Controversy

Should You Turn Off Java Now?

Turn off your Java now - Dangerous vulnerability in latest Java version

The latest Java version, Java 7 Update 10 contains a critical security vulnerability which is reportedly already being used for large scale cyberattacks. Users who have Java installed on their computers should deactivate the Java plugin in their browsers without delay.

A malware researcher calling himself kafeine has discovered an online exploit which makes use of a previously unknown Java vulnerability. Security experts at AlienVault have analyzed the exploit and confirmed the significance of the find. They were able to use it to inject code onto a fully patched Windows system running Java 7 Update 10. It is currently unclear whether the vulnerability is also present in Java 6, though the exploit did not work in initial tests on Java 6 carried out by kafeine.

The vulnerability is, however, already being exploited by cybercriminals to distribute malware. Security blogger Brian Krebs says that attack modules for the Black Hole and Nuclear Pack exploit kits are already available. According to Krebs, a Black Hole developer calling himself "Paunch", posting on underground forums yesterday (Wednesday), heralded the zero day exploit as a New Year's gift for his paying customers.

Because the vulnerability, thanks to the various exploit kits, requires minimum effort to exploit, it is reasonable to expect that the number of web sites hosting the exploit is likely to rise exponentially over the next few days. Simply visiting an infected web site is all that's required to fall victim to a malware infection. The attack code may also be hosted on mainstream web sites.

Users should therefore deactivate the Java plugin in their browsers without delay. Instructions for doing so can be found on the following web pages:

Deactivating the Java plugin in Firefox

Deactivating the Java plugin in Chrome

Deactivating the Java plugin in Safari

In Opera, the plugin manager can be accessed by entering opera lugins in the address bar. Disabling Java under Internet Explorer is not straightforward. Tests carried out by our associates at heise Security found that Microsoft's flagship browser was still able to access the Java plugin even after it had been explicitly disabled. Users running IE are therefore advised to uninstall Java completely using the Add or Remove Programs option in Windows' Control Panel. Users can check whether Java has been successfully deactivated using the Java test page in our browser check suite.

The following article was reposted from MajorGeeks.com

Ramsey Digital Designs the Best Videos!

I live in a blight-filled area of Michigan called Cottrellville Township. Over the last five years, Cottrellville Township has turned into an extremely ugly place to live in throughout quite a few areas. No matter where you live in Cottrellville Township, you don't need to look far to find blight. This is why I -- Michael Zoran -- have decided to run for Trustee and also Precinct Delegate in the upcoming Cottrellville Township election on August 7, 2012. (By the way, my political signs are going to cost over $750. If anyone would like to make a donation using PayPal, please look on the right side of your screen to do so.)

Morris of Ramsey Digital is a close friend of mine. As soon as Morris found out how I was doing things such as signing contracts with Comcast to bring township meetings into the homes of residents on public access TV channel 12 and also on YouTube channel michaelzoran, Morris decided to help me out.

This new video is dedicated to my Fight Against Blight. The high-quality video clearly shows the talent and skill Morris and his staff at Ramsey Digital possess. When people saw the impressive video, I started getting emails asking me how to contact Ramsey Digital.

Ramsey Digital can be contacted here: http://www.theaskeweffect.com/KRUZ8ER/

Ramsey Digital is also a great place to visit if you are a videogame fan and enjoy chatting online with other gamers in online forums.

You can contact Morris Ramsey at [email protected]

The prices are very reasonable for these videos. All you need to do is send Morris some pictures and/or videos. You also need to tell him what the theme of your video needs to be. Morris will take over from there, and for the low price of $50 to $200, Morris will have a Hollywood style video for you in just a few days.

Speaker Wire is a Confusing Product!

Recently I decided to buy some new speaker wire for my A/V Receiver. According to reports and brochures, the top-rated speaker wire you should use with an A/V Receiver is 12-gauge wire. The 12-gauge wire is useful for long wire runs and also useful on shorter wire runs because the larger amount of copper provides less resistance for electricity (a very good thing). But while doing research and examining products, I became very disappointed by the fact that key pieces of information are usually left out of speaker wire products.

I would like to clarify a few things about speaker wire. Ironically, as the "gauge" of the wire becomes smaller, the speaker wire actually increases in size. This improves the quality of the wire because it decreases the electrical resistance. Taking advantage of high-quality speaker wire can actually help give added life to your A/V Receiver or Amplifier.

One of the primary qualities often advertised by manufacturers of speaker wire is something called "Oxygen-Free" wire. The reason this feature is important is because oxygen can "oxidize" the copper in the wire. When speaker wire becomes oxidized (similar to rusted), it will increase the electrical resistance in the wire. Consequently, the sound quality will decrease and electrical problems in an amplifier may be generated.

I recently learned that one of the biggest problems with speaker wire is the way products are falsely advertised. I'm referring to the fact that a countless number of manufacturers advertise "Copper" speaker wire. But in reality the copper speaker wire has an aluminum core that is only "coated" with copper. If you buy 12-gauge aluminum wire that is coated with copper, it may only offer the benefits of 16-gauge "pure copper" wire.

