نبدأ بخبر شراء مايكروسوفت للشركة التي تطور لعبة Minecraft مقابل 2.5 مليار دولار وعن هدف مايكروسوفت من هذه الصفقة، ثم نعود لما قبل مؤتمر آبل لنناقش آخر أجهزة سامسونج وموتورولا وسوني الجديدة، مع تركيز خاص على موتورولا التي أعجبت الجميع بهاتف Moto X وساعة Moto 360، وأيضا نتحدث عن تسريب معلومات دخول حوالي 5 ملايين حساب Gmail، وطلبات آيفون 6 المسبقة، ونجيب على أسئلتكم التي وصلتنا، والمزيد!
Yousef Alnafjanwow
With all the hype and interest in wearables these past few months, you'd think more companies would be looking to compete with Google's Glass headset, but up until now that hasn't really been the case. Sony teased an alternative to Google's gear in the form of a SmartEyeglass prototype first shown off at CES 2014, which aims to be as versatile as Glass while bettering it in some respects as well. The rather awkward-looking SmartEyeglass is peppered with sensors — there's an accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, ambient light sensor, and a 3-megapixel camera — and comes with a wire connecting it to an external battery pack equipped with an extra touch sensor and microphone.
Sony is releasing the software development kit for SmartEyeglass today and promises to have hardware kits available for developers to buy by the end of March. Other than the battery setup, the key difference between this heads-up display and Glass is that Sony uses a green monochrome display to overlay information atop the user's general view. SmartEyeglass will work in sync with compatible Android handsets to provide the wearer with notifications and other useful information like navigation directions. The Japanese company is now keen to recruit augmented reality devs who can start to provide SmartEyeglass with more and better functionality as it looks to progress beyond the concept stage.
Less than a day after Apple detailed new efforts in user privacy for its products, Google now says it plans to encrypt user data on all Android devices. Speaking to The Washington Post, Google says data encryption will now be a part of the activation process instead of an optional feature. The end result is that whatever data is stored on that device, be it a phone or tablet, will be inaccessible unless the person has the correct password.
"You won't even have to think about turning it on."
"For over three years Android has offered encryption, and keys are not stored off of the device, so they cannot be shared with law enforcement," a Google spokesperson told The Verge. "As part of our next Android release, encryption will be enabled by default out of the box, so you won't even have to think about turning it on."
In Apple's case, the company already began encrypting user data for all users as part of iOS 8, a free update that became available yesterday. The company said that not even it can bypass a user passcode to access their data, tying its hands from offering such a service to law enforcement officials.
Google's already outlined its plans for the next version of Android, called Android L. Much of the change is visual, with Google moving to a new look it's calling Material Design, though the company made some major changes to the software underpinnings. While there's no firm release date yet, Google said in June to expect it sometime later this year.
Two weeks after saying it would be forced to shut down because of a trademark conflict with Twitter, image-hosting service Twitpic said today that it will live on. The company has been acquired, though in a tweet it would not say by whom:
We're happy to announce we've been acquired and Twitpic will live on! We will post more details as we can disclose them
— TwitPic (@TwitPic) September 18, 2014
Earlier this month, Twitpic founder Noah Everett said Twitter had contacted the company demanding it abandon its trademark application or have its API access revoked. Twitter responded by saying that it had no issue with Twitpic retaining its name but had objected to other, unspecified "trademarks tied to the brand."
Twitpic launched in 2008, before Twitter started hosting images on its own servers. In 2009 it hosted the famous picture of US Airways Flight 1549, which crash landed in the Hudson River after being struck by birds; the photo was featured prominently in Twitter's S-1 filing prior to its initial public offering. Yesterday, a team of volunteer web archivists complained that Twitpic was blocking its efforts to save the images hosted on the service.
The results of the Scottish independence referendum are in, and the answer is no.
The referendum asked only a single question: Should Scotland become an independent country? Scottish voters have decided that it should not. With 26 of 32 voting districts reporting, both the BBC and the Guardian have predicted the referendum is set to lose by a comfortable margin. Although some votes have yet to be counted, Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister of Scotland, has conceded defeat, telling the Guardian that "there isn't a yes vote tonight."
Heading into Thursday's vote, the polls had too close to call. Most suggested a small edge for the "No" campaign, but by narrow enough margins — and with enough questions about whether the surveys were representative — that the world was left in doubt about what the final result would be. Now we know: Scotland will not become independent after all.
