Were you a victim of the Sony PSN network hack?

Who is affected?

All users. Period.

What? How?!?

• Your email address
• Your user ID
• Your birth date
• Your name & address
• Your bank accounts (credit/debit cards) used to make purchases

Great, now what?

If you were, here are some tips I’ve seen online to protect yourself, but you must act fast.

1. Find out which of your credit/debit cards you use in the PSN network and cancel them right away.

Ask the bank to send you a card with a new number, not just a replacement card.

The bank can provide you with a temporary card so you shouldn’t fear not having a card to use.

2. Alert your bank

During that same call just ask them to be on alert for potential phony charges in your accounts.

3. Put a fraud alert on your credit

Call one of the 3 agencies and ask them to put a fraud alert on your behalf. Calling one should alert the others, but it might not hurt to check.

This will make it harder for anyone (including yourself) to get credit.

4. Email accounts & Your PSN User ID

Change the password of the email address you have on file for your PSN profile, and if you happen to use that same user ID in other services (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), change them right away.

Farewell IT Pros!

Dear loyal readers:

This blog was born thanks to the now defunct site BrightFuse, which also brought to life the IT Pros group which at its peak had more than 2,000 users.

The blog was once powered by that user base and we also had many collaborators writing weekly.

After the closure of the group and the subsequent shut down of BrightFuse, it is also time to move on and do this final post.

Thank you very much for your loyalty.

Alejandro Ramirez (@alejandrormz)
Information Technology Pros

PS - Please follow me into a new journey at http://alejandro.rmzphotography.com.

Is Apple your friend or foe?

Apple has applied for a patent that will allow it to take measures if “unauthorized” users get a hold of someone’s device. With its new patent application Apple is trying to become proactive in deterring theft, and cracking of its devices.

What  does this mean for rightful owners could mean good news, if you have an untouched device or in other words a device that has not been hijacked or jailbroken.

If, on the other hand your device has been jailbroken could mean you may not be able to use after Apple disables the device. Using some sort of “listening” or interactive application Apple could determine if an unauthorized user has gotten a hold of a device and disable it remotely alerting the owner and even authorities of the location of such device.

This method however will disable purchased devices that had been tampered to allow applications other than those sold by Apple. Learn more HERE

The New Bionic Era

In a surgery operation 2 bioengineered prosthesis were implanted in the rear legs of a cat named Oscar, by Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey, England. The surgery is a first in the world and provides an idea as of how much this technology can change the future of prosthesis implants.

The innovative technology is under testing in humans and promises to be a success in modern technology to replace lost limbs.

You can read the entire article clicking on the following link:

Bionic Cat

We have the technology!

Quantum Computer a Step Closer

ScienceDaily posted the following article (full reproduction):

‘Quantum Computer’ a Stage Closer With Silicon Breakthrough

ScienceDaily (June 23, 2010) — The remarkable ability of an electron to exist in two places at once has been controlled in the most common electronic material — silicon — for the first time. The research findings — published in Nature by a UK-Dutch team from the University of Surrey, UCL (University College) London, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, and the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics near Utrecht — marks a significant step towards the making of an affordable “quantum computer.”

According to the research paper, the scientists have created a simple version of Schrodinger’s cat — which is paradoxically simultaneously both dead and alive — in the cheap and simple material out of which ordinary computer chips are made.

“This is a real breakthrough for modern electronics and has huge potential for the future,” explained Professor Ben Murdin, Photonics Group Leader at the University of Surrey. “Lasers have had an ever increasing impact on technology, especially for the transmission of processed information between computers, and this development illustrates their potential power for processing information inside the computer itself. In our case we used a far-infrared, very short, high intensity pulse from the Dutch FELIX laser to put an electron orbiting within silicon into two states at once — a so-called quantum superposition state. We then demonstrated that the superposition state could be controlled so that the electrons emit a burst of light at a well-defined time after the superposition was created. The burst of light is called a photon echo; and its observation proved we have full control over the quantum state of the atoms.”

And the development of a silicon based “quantum computer” may be only just over the horizon. “Quantum computers can solve some problems much more efficiently than conventional computers — and they will be particularly useful for security because they can quickly crack existing codes and create un-crackable codes,” Professor Murdin continued. “The next generation of devices must make use of these superpositions to do quantum computations. Crucially our work shows that some of the quantum engineering already demonstrated by atomic physicists in very sophisticated instruments called cold atom traps, can be implemented in the type of silicon chip used in making the much more common transistor.”

Professor Gabriel Aeppli, Director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology added that the findings were highly significant to academia and business alike. “Next to iron and ice, silicon is the most important inorganic crystalline solid because of our tremendous ability to control electrical conduction via chemical and electrical means,” he explained. “Our work adds control of quantum superpositions to the silicon toolbox.”

The article is great news to the computer followers who now have one more reason to believe in the ever slipping technology that will get us closer to build a real super computer

The electron orbits a phosphorus atom embedded in the silicon lattice, shown in silver. The undisturbed electron density distribution, calculated from the quantum mechanical equations of motion is shown in yellow. A laser pulse can modify the electron’s state so that it has the density distribution shown in green. Our first laser pulse, arriving from the left, puts the electron into a superposition of both states, which we control with a second pulse, also from the left, to give a pulse which we detect, emerging to the right. The characteristics of this “echo” pulse tell us about the superposition we have made. (Credit: UCL)

The iPhone 4 is here (“4th Generation” not “4G”)

Well, it’s finally here, but you already knew that unless of course you don’t follow Gizmodo, or you don’t watch TV because you are too busy with the internets.