Believe it or not, speaker wire gets even more confusing! The 12-gauge speaker wire that is recommended by home theater magazines is usually referring to the AWG (American Wire Gauge) standard of measurement. There are other forms of standards that are not universal in their measurements. For example, a manufacturer of speaker wire may advertise a 10-gauge speaker wire, but in reality it may only offer measurements seen by an AWG 12-gauge or AWG 14-gauge wire.

There are also dirty tactics that can be used in the world of speaker wire. Obviously the copper is the most expensive material used in speaker wire. Aluminum is the second most expensive material used in speaker wire, while plastic is the least expensive material used in speaker wire. Some manufacturer's of speaker wire use very thin copper wire or copper-coated wire, but they still advertise their product as 12-gauge.

The reason these manufacturers do this is because they use incredibly thick plastic wire to coat the metal in a cheap way. These manufacturers don't make their final standard of measurement until after the plastic has been placed over the wire. This is a very immoral thing to do because speaker wire is being sold for a higher price as if it were offering the quality of a higher product. In reality, the speaker wire is not offering high quality performance at all.

I still have not been able to find the following product that I truly do have a desire to purchase: AWG 12-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Wire

I can tell you two things from personal experience, though. First, the speaker wire company called Monster Cable charges way too much money for their speaker wire product. Monster Cable doesn't even bother to list the gauge on their product! People who have measured the Monster Cable speaker wire have found it to be somewhere between 15-gauge and 16-gauge. I highly recommend that you purchase a different brand, simply because the only thing you are paying for is the advertisements of this company.

RCA actually makes the best speaker wire. This speaker wire is an AWG 14-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Speaker Wire. This product is rated incredibly high by all users on websites such as Amazon.com. The speaker wire sold online costs far less than the prices seen in most retail stores. If you do need to buy this product at a retail store, I recommend ABC Warehouse because they are willing to negotiate with you if you buy several rolls. If only RCA were to release this product in AWG 12-Gauge, I would be the happiest camper in the world!

Does anyone know who makes an AWG 12-Gauge Oxygen-Free 100% Copper Speaker Wire?

Nintendo Faces First Financial Loss in It's Long Japanese History

Japanese game giant Nintendo’s financial fears were proven correct when the official results for the six months to September 30 were released. Nintendo has seen a massive drop in sales revenue, causing financial losses to rise by a factor of 35. Nintendo now forecasts an annual loss for the first time in its history in the videogame business.

Nintendo’s financial reports show that the company's six-monthly net sales revenue fell 40.6 per cent year on year to ¥215.7 billion (£1.78 billion), a drop of ¥147.4 billion (£1.2 billion) that naturally hit its bottom line hard – putting Nintendo in a very deep red hole. This time last year net loss was a slight ¥2.01 billion (£16.6 million). This year that has increased by a factor of almost 35, to a staggering ¥70.3 billion (£579.8 million).

Almost two thirds of that came in the last three months - Nintendo's loss at the end of the first fiscal quarter of the year was ¥25.5 billion - which may go some way to showing the impact on Nintendo's finances of making a loss on hardware sales following the global 3DS price drop in August.

The results are even worse than those reported by Nikkei yesterday. It claimed Nintendo would report a pre-tax loss of ¥100 billion (£821 million); in fact the company's losses before income tax totaled ¥107.9 billion (£890.16 million).

Nintendo's balance sheet shows that its woes are almost entirely down to falling sales. Despite the impending launch of Wii U, R&D costs were broadly consistent with last year's, rising just 1.8 per cent. Similarly, its renewed efforts in marketing 3DS have had no impact; with its advertising expenditure actually falling 9.1 by per cent year on year. Exchange rate fluctuations, which are hitting Japanese companies across the board due to the strength of the yen, caused losses of ¥52.4 billion (£432.4 million).

The biggest drop in sales came from the United States, where revenue fell by ¥85.9 billion (£708.9 million). This is a drop of 53.8 per cent that accounts for 58 per cent of the overall drop in revenue. In Japan, sales fell by 33.7 per cent; in Europe, 25.7 per cent, and in other territories, 39.9 per cent.

Sales of 3DS hardware, at least, are going in the right direction. In the first quarter of the year Nintendo sold just 710,000 units of its new handheld; in the three months to September 30 it sold 2.36 million systems. Worldwide, lifetime 3DS sales now total 6.68 million.

It's depressing stuff, and will have made for nervous reading for Satoru Iwata. The company president asked investors to give him four months to turn things around following the announcement of the 3DS price drop and the lukewarm reaction to the unveiling of Wii U at E3 in June, which caused Nintendo's share price to fall 5.7 per cent in a single day.

Nintendo's prospects of reducing losses to that ¥20 billion target rest on its predictions of a Christmas rush on 3DS driven by two titles starring its talisman, Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. Iwata, more than most, will hope those forecasts are proven right.