There are a few facts that are key to understanding the referendum's failure. First, this is not a huge surprise. The pro-independence campaign has never been able to show that it had the support of a majority of Scots. Heading into the referendum campaign, independence trailed in the polls by more than a 20-point margin. Although it made up significant ground in the weeks preceding the vote, a "yes" result was always going to be a long shot.
Second, financial markets reacted negatively to polls showing the pro-independence campaign gaining ground, which may have spooked undecided voters. The value of the pound plummeted on September 8, after a Yougov poll showed a narrow margin in favor of independence. Stocks in Scottish companies also fell on that news, with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, and the SSE utility company each falling more than 2 percent, and the Lloyds banking group falling more than 3 percent. That volatility may have convinced some voters that independence was too financially risky.
The independence referendum had its roots in political differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Scotland is more liberal than the relatively conservative, but wealthy and populous, south of England. Those differences have led Scottish leaders to push for more independence, in order to pursue a more liberal political agenda.
But even though the independence referendum wasn't about freeing Scotland from oppression, national pride still played a role in the campaign. The Yes campaign presented a vote for independence as a way to show pride in Scotland and belief in its ability to thrive on its own - a position whose sunny optimism continued to win over voters until the very last minute. Scottish tennis champion Andy Murray, for instance, tweeted Thursday that he had just voted for independence after becoming disenchanted with the "negativity" of the anti-independence campaign.
However, promises by the leaders of the three major UK parties to grant Scotland greater autonomy in the event of a "no" vote — the so-called "devo-max" option — may also have persuaded some undecided voters that full independence wasn't necessary. Right now, the Scottish parliament already has the right to set and administer Scottish policies in a number of areas, such as health care and education, but others are "reserved" to the UK parliament at Westminster. Under devo-max, the Scottish parliament would be given control over most of the reserved matters, with just a few exceptions, such as those that involve foreign policy or national defense.
Although the UK won't lose Scotland entirely, that doesn't mean that the status quo is going to prevail. The thorny question of how (or whether) to implement "devo-max" still remains.
As Vox's Matt Yglesias explained here, devolution is already a point of contention in UK politics, because England doesn't have its own parliament, while Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland do. English policy is set by the UK-wide parliament at Westminster. That means that Scottish MPs get to vote on matters of English policy, but English MPs don't get to vote on matters that have been devolved to Scotland. (This debate is known as the West Lothian question — named after an area of Scotland.)
That system is generally seen as benefiting the Labour party. Unsurprisingly, that makes it particularly unpopular with the Conservatives. Already, some Conservative MPs have said that they would demand that the West Lothian question be resolved before further devolution is granted. David Nuttall, MP for Bury North, which is near Manchester in the North of England, told the Financial Times, "You cannot have devolution and then say Scottish MPs will still be voting on matters that do not affect Scotland. We will need to draw up new rules on this as part of the settlement. There is a group of us that will push for that."
Regardless of how the devo-max debate goes, however, there probably won't be another independence vote. Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has said that the vote was a "once in a lifetime" decision and that he would not pursue another one if independence failed to gain majority support.
Read more:
Let’s start with the facts.
There is explosive demand for bigger smartphones. A 4-inch smartphone feels small now; somewhere around 5 inches is the new normal. Yet too many large-screen phones are cumbersome, awkward, and often just plain bad. And Apple has a long history of taking good ideas with obviously huge markets and being the first manufacturer to really nail the execution.
Add those three things together, and this phone on my desk isn’t at all surprising. It’s the iPhone 6: a...
I have really big hands.
It’s not something I usually think about; you don’t ever really think about your hands. Those are my hands, you might idly remark to yourself from time to time. I wonder if I can use them for anything good.
But using a smartphone with a huge screen, like the iPhone 6 Plus, forces you to constantly consider the size of your hands. This phone looks huge, even in my admittedly large hands, you might think to yourself. Or: Dammit, I can’t reach that button without...
Microsoft confirmed this morning that it's buying massively popular game Minecraft and the studio behind it, Mojang. The purchase amount is $2.5 billion. Don't panic: Microsoft says it "plans to continue to make Minecraft available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation." Though Microsoft is purchasing the Minecraft intellectual property -- game, licensing, and any other rights involved -- it isn't getting the game's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. A note from the Mojang team says, "Notch, Carl, and Jakob are leaving. We don't know what they're planning. It won't be Minecraft-related but it will probably be cool" (Carl Manneh is Mojang's CEO and Jakob Porser is a co-founder).
