode which you can customize to your liking.

The standard option is free. The All Access option will cost $9.99/ month unless you sign up before 6/30, then you can get in for $7.99 / month.

So, Google has a music subscription service now, what’s the big deal? We have seen this before, it’s nothing ground breaking right? Well, the short answer is no but it’s not really about pushing limits, it’s about getting into the game and Google has a big advantage by being deeply integrated to the Android market. That’s a lot of exposure and a lot of potential subscribers. Not to mention that Google will undoubtedly find a way to make things more appealing over time.

 

Ammonia Leak On Space Station Appears to Be Fixed

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An ammonia leak on the International Space Station was hopefully fixed today as astronauts went on a spacewalk for five hours and thirty minutes to repair it. The leak seemed to be coming from a cooling system that cools down vital systems onboard the ISS.

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Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn working on the space station (credit: NASA TV)

The ammonia leak created what looked a lot like snow flakes flying off into space. You can see this “snow’ in the video above. NASA has not yet called the mission a complete success as they are waiting to see if the repairs hold up over time. So far everything seems to be looking good.

You can check out NASA.gov for more information on how the mission was performed along with further updates on the status of the leak itself..