Osama Bin Laden is dead

Major news outlets are reporting that the United States has the body of Osama Bin Laden. President Barack Obama is set to address the nation at any moment.

Nearly ten years after 9/11,one the greatest attacks on the United States soil the accused leader of the operation is officially dead. Ever since the attacks on that tragic day the U.S. have been seeking either the capture of death of Osama Bin Laden, today the latter was realized.

Many have believed Osama to have been dead for years as he had a kidney condition and treatment would have been hard to maintain while constantly being on the run. Theories haves been passed around that even if he was dead the U.S. was keeping him alive in the media to further an agenda.

Today it has been confirmed though..... Osama Bin Laden is dead and his body is property of the United States of America. As more details come about we will be sure to bring them to you.

Once again for the history books....Osama Bin Laden is dead.

PlayStation Network to be restored this week

Sony has just delivered a press conference in Tokyo today and has declared that the PlayStation Network services will be restored this week. Not only that, Sony plans to extend an offer of thanks to their loyal customers in the way of gifts, one of those being a free month's service of PlayStation Plus for all PSN users. Here's the full report:

"Tokyo, May 1, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) announced they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStation®Network and Qriocity™ services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s data-center located in San Diego, California, U.S.A., SNEI quickly turned off the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. SNEI and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. With these measures in place, SCE and SNEI plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. The initial phase of the rollout will include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation®3 (PS3) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) systems
  -This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation®Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

Working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of Chief Information Security Officer, directly reporting to Shinji Hasejima, Chief Information Officer of Sony Corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks
• Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption
• Enhanced ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns
• Implementation of additional firewalls

The company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

“This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

Complimentary Offering and “Welcome Back” Appreciation Program
While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.

The company will also rollout the PlayStation Network and Qriocity “Welcome Back” program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company’s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

Central components of the “Welcome Back” program will include:

• Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.
• All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

SNEI will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the PlayStation®Store and other Qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.

For more information about the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services intrusion and restoration, please visit http://blog.us.playstation.com. or http://blog.eu.playstation.com/."

For more on this story click here.

2011 NFL Draft tonight

With the 2011 NFL season still uncertain teams from across the league will restock their rosters with fresh talent from the college level. The Carolina Panthers have the first overall pick and are widely expected to take Heisman trophy and national title winning quarterback Cam Newton. Other potential top picks include Marcell Dareus defensive tackle from Alabama, Von Miller linebacker from Texas A&M, Ryan Mallett quarterback from Arkansas, and A.J. Green wide receiver from Georgia.

While this year's draft may seem normal in appearance, the dynamics are completely different than any draft before it. Due to the ongoing labor disputes teams have been unable to sign free agents and really haven't had a clear understanding as to what holes they need to fill with this year's batch of future NFL players. There is also no set date as to when the new recruits will be able to join their teams, combined with that kind of a big question, will 2011 even be their rookie years?

The 2011 NFL Draft will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City starting at 8:00 p.m. tonight and continuing for the rest of the weekend. For full up the minute updates be sure to check out the NFL's official website here.

Tornadoes ravage America's south

The past week has brought hundreds of tornadoes sweeping through the south of the United States. The death toll stands at nearly 250 and continues to grow as the hours go by. Deaths have been reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama. The latter being the hardest hit of them all, Alabama has confirmed more than 160 deaths due to the devastating storm system sweeping through the region.

The tornadoes spared no parts of the state, claiming the lives of 30 people in DeKalb County which is located in the northeast section of the state and another 18 in Franklin County situated in the northwest of the state. An unimaginable 66 tornadoes have been reported in Alabama to the National Weather Service, combined with a total of 137 reports throughout the south.

The National Guard has activated 2,000 troops to help search the devastated areas for the missing and injured. FEMA has responded and Alabama governor Robert Bentley has been engaged in communications with President Obama, who is expected to travel the state on Friday to assess the damage that has taken place.

At this time tornado watches still remain in effect for the country's south.

PlayStation Network users' personal information compromised

After nearly a week of the Sony's online gaming service the PlayStation Network being disabled and a lack of information being relayed to customers, the company has finally stated what many have feared since the start. Earlier today on the official PlayStation blog an update was posted saying that users' personal information such as names, home addresses, telephone numbers, and possibly credit card information has been compromised in the external attack that left the network unable to function.

Here's a direct quote from the blog:

"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained."


With each day that passes by since the attack customers continue to grow increasingly angry and the outlook begins to look for worse for Sony. The question now is will Sony and the PlayStation Network be able to recoup from this event and get back to where it stood less than 8 days ago. 


For more information on this story be sure to check out our original report here and also the first update we brought here.

NFL Lockout lifted by federal judge

Today the NFL players may have received a lucky break. A federal judge has issued an injunction which orders team owners to lift the previous applied league wide lockout. All is not fancy in football country yet as the NFL plans to appeal the ruling on the grounds that federal law prohibits injunctions when it comes to labor disputes. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson claims that when the players made the decision to relinquish their union the case was no longer applicable under federal labor laws.

If NFL players were to remained locked out come time for the season this September it will be the first time the NFL has stopped working since the year 1987. Football fans across the globe have their fingers crossed that this argument over the division of the NFL's 9 billion in revenue between players and owners can be settled before the season's scheduled kick off on September 8th.

Here's a fact you might need to know one day, with this ruling the Green Bay Packers will finally be able to receive their Super Bowl rings and also make the traditional trip to the White House to meet the President after winning the championship. League rules prohibited both events from taking place during times of a lockout.

Check out the NFL's release of this year's schedules right here. 

Netflix post 87% profit in 1Q earnings

Online movie rental company Netflix (Ticker Symbol: NFLX) posted their first quarter earnings today, which was a remarkable 87% rise in profit. Their stock is up 43% percent this year and today it achieved an all-time high of $254.98 per share. Price per share declined in afterhours trading to $245.34 as the company has stated the outlook of the second quarter's earnings may not match those of the first.

Netflix also reported having a global subscriber base of 23.6 million which is up 69% from last year. Netflix's popularity grew when other than just having movies delivered to customers' home by mail they introduced the ability for a user to be able to instantly stream a movie or television show via their PC, PlayStation 3, or X-Box 360. The current price of Netflix's services is very reasonable $8 a month.

If you need any proof of Netflix's outstanding rise in popularity just take a look at the Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos closing across the country. As the option of leaving your house to rent a movie becomes more frowned upon so do companies whose business models are built upon it.