Hey PS Talent! My name is Trisha aka TBaby. I have been a member of PST almost a year now, joining at the end of June last year. For those of you who are new to PST, please know this is an amazing organization which contributes greatly to the PS Home Community. Existing members, you already know what I am talking about. I hope you all are as excited as I am about the exciting  [read more →]]]>

Hey PS Talent! My name is Trisha aka TBaby. I have been a member of PST almost a year now, joining at the end of June last year. For those of you who are new to PST, please know this is an amazing organization which contributes greatly to the PS Home Community. Existing members, you already know what I am talking about. I hope you all are as excited as I am about the exciting upcoming opportunities here!

It has been such a pleasure getting to know people here, make new friends, and work together on various projects.  I am extremely proud to be a member of PST and have the upmost respect for the Director and all the staff here.  We really are a talented group of individuals here, each of us contributing to the overall success of many different projects.  We have a unique blend of personalities, but we all share a common goal to use our talents to give back to the PS Home Community, which has been so good to us.

In getting to know many of the members here, it is always interesting to find out what we are doing in our real lives as well as our virtual ones as many of the talents are skills that we use for PST come from our everyday lives. I myself have been a promotional model in Dallas for the past 8 years and currently finishing up my MBA at SMU. I’m 27 years old, the mother of a beautiful 4 year old daughter, love video games, and of course PS Home.  Some of you may already know, but I have entered Maxim’s Gamer Girl contest.  The winner of the competition will be featured in the magazine and have the chance to be a spokes model for Virgin Gaming.  Needless to say, I thought this was a great opportunity for me.

As a fellow PST member, I am asking for your votes and support as I am trying to represent the entire Home community in the competition. As far as I have seen, there are no other contestants representing PS Home or any organization therein. I know that some of you have already started to vote for me and support me and I wanted to thank you for that.  I have recently reached enough votes to stay on the Top Girls page, i.e. the 1^st page of girls with the most votes.  But the contest is far from over.  This is just the 1^st round as Maxim will be picking the top girls to advance to the next round from which an overall winner will be selected by judges.  So I really need your vote to get to the top 3 contestants for round 2.

One thing about PST being a tight knit group is the support we show each other for various causes or campaigns.  I remember last year when a few of us (including myself) were seeking for donations for the Extra-Life charity, and the support we got here.  The same goes for The Tester, when we had some of our members trying to rally for votes.  And here is yet another opportunity in which I hope we can show the unity and strength of our organization in supporting one of its members.  I sincerely promise to do my best to represent Home to the best of my ability.  I am thankful for all my opportunities that PS Talent has given me as a member and I am asking for your vote for me to be Maxim’s 1^st Gamer Girl. Click here to vote!

Much love to you all,
Trisha
MUAH!

Sony also confirmed that personal data from 24.6 million user accounts was stolen in the hacker attack last month. Personal data, including credit card numbers, might have been stolen from another 77 million PlayStation accounts, said Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka.

He said Sony has not received any reports  [read more →]]]> TOKYO — Sony said Tuesday it aimed to fully restore its PlayStation Network, shut down after a massive security breach affecting over 100 million online accounts, by the end of May.

Sony also confirmed that personal data from 24.6 million user accounts was stolen in the hacker attack last month. Personal data, including credit card numbers, might have been stolen from another 77 million PlayStation accounts, said Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka.

He said Sony has not received any reports of illegal uses of stolen information, and the company is continuing its probe into the hacker attack. He declined to give details on the investigation.

Sony shut down the PlayStation network, a system that links gamers worldwide in live play, on April 20 after discovering the security breach. The network also allows users to upgrade and download games and other content.

Sony was under heavy criticism over its handling of the network intrusion. The company did not notify consumers of the breach until April 26 even though it began investigating unusual activity on the network since April 19.

Last month, U.S. lawyers filed a lawsuit against Sony on behalf of lead plaintiff Kristopher Johns for negligent protection of personal data and failure to inform players in a timely fashion that their credit card information may have been stolen. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.

Fukuoka declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Source

I haven’t really engaged in conversation regarding this hacking situation. I’ve scanned the Internet to bring you the latest, most important NEWS updates in hopes of easing some of the anxiety that comes from not knowing. I’ve read many opinions from journalists, most of which have no idea of the emotional impact it has on many of us, they simply report from technical facts and press release statements.

After surfing the net, I’ve found many ‘user’ statements to be negative, probably  [read more →]]]> Hello everyone.

I haven’t really engaged in conversation regarding this hacking situation. I’ve scanned the Internet to bring you the latest, most important NEWS updates in hopes of easing some of the anxiety that comes from not knowing. I’ve read many opinions from journalists, most of which have no idea of the emotional impact it has on many of us, they simply report from technical facts and press release statements.

