Gamers Just Got Gamed

Although I love the occasional hour or two per month of Call of Duty or Spyro, I'm not a huge gamer. However, if you own a PlayStation, you may have noticed in the past week or so that you can't play it on-line! According to the New York Times, this freeze in Sony's PlayStation network is due to an anonymous hacker attack. Since the attack, almost 77 million gamers have been unable to play their PlayStation's on-line. Several days after the attack, Sony reported that "an 'unauthorized person' had obtained personal information about account holders, including their names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and PlayStation user names and passwords" (par. 3). Um, uh oh! What's even worse than your personal information getting out for all of the world to see is your CREDIT CARD information getting out for the world to see! Sony advised their customers that their credit card information could have also been leaked during the attack so they should remain alert to their bank accounts (par. 3). 

Sony is also losing business, in addition to money, because of this attack. While the PlayStation network is down, kids and other gamers have turned to Microsoft and Nintendo products to entertain themselves until Sony is back up and working. Who knows if the customers will stay with Microsoft and Nintendo once Sony gets back up and running? According to New York Times, Sony has decided to rebuild the network to make it more secure (par. 10). While that might sound like a good idea, Sony is actually losing more money and more business than if they decided to do a quick-fix and get the network back up and running as soon as possible. 

So, if you're a Sony PlayStation fan and have been off-line for the past two weeks, be cautious with what information you put in your on-line account!

Photo Courtesy of: Joey Yen

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/technology/27playstation.html?_r=1&ref=business

Moving Forward..Or Are We?

Toyota is at it again.

According to Today's THV, Toyota is recalling about 51,000 Toyota Tundra trucks to inspect for a damaged part called the slip yoke, which is located in the rear drive shaft of the truck. Of the 51,000 trucks that are being recalled, they suspect that less than 1% of the trucks actually have a faulty slip yoke (par. 1-2).

Now, this is not the first news we've heard about Toyota recalling vehicles. People make mistakes; even corporations make mistakes (:P). But how many faulty parts have to be installed and recalled for Toyota to understand that they need to monitor the assembly of their vehicles closer?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Toyota is aware of only one case in which the slip yoke failed a customer. However, there were no accidents or injuries due to the faulty part (par. 3). While it's great that Toyota is stepping up being proactive about the faulty part before someone is hurt, they also need to be more aware of what parts are going into their vehicles and make sure that they aren't faulty or next time they might not catch it in time.
Like I said before, people make mistakes. It's understandable to a certain extent. And Toyota is being brave and coming forth with their declaration that something is wrong with their products before the products actually start messing up. But when people's lives are in danger, it's best not to have to fix something that should already be built correctly. 

Photo Courtesy of: Trynes


Sources:
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/155022/119/Toyota-recalling-about-51000-Tundra-trucks-
http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/04/26/toyota-recalls-51000-tundra-pickups/?mod=google_news_blog

I always feel like..somebody's watching me..

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is following you, but every time you turn around, no one's there? Well, someone IS there, and they're following you if you have an iPhone or an iPad.


Photo by: Yutaka Tsutano

Ever since the internet has been around, privacy has been a hard thing to achieve. But now it's gone further than the world wide web. Your cell phone provider is TRACKING you at ALL times if you have an iPhone or an iPad! According to Sandra Guy, a business reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, cell phone providers have always been able to track your phone and give emergency personnel your location in case of an emergency. But that information was never available to the public. Now, iPhone and iPad data are extremely accessible on the devices and on the devices that they have been backed up on (par. 2). As an owner of an iPhone, I feel like my privacy has been seriously violated! Researchers that Guy interviewed said that "users can download the data and put their movements on an interactive map for all to see. The location information has been being gathered for about a year, ever since Apple’s iOS 4 operating system came out" (par. 6). This makes me glad that I haven't updated my iPhone since that update came out! :P Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., was asked how and why the data was collected and whether or not the data was being shared (par. 7). Alex Levinson, a senior engineer at Katana Forensics, posted an article saying that "the tracking activity isn’t new and reminding iPhone and iPad users that they can turn off location services by using the “settings” menu on their device, which prevents applications from accessing the data" (par. 8).


While I love my iPhone, this information makes me really hesitant when it comes to my phone. What if my phone falls into the wrong hands? If you have an iPhone or and iPad, make sure to turn off the tracking abilities on it so your privacy is protected.

Sources: http://www.suntimes.com/4949980-522/iphone-ipad-tracking-data-easily-accessible.html

Hand Sanitizer, anyone?

I've never really been one for hand sanitizer, but I have a good friend who puts it on every hour. I never saw the point in it. And I was right to think so.

Within the past few weeks, according to THV.com, the FDA has sent letters to four hand sanitizing manufacturers (Tec Laboratories, JD Nelson and Associates, Dr. G.H. Tichener Antiseptic Co. and Oh So Clean Inc.) warning them to stop "making unsupported claims about the bacteria-fighting benefits of their products" (par. 1). For a company to claim that their products can prevent certain infections and diseases, they must first submit scientific evidence to support that claim before they can market the product (par. 2). These companies claimed that their products can prevent infections such as E. coli and the bird flu, but they have not given the FDA the scientific evidence to support that claim. The FDA has given them fifteen days to come up with the evidence or change their claims. According the stltoday.com, these claims are fraudulent and the FDA goes so far as to advise consumers not to even "buy over-the-counter hand sanitizers or other products that claim to prevent infection from MRSA, E. coli, salmonella, flu, or other bacteria or viruses" (par. 4). Although E. coli and the bird flu are, well, not really rare but not as thought of as other infections, they are very serious infections and if a company tells me that their product can protect me from them, they better mean it and have scientific proof. 





         Photo Courtesy of: PNASH

Sources: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/154245/119/FDA-issues-warnings-to-4-hand-sanitizer-companies-
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/article_e20ae33a-6b93-11e0-883d-0019bb30f31a.html