Sony Projects $1.2 Billion Financial Loss!

Sony is struggling financially. This financial struggling has been going on for seven years at Sony. Last quarter, Sony lost $346 million due to poor sales in electronics (especially TV sets) and videogames, in addition to disappointing results in the movie industry.

Now, Sony has readjusted its fiscal year earnings to show an even more devastating loss than originally expected. Previously, Sony had projected a yearly lost of $769 million, but this has now risen to a loss of $1.2 billion!

Kaz Hirai, Executive Deputy President of Sony, announced “Management is feeling a serious sense of crisis about the seven years of losses.” Hirai continued by saying that he “Promises to lead the turnaround to get Sony out of the red.”

Boycott of Casey Anthony Starts Here – Sign Up NOW!

Casey Anthony was found not guilty for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. But there is no doubt Casey Anthony is guilty of this crime; she murdered her daughter. The very disturbing thing about the American justice system and the American media is that at this point in time Casey Anthony essentially has won the lottery! Casey Anthony has the potential to receive unlimited amounts of money from interviews, signing book deals, signing movie contracts, TV show appearances, and even being part of reality TV shows.

But there is one way we can prevent Casey Anthony from earning huge amounts of money at the expense of her daughter’s life. I am referring to what is defined as a boycott. We can work together to make sure that Casey Anthony does not earn money when books and interviews are published. Similarly, we can work together to make sure Casey Anthony does not earn money when movies and other programs appear on television.

The way to achieve a successful boycott is with numbers; we need to work together as a team. We need to encourage all of our family members and friends to sign up for this boycott. By officially signing up for a boycott, you are committing an action based on faith – your pledge that you will stay true to your personal belief that Casey Anthony does not deserve your money!

I, Michael Zoran, will be the first to officially pledge not to buy any book or magazine associated with Casey Anthony. I will also be the first to pledge not to watch any movie or TV show that is associated with Casey Anthony in any way. Even if Casey Anthony is not an actor in the movie, I still pledge not to watch that movie because I realize Casey Anthony will receive some form of income.

I encourage anyone and everyone reading this article to make a similar pledge, saying you "Pledge to boycott anything from anyone or any business trying to benefit financially from the death of innocent Caylee Anthony." If enough people make this commitment, the result will be a successful boycott. It is very important that we achieve this goal, working together as a society. This boycott will be the last opportunity for 2-year-old Caylee Anthony to receive the justice she deserves.

The simple fact is, there is a very sensitive part of a person’s body located below the belt. This part of the human body is more sensitive than any other body part. It is capable of producing large amounts of both pleasure and pain. I am referring to the wallet!

Caylee Anthony can have justice! But she desperately needs our help! Please, sign up for this boycott by writing a brief pledge similar to the one I wrote. By making this pledge and living up to your promise, you will provide a form of justice to Caylee Anthony.

Thank you for your time and your help. And thank you for signing up for this boycott. I encourage any celebrity or anyone else with lots of followers on Twitter or Facebook to spread the word about this boycott. God bless you, and God bless little Caylee.

Update: If anyone finds out about any particular products that need to be boycotted, please write to me in order to let me know. Then, I will post an update here in order to help people know which products to avoid purchasing. My email address is: [email protected]

Update 2: Our pledges to boycott anything associated with the financial gain of the death of Caylee Anthony are working. Today I learned that a pornographic company has officially withdrawn its offer to hire Casey Anthony to star in an XXX-rated movie. The executive said, "It has become obvious to us that Vivid fans, and people in general, want nothing to do with her and that includes a XXX movie."

As a Christian, I never thought I'd be saying this, but the pornographic film industry has set an excellent example for the rest of society to follow. Book publishers need to realize that if they sign a deal with the goal of financial gain from the death of Caylee Anthony, we will not just avoid the purchase of that product. We will boycott products from that entire company from that point on!

The same can be said for retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. If retailers sell a book dedicated to the financial gain of Caylee's death, it means they get a share of the money. Thus, we will be boycotting that store from that point on! We live in a free society, so if Casey wants to sell a book let her build a website and mail it to you. Retailers will lose our business if they try to financially gain from the death of Caylee Anthony.

Update 3: The Wall street journal has an article explaining that Jose Baez was signed by Paradigm Talent agency then dropped within 6 hours. Obviously, the capitalist business world we live in is feeling the heat from pledges to boycott any person or any business trying to gain financially from the death of innocent Caylee Anthony. Many of us are hitting the Advertisers and Media now to head off any future deals. Make your voice heard using the two links below to contact Advertisers and Media:

http://www.keepcaseybroke.com/boycott-letter.html - In particular, boycott ABC & Disney, since they have already given Casey Anthony and those associated with her $200,000. If it wasn't for ABC (using Disney as a form of dummy corporation), Casey Anthony would not have been able to pay for a defense team. Please do not watch ABC news or TV shows. And please do not watch Disney TV shows, attend Disney movies, or buy Disney movies on DVD.

http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/networks/main.asp - Contact Media networks to share your thoughts. Let them know that making a made-for-TV movie trying to benefit from the death of Cayle is a bad idea! I will eventually contact every one of them, proudly showing our group of pledges to boycott!