Haven't heard of Minecraft? Frankly, we're impressed. The game's rise from indie darling developed by a single man -- "Notch" -- to multi-billion dollar powerhouse has been meteoric, and highly publicized. Not only did it pioneer a movement in the game industry toward releasing early, unfinished games, but Minecraft became a massive mainstream hit. The game's iconic "Creeper" character is a staple among both gaming's hardcore and casual mobile gamers.
Rumors of an acquisition by Microsoft began last week, with a rumored purchase price of $2 billion. According to those reports, Notch approached Microsoft about a buyout. Mojang's statements today seem to confirm that report. "He's decided that he doesn't want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance," says Mojang's statement on the news. "Over the past few years he's made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang."
Notch's own statements are far more serious. "I don't see myself as a real game developer," his statement leads with. He says that Minecraft became far larger than he ever expected, and that massive entity has become overwhelming for him to deal with. Moreover, he's done with "big" games forever. "As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I'll probably abandon it immediately," he writes. Addressing the subject of the buyout's price, Notch says, "It's not about the money. It's about my sanity."
As for Microsoft, Xbox lead Phil Spencer is very excited about the deal. "Minecraft inspires millions to create together, connects people across the globe, and is a community that is among the most active and passionate in the world," he said. And for the investors in the crowd, apparently Microsoft isn't too worried about shelling out all that cash. "Microsoft expects the acquisition to be break-even in FY15 on a GAAP basis," the release reads. That's to say Microsoft expects to make back the $2.5 billion it's spending on Minecraft by July 2015. No joke!
The deal isn't finalized just yet, as it has to go through regulatory approval and such. Microsoft's expecting that to happen in "late 2014." The announcement video is below:
What do you think of Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang?Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Mojang, Microsoft, Microsoft (2), Notch
Today, Microsoft confirmed its plan to purchase Mojang, the studio responsible for the wildly popular video game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion. The purchase will give Microsoft one of the most popular brands in video games. The acquisition will not, however, secure Minecraft's creator.
This morning, Markus "Notch" Persson announced he will be leaving the studio he created. He posted the following letter onto his website and Pastebin.
I'm leaving Mojang
September 15th, 2014
I don't see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it's fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don't make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don't try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it's changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It's certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things. At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I've had so much fun with work. I wasn't exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.
I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn't understand. I tweeted this in frustration. Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to realize I didn't have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I've become a symbol. I don't want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don't understand, that I don't want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm not a CEO. I'm a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.
As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I'll probably abandon it immediately.
Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don't expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won't feel a responsibility to read them.
I'm aware this goes against a lot of what I've said in public. I have no good response to that. I'm also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I'm not. I'm a person, and I'm right there struggling with you.
I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can't be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it's belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change.
It's not about the money. It's about my sanity.
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Good headphones don't have to be expensive. We look at Skullcandy, Sony, Apple and others to find the best cheap headphones. Subscribe: http://www.youtube.co...
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ينضم لنا خبير آبل يزيد الغريبي لنتحدث بشكل كامل عن أهم ما جاء في مؤتمر آبل، والذي تم الإعلان فيه عن هاتفي iPhone 6 كبيرين، وطريقة الدفع الجديدة السهلة من آبل، و (أخيرا) ساعة آبل!
نناقش ماذا يعني إصدار جهازي آيفون كبيرين، ونتحدث بالتفصيل عن معلومات إطلاقهما في أسواقنا المحلية، ونشرح مزايا طريقة الدفع الجديدة من آبل وماذا تعني للسوق ككل، وبالتأكيد نناقش كل تفاصيل Apple Watch، من تصميم الساعة وأحجامها المختلفة، إلى سعرها وعمر بطاريتها، وطريقة التحكم بواجهة استخدامها، وحتى الخط المستخدم فيها!
Last week there were a bunch of great posts expounding on the staying power of blogs and RSS. It seems we’re not the only people comparing social media platforms to the open web and we gained a lot of valuable new insight.
All weekend I’ve been thinking about relevance. When Twitter first took off, it delivered. So much of my Twitter feed was filled with timely, interesting material that it became addictive.
But over time Twitter became more of a platform for self-promotion, corporate advertisement, and random, passive-aggressive posts from college roommates. It went from “check out this amazing article I read” to “look at me because I said so.” That’s just not relevant to me.
