So your new PS4 is bricked, try a Xbox One or try this guide to fix it...

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but there certainly exists a problem with an unknown number of recently released PlayStation 4 consoles that's prevented affected units from booting up. Following a mountain of online complaints and media attention over the issue, Sony has come out and confirmed that there are PS4s exhibiting the so-called "Blue Light of Death" (BLoD) syndrome.

According to Sony, blinking blue lights could be indicative of TV compatibility, issues with the power supply, issues with the hard drive, or issues with other PS4 hardware, among other things. The bottom line is, a blinking blue light that stays that way means there's something wrong.

Sony posted an extensive troubleshooting guide on its support forum offering up tips on how to fix a PS4 that appears to be broken. Some of the steps include reseating the hard drive, attempting a boot into Safe Mode, checking cables for damage, and more.

If you own one of the affected models, give the guide a once-over and see if there's anything in there that helps solve the issue.

Photoshop Creative Cloud for $9.99 a month, for a limited time only

Want to atone for pirating that copy of Photoshop a couple years back? Adobe has come up with a promotional offer that it hopes photographers will find too good to refuse. From now until December 2, 2013, you can join Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program for $9.99 per month, giving you access to Photoshop CC, Lightroom, Behance ProSite, and 20GB of cloud storage.

Prior to this promo, that pricing was only available to upgraders who owned a legal copy of Photoshop or Creative Suite CS3 or higher. Adobe is temporarily lifting that restriction in hopes of bringing more photographers into the fold, even those who may have been using an illegally obtained copy.

"As before, the intention is not to get you in at $9.99/mo., then crank up the price after a year. $9.99 is the expected ongoing price," Adobe stated in a blog post. "The difference is that you now don’t need to own a copy of Photoshop or Creative Suite CS3 or higher. Please do note that this is a limited-time deal, so you’ll want to jump in before December 2."

Here's the deal. You have to commit to a one-year membership, though you don't have to pay it all upfront. Adobe will collect payment each month at the time of purchase, plus applicable tax. If you decide it's not for you and cancel within the first 30 days, you'll get a full refund. Any time after 30 days, a cancellation will cost you 50 percent of your remaining contract obligation.

It's not a bad deal. Normally this subscription runs $20/month and that's without access to Lightroom. All tallied, the bundle is worth $50/month.

'Encrypt everything:' Google's answer to government surveillance is catching on

While Microsoft's busy selling t-shirts and mugs about how Google's "Scroogling" you, the search giant's chairman is busy tackling a much bigger problem: How to keep your information secure in a world full of prying eyes and governments willing to drag in data by the bucket load. And according to Google's Eric Schmidt, the answer is fairly straightforward.

“We can end government censorship in a decade,” Schmidt said Wednesday during a speech in Washington, according to Bloomberg. “The solution to government surveillance is to encrypt everything.”  For more click here for the article.

Remember Winamp?...well that is why it is finally shutting down!

After 15 years on the Internet, the once-ubiquitous digital audio player Winamp will soon be just a memory.

According to a brief note on the Winamp website, the formerly uber-popular media player will no longer be available for download after Dec. 20, 2013. This includes Winamp.com and associated Web services.

You probably remember Winamp from the late 90s and early 2000's when it was one of the most widely used Internet services for listening to music and radio streams. Winamp eventually lost popularity as services like iTunes and Windows Media Player hit the Web, but it'll always hold a special place in the hearts of many.  I actually liked the program and completely forgot about it until I came across the information that it was shutting down.  Oh well, I still have VLC.

New Firefox Browser now in Beta

Firefox has a new UI, 'Australis' for the upcoming Firefox browser.  After more than three years, Mozilla has rolled out its first significant Firefox user interface update. The Nightly channel version of Firefox, with the Australis revamp, is automatically updated each night so users have the most up to date version.

The Firefox team says that Nightly still needs some polish; even the page users visit to download the new browser prominently says “These builds are for testing purposes only.” Nevertheless, Australis, which was designed with simplicity in mind, sports changes that, while subtle, distinguish it from previous Firefox iterations.  Sure looks like Google Chrome to me....

Avoid Western Digital Hard Drives if you can

This is from my own personal experience in dealing with calls about failing hard drives.  In almost all instances, they were Western Digital drives.  Two failing Western Digital drives this week have inspired me to post about this unfortunate, but common issue I have encountered.  I had an external drive given to me as a gift, it promptly died after 12 months, I crack open the enclosure.... Western Digital.  Just keep that in mind while you shop for hard drives.