Update 4: Jerry Springer has offered Casey Anthony $1 Million if she and her family – George, Cindy, and Lee – will come on his show for an interview. We absolutely must boycott the Jerry Springer show starting NOW! Until Jerry Springer cancels this offer, we will not watch his program. If you want to contact the Jerry Springer show in order to point out you will never watch his show again if he tries to benefit financially from the death of Caylee Anthony, you can do so at this email address: [email protected]. I will be writing a message to Jerry Springer very soon using the power of our group of pledges to knock his greedy socks off.

Personally, I believe Jerry Springer doesn't have the ability to pay $1 million dollars if his life depended on it. I believe Jerry Springer is only using this $1 million offer as a form of publicity in order to increase his ratings. I believe Jerry Springer's plan is to eventually cancel the offer, saying he listened to the "fans," in an effort to increase his ratings. I believe this is a "form" of trying to benefit financially from the death of Caylee Anthony. This means, whether Jerry Springer withdraws his offer or not, it is a good idea to never watch Jerry Springer's TV show again.

Update 5: I just saw on TV that Jerry Springer has officially announced they never made an offer of $1 million to Casey Anthony. If Jerry says so, I guess we can believe him. Of course, the important thing is that Jerry Springer has made it clear that he wants no part of Casey Anthony. This is another round won by Caylee Anthony. If anyone or any business tries to gain financially from the death of Caylee Anthony, it means they will be boycotted!

Update 6: Please visit Change.org in order to sign two petitions to force government to do two things. First, enact Caylee’s Law – requiring parents to report missing children with 24 hours without facing felony charges. Second, keep Casey Anthony from being able to profit off the death of her child by signing “Say NO to Offering Casey Anthony Movie and Book Deals for Profit.”

Update 7: We need to visit Change.org and sign the petition called “The U.S. Supreme Court: Try Casey Anthony in Federal Court.” If this case is brought before the Federal Court, it will be an exception to double jeopardy. From the moment Casey Anthony lied to the FBI she was in violation of The Martha Stewart law. This is a federal offense that comes with a 5-year sentence for each count. First Degree Murder is also a federal offense. Please, we must not let this crime go unpunished. Sign this petition and give Caylee the justice she deserves.

Update 8: There is a new petition in place that prevents jurors from ever profiting from a court case. This will prevent bias associated with finance in the court room. Please sign this petition at this website: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-jurors-from-profiting/

Update 9: I was shopping for some mandatory groceries and medical supplies at Meijer tonight with my mother. In the grocery line, my mom immediately noticed something. Absolutely none of the magazines or newspapers had anything to say about Casey Anthony! This is excellent news; it shows that reputable retailers like Meijer are listening to us. This also shows that magazines and newspapers don't want to risk losing customers as a result of trying to gain financially from the death of innocent Caylee Anthony. (Note: The rumor that Wal-Mart has signed a contract with Casey Anthony for a shirt deal is false).

Update 10: Boycott any and all books published by Trident Media Group. It's very easy to remember if you use some form of association. For example, if Casey Anthony were here you would "Try" to "Dent" her face with a punch. This is a long story, and you can read about it here. 

Update 11: Retailers beware! If you make the mistake of carrying Casey Anthony books, it will cost you! If either Barnes & Noble or Amazon sell one of those books, I will cancel memberships and cancel credit cards. If any store like Wal-Mart, Meijer, or Kroger sells a book about Casey Anthony, I will make sure to buy ALL grocery products from a smaller grocery store even if it means paying higher prices. I encourage each of you to do the same.

 "Comment" below to write your personal Pledge to Boycott anything from any man, woman, or business trying to gain financially from the death of innocent Caylee Anthony.

Halo 4 and Halo Anniversary Edition Announced! - Visit My E3 Coverage

Microsoft sitting, watching Microsoft's press conference at E3, I heard some official announcements I expected to hear because of industry insider friends I have in the videogame industry. I also heard some announcements I didn't expect to hear -- and those announcements were really awesome! If you want to learn more about those announcements, come to my new Controversy blog devoted entirely to daily videogame news. Make you to subscribe to this new blog: www.controversy.typepad.com/videogamenews

I can tell you Microsoft did announce the awesome Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition many of us heard rumors about. And I'll also wet your appetite by telling you Halo 4 was announced! Some of my reliable industry insider friends told me this might happen. But even I was amazed when Microsoft said Halo 4 would be part of a "trilogy" of new games involving Spartan super-soldier John 117!

New England College of Business and Finance - Setting New Standards Online

In 1999 when I was 19 years old, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I lost the ability to drive, which was truly disappointing considering I live in a small town with no public transportation. What’s worse is that I live in a country area where nothing is within walking distance. But thanks to online education, I was able to acquire various degrees and certificates at several different colleges and universities.