After surfing the net, I’ve found many ‘user’ statements to be negative, probably around the 75% negative, 15% neutral and 10% positive range. That’s completely understandable. In this day and age, gamers have come to expect the ‘snap-of-the-finger’ fix because that’s how technology operates. I’ve read some pretty harsh statements, swearing up the gizzippers, so bad I can see their hands shaking. To be truthfully honest, I find it kind of entertaining. I only wish I can see how they live their everyday lives and learn why this misfortune situation has affected them so badly.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying this ordeal is good. From a gamer standpoint, I have so many things going on right now I don’t have time to think about it. In all honesty, I am (we are) one of the lucky ones. Why? Let me tell you … Of the 77 million users worldwide, how many are actively engaged in an offsite PlayStation social community? What’s missing from every one’s lives is having the ability to communicate with each other. We have that here. Sure not all of our friends are active on the site, but I think up until the past day or so, most of the comments I’ve read from this site have been positive, with a slight neutral position and I contribute that to our chat program. We are the lucky ones.

For those journalists and billions of other outsiders to understand the emotional impact this has on the community, I say, take away their cell phones for three weeks and see how they cope with it. No text messaging, no phone calls, no keeping in touch with those you’re closest to…and worst of all, not knowing when you’ll get your cell phone back.

How do I feel about the idea that someone may have stolen my identity? Not  too happy of course. I’m not angry. There are protections I have with my bank. I doubt if some crazed person will show at my door.  Heck, they have 77 million other individuals to stock … And that’s only if they’re stupid enough to act on the stolen data, which would obviously lead them to jail.

It’s easy to be angry and curse those you hate. It’s easy to lash out at those who intentionally do wrong. But this isn’t the case here. I’m not defending the actions of SONY or their public relations handling of this situation. I know without question they are doing what is in the best interest of their customers, and taking into consideration their every action and how it affects the community. For that, I give them all the time they need. It’s easy for me to say that … I’m one of the lucky ones … We all are.

Updated from an earlier report: According to a statement from Sony, which held a press conference regarding the recent shut down on the companies online gaming site, they expect to have the Playstation network back online for users by the end of this week.

The network was shut down in the wake of hacking attacks against the company which led to the theft of credit card and bank account information of former customers. In response to the break-in, and  [read more →]]]> MAY 5, 2011

Updated from an earlier report: According to a statement from Sony, which held a press conference regarding the recent shut down on the companies online gaming site, they expect to have the Playstation network back online for users by the end of this week.

The network was shut down in the wake of hacking attacks against the company which led to the theft of credit card and bank account information of former customers. In response to the break-in, and to give the company more time to improve security, Sony shut down the Sony Online Entertainment site which allows online gamers to play games with each other over the internet using their Playstation 3 consoles as well as through Facebook.

The company is offering customers a 30 day extension to their current subscriptions plus an additional free day for each day the network is off line.

During the press conference in Japan thei week, Sony executive Kazuo Hirai told gaming customers that that they would be able to enjoy their online games by Friday of this week and apologized for the down time.

The improvements to the site will require Sony PlayStation 3 customers to accept a system software update to their console, and will require them to change the password on their accounts as well. These and other internal layers of enhanced security are designed to prevent future breaches of the company’s network and keep customer information safe.

So who took Sony PlayStation Network Down, and when will they have PSN back up? Those questions are lingering as the consumer electronics company continues to try to ease the fears of its members.

A new report from PCMag.com reveals that Sony has released some interesting information about the hack of PSN. Apparently, one detail revealed is that one of the PlayStation Network servers had a file named “Anonymous.” That’s the name of the infamous cyber hacking group  [read more →]]]> May 05, 2011 01:15 AM EDT

So who took Sony PlayStation Network Down, and when will they have PSN back up? Those questions are lingering as the consumer electronics company continues to try to ease the fears of its members.

A new report from PCMag.com reveals that Sony has released some interesting information about the hack of PSN. Apparently, one detail revealed is that one of the PlayStation Network servers had a file named “Anonymous.” That’s the name of the infamous cyber hacking group responsible for disrupting the network weeks before the more serious intrusion.

As PCMag notes, Anonymous was waging attacks against Sony staff and their families. This was all due to the group’s anger over how Sony had taking legal actions in a U.S. Court against a notorious hacker. That hacker was George Hotz, aka “geohot.” Hotz developed a guide to help other users hack the Sony PS3 and network to customize it more.

Anonymous denied any responsibility for the attack last month, but it said that “it could be the case that other Anons have acted by themselves.” Sony hasn’t exactly said who (individual or group) was responsible for the severe security breach that occurred between April 17th and 19th. It’s been noted by the company’s officials that they are helping the FBI investigate the breach, and they are reluctant to reveal full details to the public.

So it’s still possible that Anonymous was responsible for taking the Sony PlayStation Network down. Technically, Sony decided to pull their network down to prevent further data security problems, although they didn’t handle it with the public as best as they could. Now it’s up to Sony to get the PSN back up soon, so game fans can start enjoying the video game network once again—hopefully without worry of more attacks from cyber hackers.