Facebook never really delivered on relevance, but it was at least new and fresh for a while. Now it feels like an obligation. Happy Birthday. Yes, I like your new hat. Congratulations on your anniversary. Oooh, she’s so cute. And, of course, buy this stuff from Nordstrom.
But blogs and RSS, like email and websites, remain. They are solely focused on delivering relevant information. Could they be better? Heck yes. Check out my queue after I spent several hours reading yesterday:
Yikes, that’s a lot of reading left to do. But that’s 2,619 posts with the highest signal to noise ratio I’m going to see all day. We’re hard at work with ideas to make that even better. And we believe that social is going to be the key in improving that ratio.
We’ll have more on that in the future. But for now, let’s all get back to blogging and reading. May your screen be filled with relevance.
Oh, these sweet summer children, with their 1080p consoles and their backwards hats and their confusing Link with Sonic the Hedgehog. As if the “Kids React to Game Boy” video wasn’t mortifying enough.
TEENAGERS. But, hey, it’s the actress who plays Arya Stark in the Game of Thrones TV series, playing Super Mario Bros. That’s pretty neat.
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Just over a year ago, Motorola introduced its new brand and identity and launched the Moto X, a different kind of smartphone than anything before it. It could be customized differently for each and every person that bought one, something no other smartphone maker had done before (or since). And the Moto X was a critical darling, packed with innovative and user-friendly features.
Despite the critical acclaim, the Moto X didn’t turn out to be a great seller. Motorola quickly discounted the...
Yousef AlnafjanThe worst offender is that last one.
Just a bunch of bros getting smashed. This releases next week in Japan, which explains why the country is already rolling out commercials. The rest us won’t be able to buy it for another month…
PREORDER Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS, upcoming releases
Yousef AlnafjanAs always, mouseover the images.
People sometimes say "If I had all the money in the world ..." in order to discuss what they would do if they had no financial constraints. I'm curious, though, what would happen if one person had all of the world's money?
Daniel Pino
So you've somehow found a way to gather all the world's money. We won't worry about how you did it—let's just assume you invented some kind of money-summoning magic spell.
Physical currency—coins and bills—represents just a small percentage of the world's wealth. In theory, you could edit all the property records on Earth to say that you own all the land and edit all the banking records to say you own all the money. But everyone else would disagree with those records, and they would edit them back or ignore them. Money is an idea, and you can't make the entire world respect your idea.
Getting all the world's cash, on the other hand, is much more straightforward. There's a certain amount of cash in the world—it's about $4 trillion—and you want it all.
It won't necessarily do anything for you, since—without the cooperation of the outside world—you probably won't be able to spend it. But maybe you can swim around in it, like Scrooge McDuck in his giant room full of gold.
So you cast your magic spell and summon all the money.
The pile of cash is the size of the Empire State Building, but heavier. You probably don't want to be standing under it, so let's assume you're standing over here, off to the side:
The vast majority of the weight in the pile is coins, and the biggest single contributor is the US penny. Despite periodic efforts to kill off the penny, the US Mint keeps producing more of them.
There are probably 150 billion pennies[1]A 1996 GAO report mentioned a US Mint estimate of the number of pennies in circulation: 132 billion. If you're excited by phrases like "General Accounting Office", "auditing standards", and "Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy", you can read the report here.
If you're so excited about penny statistics that the GAO report isn't enough for you, you're in luck: There's another way to derive this number.
We can get an idea of the number of pennies in circulation by looking at all the change in our pockets, counting the dates, and using that to estimate a loss rate. In 1999, some statisticians recorded the dates on 1,000 pennies they had lying around, and published the data in the book Workshop Statistics: Discovery with Data and Fathom, page 389. By plotting the frequency with which they saw pennies of various ages against the frequency we'd expect from US Mint production numbers, we can estimate the rate at which older pennies drop out of circulation per year. Using their numbers, I come up with an estimate of about 190,000,000,000 pennies in circulation.
We can then apply the same formula to previous dates, and come up with a number for 1996, to check against the GAO number. (I have a lot of spare time on my hands.) Surprisingly, this produces an estimate that's still about 190,000,000,000. Either number (190 billion or 132 billion) is probably a reasonable estimate, but if you're serious about your penny statistics—and if you've read this far, you must be—you should probably go with the US Mint guess. After all, they presumably know a thing or two about counting pennies. currently in circulation, for a total weight of over 300,000 tons. In total, US coins and bills are responsible for about 30% of the pile's weight, while the European Union—which has barely been minting coins for a decade—contributes 15%.
