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Sony Play Station Network Continues To Be Hacked

April 16th through April 19th the Sony Corporation was digitally broken into by a group of hackers that remain anonymous to this day. The effects have been crippling to the giant corporation and the hackers, much like David with his sling, used their elite skills to bring the giant.
The initial cost of the break-in was around $177 million, but the long term effects have yet to be observed. Numerous lawsuits and security upgrades will end up putting a much deeper dent in Sony’s pocket.

So how many people were affected? And what was compromised? The initial attack by the anonymous hackers left over 100 million PSN user accounts compromised and vital information was possibly obtained: name, address, e-mail address, birth date, IP address, PSN password, billing information. A hacker could do irreparable damage to a person’s life with that information, and Sony PSN users were just as concerned. After the initial attack the Sony Corporation shut down the PSN network on April 20th to try and assess and fix the damage.

On May 5th Sony CEO issued an official apology to PSN users on their blog as seen here. On top of that there was also an apology from Sony at the E3 convention that you can watch here:

On May 14th Sony starts restoring PlayStation Network services in the hopes that they can rebuild. Unfortunately for Sony, they were wrong.

Several other hacks on the Sony Corporation have happened since then and this time by hackers that have identified themselves, although the initial attackers are still unknown. On May 18th hackers targeted the password reset site for the PlayStation Network. Then from May 25th- 26th hacker groups targeted Sony sites in Greece, Canada, Indonesia and Thailand. And another blow, on June 3rd a hacker group going by the name of LulzSec claims to have hacked into the Sony Pictures website which resulted in the compromised information of around one million users.

LulzSec has stated that they targeted the site to demonstrate Sony’s weakness and to try and teach consumers not to put their faith and information in a company that cannot protect itself. After they infiltrated the website they published the information of the consumers on their site. They claim to have made it their mission to hack Sony six times and released this message:
“We’ve recently bought a copy of this great new game called ‘Hackers vs Sony,’ but we’re unable to play it online due to [PlayStation Network] being obliterated.
So we decided to play offline mode for a while and got quite a few trophies. Our latest goal is ‘Hack Sony 5 Times,’ so please find enclosed our 5th Sony hack.
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: HACK SONY 6 TIMES! Oh damn, we just did it again, please also find enclosed internal network maps of Sony BMG.”

So why on earth is Sony being targeted? There is some speculation that besides Sony’s poor security there was another incident that sparked outrage amongst the hackers. A young programmer and hacker named George Holtz had made it his mission to hack Sony products and had released some info out to the public. Sony, in response, took action on Holtz and they went to court. While the case was settled outside of court, many people, both in the general public and hackers, did not like the way Sony handled the situation.

Holtz denies any participation in the hacking of Sony’s PSN and other websites, and it is still unclear what the hacker’s true motives are, but it is not unlike hackers to target a corporation for a cause.

So what now? Sony is still fending off hacking attacks and sorely needs to update their security so that consumers are better protected and consumers are still being cautious. The situation is ongoing as more attacks are being reported and LulzSec is still waging its online war against the Sony Corporation. Best thing if you are a Sony Consumer is to keep all of your personal information off any of their sites and wait until the situation is resolved.

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Hackers Are Having Tough Time Now

Hackers Are Having Tough Time Now

A widely expected and anticipated version of Sony PS3 firmware is now made available publicly which is more secure from the attacks of hackers and unauthorized elements to get access which were making players and gamers to get backup games and pirated compact discs.

Now all attempts of hackers to hack the game sites will be blocked with newly introduced version of Sony Playstation 3 including PSJailbreak a cracking USB dongle, a porgram of open source, one more PS3 open source jailbreak Linux kernel mobile device, and similar ports.

In past, Sony went to court to take a legal action against the distribution and release of PSJailbreak and obtained court instructions against marketing and selling of PSJailbreak USB dongle. However, the best way Sony found to stop is to fix, improve the quality by patching the loopholes being used to misuse PS3.

Some additional security features have been added to make the PS3 system more secure, which contains the security vulnerability to block PSFreedom, PSJailbreak, and PSGroove according to Sony’s recent Playstation blog.

