failure
Latest
Twitter is getting evicted from its Colorado office over unpaid rent
A judge just evicted the company from its Boulder, Colorado office after three months of unpaid rent, totaling over $75,000, as originally reported by TechCrunch. This all started after the landlord took the company to court, according to the Denver Business Journal. The judge sided with the landlord and has given Twitter 49 days to vacate, so the end of July.
Virgin Orbit confirms a dislodged fuel filter caused its first UK launch to fail
Virgin Orbit has confirmed that the launch failure of its first UK mission was likely caused by a fuel filter that had been "dislodged from its normal position."
Astra's latest mission to deliver NASA weather satellites ends in failure
Rocket startup company Astra has suffered from a second launch failure this year as it failed to get to orbit with a pair of NASA satellites on board
Tesla will repair blank Model S and Model X touchscreens for free
Tesla will widen its warranty to include the broken 8GB eMMC card that causes the failures.
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket makes a successful return to flight
Rocket Lab has made a successful return to flight following a failure last month. The company’s Electron rocket launched a 100 kg (220 pound) Earth observation satellite from its facility on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 11:05 PM EDT on August 30th. That marks the first flight since the company’s failed launch on July 4th, when it lost seven satellites including one from Canon.
Rocket Lab mission fails shortly after launch
Rocket Lab's 13th mission ended in failure when the vehicle had an 'anomaly' during its second-stage burn.
SpaceX’s Starship rocket prototype collapsed on itself this weekend
Another SpaceX test ended in failure this past weekend. A prototype of the company's Starship rocket, SN1, imploded in a pressure test late Friday night. Elon Musk acknowledged the incident on Twitter, sharing a video and writing, "It's fine, we'll just buff it out."
Microsoft promises to recover files deleted by Windows 10 update bug
Microsoft has pledged to rescue those all-important personal files that its most recent Windows 10 update contrived to consume. The company was forced to halt the rollout of its October 2018 upgrades when users started complaining that their documents, music and images were disappearing.
Zano drone returns after multi-million dollar crowdfunding failure
You might not know many micro-drones by name, but there's a chance you know Zano. Unfortunately, that's because it was one of the more controversial Kickstarter failures of recent times. Zano raised over $3 million in late 2014, before being shown at CES 2015. The promise was simple, a palm-sized drone with the self-flying and photography smarts of something much bigger (and much more expensive).
Some Google Pixel phones are having microphone issues
Following hundreds of user complaints, Google has confirmed that some of its Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are having microphone problems that require a warranty replacement. Owners have reported failures of one or more of the three mics on the devices, resulting in either no audio input at all or failure of the camera app's audio recording function. "The most common problem is a hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec," said Google employee Brian Rakowski. "The other related problems are due to a faulty microphone."
Those early Teslas might not be too reliable
A survey of 327 Tesla owners conducted by Plug In America has revealed that there may be a serious issue with the drivetrain on the 2012 and 2013 Model S. As reported by Green Car Reports, the component is likely to conk out after just 60,000 miles, forcing drivers to go back to the firm for a replacement. The Model S was first produced in 2012, so it's only at this point that people have been using it long enough to test its durability after a sustained period of use. It's not the first time that questions have been raised either, since Consumer Reports dropped its recommendation for the ride back in October.
Cheap satellite-launching rocket fails on its maiden flight
Satellite-launching rocket programs like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are household names thanks to the larger-than-life personalities behind them. But you may not know about a modest program called Super Strypi. Developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia National Laboratories and Aerojet Rocketdyne, it aims to use a small, three-stage "sounding rocket," to launch 300 kilogram (660 pound) payloads into low-earth orbit. Now that you're acquainted with it, we have bad news: It failed on its maiden launch in Kauai. The official video (below) shows the rocket apparently losing control, while a spectator video shows the in-flight breakup about 60 seconds after launch.
Technical error prevents US from issuing passports and visas overseas
A technical issue has halted the State Department's issuing of passports and visas from its overseas offices. According to the department's guidance, anyone that applied for a passport from outside the US after May 26th is affected by the problem, the root of which is unclear. Simultaneously, but apparently separate to the passport issue, visa applications made on or after June 9th are not able to be processed. At least this time, the department has pinpointed the problem: a hardware failure is preventing biometric clearance requests from making their way to database for processing. In a statement given to The Hill, a spokeswoman said there was "no evidence the problem is cyber security related."