And yeah, it’s exactly like the lost prototype that Gizmodo reported. I was kinda’ hopin’ that Apple would have changed it a little bit, I think it’s looking less and less cool and more and more like a Blackberry.

What’s new?

It’s iPhone 4 as in 4th Generation, not “4G”, so it still runs on AT&T’s 3G network, so no fireworks here.

2 Cameras, one in the front, one in the back for WiFi-only (that’s right) video chat (“Face Time”).

The camera has a digital Flash, 5X digital zoom (thanks to the OS) and records video in HD format (720 only though, no 1028).

The new iPhone OS 4.0, will allow you to get the following features:

• Multitasking
• Customize your wallpapers
• Create Folders to organize your apps
• Unified Inbox (like the iPad)
• Multiple Exchange accounts (finally!)
• iBooks
• Wireless keyboard support

You can signup here for Apple notifications to learn when the iPhone 4 and the 4.0 iPhone OS update will be available. Keep in mind that you will be able to update your iPhone whether you have an iPhone 4 or not (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPad). Multitasking will only work on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.

Upgradeability

If you want to find out whether you qualify for a free upgrade already, dial the following code on your iPhone to get a free text message from AT&T: *639#

Supposedly AT&T is letting people upgrade much earlier than before.

Drawbacks

You better hurry because on 6/7 AT&T will eliminate the Unlimited Data Plans and will start charging for 15GB or 25GB ($15 or $25 a month), and $10 per extra GB.

With all that HD video, and Pandora streaming in the background, you better watch yourself or your kids to avoid an 18,000 phone bill like this guy.

You can only video-chat on WiFi, and it’s unclear whether you’ll be able to do Skype video on this one. But if you’re stuck with WiFi and your main use of a WiFi network is at home, then use your computer’s web cam and wait for the next upgrade or whenever you are eligible for a free upgrade.

Am I going to upgrade? OS yes, device not yet.

Match 5 speed!

Check the X-51A hypersonic aircraft!

It can reach speeds of Match 5, although is not the fastest one, but unlike other “supersonic combustion ramjet” or better known as “Scramjet” the X-51A burns oxygen from the atmosphere

Scramjet X-51A

You can also check the video:

Google Video

What’s next in Branson’s mind?

He set up to sell you music, move on to take your money for flights across the Atlantic, already started to make reservation for space travel, and now he wants to send you diving 36,000 feet underwater

Enter Sir Richard Branson, the eccentric millionaire owner of Virgin Group, LTD, and his vision of a travel empire, an empire he plans to based at Necker Island, part of the Virgin Islands

The polemic millionaire is building a small plane that will “fly” under the sea. Onboard, the three passengers this small submarine will carry can go on and take a look to the depths of the Atlantic, disbursing $88,000 for a week’s rental. The Necker Nymph is projected to dive down up to 36,000 feet, currently the prototype goes down only to 130 feet, but the technology will allow for a stronger model

I guess snorkeling is taking a different path for those who can shell for one of these rides.

The iPad has Arrived!

The iPad finally arrived

As reported by The Huffinton Post  in ““Apple Tablet News: UPDATES On Expected “iPad” Release(PICTURES)” the pics of the new iPad look like those pics in the report

Many arrived at the Yerba Buena Center this morning to attend the Apple event, with the curiosity for the unveiling of the so awaited iPad

Steve Jobs himself began the presentation giving a little history of his company since its start back in 1976, following by some financial statements and a comparison among Sony, Samsung, and Nokia with Apple, which according to Jobs Apple is larger than Sony and bigger than Samsung and Nokia

Jobs then continue through pics of the releases of Apple products like the MacBook, iPod, and the iPhone as the expectancy for the iPad unveiling climaxed

At this point jobs was talking about the netbooks and their slow response to apps, he show pics of the new iPad and then the physical unveiling of the iPad

Jobs proceeded to demonstrate how the apps would work, making some browsing on the internet, flicking through pictures, playing a game, opening calendar and email apps, zooming maps, etc

But to all of this you may be asking yourself, Steve what are the specs of the new iPad? Here you go

iPad Specs:

Casing                         0.5 in

Weight                        1.5 lb

Display                        9.7 ISP

Full capacity Multi-touch screen

Processor                    1.0 GHz Apple A4

Bluetooth                    2.1 + EDR

WiFi                             802.11n

Speaker

Microphone

30-pin connector

Accelerometer

Compass

Battery                        10 Hours (video) or more than one Month standby

The iPad will be offered in 16, 32, and 64 Gb storage models

and one model with 3G network

Apple has struck a deal with AT&T to have a 250MB/14.99 a month plan or an unlimited data plan for 29.99 a month, and free AT&T WiFi hotspots

So, now you have it and hear it here!

UPDATE:

The iPad cost?

16 Gb – WiFi $499

16 Gb WiFi+3G $629

32 GB WiFi $599

32 Gb WiFi+3G $729

64 Gb WiFi $699

64 Gb WiFi+3G $829

WiFi Models ship in 60 Days

WiFi+3G Models ship in 90 Days

AT&T will keep the exclusivity for the time being with Apple

Avatar Blues

The movie Avatar may  come to be one of the classics of all times, but this Utopian world has induced in some of the audience attending diverse reaction, from complete happiness to suicidal thoughts

In Taiwan a movie goer with blood pressure history was rushed to the hospital, apparently he had a stroke while watching the movie and later died of a brain hemorraghe

Avatar has induced many to believe the world we are living in is not worth it and long to belong and live in Pandora among the Na’vi and their ways of complete harmony with nature

Read more about it here

But do exercise caution!