crash
Latest
Investigation of Virgin Galactic crash focuses on faulty tail deployment
US aviation investigators think they know how Virgin Galactic's SpaceshipTwo broke up in mid-flight, but don't yet know why. The crash tragically killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury, seriously injured pilot Pete Siebold and set back CEO Richard Branson's space tourism program severely. NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said that the tail section on SpaceshipTwo (normally only raised during descent below Mach 1.4) deployed shortly after the rockets fired -- even though neither pilot commanded it to. As a result, the ship broke up seconds later from the excessive drag and crashed into the Mojave desert.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crashes after launch
Virgin Galactic's latest plane/rocket, dubbed "SpaceShipTwo", crashed after takeoff this morning above the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Director Stu Witt told Bakersfield, California's KGET that the plane crashed east of Mojave. Two pilots helmed SpaceShipTwo, and their condition is still unknown; KGET reports that one fatality was mentioned in police and fire rescue scanner calls, while one parachute was reportedly spotted post-crash. Associated Press is reporting "one fatality, one major injury" from the crash, citing the California Highway Patrol. Virgin Galactic initially reported an "anomaly" with the ship, and is now reporting the ship as a "loss." The company's Twitter account says the status of the two pilots is "unknown at this time." It's not clear what caused said "anomaly," nor is it clear how the ship crashed. SpaceShipTwo is the space-faring component of Virgin Galactic's plane/rocket combination; the plane component is known as "WhiteKnightTwo," and it apparently landed without incident. Virgin Galactic issued the following statement: "Virgin Galactic's partner Scaled Composites conducted a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo earlier today. During the test, the vehicle suffered a serious anomaly resulting in the loss of the vehicle. The WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft landed safely. Our first concern is the status of the pilots, which is unknown at this time. We will work closely with relevant authorities to determine the cause of this accident and provide updates as soon as we are able to do so."
PSA: Here's one possible fix for PS4 Rest Mode issues
If your PlayStation 4 is behaving badly after this week's 2.0 update, Reddit user Nestledrink has a potential fix that may get your ailing console back up and running. The fix is for users who are unable to wake their PlayStation 4s up from Rest Mode. You'll see your console constantly blinking an orange light if you're affected, and your system will be unresponsive if you attempt to power it on or press the PS button on a DualShock 4 controller. If this is the case, Nestledrink recommends powering down the console by pressing the power button for seven seconds, then engaging Safe Mode by holding the power button for another seven seconds afterward. From there, you can select the third option on the screen that appears in order to reinstall the latest firmware update, which should hopefully fix the problem. While the method isn't guaranteed to fix all PlayStation 4 issues, one Joystiq staffer was able to resuscitate their console by following the steps above, and confirms that their PS4 is now back in action. If your PS4 is still unresponsive, try contacting Sony support for further assistance. [Image: Sony]
NASA finds the smoking crater left by its crashed dust probe
NASA just spotted a needle in a haystack: the remains of the lunar dust probe LADEE, which was deliberately crashed into the dark side of the moon last year. The satellite was launched from Wallops Island a year ago to determine if lunar dust tends to go high up into space (spoiler: it doesn't). If you're wondering why NASA deliberately ended the valiant LADEE so ignominiously, it's simple. The 844 pound probe was unable to maintain its orbit, and since the scientists didn't want it to crash into any moon landing sites (however unlikely), they steered it to the far side of the moon. It was spotted by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) on the eastern rim of the Sundman V crater, only 295m (1000 feet) from its originally predicted location. Pretty fancy shootin', NASA.
GoPro cameras show what it's like to endure a terrifying car crash
GoPro is trying to build a media empire by capturing moments that other video cameras sometimes miss, and it just might achieve that feat if its latest (and arguably most dramatic) footage is any indication. The company mounted its action cams in the car of Guerlain Chicherit hoping to catch a record-setting jump, but instead caught what it's like to survive a horrifying crash. The clip is cringe-inducing, even if you've seen your fair share of in-car replays -- Chicherit can't do much more than prepare for the worst as his modified Mini tumbles end over end. He thankfully escaped with minor injuries, but the resulting movie is an especially stark reminder of just why stunt driving is so dangerous.