At the time I was diagnosed with epilepsy, I was enrolled in two classes at a local community college and the semester was about halfway over. Even though I was previously able to drive, I often complained that it took me so long to drive to the college and then drive back home. This was time which could have been used to study. Unfortunately, I was forced to drop one class since I could not find anyone to take me and pick me back up. But, I was able to get a ride from my mother in order to complete the other class.

After that semester was over, everyone I knew made it clear to me they would not be available to take me to college classes and then do grocery shopping or wait in a parking lot while I was in school. Back in 1999, I had absolutely no options available to further my college education. I didn’t know about online education at the time. I basically was forced to sit around the house very disappointed all day (just as I often do now, since I am still unemployed).

But in 2003 when I learned about online education, it really sparked an interest in my life! I enrolled online at Lansing Community College, where I eventually earned two associate’s degrees, in addition to three Microsoft Office Specialist certificates. I completed an online program where I earned a certificate in Time Management. I then went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Process Management from Franklin University – a school my sister and I graduated from and recommend you do NOT attend!

While I attended college online, I was very happy. I thought there was hope for the future. I literally was a double-time student – enrolled in up to nine classes at a time, earning a 4.0 in all of them! I saw this as a way to make up for lost time over the previous four years. I used this enthusiasm and hope as a source of fuel to study, do homework, and perform well on proctored tests.

Ever since I graduated, I have been trying to find work online. Sadly, I have not been able to do so. I can definitely confirm college improved all my skills associated with writing, math, finance, marketing, management, and entrepreneurial business. But I know that one in three degrees received by students each year is in some way related to business. In other words, business is an area with tough competition and may require a master’s degree in order to give you a competitive edge.

One of the best accredited online MBA programs I’ve seen is from the New England College of Business and Finance. I know having an online degree in finance can help you get a good job, because my sister worked at a bank where the manager of the entire bank had this type of degree. However, it really does seem like most of the jobs today list a bachelor’s degree as a requirement while saying a master’s degree is preferred.

I really like the way the New England College of Business and Finance is the first school in the United States to offer a compliance training program dedicated to ethics in the world of business. This graduate course allows you to receive a Master of Science in Business Ethics and Compliance – also known as an MBE. When you complete this program you significantly increase your opportunity for employment working as a financial consultant, compliance officer, or corporate auditor. You will be the one setting the cultural standards relating to business ethics for non-profit organizations you work with.

I also noticed the hospitality degree offered by the New England College of Business and Finance. This is essentially a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specific focus on Hospitality Management. After doing some research, I learned this means you will be focused on gaining skills associated with hotel management, catering of food and beverages, event planning, and human resources.

I’ve known several people who worked at hotels and eventually worked their way up the ladder to impressive careers, enjoying their job the whole time. If this is an area you are interested in, it seems like this program will help you acquire all the skills needed in order to achieve your objectives. Plus, placing the emphasis of Hospitality on this bachelor’s degree can give your résumé an advantage over others in this niche market.

I can tell you that attending school online really is a great thing. You don’t need to waste money on gas, and you don’t need to waste time driving. I realize some people enjoy learning in a classroom – sometimes considering it a social activity. I also realize some people are involved in programs such as medicine and surgery where you need to see things in person. But I can tell from personal experience that the subjects associated with business are very enjoyable online.

Based on what I’ve seen online, it looks like the New England College of Business and Finance will be an excellent experience for students. If you have any thoughts or experiences to share about the New England College of Business and Finance, please do!

Videogame News - A New Blog Devoted to Daily News Coverage

Videogame News is a new blog I've created in order to focus on the daily coverage of the videogame industry.

Just click here or enter the following URL: http://controversy.typepad.com/videogamenews/

Make sure you become a TypePad Follower of this blog. Also, make sure you Subscribe to this blog and add it to your Favorites list. May the force be with you!

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Package Coming to Xbox 360! - Remixed HD Graphics & 5.1 Sound

Breaking news from the World Wide Konami Press Conference, the Metal Gear Solid HD collection will be coming to the Xbox 360 in November of this year! The package will include High Definition versions of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and the formally PSP exclusive Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Kojima Productions unveiled the news in a very funny skit-like video featuring the sketch comedy group Mega 64. I couldn’t be happier with this announcement. The original Metal Gear Solid and its sequel are some of my favorite of all time. I rarely play them anymore, since their sound is outdated and they possess outdated graphics. But with graphics updated to high-definition and sound remixed to true 5.1, it will be a pleasure playing through the games again – particularly since I will earn Achievement Points along the way.

Hideo Kojima confirmed that he is in the planning stages of the “Next Metal Gear Solid Experience”. Speaking about the graphics engine for his next game, Kojima revealed it is called “The Fox Engine”. This new graphics engine is multiplatform for future titles.

