I am finally taking a long-awaited break from work for a few weeks. While most of that will involve me doing the Saturday crossword, playing with my kids and otherwise relaxing, I plan to spend some time on SquawkBox work as well.

I spent some time in Seattle today with Nick Whittome, beta tester and model maker extraordinaire, and was discussing the top priorities for SquawkBox 3.

Here is the current list:

• I have had several bug fixes completed for months now and have a couple more to finish before the release of the next patch. The first order of business is to release the new patch, version 3.0.4.
  
• The FAQ needs updating with all the known issues and common questions that have come up consistently during the last few months.
  
• There are some serious bugs that definitely need addressing. The primary one involves severe drops in frame rates. I want everyone to know that I have heard the feedback about this issue and have been trying to narrow down a cause. Possible suspects include problems with aircraft model selection, changing to a specific ATC frequency, or possibly the version of FSUIPC being used.
  
• I need to release new versions of SquawkBox's core data files (which will be downloaded automatically when you startup the application) to include new standard codes for various virtual airlines.
  
• I would like to extend the core data files to allow for better handling of general aviation models as well as local changes to the data files. I will post more details as I have them.
  

Here are a few shots from the SquawkBox brainstorming session on a boat in Puget Sound: