Minecraft | minecraft latest server | Download the latest server minecraft | The way the game of minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox building indie video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released on May 17, 2009, with a Beta on December 20, 2010. Official releases for iOS and Android are currently in development to be released later in 2011 along with a full version of the game; the Android release will be temporarily exclusive to the Xperia Play. A version of the game for the Xbox 360 with Kinect support is under development by 4J Studios.


The game is focused on creativity and building, allowing players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. The game has two variants – free Classic and paid Beta – where Classic is focused entirely on construction with unlimited material supply, while Beta requires players to acquire resources themselves, and contains mobs, player health, and additional features and items. The gameplay is heavily inspired by Infiniminer by Zachtronics Industries, Dwarf Fortress by Bay 12 Games and Dungeon Keeper by Bullfrog Productions.


The game is currently in development and Beta is the only continuously updated version of the game. Minecraft was developed for about a week before its public release on May 17, 2009, on the TIGSource forums, where it gained a considerable level of popularity. It has been continually updated and patched since then, and while it was still in alpha release, it garnered several hundred thousand sales and received critical notice and acclaim from many reviewers. It passed a million units sold on January 12, 2011, less than a month after reaching Beta. By June 13, 2011, the game had sold 2.5 million units.


The core gameplay revolves around construction. The game world is essentially made up of cubical blocks arranged in a fixed grid pattern, that represent different materials, such as, dirt, stone, various ores, water, tree trunks, etc. While the players can move freely across the world, objects and items can only be placed at fixed locations relative to the grid. The player can gather these material "blocks" and place them elsewhere, thus potentially creating various constructions.


Minecraft has two currently available variants, Beta and Classic, both with single-player and multiplayer options. Classic is the earliest free version and initially featured only creative game mode with only building (block placement and removal) aspects of the game and unlimited block supply. The Classic was then split into single-player survival mode (referred to as "Survival Mode Test"), which contained monsters and a much greater variety of blocks and items available, as well as requiring players to mine their own blocks. As of Beta release, only creative Classic mode version 0.30 is available in single-player and multiplayer modes.


Classic survival mode served as the base for development of single-player non-free Indev ("In Development"), and later non-free Infdev ("Infinite Development") versions, each expanding the number of features. Indev and Infdev were later replaced by the non-free Alpha variant, which continued to add features to the game, including multiplayer mode. As of December 20, 2010, the game entered into Beta. It includes music by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld. For multiplayer games, servers are currently hosted by individual players or groups; there are no "official" Minecraft servers yet, the only way to connect to a server is entering the hostname or IP address in-game.


The Beta version of the game is a successor to the earlier Alpha version via a sequence of updates. Minecraft moved from alpha to beta status on December 20, 2010. It is the only version of Minecraft continuously updated and is only available to users who have purchased the game. Beta is a survival game mode with both single-player and multiplayer variants playable as a stand-alone client and in web browsers.


The game starts by placing the player on the surface of a huge procedurally generated game world. The player can walk across the terrain consisting of plains, mountains, caves, and various water bodies. The world is also divided into biomes ranging from deserts to snowfields. The in-game time system follows a day and night cycle. The player can acquire different resources and craft tools, weapons, armor, food, and various other items. By acquiring better resources the player can make more proficient items. For example, tools such as axes, shovels, or pickaxes, can be used to chop down trees, dig soil, and mine ores respectively. The game has an inventory system and the player is limited in the number of items they can carry.


During daytime, different non-hostile animals spawn, which can be hunted for food and crafting materials. Hostile mobs, such as large spiders, skeletons, and zombies will spawn in unlit areas, such as during nighttime and in caves. Armor can help mitigate damage from mob attacks, while weapons can be used to kill enemies and other animals. The player has a health bar, which is depleted by attacks from monsters, falls, or environmental damage (such as drowning or falling into lava or magma) and can be replenished by eating certain food items, or by playing on the easiest difficulty, at which health regenerates by itself. Upon dying the player is teleported to the starting spawn point and items in their inventory are dropped. The items can be recovered if the player reaches them in time.


Complex systems can be built using the in-game physics engine with the use of primitive electrical circuits and logic gates. For example, a door can be opened or closed by pressing a connected button or stepping on a pressure plate. Similarly, larger and more complex systems can be produced, such as a working arithmetic logic unit – as used in CPUs.