The demo of the Fox Engine looked very impressive. The demo exhibited realistic foliage and dirt paths, but Kojima stressed that the engine is not using final assets from his next game. The items displayed were merely technical demonstrations, not actual software.

History has proven the Xbox 360 versions of the vast majority of multiplatform software ends up with better graphics and better online play than their PS3 counterparts. Even games as simple as Splinter Cell have proven this point. Whether or not the Xbox 360 version will be "noticably" better or "significantly" better remains to be seen. But like channel G4 said, "Even if the versions of a PS3 and Xbox 360 game are identical, it always makes sense to buy the Xbox 360 version because there are more people to play online with and a larger percentage of people online have headsets to chat with while playing." 

Controversy will have full coverage from the Konami conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo!

Kinect Adds Simplicity to Games - Females and Kids LOVE it!

I used to wonder how certain games could possibly be played with Kinect rather than a controller. But now that I've seen the way several games are played, I can confidently tell you Kinect is going to make games far more popular with females, kids, and even older people, just like the Wii did. There is one reason for this: Simplicity.

Games become so much easier and better to play with Kinect. When you play Forza Motorsport 4 with Kinect, your only responsibility is using your hands as the steering wheel...and that's it. The game does the braking and acceleration for you. This type of simplicity is exactly what females and kids desire, because it brings back an arcade style of fun!

Hardcore gamers will probably want to stick with the complex motions of control pads and force-feedback race wheels. But most people really will love the added simplicity Kinect brings to the table. With Kinect, you won't need to spend hours mastering the complex techniques of every game. In Forza 4, you won't need to learn exact moments when you should brake, accelerate, and when you should start slowing down. Just use your hands to drive in a fun way and you will do just that -- have fun!

The same concept applies to games like Ghost Recon and Gears of War. When using Kinect, you won't be responsible for handling complex responsibilities such as running and dodging. You will control those parts of the game if you choose to use a control pad, but while using Kinect the game will do a lot of that stuff for you. When playing with Kinect, you will just need to do basic things like fire, reload, and switch weapons. This form of simplicity makes complex games fun for inexperienced gamers!

Kinect is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling electronic item in history. I have no doubt the success of Kinect will continue in 2011. Kinect turns very deep games such as Forza Motorsport 4 and Ghost Recon into simple games anyone can start having fun with at any time, just like at an arcade.

...

Sega Rally HD Online is Released Exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade

Sega Rally is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace. Sega has released this high-definition online version of Sega Rally exclusively for the Xbox 360. This excellent racing game includes all of the modes you could ask for – Time Trial, Championship Events, Offline Multiplayer, and even a six-player online racing mode! Sega Rally also includes powerful 5.1 surround sound and a variety of cool cars such as the Ford Focus RS, Lancia Delta Integrale, and the Bowler Nemesis. Sega Rally Online Arcade costs 800 Points and is fully compatible with all controllers and racing wheels available for Xbox 360.

Why is Sony Hiding PS3 Sales Figures?

NPD Sales results for the month of April were just released. For the second month in a row, Sony has asked the NPD not to publicly release the actual number of PS3 units sold. Sony has commented on the sales figures, saying these results show year-to-year sales of the PS3 are up 13% for the month of April, 2011 compared to April, 2010. But for the second month in a row, Sony has asked the NPD not to publicly release the exact sales figures for the PS3 console. The controversial questions is, what would Sony’s motive be for doing such a thing?

Although the year-to-year sales for the PS3 are improved by 13% for the month of April, the same apparently could not be said for the month of March. If the PS3 had produced impressive sales figures or seen a year-to-year rise in sales, Sony would have wanted to announce this publicly, as they did this month. But we will never know for sure, since Sony did not allow those numbers to be released publicly.

Now that it seems reasonable that the PS3 did not see a year-to-year improvement for the month of March, it means there was apparently a year-to-year decline for March. This seems like a logical motive for Sony to ask the NPD not to release sales figures to the public. This seems particularly true when you take into consideration that Xbox 360 sales in March saw a year-to-year improvement of 28% and sold a whopping 433,000 units! The Nintendo Wii sold an impressive 290,000 units this March.

For the month of April, both Microsoft and Nintendo allowed the NPD to release sales figures, as usual. The Xbox 360 sold 297,000 units, which was a 60% year-to-year gain compared to April of 2010. Only 172,000 Wii units were sold for April 2011, which is a large year-to-year decline in sales. For 10 of the last 11 months, the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console, while the Wii has continuously seen declines in year-to-year sales.

Several websites online have been listing an April sales figure of 204,000 for the PS3. However, this is not based on anything that the NPD publicly released with Sony’s permission. The only reason this number of 204,000 exists is because Sony has said there was a 13% year-to-year increase in sales. We know that the PS3 sold 180,800 units in April, 2010, which would put April, 2011, at 204,304 units sold.

