PS3 Hacking chip banned (temporarily) + Anti-Facebook nears launch date.

Playstation creators Sony have won a temporary ban which prevents distributors in Austrailia selling a hardware based hack for the PS3.

The dongle, aptly named PS3Jailbreak would allow users to run homemade(homebrew) and pirated games. Sony now has until August 31st 2010 to apply for a permanent ban over the dongle, which has recieved mixed reviews from gamers.


In other news, Diaspora (An Open Source "Privacy Aware") social networking platform has set upon launching the new site on the 15th September. Since the site is open source, this means that people will be able to download and modify the source code to fit with other sites.

Thats all for now,
Take Care,
Dan.

Halo: Reach leaked and Rockstar 'ban-hammer' Red Dead Redemption cheats

Ok so Microsoft have been looking into a spectacular breach in pre-game hype, which saw the final chapter in the Halo series (Halo: Reach) leaked onto the internet, within hours it was live across many torrent sites. Microsoft attempting to determine the cause of the breach but have as yet turned up empty handed.

Also in the news, Rockstar Games, The critcally acclaimed studio behind the controversial and successful Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption has decided to apply a taste of Ban-Hammer to those that illegally modify exp on the game, the game studio has warned that the cheaters have a few days to delete the modifications or face and indefinite ban from online multiplayer of the game.

More news when it develops.
All for now,
Dan.

PS3 hacked?, Xbox Live attacked!

First off the PS3 has reportedly been hacked, this new hack pertains to the user buying a USB dongle which has software upon it, this software somehow allows the user to then run homebrew and various other games on the system as if it was in debug mode or even DEVPS3 mode(s).

Sony and the creator of the device have so far not commented on this but a distributor has said that he has tested the device and will be selling them soon.

In other news a spate of port flooding on the Xbox Live system has allowed various cyber criminals to gain users IP addresses and essentially flood the ports that the XBOX uses, hereby stopping the player from playing, this is commonly done to the host if the attacker was in a game and they lost. This can be constrived as a revenge tactic.

Microsoft have said that they are looking into this and anyone caught doing so will be banned from XBL.

All for now
Dan.

Grand Theft Auto V (5)

Since Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5 is still in production, I will update this blog with information about it as soon as it is released.

Hopefully the release will be sometime late in 2010 or early 2011. Either way I do hope to see it released soon.

All for now
Dan.

4.0.2 update

So apple have released a update called 4.0.2 which fixes a major security flaw in which you can inject malicious code or programs into a PDF file, it also fixes the 4.0 jailbreak method via the website, so currently there is no way to jailbreak any iPod touch or iPhone whose firmware is 4.0.2

In other news there are a few new issues with the update since they still haven't updated it to sole the wifi signal problem.

That's all for now

IOS4 Review

Okay so here is my in-depth review of Apples latest Operating System for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Disclaimer: Please note this review focuses around the effects, usage etc etc of the iPod Touch only!

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The review begins with Apple constantly nagging me via iTunes to update my iPod' OS from Version 3.1.2 to 4.0, after being annoyed with the alert/pop-up message for so long I finally decided to upgrade the OS to IOS4.

After clicking the "Download and Install" button I proceeded to be verified by Apple that I was genuinly installing the software, once all these minor technicalities were out of the way I sat back and contemplated the new features that were supposed to be available. ( I guess this is the right place and time to say that my iPod is a 8GB 2nd Generation Touch NON-Jailbroken).

Like so many others I ran headlong into difficulties straight away with the backup process taking a abnormally long time to even start, I researched it and various fixes were listed. However I found myself a new one, Popping open the Task Manager I proceeded to find the Apple Mobile Device Backup process. Highlighting this I selected "End Process" and followed the command through. In less than a minute the backup was complete and all the data was safely stored.

After approximatly 10 minutes of various restarts the iPod finally let me in to see the new design and layout, after another 3-4 minutes of restoring, all my Applications, Photo's, Videos and Music were all back in place. I decided to keep the screen tidy I'd organise my apps into the folders that were included in the update. Now I have a much tidier and quicker HomeScreen.

Personally I can find little or nothing wrong with the new IOS4, However having said that, I do note that for some unknown reason the iPod Touch varient of the OS has a "Airplane Mode" which typically denotes the transmitter for phone signals is turned off. However the iPod Touch doesn't have a phone transmitter, so therefore that particular function is obsolete.

Secondly the Wi-Fi signal interpretation is very very sketchy since it now reports that I have little or no Wi-Fi signal when I'm literally no more than 5 feet from the router/hub/access point.
Hopefully Apple will rectify this in a later update, as this is very inconvientient for those that have the IOS4.

My Final notice is that from what I can see the battery life is reduced, however I cannot confirm this until I have performed a few tests (Life with WiFi On/Off etc).

Overall here are my ratings for the new OS:

Looks: 8/10
* Still no wallpaper for the homescreen, Any reason why, Apple?
Fluidity: 9/10
* Sleek, Elegant and not overly cumbersome.
Speed: 9/10
* Laggy in places but overall fast and appreciated
Default Design Concept: 7/10
* Changes the layout of the first screens Applications/Utilities, to something Apple prefer. Next time please leave it alone?
Cost: 10/10
*It's FREE so I can't dock any marks for that.

Total Score: 43/50

There we are Apple, and readers. My personal review of the New IOS4, I hope this has been an insight into the new OS.

For all those who read this, happy browsing.

Thanks and tune in next time.
Dan.

Games Games Games

OK, so its now official.

I'm on the official mailing list for the new GTA Game(s) from RockStar and also on the lists for Halo:Reach and Guitar Hero W.O.R

Can't wait for the release of the games.

Dan