The game world is procedurally generated as the player explores it. Although limits exist on vertical movement both up and down, Beta allows for an infinitely large game world to be generated on the horizontal plane, only running into technical problems when extremely distant locations are reached.[† 1] The game achieves this by splitting the game world data into smaller sections, called "chunks",[† 1] only created or loaded into memory when the player is nearby.


Some multiplayer servers offer fan-made mods that enhance or change the gameplay, such as providing unlimited material supply, new enemies or weapons, or enhanced transportation systems.


The other Minecraft variant is Classic. It is only the game's base functionality, allowing players to build and destroy any and all parts of the world either alone or in a multiplayer server, without the need to worry about being attacked by computer-controlled enemies or avoiding environmental hazards like lava and steep falls. The player is given an unlimited supply of blocks with which to build and can place or remove any block instantly, regardless of their type. Some of the blocks are not available in Classic mode, and there is no environmental interaction. For example, in Beta mode, TNT will detonate after a few seconds of being hit, but in Classic mode, it will act like any other block and just break. Unlike Beta, Classic is free to play, though it is not updated. Players have created bots to help them build inside of Classic mode servers. One of the intended uses of these bots is replicating in-game structures. Classic is intended to be phased out as Beta progresses, leaving Beta as the only Minecraft game. An official version of the Classic server software is available from the Minecraft website; however, many fans have created their own custom servers with additional features, such as the ability to place water blocks.


The game has been praised for the creative freedom it grants its players in-game, and for how dynamic the overall gameplay is. PC Gamer listed Minecraft as the fourth-best game to play at work.


A review of the alpha version, by Scott Munro of the Daily Record, called it "already something special" and urged readers to buy it. Jim Rossignol of Rock, Paper, Shotgun also recommended the alpha of the game, calling it "a kind of generative 8-bit Lego Stalker". On September 17, 2010, gaming webcomic Penny Arcade began a series of comics and news posts about the addictiveness of the game. Video game talk show Good Game gave it a 7.5 and 9 out of 10, praising its creativity and customization, though they criticized its lack of a tutorial.


In December 2010, Good Game selected Minecraft as their choice for "Best Downloadable Game of 2010" title, Gamasutra named it the eighth best game of the year as well as the eighth best indie game of the year, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun named it the game of the year. Indie DB awarded the game the 2010 "Indie of the Year" award as chosen by voters, in addition to two out of five Editor's Choice awards for "Most Innovative" and "Best Singleplayer Indie". It was also awarded "Game of the Year" by PC Gamer UK. The game was nominated for the "Seumas McNally Grand Prize", "Technical Excellence", and "Excellence in Design" awards at the March 2011 Independent Games Festival and won the Grand Prize along with community-voted "Audience Award". At Game Developers Choice Awards 2011, Minecraft won the award for Best debut game, Best downloadable game and Most Innovative game award, winning every award for which it was nominated.


On May 5th, 2011, Minecraft was selected as one of the 80 games that will be displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of "The Art of Video Games" exhibit that will open on March 16th, 2012. (Download Now)
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X-Men | History and definition of the X-Men | Social life of the X-Men

The X-Men are a superhero team in the Marvel Comics Universe. They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). The basic concept of the X-Men is that under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant sentiment, Professor Xavier created a haven at his Westchester mansion to train young mutants to use their powers for the benefit of humanity, and to prove mutants can be heroes. Xavier recruited Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast and Marvel Girl, calling them "X-Men" because they possess special powers due to their possession of the "X-Gene," a gene which normal humans lack and which gives Mutants their abilities. Early on, however, the "X" in X-Men stood for "extra" power which normal humans lacked. It was also alluded to that mutations occurred as a result of radiation exposure.


The first issue also introduced the team's archenemy, Magneto, who would continue to battle the X-Men for decades throughout the comic's history, both on his own and with his Brotherhood of Mutants (introduced in issue #4). The X-Men universe also includes such notable heroes as Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Rogue. Besides the Brotherhood of Mutants, other villains that the X-Men have fought include the Sentinels, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, the Hellfire Club, and Weapon X.


The X-Men comics have been adapted into other media, including animated television series, video games, and a commercially successful series of films.


Creator Stan Lee devised the series title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, "The Mutants," stating that readers wouldn't know what a "mutant" was. Within the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are widely regarded to have been named after Professor Xavier himself. Xavier however claims that the name "X-Men" was never chosen to be a self-tribute. The name is also linked to the "X Gene," an unknown gene that causes the mutant evolution.