NASA just crashed a satellite into the moon on purpose
You might remember NASA's LADEE as the satellite where the administration tested a new broadband-fast laser communication system for sending data back to Earth. Now, however, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is no more, since NASA just crashed the craft into the surface of the Moon. Unfortunately, the vehicle didn't have the power to maintain its orbit, so the bods in Florida decided to send the hardware on a one-way trip. On the upside, the satellite managed to grab some super-detailed scans of the lunar surface before burning up, and it probably looked really cool when it exploded, which probably justifies the wanton destruction of a multi-million dollar spacecraft.
Viewers see red as Game of Thrones premiere crashes HBO servers
Viewing of the Game of Thrones season debut came to a crashing halt yesterday thanks to server problems with HBO Go. The cable outfit first reported the problem late yesterday via Twitter, and finally restored full service early this morning. That set off a firestorm of complaints, and even conspiracy theories that the service was trying to shut out passcode borrowers. HBO denied all that, of course, saying that the service just suffered "overwhelming demand" -- no doubt from viewers anxious to see if GoT could top last season's debauchery.
Final Fantasy 6 crashes at midpoint on Android, fix coming soon
If you purchased Square Enix's revamped Android port of the classic Super NES RPG Final Fantasy 6 after it hit Google Play last week, you may want to put your playthrough on hold while its developers sort out a major bug affecting player progress. Currently, the game crashes at a critical point, making the latter half of its storyline inaccessible. Players report that the glitch occurs during a climactic battle between Kefka and General Leo in Thamasa at the game's halfway point. A crash during a cutscene renders the game unbeatable, as story progress is stalled until required events unfold in Thamasa. Publisher Square Enix acknowledges the bug in the game's Google Play description, and promises that an upcoming fix will soon allow players to travel to the Floating Continent and beyond. A release date for the patch has not been announced.
EA wants your opinion on Battlefield 4
Whether you love Battlefield 4 or despise its constant crashes and tendency to lose save files, EA wants to hear from you. The publisher has issued a survey to members of the Battlefield 4 community which first asks players to rate the likelihood that they would recommend Battlefield 4 to a friend, then asks for a short, personalized review of the open-world, first-person shooter. There's no tangible reward for participation, though given the number of vocal Battlefield 4 detractors we've seen since the game's October debut, the chance to release all of that anger directly at the people responsible for the game should prove tempting by itself. Despite this attempt by EA to take the pulse of its community, Battlefield 4 remains less than functional. The game's ongoing stability issues have improved since launch, but crashes and failures to connect to servers remain common. As a result of these problems, EA now finds itself the target of two class-action lawsuits alleging the publisher convinced players to purchase the unfinished game by filling its marketing materials with false and misleading information.
EA deploys Battlefield 4 patch on PS4 to combat crashing
EA has issued an update for Battlefield 4 on the PS4 just now. This update is primarily aimed at curbing the rampant crashes players have been experiencing, but also addresses single-player campaign save file corruption issues and a particular connection bug involving PlayStation Plus. Battlefield 4 has had a rough go at it on PS4. Since the console's debut, the PS4 version has suffered from numerous crashes. This resulted in EA announcing a fan appreciation event for this coming weekend, where all online players will get double XP and a special M1911 pistol scope previously only available for use by the DICE team.
Final Fantasy XIV dev talks new servers and access restrictions
It's no secret that the long-awaited re-launch of Final Fantasy XIV hasn't gone very smoothly. In fact, the servers are taking such a beating that Square Enix has temporarily shut down online sales of the game. Despite the game's current woes, the FFIXV team wants fans to know that it is working overtime to get things running smoothly. In a lengthy forum post, producer and director Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) outlined what steps have been taken to stabilize FFXIV's game world. Yoshida noted that all Final Fantasy XIV servers now have login restrictions to prevent a flood of logs and re-logs from causing them to crash. Login restrictions are most likely to be implemented during peak times, which Yoshida says are between 9:00 p.m. and midnight. Each server can support a theoretical maximum of 5,000 concurrent players.