The controversial question many people want answered is why Sony is no longer willing to allow NPD to publicly release sales information based on exact numbers. Although a year-to-year sales increase of 13% for the PS3 is not as good as the 60% year-to-year sales increase seen by the Xbox 360, it is still something to be proud of.

As I said before, Microsoft recently announced that the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console 10 of the last 11 months. But if you investigate and look at the sales figures during those 11 months, you see that the PS3 finished in last place each of those months, except this month! This month the PS3 was apparently able to finish in second place, outselling the Wii for the first time in years!

With that in mind, we need to ask ourselves why Sony isn’t willing to put a spotlight on their exact sales figures anymore. Some people have speculated that the recent problems experienced with the PSN outage is Sony’s motive for apparently not wanting publicity. But what about Sony’s motive for not sharing exact sales data for the month of March? Was Sony’s only motive for not wanting to release March sales figures the fact that the PS3 finished so far behind its direct competitor, the Xbox 360?

Statements made by Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Jack Tretton, indicate that Sony uses a far more forgiving method of defining what a “sale” is than Nintendo and Microsoft. We know that Microsoft and Nintendo consider a unit sold when it has “Been shipped to a retailer or wholesaler that has made a purchase.” This doesn’t necessarily mean consumers purchased the units in stores, but it does mean retailers and wholesalers have purchased the units and have them sitting in stores waiting to be purchased by consumers.

Statements made by Sony executive, Jack Tretton, clearly show that Sony’s definition of a sale is very different. Sony considers a PS3 unit “sold” the instant it is “Produced and placed into inventory.” This means even if a retailer or wholesaler has not purchased the unit, Sony still classifies PS3 units as “sold,” even though they are collecting dust in inventory warehouses. This is a method of cheating – telling the public a unit is sold, even though it hasn’t been shipped to a retailer or wholesaler yet.

Using this form of definition to define the word “sold,” Sony can take credit for millions of units being sold in a very deceptive manner that produces inaccurate results. The best example of this situation occurred in 2006 at the E3 show, and was then proven in 2007 during an interview that Sony executive, Jack Tretton, was a part of. I will briefly describe what happened.

At the 2006 E3 show, Jack Tretton predicted that the PS3 would sell 6 million units by the spring of 2007. But when the spring of 2007 arrived, only 1.4 million consumers worldwide had purchased the PS3. In fact, the PS3 never had a chance of selling 6 million units, since Sony was only able to produce 5.5 million units in factories. In this interview, you see a chart clearly showing that the PS3 had seen disappointing sales of only 1.4 million units worldwide, yet Jack Tretton is claiming that the PS3 was only “a half million” units behind Sony’s goal of 6 million units.

When you subtract a half-million (500,000) from 6 million, you end up with 5.5 million. This is the exact number of units that Sony says had been “produced” by the spring of 2007. Not even close to 5.5 million units had been shipped to retailers and wholesalers by the spring of 2007. This obviously means that Sony’s executives were claiming that all 5.5 million units that had been produced and placed into inventory warehouses were classified as “sold,” even though 4.1 million of them were still sitting in warehouses collecting dust.

Most people believe that the reason Sony started classifying sales in this inaccurate manner is because the PS3 saw such disappointing sales when it launched. Even in Japan, the PS3 has not sold well – even being outsold by the Xbox 360 several months during the first couple years of its life. Each time the Xbox 360 saw an exclusive launch of an RPG game like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Infinite Undiscovery, or Tales of Vesperia, it would produce a spike in sales that resulted in the Xbox 360 outselling the PS3 in Japan that month.

This is a surprise, because foreign products like the Xbox 360 usually sell very poorly in Japan – a market that always does its best to stay away from American products. If executives at Sony Computer Entertainment would have told Sony shareholders that only 1.4 million PS3 units had been shipped to retailers due to a lack of consumer demand, it would have caused management executives to be fired. This is probably why Sony executives started reporting the number of units “sold” in a way that was synonymous with the number of units “produced.”

In fact, Ken Kutaragi, the designer of the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP was asked to step down and instead take up the roll of Honorary Chairman. This is the Japanese cultural way of getting fired, since Japanese companies have a tradition of hiring an employee for life. The PS2 and PS3 were both criticized by developers for being difficult to program. As a result, Ken Kutaragi is no longer involved with the Playstation products.

Most people don’t realize that Sony still uses this form of deception when publicly announcing sales figures such as 50 million PS3 hardware units sold worldwide. Sony can get away with this because most of the world doesn’t accurately keep track of sales the way we do in North America. But in North America, Sony can’t get away with deception like this because the NPD sales data is so accurate. According to NPD sales figures, the Xbox 360 is outselling the PS3 at a large rate.

This is very important because North America is the largest videogame market in the world. This expanding sales gap between the Xbox 360 and PS3 is the reason why popular multiplatform games such as Crysis 2, Portal 2, and many others continuously see sales figures significantly higher on Xbox 360 – a console that has sold 53 million units. If the Xbox 360 has sold 53 million units while the PS3 has sold 50 million units, it is a difference of only 6%. With a difference of only 6%, it would not be possible for Xbox 360 versions of software to continuously outsell PS3 versions by such a wide margin.