The X-Men exist in the Marvel Universe with other characters portrayed in Marvel Comics series. As such, it is unsurprising that they often meet characters from other series, and the global nature of the mutant concept means the scale of stories can be highly varied.


The X-Men fight everything ranging from mutant thieves to galactic threats. The X-Men base themselves in the Xavier Institute, Westchester County, NY, and are often depicted as a family. The X-Mansion is often depicted with three floors and two underground levels. To the outside world, it had acted as a higher learning institute until the 2000s, when Xavier was publicly exposed as a mutant at which point it became a full mutant boarding school. Xavier funds a corporation aimed at reaching mutants worldwide, though it ceased to exist following the "Decimation."


The X-Men benefit greatly from state-of-the-art technology. For example, Xavier is depicted tracking down mutants with a device called Cerebro which amplifies his powers; the X-Men train within the Danger Room, first depicted as a room full of weapons and booby traps, now as generating holographic simulations; and the X-Men travel in their widely recognized and iconic Blackbird jet.


Reflecting social issues


The conflict between mutants and normal humans is often compared to conflicts experienced by minority groups in America such as African Americans, Jews, Communists, LGBT characters, etc. Also on an individual level, a number of X-Men serve a metaphorical function as their powers illustrate points about the nature of the outsider.
1. Racism: Professor X has come to be compared to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and Magneto to the more militant Malcolm X. The X-Men’s purpose is sometimes referred to as achieving "Xavier’s dream," perhaps a reference to King’s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. Magneto, in the first film, quotes Malcolm X with the line "By any means necessary." X-Men comic books have often portrayed mutants as victims of mob violence, evoking images of the lynching of African Americans in the age before the American civil rights movement. Sentinels and anti-mutant hate groups such as Friends of Humanity, Humanity's Last Stand, the Church of Humanity and Stryker's Purifiers are thought to often represent oppressive forces like the KKK giving a form to denial of civil rights and amendments. In the 1980s, the comic featured a plot involving the fictional island nation of Genosha, where mutants were segregated and enslaved by an apartheid state. This is widely interpreted as having been a reference to the situation in South Africa at the time.
2. Anti-Semitism: Explicitly referenced in recent decades is the comparison between anti-mutant sentiment and anti-Semitism. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in Nazi Germany. At one point he even utters the words "never again" in a 1992 episode of the X-Men animated series. The mutant slave labor camps on the island of Genosha, in which numbers were burned into mutant's foreheads, show much in common with Nazi concentration camps, as do the internment camps of the classic "Days of Future Past" storyline. Another notable reference is in the third X-Men film, when asked by Callisto: "If you're so proud of being a mutant, then where's your mark?" Magneto shows his concentration camp tattoo, while mentioning that he will never let another needle touch his skin.
3. Diversity: Characters within the X-Men mythos hail from a wide variety of nationalities. These characters also reflect religious, ethnic or sexual minorities. Examples include Shadowcat, Sabra and Magneto who are Jewish, Dust who is a devout Muslim, Nightcrawler who is a devout Catholic, and Neal Shaara/Thunderbird who is Hindu. Storm (Ororo Munroe) represents two aspects of the African diaspora as her father was African American and her mother was Kenyan. Karma was portrayed as a devout Catholic from Vietnam, who regularly attended Mass and confession when she was introduced as a founding member of the New Mutants. This team also included Wolfsbane (a devout Scots Presbyterian), Danielle Moonstar (a Cheyenne Native American) and Cannonball, and was later joined by Magma (a devout Greco-Roman classical religionist). Different nationalities included Wolverine as a Canadian, Colossus from Russia, Banshee from Ireland, Gambit who is a Cajun, the original Thunderbird who was an Apache Native American, Psylocke from the U.K., Armor from Japan, Nightcrawler from Germany, etc.
4. LGBT Themes: Another metaphor that has been applied by some to the X-Men is that of LGBT. Comparisons have been made by some between the mutants' situation, including concealment of their powers and the age they realize these powers, and homosexuality. Several scenes in the X-Men films, which included openly gay actor Ian McKellen and two of which were directed by openly gay director Bryan Singer, have been said to illustrate this theme. In the comics series, gay and bisexual characters include Anole, Destiny, Karma, Mystique, Northstar, Graymalkin, Rictor, Shatterstar and the Ultimate version of Colossus. Transgender issues also come up with shapechangers like Mystique who can change gender at will. It has been said that the comic books and the X-Men animated series delved into the AIDS epidemic with a long-running plot line about the Legacy Virus, a seemingly incurable disease thought at first to attack only mutants (similar to the AIDS virus which at first was spread through the gay community). Ironically, while some X-Men had the Legacy Virus, they are incapable of getting AIDS due to their genetic mutation being able to combat the disease.
5. Red Scare: Occasionally, undercurrents of the "Red Scare" are present. Senator Robert Kelly's proposal of a Mutant Registration Act is similar to the efforts of United States Congress to try to ban Communism in the United States. In the 2000 X-Men film Kelly exclaims, 'We must know who these mutants are and what they can do,' even brandishing a "list" of known mutants (a reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy's list of Communist Party USA members who were working in the government).
6. Religion: Religion is an integral part of several X-Men storylines. It is presented as both a positive and negative force, sometimes in the same story. The comics explore religious fundamentalism through the person of William Stryker and his Purifiers, an anti-mutant group that emerged in the 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. The Purifiers believe that mutants are not human beings but children of the devil, and have attempted to exterminate them several times, most recently in the "Childhood's End" storyline. By contrast, religion is also central to the lives of several X-Men, such as Nightcrawler, a devout Catholic, and Dust, a devout Sunni Muslim who observes Islamic Hijab. This recalls the religious roots of social activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, as well as their opponents such as the Ku Klux Klan or Nathuram Godse (the Hindu radical who assassinated Gandhi).
7. Subculture: In some cases, the mutants of the X-Men universe sought to create a subculture of the typical mutant society portrayed. The X-Men comics first introduced a band of mutants called the Morlocks. This group, though mutants like those attending Xavier's school, sought to hide away from society within the tunnels of New York. These Morlock tunnels served as the backdrop for several X-Men stories, most notably The Mutant Massacre crossover. This band of mutants illustrates another dimension to the comic, that of a group that further needs to isolate itself because society won't accept it. In Grant Morrison’s stories of the early 2000s, mutants are portrayed as a distinct subculture with “mutant bands,” mutant use of code-names as their primary form of self identity (rather than their given birth names), and a popular mutant fashion designer who created outfits tailored to mutant physiology. The series District X takes place in an area of New York City called "Mutant Town." These instances can also serve as analogies for the way that minority groups establish subcultures and neighborhoods of their own that distinguish them from the broader general culture. Director Bryan Singer has remarked that the X-Men franchise has served as a metaphor for acceptance of all people for their special and unique gifts. The mutant condition that is often kept secret from the world can be analogous to feelings of difference and fear usually developed in everyone during adolescence.
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Jennifer Lawrence As Katniss Everdeen In ‘The Hunger Games’