Unfortunately for you, the pile doesn't stay a pile for long,[2]When you pour lots of loose material in a heap, it tends to form a cone. Different materials will form cones with different slopes; the steepness of the slope for a given material is called its angle of repose.
I've never found the exact angle of repose for coins—or had enough of them to test it—but a forum poster with the username Master of Coin (who claims to be well-acquainted with "how piles of coins 'slish' about") says that it's probably no more than 5 or 10 degrees. and what seems like a safe distance isn't so safe.
In 1919, a tank of molasses in Boston collapsed. Molasses is thick, so you might think it would flow out slowly, but it didn't. The wave of molasses swept down the streets too fast to outrun, demolishing buildings and killing 21 people.
Something similar happens with the pile of coins. As it collapses, the pile spreads outward, a wave of money carrying a staggering amount of momentum. The pennies, quarters, loonies, and euros scour the landscape in an expanding ring. Within seconds, the wave of coins engulfs you and you die.
There are ways to avoid this. You could, say, build a wall around the coins to contain them. Unfortunately, then you might face a problem worse than death:
Building code violations.
Heavy skyscrapers need ground strong enough to support them. Places with large skyscrapers, like those in Manhattan, need bedrock sturdy enough to hold them up.[3]For a long time, people said that this was why there was a gap in Manhattan's skyline—the bedrock wasn't strong enough to support skyscrapers in the middle. However, a 2011 paper in the Journal of Economic History says that this is a myth, and the bedrock had little influence on the location of skyscrapers. A search through this giant PDF of NYC building codes suggests that if we went ahead with this plan, we would be in serious danger of violating section 1804 ("ALLOWABLE BEARING PRESSURES").
Which makes me wonder: Did Scrooge McDuck ever have to worry about this stuff?
The Facebook Android app is hugely popular whether you like it or not (I'm assuming you don't). The social network is already the largest online community in the world, but now Zuckerberg and company can add another feather in their collective hat—Facebook for Android is the first non-Google app to reach 1 billion downloads in Google Play. Are the end times at hand?
Facebook is even outpacing several of Google's own apps like Chrome, Hangouts, and Google Search (I don't even know how that's possible).
Facebook Becomes First Non-Google App To Hit 1 Billion Installs In Play Store was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
في هذه الحلقة نتحدث عن شراء أمازون لموقع Twitch، ثم ننتقل للحديث عن مختلف الإعلانات المتوقعة خلال الأسبوع القادم الحافل جدا، من آيفون 6 إلى أجهزة سامسونج وموتورولا وإل جي وسوني القادمة. بعد ذلك نتحدث عن الثغرة الأمنية في خدمة iCloud التي أدت لسرقة صور ومعلومات خاصة لمئات المشاهير وكيف نستطيع تجنب التعرض لها، ونجيب على أسئلتكم التي وصلتنا، والمزيد!
There's been no shortage of parts leaks and even "leaked" iPhones assembled from various parts on the internet in the past few weeks. But the latest leak of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, from Russian YouTuber user Rozetked, might just be the best we've seen so far. As the camera slowly pans over the assembled device, you can get a clear look at the curved edges, large antenna bands, and relocated power button. As 9to5Mac notes, you can also get a (brief) look at the white front panel and compare the space gray color to the iPhone 5S (spoiler: the colors look very similar.)
Everybody is expecting both a 4.7-inch iPhone and a 5.5-inch version at Apple's event on September 9th, not to mention the iWatch. It will be an event so big that Apple built an entirely new, three-story structure for it. So even if you think you know everything about the new iPhones, there's almost surely a surprise or two in store.
Sudden death is always tense in Super Smash Bros. Everybody starts out with 300% damage. Anything can happen. The slightest touch can send someone spinning into outer space. Or, a battle can drag on against the most insane odds to become a nail-biter to end all nail-biters.
YouTuber KeiTakumi just uploaded a video showing Fox and Falco locked in the most insane sudden death match from Super Smash Bros. Brawl that I've ever seen. Like, Dragon Ball Z-levels of insanity—hence the video's "DBZ Type Shit" title. The footage is actually pulled from a tool-assisted video first uploaded way back in 2013, which I've put above for reference.
