Some argue that this budget does not reflect Obama's campaign promises about the future of the space program. Again, this figure is preliminary, but there are definitely opposing viewpoints on how much money should be spent on NASA. So, my question to you is: are we spending too much or not enough?

Jon also gives a little look into some of the other insane projects the military has finally decided to stop funding, and unfortunately, they all look awesome. Check out Wyatt Cenac's segment on military gadgets below. [Comedy Central]

NASA will get $700 million from the budget, which isn't all that much, but combined with the $1 billion from the stimulus bill, they're still getting a substantial increase on last year's operating budget of $18 billion. Interestingly, the budget stipulates that NASA will need to retire its three space shuttles by 2010, with a push for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle proposed by Obama's predecessor, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.

The Environmental Protection Agency will bump their budget up 35% to $10.5 billion with the $2.7 billion increase, in addition to the $7 billion they'll receive from the retooled stimulus package.

The National Science Foundation, which handles all non-medical science and engineering research, landed an 8.5% bump, which along with their stimulus cash money will give them an operating budget of $10 billion.

On a different note, Obama plans to increase the spectrum license fees for wireless provides from $50 million to $200 million, a huge increase. We're not really sure why; there's not a ton of money to be made on this kind of tax and there's no obvious symbolic reason to up the fees. We're just hoping the carriers don't pass the costs on to the consumer. [Wired]

The company is also looking to build on its lineup of GSM phones with the tri-band HOP1803 and the dual-band HOP1810. Another notable release comes in the form of the HOP1808, which will feature dual SIM card slots for frequent travelers. Apparently, it will be similar to the HOP 1809, but it will lack 3G and add an FM radio tuner. Details are scarce at this point, but we do know that all the phones will be available in North and South America when released.

Press Release:

Hop-on Launches Six New GSM and 3G Phones Into the Market

The 'Anti iPhone' has brothers and sisters

IRVINE, Calif., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Hop-on, Inc.

(Pink Sheets: HPNN) announced today that it will introduce 6 new phones for distribution worldwide. Hop-on's new HOP1800 Series phones will range from a $125 PDA phone to the world's lowest cost phone for $10 in the US. These phones are built using high quality standards of components and manufacturing.

Peter Michaels, President and CEO of Hop-on stated, "Our new series of 1800 phones will debut into all markets worldwide. We will have market presence throughout the globe with our high-end technology PDA phone to our low end phone that is, well, that is really just a phone. Since the announcement of our $10USD 'Anti iPhone', we have had inquiries from distributors and carriers from over 30 countries."

Hop-on's new series includes the HOP1801 Smart Phone. This particular phone will be the lowest cost Smart Phone on the market. The HOP1803 is an Ultra Low Price GSM Tri band phone, and the HOP1805 is an Ultra Low Price cell phone for emerging markets. And the HOP1810 GSM Dual Band Camera Phone. All four phones will be available for distribution in North and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, supporting English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and more upon request. Available in North and South America are the HOP1808 Dual Sim Mobile Phone with Camera, Supported MP4/SMS/MMS/GPRS/WAP/FM Stereo with Bluetooth optional. The HOP1809 3G mobile phone with Camera, supported MP4 /MMS/ STK/ JAVA/ BREW/ SMS and Bluetooth. And finally the HOP1800, the Lowest Cost mobile phone in the world. This simple phone is a GSM Dual band with no display that features a Braille keypad.

Michaels further stated, "Since Apple is launching their new 3G iPhone next Monday, maybe I can talk to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and see if he'll buy our $10 phone and include it as a give away in their packaging. This way, if you drop your 3G iPhone in the water, you can use the backup to call Apple for anther $500 phone. They can call it the Back-up iPhone! Seriously, the launch of our new phones is an exciting time for Hop-on; we will penetrate the market worldwide in all price points. We look forward to this next phase of our new innovative phones."

[Hop-on]

New Sirius InV Plug-and-Play Receiver [via Orbitcast]

Altec Lansing VS3251 [via New Launches]

What did they pick? An AMD Sempron 2800+, 512MB of memory, on-board sound and video, and a $178 Acer LCD monitor. Powerful? Sure. Cheap? Hell yeah.

Ars System Guide: Ultimate Budget Box [ArsTechnica]

JVC GR-DF450 Camcorder Reviewed [CamcorderInfo]