Why Sony and I aren't friends.

In mid-April, Sony’s PlayStation Network, which allows PlayStation console owners to play games with other PlayStation owners through the internet, was hacked. It was not immediately apparent to Sony, who owns the PlayStation family of products, that the PSN, or PlayStation Network, was hacked. The breach was detected after Sony was detecting some strange amounts of traffic coming in from a device other than a PlayStation. Sony hired an outside security firm to analyze their network for any possible intrusion. The results came in as positive. The PSN was hacked by a small group of hackers.

The PlayStation Network breach is known to be one of the worst Internet service interruptions ever, as witnessed by its customers, whom were not able to access the network for the past three weeks. Undoubtedly, this has upset PlayStation owners quite a bit. And to make matters worse, PlayStation Network users have had their data compromised. This data includes user names, email addresses, and all gaming achievements, or virtual goods unlocked on the PSN. Sony also notes the “possibility” that billing information could have also been compromised as well.

To combat this problem, Sony has emailed their PlayStation Network users to change their passwords once the service is officially restored. Unfortunately, the service has not been restored and Sony is still investigating the issue. Sony’s CEO, Howard Stringer has commented on the security breach, however, I don’t think his comment is relevant so I decided to leave it out.

I’m appalled by the poor communication of Sony and how Sony has not provided an adequate response to the security nightmare. The lack of good communication really goes to show you cannot put your complete trust into a corporation’s network. Although Sony’s communication on the matter was poor, I do not believe PSN users will leave in a mass exodus.

Sony used strange words, in their email to customers, to cover up and to make an inaccurate generalization of the problem. It was more than evident that Sony’s ability to handle PR issues is quite poor. However, if Sony would’ve had a better equipped PR team, then maybe users might’ve been less outraged.

The true reason I’m writing on this issue is because of the security aspect. Of course, I can’t speak regarding Sony’s security practices, since I have no affiliation with them, but I can say this. Sony has no intention of making security a number one priority on a free service, such as the PlayStation Network. Their number one priority is to make a good profit off PlayStations, games, and other digital content and services. If Sony would only learn from all the other security breaches that occurred in the past year, then maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

In summary, the Sony PSN breach is serious. Users’ data was compromised and left every user vulnerable. What I find ironic is that everyone including the media has taken this situation seriously. Well, everyone except Sony that is. Not that I'm bitter. After all, I don’t own a PlayStation.

I'm living Facebook free! And here's why you should too! Plus alternatives to using Facebook!

Facebook is one of those things that you "just have to have." It's a popular trend and if a friend asks you "Are you on Facebook" and you reply "No, I do not." Then you're friend is going to start to question your logic as to why you do not own a Facebook account. Since "Everybody is on Facebook, you have to have one." None of that is technically true. You do not have to have a Facebook account. It's not a law by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm one of those people who've been violently with Facebook over recent corporate and technical decisions. They've put security in the backseat for so long and now it's finally gotten to my head, so I'm simply deleting my Facebook account (Permanently: Here's how to do so)

For one thing, security is terrible. Sure Facebook (finally!) added SSL (Secure) to their whole site (Except for Facebook apps that don't support SSL). But that's not enough. Especially since most popular Facebook apps, such as FarmVille, don't support SSL and when you enter that app you exit out of SSL and leave you vulnerable to the outside world.

Even if you stay completely within Facebook SSL, you still have to worry about both, you, and your friends' accounts being hacked. If your friend's account gets taken over by hackers, then you are surrendering your privacy to the hacker. Even if you are practicing good security measures, the hacker can post pictures on your wall, can post comments and "posts" on your wall, and can see everything you allow your friends to see. This is a major concern of mine since the new trend in hacking is Facebook accounts. So I'm done being subjected to hackers!

The security risk of owning a Facebook account with personal information is so high in this high tech era, that I've decided to leave Facebook for good!

Hopefully already I've persuaded you to delete your account, but if you're worried that there isn't any good alternatives for Facebook, think again!

Alternatives for Facebook's services

• Google Groups - If you want to share personal news, interesting content, then you can post it on Google Groups. And yes, you can make it a private group.
• Flickr - Flickr is the most popular photo sharing site. It's owned by Yahoo, so if you have a Yahoo account, then you have a Flickr account. It has all of what you expect. Sharing photos with the whole internet, or with just a private group of people.
• Picasa - Picasa is similar in the ways I just described, except it's owned by Google, and has tight integration with Android devices. And with other smartphones as well. Picasa also has a desktop application for Windows that has some basic photo editing capabilities and sharing capabilities.
• YouTube - This one is obvious, but Google's YouTube website offers a great place for you to share videos with friends. Like all the other services I just mentioned, you can make your videos private to only you, and a group of people.
• UStream - This allows you to stream live video from a webcam, or any video camera attached to your computer, to stream it to the web. Of course, you can make the stream private to a group of people, but by default it'll be public.
• A blog - I know this doesn't sound quite as exciting, but a blog or a website that allows you to integrate all your content (Video, photos, and written content) onto one page so you can give anybody and everybody one website address to remember and they can see everything you have to share with your friends and family, and everybody else who wants to know more about you. Yes, you can make a blog or website private to a certain group of people. But I hope you choose to make it public, because it indicates how much confidence you have in public respect. People on the web tend to respect people who are more open than private.

Sure, maybe it's not an easy or quick decision, but it'll be one you won't regret. Because with Facebook, you don't own your content, Facebook does! But with a website or a blog, you own the content, not Facebook!