PS3 owners can now upgrade their system through PS3 system software update version 3.42.

The owners of PS3 who wish to stay with PSJailbreak and crack the Sony Playstation 3, does not need to upgrage to firmware operating system 3.42. The bad thing for not upgrading to latest and new version of system is that it cannot be signed into Playstation Network and it is effectively ruling out multi-player gaming online.

The previous trick of DNS to bypass PS3 and the tool of Logan5 Proxy will not be able to help the hackers to break any sites as PlayStation Network will be blocked by online gaming through the reminder notice to keep this upgrade to system software by downloading new and latest version.

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Here’s Your Chance To Win A Free Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc (Only Indian Residents)

My good friend Keith has arranged a give away contest. He’s giving away one Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, priced at 32,000 INR, to one lucky contestant.

To participate in the contest visit Techie-Buzz. It’s a pretty simple contest and you’ll not spend more than 5 mins. A great deal if you end up being the lucky one !!

You can find full specification of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc here.

See Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Hands On video :

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Steps To Check Whether The IMEI Number Of You Mobile Phone Is Invalid Or Original

Steps To Check Whether The IMEI Number Of You Mobile Phone Is Invalid Or Original

When Telephone Regulatory Authority India (TRAI) announced that all the mobile phones with invalid IMEI number will be blocked, it created panic amongst the users who are using such mobile phones. It only matters if the handset is a Chinese product, but if it is branded with names like Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson, then the users do not have to worry.

Still let us see how to check whether the IMEI number of the mobile phones is valid or invalid:

  • After you press *#06#, then press call button and jot down the IMEI number, it is 15 digit number.
  • Go to text message and create a new message, Type the IMEI number and then send the message to 53232.
  • You will receive a reply after couple of seconds. If you have been replied with “Success”, then it is valid device, else not.

You can easily get a new IMEI number for just Rs.199 by visiting here.

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Google TV In Trouble ?

If you look at BestBuy and Sony then Google TV is sure in a bit of soup. The stage was launched some time back with the help of Logitech Revue and Sony Internet TV. Since both contain the same system, both are troubled at the cost of Big Media’s Blockade. It is painfully noted that Google TV had worked to close the gap between the subscription based TV and internet content, bit the bridge is still stopped by bureaucratic red tape stuff.

Looks like Sony is addressing the greatest problem –price. Google TV’s units are priced quite high. The Logitech Revue at $300 and threatens to increase even with retailers as Amazon. Between the Black Friday sales, Sony set-top box is quite in demand now which does not mean well for Google. The $400 Blu-ray Google TV dropped its price by October to $399 MSRP.

Sony follows a pricing technique like that of Apple in maintaining one price in the beginning. The price falls only if another competitor is ready and Sony internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player is priced at $100 less that is $299. You can find this decrease in price all over from best Buy to the units product page. A deal of $100 less is quite a big drop, although it is still on the higher side.

But if it is a permanent drop, then it is a sure deal! Earlier, Logitech Revue, Sony Blu-ray, Google TV and the Sony LCD Google TV were all differently priced. But now the set top version still leads the show, although Logitech comes with a better interface. They both carry remotes with Sony containing a PS3-type controller ad Revue comes with a full sized keyboard.

In all probability the low prices may not be a constant. Some of Sony’s Blu-ray line is out for sale in the spirit of Black Friday, but no nowhere is the discounted price available. A discount in the price spells trouble for the product, as it is a common notion that cheaper the stuff, the lower the quality. That may be the reason why Google TV has landed itself in trouble.

Its features are half-cooked only and it is priced high. There is no doubt that Google can create a positive user experience. The problem with Google TV is not the technology. WiFi is now sturdy enough to balance wireless networking within the house. The question here is about the content. It was Google TV that first came up with the idea of organizing and aggregating all the free content that could be collected online. But that was not agreeable to all other companies!