For example, Crysis 2 is a highly rated game resistant to statistical outliers. Crysis 2 recently launched on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. But we saw the Xbox 360 version outsell the PS3 version by a ratio of 1.7:1. This would not have happened if the Xbox 360 had only a 3 million unit hardware sales advantage over the PS3. Thus, we can logically conclude there is obviously a bigger gap than 3 million units between the Xbox 360 and the PS3. I believe this is why Sony no longer wants sales data from NPD and other sales organizations released to the public.

I really do recommend you take a look at that interview here. This will help you to see what I’m talking about. Thankfully, the person on CNBC interviewing Sony executive, Jack Tretton, was not fooled or deceived, as you will see in this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFIDsTsWJHw

Please share your thoughts about why Sony is no longer allowing NPD to publicly release exact sales figures of the Playstation 3, even though the PS3 has done several impressive things this month.

Is myhosting.com Your Answer for Web Design and VPS?

In the online era we currently live in, it is very easy for entrepreneurs to start a business online. Similarly, it is very easy for small businesses and medium-sized businesses to target a much larger audience of consumers online. But in order to do so, you need to make sure your website is designed in a satisfactory way and operated efficiently. This is where an online web hosting service such as myhosting.com enters your life.

Recently, I decided to do some research on what forms of service myhosting.com offers and at what price. Based on what I learned online, I can say that myhosting.com appears to offer a high-quality service for a very competitive price. Regardless of what size your business is or what type of website you plan on designing, it seems as if myhosting.com can help you out.

I run a business called  Résumé Design Service at www.resumedesignservice.com. I personally designed that website because I possess the skills needed to do so. But there are other people that may not possess that level of skill. This is where myhosting.com appears to have a fundamental advantage over the competition.

The myhosting.com service gives you the opportunity to work with a Web Designer for a low price. This Web Designer assists in the custom design of your website in a way that helps you effectively target the market you want to reach. I was very impressed when I learned that myhosting.com even offers a form of software that helps you create a logo for your business that can be applied to your website. This is quite a bit better than my current web host, which forced me to create a logo in Microsoft Office and then transform it into a JPEG picture in order to insert the logo into the web design template.

The other area of service I think myhosting.com may be particularly useful to people is the area called VPS, which stands for Virtual Private Server. The VPS provides all of the dedicated server functions you need, but at a much lower cost. The reason the price is so much lower while still maintaining all the features such as online performance and security is because you will be tapping into a significantly greater hardware resource.

Regardless of whether you prefer to use Windows or Linux operating systems, it seems as if myhosting.com has what consumers are looking for. If you prefer to use the Windows operating system, myhosting.com offers a service known as Windows VPS. Similarly, myhosting.com realizes there are consumers strictly interested in Windows Server 2008, which is why they provide a great deal of information that is easy to understand.

From what I have learned online, I am actually tempted to switch to myhosting.com as my new web hosting service. The value is greater in several areas and it looks as if the quality of the service may be better, as well. Please feel free to share your thoughts about myhosting.com with everyone else, especially if you have experience working with myhosting.com.

Soul Calibur 5 Coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 - And Possibly the Wii 2?

Namco has officially announced that Soul Calibur 5 will be released for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 in 2012. The game takes place 17 years after Soul Calibur 4. Namco – a company that recently returned to profitability – has said that more information about Soul Calibur 5 will be revealed at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Up to this point, the best version of Soul Calibur ever released is the Xbox 360 version of Soul Calibur 4. The Xbox 360 version runs at a resolution of 1365x960p, which is 40% higher than the resolution of 1280x720p used in the PS3 version. This is because the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the Xbox 360 is so much more powerful than the PS3 GPU. The Xbox 360 GPU can display up to 500,000,000 polygons per second, compared to only 275,000,000 polygons per second for the PS3 GPU.

My controversial question has to do with the release date of Soul Calibur 5 and if it will be released for the Wii 2. If the Soul Calibur 5 game is scheduled to be released in 2012, will it also be released for the Wii 2 – which is supposedly going to be released in 2012? The Wii 2 version may be able to run at a resolution of 1920x1080p, since its GPU is slightly more powerful than the Xbox 360 GPU.

This also seems to suggest that Soul Calibur will not be available on a next-generation console such as the third Xbox or the PS4 for quite a while. You would tend to think that the soonest Soul Calibur 6 would be available is for the third Xbox at least two years after the release of Soul Calibur 5. But in all probability, we would not see a next-generation Soul Calibur game until three years after the release of Soul Calibur 5. This means the earliest we would see Soul Calibur 6 on a next-gen console would be 2014, but probably 2015.

Share your thoughts on Soul Calibur 5 and the Wii 2. Do you think Soul Calibur 5 will also be released for the Wii 2? How about Soul Calibur 6 and the clues it offers regarding when next-generation consoles will be here?