Bug in CoreText allows a string of characters to crash apps
A serious bug has been uncovered in Apple's CoreText layout engine, which is responsible for laying out text in applications that make use of the Cocoa framework on OS X and iOS systems. The bug causes any app relying on CoreText to crash when a specific string of Arabic characters is displayed, meaning just the simple act of viewing a tweet or receiving an instant message is enough to trigger the crash. With apps like messaging or email clients, the problem is more severe, as the app may continue to crash repeatedly if it attempts to display previous message history or previews of email content. The good news is it appears that Apple has already addressed this bug in the upcoming versions of OS X 10.9 Mavericks and iOS 7, but as of yet, no updates have been released to correct the issue on the current versions of the operating systems that are affected (OS X 10.8 and iOS 6). This isn't the first time that innocent strings have been found to cause crashes in apps. Back in February, an odd bug was discovered which caused apps to crash whenever a reference to a local file URL (e.g., file:///) contained a capital "F." While there isn't a foolproof way to prevent exploits like this from being used, some sites have taken preventative measures. Facebook is currently blocking messages which are found to contain the string, and I'm sure as word of the issue gets around, Twitter and other sites may take similar actions. The best advice I can give for users, however, is to be cautious about viewing links and reading messages from people that you don't know or that seem otherwise suspicious. Obviously, the nature of this bug makes it difficult to completely avoid, as receiving a message or opening a page where a spammer has left the string in a comment could easily trigger a crash, and there's little that could be done to prevent it. Here's hoping that Apple picks up on this and corrects the issue before anyone finds any creative methods for taking advantage of the problem. [via TechCrunch]
Tesla crash tests prove Model S is the safest car on the road
The Tesla Model S' all-electric infrastructure is being credited with a heck of a lot more than top-notch energy efficiency. Because of the design, the vehicle lacks a large gasoline engine block up front, boosting the "crumple zone" and ultimately saving lives during an otherwise deadly crash. As a result, the sedan scored a combined record of 5.4 stars during a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) test. That figure is higher than the maximum published rating of 5 stars, but Tesla received a more comprehensive report detailing actual results. The Model S also earned high marks with its rear-crash, side-pole-intrusion and rollover tests. Additionally, the lithium-ion battery did not catch fire at any time, and it never has in a Roadster or Model S -- the same can't be said for certain competitors.
EVE Evolved: The battle of Z9PP-H caught on camera
If you're the kind of person who loves reading about the political shenanigans that go on inside EVE Online, you should be aware that a colossal war has erupted in the wake of the Odyssey expansion. The expansion redistributed the value of nullsec moons and gave the two largest alliances in the game, the Reddit-based TEST Alliance and Something Awful-spawned GoonSwarm Federation, a good excuse to go to full-scale war. Allies have piled in on either side, and nullsec has erupted into full-scale region takedowns, spy-jacking, and more of the lovely political tomfoolery we love to hear about. EVE News 24 has been doing a good job of keeping players up to date on what's happening in nullsec, and its reporters are not the only ones keeping tabs on the war. Streamer Mad Ani has been setting up cameras in strategically important locations throughout the contested regions and providing live coverage of huge battles whenever they happen. A few days ago, the war came to a head in what could have been the deciding battle of the entire Fountain invasion. Over 4,000 people watched the stream as TEST's entire capital fleet of over 100 carriers was taking a pounding in Z9PP-H, when suddenly the server crashed and disconnected everyone in the fight. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at what happened in the battle of Z9PP-H, how CCP crashed its biggest piece of PR in months, and how player livestreams are changing the face of EVE Online for the better.
Defiance team prioritizing fixes for crashes, lag
The excitement, fun, chaos, and occasional frustration that swirls around every MMO launch is squarely on Defiance's shoulders this week, so Trion Worlds Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson is back with a follow-up to yesterday's post to discuss what the team is currently addressing. Richardsson says that the team has to be agile and that its priorities change on a daily basis. Because of this, today's critical issues are different from yesterday's; the team is working on game server crashes, lag, patching woes, and client crashes. He promised that yesterday's issues were still being worked on, just that these were more important for the time being. He did say that console account linking with the Arkhunter website should be resolved, and that the team's already put out a couple of patches in the last 24 hours with another one on the way to make the play experience more smooth.