[Via TechCrunch]

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Connect Sony PlayStation 3 To TV Without HDMI Cable

Steps to connect TV with Play Station 3 without the help of HDMI cable

Sony computer Entertainment As we all know is popular for its gaming console called Play station 3, and it brings all new gaming experience for gamers. You need three things to run a play station 3 and they are HDMI cable, TV and obviously a play station.

There are some TV sets which don’t have HDMI ports and thus it makes it difficult to run Play Station 3. There are some tricks that will allow you to run Play station 3 on TV.

The best known connecting device is obviously HDMI video cable. Being a single cable it gives best performance in both the aspects of audio and video.

Things you should do to run Play station 3 on TV without the HDMI cable connector:

  • Component AV cable: it is a video cable with 5 points. Those 5 points or jacks should be plugged in in your TV as well as Play station 3. You can surely expect a HD quality of audio and video. It comes along with the Play station 3 for free.
  • S video cable: This connector has 3 ports which should be connected with TV and PS3. It serves a standard quality.
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Call Of Duty – Black Ops – Breaks All Records – Best Selling Game Of All Times

Well I was really wondering, when I got the list of Top 10 games for the month of Oct, why Call of Duty was not in the list. Well may be, there are other reasons than it being popular !

Call of Duty, has managed to create a ‘record of sorts’ because it has surpassed all earlier records in game sales to touch a figure of over $650 million with 5 days of its launch only. It earned $360 million from the retail sales in a mere 24 hours in the US and UK only. It can boast of being the most popular as no other game has reached anywhere close.

It would not be wrong if you say it has created a history of sorts by pushing all other games way behind! It is well known that Black Ops is a continuation of the all time loved Modern Warfare 2. this maybe the best of the Call of Duty series and projects highly enhanced clear graphics, exotic weapons, sophisticated game play and on the whole a greater distinction than earlier versions.

Over 7 million units were sold, 36% for PS3 and 59% for Xbox 360 (this may be coz more Xbox has outgrown sales compared to Sony PS3 / Wii). It was the solution for the high urge for improvised feelings by giving deeply attractive audio visual effects along with thrilling game play ideas creating an astounding atmosphere to hold the gamer’s attention. ‘There is a soldier in all of us’ is the title the game says and it has been proved right too. It is an M-rated game.

Presently basking in this unexpected super success, the team of game developers have done a great job and should be given due credit for. Resources report that Call of Duty has become the first entertainer to create history of setting 5 day launch records for 2 successive years in all form of entertainment. Yet another piece of information says that with a record breaking performance on Xbox LIVE, which house the world’s biggest Call of Duty gaming group, Call of Duty: Black Ops has already created a legacy of its own as one of the biggest video games in history.

Though the game was initially opened on Xbox, it is fast gaining popularity on the Sony PlayStation 3. It has also earned the title of best selling video game launch of all times on Amazon.com and at Game stop. Call of Duty: Black Ops boasts of the largest number of pre-orders of any video game till date, which bodes very well for sales especially during holidays. The percentage of people playing online games and the hours they spend on it, exhibits how important online gaming is and how it has become a vital source of entertainment. A big drawback however in the video gaming industry is the poor titles that are being released. But with Call of Duty: Black Ops, that drawback has also been proved wrong!

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Xbox 360, Sony PS3 Or Wii – Which One Has Maximum Sales

It is not astonishing that the Xbox has bagged the top position on its sales considering the superior quality that it brings out. This has enabled it to over-power Sony PS3 and Wii, shooting to the top position of gaming consoles. Latest Microsoft reports say that sales have surpassed 3.5 million units until October and has been on a steady increase even after that. It has managed to maintain the same position for 5 months now.

This constant increase depends mainly on the availability of the gaming software. It is also the area where Microsoft has earned bonus points over others, because it has 6 out of the top 10 console games obtained for the month, along with such popular games like Halo: Reach and Fable111. This is enough to show that without sufficient software even the best of gaming stations can take a back seat.

If this is the status of gaming hardware[ a downfall], the gaming software on the other hand is on a rapid increase of sales and with Microsoft holding most of the top gaming softwares, Xbox can be at no other position than the top. In gaming, the user always looks for more thrilling games which is proved in the greatest Call of Duty: Black Ops. Xbox 360 supposedly gathered 59% of the Black Ops market in comparison to the 36% of PS3.

