Image credit: NASA Last week, NASA announced a new launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb). This orbiting infrared observatory was designed with longer wavelength coverage and improved sensitivity in order to complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope  (which is now 30 years old!). Described as the "premiere observatory of the next decade," Webb's launch will occur from French Guiana on October 31, 2021. It will "...

Since I’m not going out very much these days, I’ve spent quite a lot more time online with my gaming buddies. We’ve poured countless hours into games on Tabletop Simulator (Bargain Quest is the current favorite), played one too many Overwatch matches (when the enemies start to blur together into one entity you know you need to take a break), and have watched copious amounts of movies (we watched Hamilton together, it was awesome).  Recently, when debating which movie...

My first experience with any kind of video editing was in college. I had a camcorder (man when's the last time you called anything THAT?) and I wanted to do a creative project for a class. So, I gathered a bunch of friends, slapped them in costumes (it really didn't take much convincing, we were all a bunch of fun-loving nerds), picked a peppy song, and took a bunch of footage. Then I lugged my gear to the Mac lab to teach myself how to edit together a video. An ancient shot from an anc...

StarCraft II has been around for nearly a decade now and Blizzard has decided to celebrate with a fairly massive 5.0 update . They are currently in public testing for the update, which introduces new campaign achievements for every mission in the base game and all three expansions. The update also improves the map editor tool, putting more power into the hands of players who are looking to create their own custom campaigns. Absorbing several features from Warcraft III's game editor, Bliz...

Are you a fan of podcasts? On Monday, the satellite radio company SiriusXM announced that it reached a deal to acquire Stitcher from E.W. Scripps to the tune of $325 million. Stitcher is a pioneer in podcasting that provides a popular one-stop platform for creating, monetizing, and distributing podcasts to listen via its app and other platforms.  Stitcher brings its own mobile listening app (which was acquired for $4.5 million in 2016) to the table. It also operates the Midroll Media ...

If you’ve spent any time in the Stardock community, you know that we love mods here. Between Galactic Civilizations III , Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion , Star Control: Origins , and our other titles, there are thousands of available mods out there from an abundance of talented creators. A lot of us here play with mods not only on the studio’s games, but also games we’re playing from other studios. I know that one of the members of GalCiv’s creativ...

Add Additional Style Modes to Windows 10 with Curtains Full Version Now Available Get it Now   Stardock released its new customization tool today. Curtains ™ allows users to apply new styles along the lines of Dark Mode and Light to Windows ® 10. Taking advantage of the groundwork built to support light and dark mode, Curtains includes several new styles including Fluent, Cairo, and Crystal mode that enhance the look and feel of the Windows UI along...

I am kind of a compulsive shopper (a habit I have been trying to curb over the last few years). Because of this, there is a small amount of dread and a large amount of summoned self-restraint every year when the Steam Summer Sale arrives. I haven’t bought anything yet this year - I guess I’m waiting for the last minute - but I noticed while perusing articles on gaming sites that Steam has introduced a new Points Shop . So, of course I had to go and check it out, though I&r...

Have you been waiting for AMD’s Ryzen 4000 desktop APUs? Well, your wait could be over in as early as just a few days, according to one retailer. Reports started over the holiday weekend stating that Dutch retailer Centralpoint listed the incoming Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G, Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G, and Ryzen 3 Pro 4350G on their website. The listings say that the higher-end octa-core and hex-core CPUs will ship within "3 to 5 days", with the entry-level quad-core APU expected to arrive in stock on...

In a b log post on June 24, 2020, Sony announced that they were launching a PlayStation Bug Bounty program. I think I've been playing too much Animal Crossing lately, because my first thought was along the lines of "Will they pay me 1.5x more than Nook's Cranny for my bugs, too?" Anyway. Seriously, wake your brain up woman. Wrong kind of bugs. "We believe that through working with the security research community we can deliver a safer place to play," Geoff Norton, senior director ...

I’ll be honest: I take the stars for granted. To be fair, I live in the city and it can be sort of difficult to see the stars most nights, but I can’t deny the incredible awe I feel when I get away enough from the city lights and noise and am able to stare up at the boundless evening sky.  My best friend, Brian, was always fascinated with space. He loved the stars and the idea of exploration and mystery. He was constantly following the exploits of NASA and was e...