73,000 a day.....every day..

Panda Security just released a report that on average, 73,000 malware threats are released each and every day.  This underscores the need to have security software installed AND updated at all times.  For more information check out the article at CNET here.

Playstation Network Hacked

Another story of a company being hacked and your personal information now in the hands of hackers.  Sony has announced that the personal information on all users of the Playstation Network has been stolen.  The actual number of accounts is over 77 MILLION!  One, I didn't know that that many people played Playstation online.  Two, they got everything in this hack, your name, address, phone, birthdate, PSN logon and password.  Essentially all the information that you gave them when you signed up.  Nobody is sure whether or not Credit Card information was taken, but you would be wise to assume so until further notice.  Instead of apologizing, Sony asks you to be vigilant with your accounts and to look out for scam attempts.   REALLY?, I wonder why.  I feel better today about having never purchased a Playstation.

So how big is Netflix?

New subscriber numbers have been released and Netflix has as many subscribers as Comcast.  The difference between the two is that Comcast has been slowly decreasing and Netflix subscription base has grown enormously in the same period.  If anyone has had a doubt that streaming over the Internet would ever get as big as standard over-the-air television, then these numbers will wake you up.  I had a previous post noting how the ISP's wanted to slow down Netflix, now we know why, they are a serious threat the cable and satellite providers.  Read more here.

The Nook Color, now more like a tablet

Barnes and Noble issued a major update for their Nook series of E-Readers.  It essentially gives the device the functionality of a tablet.  I did the update on my wife's Nook, however, I am bugged by one big thing.  The update was......painful.   First you had to download the update on your computer, transfer it to the root directory of the device and then wait for the device to detect that it was there and the update would install on it's own.  Well, that took over an hour.  The update itself took 5 minutes, the other steps took up the rest of the time.  It may have been easier if Barnes and Noble actually had a clear set of instructions to follow.  It took 10 minutes to find the page with the vague instructions.  Once installed, I hopped over to the "App Store".  Angry Birds was there, so I am happy for now.

This is why you should have a password on your wireless router..

A homeowner from Buffalo, New York found himself staring at the multiple assault weapons in his home after a police raid looking for child pornography that he allegedly downloaded from the Internet.  Further investigation revealed that the culprit was his neighbor, using his wireless router to connect and do the dirty deed.  Apparently, the homeowner got frustrated trying to set up the password on his new wireless router, gave up and left it without one.  I get many people ask me about why they need a password, here is the best answer.  Pedophiles and criminals will cruise neighborhoods looking for unprotected networks to connect to specifically to do these types of things.  Check out my Wireless and WiFi pages for information on how to protect your network.

100,000 are paying so far

A couple of weeks ago, I had a story about the New York Times instituting a paywall on their website.  To access all of the content, you had to pay a minimum of $35 a month.  The first 20 articles were free to everyone, after that, open your wallet.  Well, after 3 weeks, the first numbers are in.  100,000 people are paying.  Although those numbers seem encouraging, they are not.  Revenue at the Times company, the New York Times parent company, fell 3.6%.  The Times is hoping to get at least 300,000 subscribers by the end of the year.  Odds are that they will fall short.  If you want to access all the content for free, try this link to a toolbar add-on that will get you around the limit.