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's greatest opponent is WildStar
Your real opponent is pretty much always yourself. I could spend the next several years of my writing career trying to be a better writer than, say, Justin Olivetti. I'd fail, for starters, because look at the guy. But even if I could succeed, I'd never be living up to my potential. I'll always be the guy trying to be better than the last thing Justin wrote, never coming up with my own things, never really advancing myself. The only way to be truly good is to try to be the best writer I can be, regardless of who else is out there. What does this have to do with WildStar? Simple. I mention other games here, other releases looking at the same window, but WildStar doesn't need to be better than those games, up to and including The Elder Scrolls Online. WildStar needs to be the best version of itself that it can be. Its only real opponent is itself, not other titles.
Sony: 'Less than one percent' of PS4s have issues
Sony addressed numerous reports of defective PlayStation 4 systems this week, and estimated that the number of damaged consoles is relatively low. "The number of affected PS4 systems is less than one percent, which represents a very small percentage of total units shipped to date and is within the expected range for a new product introduction," a Sony representative told Engadget. "We understand the frustration of consumers that have had a problem and are working with them and our retail partners to help troubleshoot issues and ensure affected units are exchanged." Given that several issues were reported to Sony, the hardware manufacturer believes "there isn't a singular problem that could impact a broader percentage of PS4 units." The company previously said it is investigating "isolated" PS4 issues and offered troubleshooting steps for players experiencing "blinking blue light" problems.
Sony says PS4 failures have varying causes, affect less than 1 percent of units
The PlayStation 4 launch last week was quickly followed by mounting reports of defective units, including consoles that wouldn't display video. Had Sony shipped the console with a common flaw? No, an SCEA spokeperson tells us in a statement (found after the break). The company believes there "isn't a singular problem" at fault that would affect a large number of systems. The failure rate is also relatively small, according to the representative. With less than 1 percent of shipped systems affected by these problems (up from 0.4 percent in a previous claim), the number of broken systems is reportedly within the "expected range" for a product launch. While we're certainly used to new devices that ship with a few bugs in tow, that figure still leaves a lot of unhappy gamers -- one percent of the million-plus PS4 buyers would still equate to 10,000 people. Sony says it's working to get these systems replaced; let's hope it moves quickly.
Breakfast Topic: That one thing you never manage to pull off when it counts
I love jumping puzzles. I'm not naturally the best at them, but I enjoy enough them in small, consistent doses that I eventually polish up to become one of the more reliable jumpers in my group. But if someone in front of me falls ... It's all over. I overthink it and plummet into the depths every single time. Better hope someone's around who can just summon me. Luckily, there's aren't too many teeth-clenching leaps blocking our way into dungeons and raids in Azeroth, so I'm practically off the hook. But what about you folks who seize up over other minutiae? The cooldown you always forget you have, an inability to think coherently through a stun, a complete loss of composure and focus if someone in the room with you speaks to you during a complex encounter? It doesn't matter how many times you think things out ahead of time ... When the time comes for this one tiny thing to happen, you drop the ball. Every single time. What's that one thing you never manage to pull off when it counts?
Lost Continent: On the 'failure' of ArcheAge
This week's rumored XLGAMES restructuring brought with it a predictable cascade of "fail" catcalls from pundits and commenters who never climbed on board the ArcheAge hype train to begin with. Leaving aside the fact that it was a rumor as well as the fact that post-release game teams routinely suffer staffing cuts, I have to wonder at the cocksure I-told-you-so crowing with which some folks declared ArcheAge dead well before it's even arrived on Western shores. While some starving sandbox gamers may have prematurely labeled ArcheAge as the second coming, anyone who has actually played the game or followed larger MMO industry trends could have told you that it's a niche title regardless of how much money XLGAMES gambled on its development.
Netmarble announces the shutdown of Arcane Saga
It can only be hoped that during your brief time with Arcane Saga you have not gotten too attached to it. The game relaunched in the US just over a month ago, and now the game has announced an impending shutdown later this year. Somewhat unusually, the actual shutdown date is September 16th, meaning that the game will be waiting for the final shutdown longer than it was running normally. Netmarble has already closed up the cash shop; players are able to spend any remaining cash shop currency on the company's other titles. According to the announcement, the game simply wasn't taking in enough money to remain profitable. Arcane Saga was a relaunch of Prius Online, which had already been shut down once before. Our condolences go out to any gamers who had hoped for a long and fruitful future with the game.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite game that doesn't work in the US?
So we all found out yesterday that MMOs do not work in the US. The only two that have ever been successful at all were EverQuest and World of Warcraft. This much come as a shock to the teams behind EVE Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Second Life, Defiance, EverQuest II, RIFT, Neverwinter, and countless other titles. Or the plethora of titles still running in maintenance mode. You get the idea. So today we're going to just plant our tongues firmly in our cheeks. Pick a game you like that is not one of the two MMOs that has been successful in the US, and explain why you like it. There's no need to say anything bad about the many other games that don't work in the US, just wax poetic about your favorite game that doesn't work. Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
