ctrlCL!K » Technology

The Great Playstation Outage of 2011

adamjonfuller — Sat, 07 May 2011 09:00:32 +0000

On April 17th Sony shut down the Playstation network due to a massive security breech. Nearly a week later Sony finally “came clean” on what was taken from their databases. Among the information taken is your name, address, zip code, country, birth date, password, gamer tag, and even your security question. First of all, all of this information should have been encrypted, secondly the passwords should have been hashed… Sony said that the credit card information was encrypted but they don’t believe that it was taken. I was among the more than 70 million users to have this information taken, and encrypted or not I am canceling my credit card… It would only be a matter of time before the encryption is broken.

All of this bothers me deeply; however, I think it is the pure lack of communication from Sony, and the uncaring disposition they have towards their customers currently. Not to mention that it is the 7th of May and they still are not being completely forthcoming about this event… Nor is the Playstation network back up. So for all of those gamers out there who thought that they were going to get their Portal 2 or Mortal Combat fixes, they instead got the best gift of all, identity theft straight from Sony. Thanks!

Epsilons Gone Phishing

adamjonfuller — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:04:46 +0000

As many of you may have already heard from the multiple emails you may have received; Epsilon, one of the world’s largest email marketing services company, had an emailing list hacked last week. 50 of their 2,500 affected clients include 1-800-Flowers, AbeBooks, Air Miles, Ameriprise Financial, Barclays Bank, Beachbody, bebe stores, Best Buy, Brookstone, Capitol One, City Market, Citi, Dillons, Disney, Destinations, Eileen Fisher, Ethan Allen, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Hilton Honors Program, Home Shopping Network, Jay C, JPMorgan Chase, King Soopers, Kroger, Lacoste, LL Bean Visa Card, Marriott Rewards, McKinsey & Company, MoneyGram, New York & Company, QFC, Ralphs, Red Roof Inn, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, Robert Half, Target, The College Board, TD Ameritrade, TiVo, US Bank, and Walgreens. So what does this mean for you? The information obtained includes email addresses and full names… NOT credit card numbers or other personal information. Never the less, this is a huge problem and you should take warning… We will likely see a sharp rise in spear phishing, that is to say, targeted email attacks. The easiest way to protect your self is NEVER to click on links in emails, even if it looks authentic. If you receive a email from any of the above companies asking for any personal information, delete it immediately! If there is a link to update information, don’t click it… instead, go to the companies website directly. Links in these emails will likely lead to fake sites that are designed to look real. We need to remember to be vigilant against email attracts and NEVER click on links in email!

UPDATE: Shortly after I started working on this post it was discovered that Epsilon knew about the vulnerability that led to this hack for four months… Good job getting right on this Epsilon, now we the consumers are the ones to pay for your laziness!

Myspace For Sale?

adamjonfuller — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 08:50:18 +0000

Before Facebook there was rely only one dominant player in the social network arena; however, that soon changed. It didn’t take long for the clean layout and ease of use for Facebook to take over. Now that the popularity of Myspace is dwindling there are rumors going around that News Corp. may be interested in selling off the ounce booming social network. The question is who should buy the Myspace name?

Facebook is the obvious choice; however, they have little to gain from the Myspace name. There are only two viable options in my opinion. Google or Apple. Google is quick to pickup properties from all over the web, some of which have little to do with the search giant. Remember though, Google has been looking more and more into social, with there instant search for example. There have also been rumors of a Google social network. “Google Me” as it has been rumored would replace there now existing profiles and could use the boost from Myspace.

Apple on the other hand is dark horse in this race. While Apple may have the money to pay cash up front for Myspace, it is unlikely given Apple’s tradition for “perfection”. Apple has a lot to gain from Myspace, there sad attempt at a social network has been anything but a success. Myspace was founded on supporting music and could integrate will into Apple’s Ping.

No matter what happens to Myspace, one thing is for sure, it is quite possible the internet is about to loose one of its biggest icons.

North Point’s iBand

adamjonfuller — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:10:57 +0000

Christmas music using borrowed iPhones and iPads at North Point Community Church. This is quite possibly the future of music! Download free music from North Point here.

iPad First Look

adamjonfuller — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:02:27 +0000

The iPad has been out for a little over a week now, and I thought that I would give you my quick review. I got the iPad the day of release and have been using it on a daily basis. There is much to love about it, and a few things are left to be desired.

The screen is the most important part of this device, and it is wonderful. Bright, with vibrant colors, and very responsive to touch. That being said, the glass is both a blessing and a curse for the iPad. It helps show off the display, but at the same time it’s an oily mess after just minuets of use. I understand Apple wanting to keep the price down and keeping the packaging simple; but come on, include a polishing cloth! With the screen being so reflective, it makes it nearly impossible to see out side on a bright sunny day, even with the brightness turned all the way up. Another problem to me is the screen resolution, 1024 x 768 is not good for a device like this… I would prefer a widescreen resolution.

The multi-touch is very responsive, and much easier to use than the iPhone. The UI is very intuitive and one of the most responsive out of any modern computer. Apple kept to the simple design interface that was introduced with the original iPhone, with a few minor improvements. iPhone OS is looking long in the tooth, and is starting to get cluttered.

The lack of multitasking might be a deal breaker for some, but with the future release of iPhone OS 4 this will be addressed. For me, I don’t think of their solution as multitasking and much as suspending apps for latter use, which they can do now. Another feature of iPhone OS 4 that I have been missing from the beginning is folders. This will be an added addition to the iPad and iPhone.

Back to the iPad, after a week I have only charged the battery twice, making this one of the longest battery life devices I have ever used. With normal use, you can easily get the touted ten hours of battery life, if not more. As I mentioned earlier this device is supper snappy, and responsive, something you would not expect from a device with such great battery life. One of the biggest problems for me was the added weight from the battery. At 1.5 lb., it gets hard to hold after just a few minutes.

The apps are very nice looking, and well thought out. The iWork apps are also a great addition to the app store. All this benign said, the price for some apps is a large barrier and some are just out right over priced. With the price out of the way, another problem is just how buggy all the apps are. This is partly the fault of Apple because they didn’t seed developers with ipads before launch. The overall bugginess of the apps will improve with time, as will the lack luster selection of apps in the app store.

Over all my impressions are very good. The iPad is less of a revolutionary device and more of a evolutionary device. It has it’s place, and while some say it is more of a toy, I have replaced my laptop with it. I can use my desktop computer for doing the heavy lifting and my iPad for the more day to day work, including writing this blog post.