The two characters just keep pounding each other, snaking their way across every corner of the map and somehow managing to stay afloat thanks to the endless pummeling. The video is tool-assisted, unfortunately, so these two fighters didn't pull off the superhuman levitation-type combat on their own. But still, it's a real treat to watch this sort of frenetic energy unload for almost a minute straight.
The new Super Smash Bros. games really can't come soon enough, can they?
UPDATE (4:50 pm): A very helpful reader pointed me to the original video, and I've now replaced that in favor of the audio-less version I discovered today. This video is still one of the most insane Super Smash Bros. matches I've ever seen. Apologies for misleading any readers with the more recent video I originally posted.
To contact the author of this post, write to yannick.lejacq@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq.
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نعود للحديث عن آخر أخبار الآيفون القادم، والساعات الذكية الدائرية، اشتراك يوتوب المدفوع، وأجهزة المنزل الذكي. بعد ذلك نعطي انطباعاتنا عن Surface Pro 3، وسماعة بلوتوث سوني MDR10، وشواحن وبطاريات Anker الجديدة، وحتى مروحة سيارة تعمل بالطاقة الشمسية!
Sony may be experiencing a few unpleasant flashbacks this weekend. Both the PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) are slowly recovering from a denial of service attack that flooded their server connections, kicking many gamers offline. The group claiming responsibility, Lizard Squad, reportedly started out bombarding servers run by Blizzard (World of Warcraft), Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile) and Riot Games (League of Legends) before swinging its attention Sony's way.
The motivations are fuzzy at this point -- the attackers don't take themselves too seriously -- but you likely won't have to worry about your account being compromised like you did back in 2011. As SOE's John Smedley explains, the culprits are simply trying to overwhelm Sony rather than break in. That won't be much comfort if you wanted to squeeze in a few rounds of Killzone before the weekend was over, but it hopefully means that you can get back to playing without worrying that your data is vulnerable. In at least SOE's case, some services are already back up and running -- give it a try and let others know how it's going in the comments.
Update: Sony has officially confirmed Smedley's statement that there was a denial of service attack against PSN and SOE (as well as the broader Sony Entertainment Network). It also reiterates that "no personal information has been accessed."
Update 2: This may be a larger incident than it seemed to be at first glance. Lizard Squad now hints that it's targeting Xbox Live's login servers; sure enough, Microsoft is reporting "limited" sign-in functionality on the Xbox status page. We've reached out to verify whether or not Microsoft is a victim. To top it all off, Gameinformer has confirmed that the FBI is investigating the attackers' apparently successful attempt to divert Smedley's flight with a fake bomb threat.
Network update: our engineers are aware of the issues and are working to resolve them. We'll keep you posted - sorry for the inconvenience
- PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 24, 2014
Services will be gradually restored. For some it's up now. For others the route they take may be flooded so they can't log in yet.
- John Smedley (@j_smedley) August 24, 2014
Here's Pierce Brosnan, playing Goldeneye with Jimmy Fallon. Brosnan's not the best at the game, but hey, that's OK. He can say he used to be James Bond.
Every Friday, the people of Kafranbel, Syria release photos of a handmade sign designed to draw global attention to the truly awful bloodshed in Syria. This Friday, they've released an understated but powerful message — simply a quote of the late actor Robin Williams' famous line about freedom from Aladdin:
Kafranbel Media Center
Kafranbel is a town in northwestern Syria, and a bastion of support for anti-Assad rebels (they also hate the Islamic State, aka ISIS). For years, its residents have released these heartbreaking messages to try to make the world do something about the war. Not without risk: Raed Fares, one of the leaders of the media effort, was shot on his way home from the Kafranbel Media Center, the nerve center of the effort, in January. Fares survived, albeit barely, and the signs have kept coming:
Kafranbel Media Center
Perhaps the most depressing theme of the Kafranbel protests is their plea that President Obama and the United States intervene in the conflict, a plea that the US has largely resisted for years. It's so depressing because there's very little Obama can do to stop the war in Syria — or in most other places in the Middle East:
That's Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei playing catcher, and Syrian dictator Assad as the ball. Kafranbel Media Center
The Kafranbel criticism of Obama is often pretty biting — like this dig at Obama's recent description of the Syrian rebels as "farmers, dentists, and folks who have never fought before:"
Kafranbel Media Center
Or this unflattering comparison to Bush:
Kafranbel Media Center
Despite this extraordinarily brave media effort, Obama has not been able help the people of Kafranbel. Here's why.