WAR weathers difficult weekend, compensates players
Warhammer Online certainly has seen better weekends than this past one. Because of a nasty bug that caused immense amounts of lag spikes and zone crashes, Mythic was forced to take WAR's servers down while the team worked to isolate and fix the problem. The good news is that the issue has been fixed via a new build and the studio is working on a "compensation package" for those affected. The goodie package includes 10 days of game time, a golden writ, a seven-day XP and RP booster, a special title, and 10 lesser bone wards. The team is still checking some details in regard to the compensation period but will be letting players know when and for whom this package will be available.
Car crashes into Chicago-area Apple store
At approximately 6:30 PM local time on Sunday, January 13, a car crashed through the glass walls of the Lincoln Park Apple Store in Chicago, Ill. The dark-colored Lincoln Town Car was reportedly driven by an elderly individual, according to The Chicago Tribune. The car smashed through the store's glass walls and then came to a stop about five feet inside, near a display holding headphones an other accessories. At first, no one was reported hurt; paramedics were later called back to the scene, however, to treat an individual who was later taken to a local hospital. Right now there are no reports as to why the crash occurred, but "smash and grab" theft does not appear to be a motivation. The crash happened approximately 30 minutes before the store's scheduled close on Sunday. There's no word yet on whether the store will be closed due the accident today, although it seems likely. (Photo via @ericingrum)
ICEdot crash sensor notifies your loved ones after you eat it, tells them where to find you
Between powered gear shifters, electric motors and BMX-mounted mixers, bicycles just keep getting better -- but no amount of technological augmentation can sidestep the old adage: safety first. Yes, the helmet is a classic and necessary accessory for cyclists, snowboarders and more. ICEdot and SenseTech hope to take the traditional brain bucket to new heights next year with a Bluetooth equipped crash sensor. Take a spill? The ICEdot sensor will take note of the impact and start a countdown on its companion app. If the rider doesn't stop the timer before it reaches zero, ICEdot will notify emergency contacts with the user's last known GPS location and data on the severity of the accident. The accessory doesn't have a firm release date just yet, but it will make an appearance at the Interbike trade show later this month. Smartphone augmented safety will set you back about $200 when it launches next year. Check out the sensor's teaser video after the break.
App Store delivering corrupted binaries for some apps (Updated)
Update: Per AllThingsD and TechCrunch, Apple has now commented on the binary corruption problem; it says the server issue that was responsible for problematic DRM code has been rectified. There are better ways to spend the 4th of July holiday than answering scores of angry support emails, but that's apparently what several iOS and Mac App Store developers wound up doing thanks to a glitch in Apple's software distribution systems. First reported by Instapaper sole proprietor Marco Arment and subsequently affirmed by other devs including Good.iWare (Goodreader) and Readdle (Scanner Pro), the problem seems to have affected apps updated on July 3rd forward. User symptoms are pretty simple: the app crashes, rather abruptly. The good news is apparently only users who updated within the first few hours of a new version's availability are affected, and deleting and reinstalling the app generally clears up the issue; that removes any on-device settings and stored content, however. Goodreader's developers did a nice job of documenting the backup/app removal/reinstall/restore process, if you've got a corrupt app with onboard data. As to the "why" of this problem, it's not clear yet, but the affected developers (more than 70 so far by Arment's count) are zeroing in on issues with Apple's encryption pass on the submitted executables. When an app is handed off to Apple for distribution in the App Store and approved by the review team, it's signed with Apple's digital keys (to allow iOS devices and Macs to run it) and encrypted to discourage piracy. The Goodreader devs suggest in their post that this encryption process isn't fully complete at the point that customers are getting a "new version available, download now!" notification -- so when they click that Update button, what they get is a half-baked binary rather than the correctly formatted app. In the short term, there's not much for users to do except wait an hour or two before downloading new app updates that show up (kind of like waiting 30 minutes after eating before heading into the pool). We'll reach out to Apple for comment and see what, if anything, we hear back.
BBEdit 10.1.2 now available
The latest version of the acclaimed text editor BBEdit is out and available now, and as you can see on the official site, it features a whole host of fixes and updates to existing features. A number of crashing and bug problems have been solved, so the whole app should run smoother than ever before. BBEdit is a terrific editor whether you're putting together HTML and CSS, code in various languages, or just typing up to-do lists and quick blog posts. It's available in an individual license for $49.99, or you can get it in the Mac App Store for the same price.