Sony and Nintendo have more cause to worry for the tough competition thrown by Xbox 360 Kinect’s popularity. And unless they can come up with better ideas, Microsoft has all the chances of remaining at the top. In October, the sales were prominent with Microsoft at 325000 units against 250000 units of PS3 and 232000 units of Nintendo Wii, speaking volumes for itself.

This result makes Microsoft the only console to have sold more units every successful year. It is important to note that these figures have been obtained before the launch of Xbox 360 Kinect which claimed to have sold over 1 million units in one day. The competition gets tougher with the approach of Christmas, for the new releases by Xbox360 Kinect and Sony PlayStation More, will determine their positions too.

On the whole, sales of video game hardware all over the industry has fallen by 26% to $280 million for October, while video gaming software sales have risen by 6% and accessory sales have shot up by 18% to reach a target of $142 million. Constant updates can be obtained through Twitter and Facebook Fan page.

Check the top ten games for the month of October !

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Home asdfjkl; Keys Not Working – Dell, HP, Sony, Compaq, Toshiba

asdf jkl; keys are not working in my desktop / laptop

I recently gave solution for a similar problem. In the previous case the keys: qweruiop were not working.

The solution for asdfjkl; keys not working is just the same.

The problem once again seems to be with dirt settled in your keyboard and mostly has nothing to do with a faulty keyboard.

Please check this post on how to clean your keyboard and solve the problem.

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Keys qwer uiop Not Working, Rest Other keys Are Working Fine – Laptop, Desktop

Keys q,w,e,r,u,i,o,p / 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,0 / a,s,d,f,j,k,l,; Not Working, Rest Other keys Are Working Fine  in Laptops And Desktops

Finally, found a solution to get the keyboard working!!

This seemed to be a very common problem with laptops and desktops. Compaq, HP, MAC, Sony, Dell, name a brand and they would have had this problem at some point or other!

Specific keys not working has nothing to do with virus or hardware failure and the fix is very simple.

While searching a solution for the Keyboard problem where the keys would all of a sudden stop working, I found out that the following / similar combination of keys stop working :

1234 7890
qwer uiop
asdf jkl;
zxcv m,./
ujm
rfv
edc
ik,

Many more such combination of keys stop working! What was strange was, I ran all possible anti-spyware, anti-malware, anti-virus software, but nothing seemed to work.

If you notice, all these set of keys have a pattern. They are placed in a line on the keyboard, either vertical or horizontal.

Searching further I found out, when the keys are pressed and depressed, there will be electrical contacts between some underlying sheets, which results in proper functioning of the keyboard.

And in our case, the circuit pattern has some sort of a problem, which is causing this type of an issue.

Solution for Desktop Computers Keyboard:

If your desktop is having this problem, then it must be quite easy to fix it.

I removed all individual keys of the affected row, got hold of a new painting brush / tooth brush and used it to remove off the dust / crumbs / dirt that had settled on my keyboard. Fixed the keys back in their respective places and this fixed the problem.

This video on How to Clean your desktop computer’s keyboard should help you, however it’s a bit more complex than what I did with my keyboard:) :

Solution for Laptop Keyboard:

You should attempt cleaning a laptop keyboard only if you have prior experience, else you risk spoiling your laptop which can cost you quite a bomb.

My serious suggestion is, take your laptop to the nearest laptop repair store and get the keyboard cleaned by an expert. It should not cost you more than $20 – $25 or something similar depending on which country you are from.

However, if you search you surely will find videos which will show how to clean your laptops keyboards. You should attempt it only if you are an expert.

Here’s one such video from YouTube:

Other temporary solutions are that you can use an USB keyboard (if you travel often, then this is not for you) or if you are on Windows, then you can use the On Screen Keyboard which can be found at: Start–> All Programs –> Accessories –> Accessibility –> On-Screen Keyboard (working on this keyboard will be extremely slow).