The question now is: Will Microsoft be able to get a patch out in time for the next leap year Dec 31 (12/31/2012)?. What with extensive testing and QA they might be cutting the schedule pretty close!

I have read that modeling has shown improved Nuclear Deterrence from having somewhat unreliable systems for nuclear weapons delivery

Gamma ray does not in fact imply much about energy (although they can be incredibly high energy). It is just another photon. What it does say is that it comes from a nuclear interaction rather than an electronic transition (electron mediated). This most certainly does say something about the nature of the pulsar that is generating this "beam" of ionizing radiation. Please let me know when you have a new model that accounts for this.