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- “The Hunger Games” are officially underway, and Entertainment Weekly has released the first photo of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in Lionsgate’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy.

Jennifer, who was cast in the series’ leading role, dons darker locks on the May cover of the magazine, clutching a bow and arrow, and wearing the character’s signature pin, the Mockingjay.

Jennifer told EW that she was filled with a mixture of emotions when she was first offered the part.

“I knew that as soon as I said yes, my life would change,” she told the mag. “And I walked around an entire day thinking ‘It’s not too late, I could still go back and do indies, I haven’t said yes yet, it’s not too late.’”

In the end, however, “The Hunger Games” cast its spell on her.

“I love this story,” she said. “And if I had said no, I would regret it every day.”

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Jennifer joins many veteran Hollywood stars in the film including Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson.

“The Hunger Games” is set to begin filming in North Carolina, and the film will hit theaters on March 23, 2012. (source : accesshollywood.com)

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Logitech | History Logitech | Logitech Production

Logitech

Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers and webcams. Logitech also makes home and computer speakers, headphones, wireless audio devices, as well as audio devices for MP3 players and mobile phones.




In addition to its Swiss headquarters, the company has offices in Fremont, California, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and the rest of Americas. Logitech's sales and marketing activities are organized into four geographic regions: Americas, EMEA, Asia Pacific and China.




In the Japanese market, Logitech uses the brand name Logicool since a company known as Logitec that focuses on computer peripheral devices has existed in that country since 1982, and its parent company, Elecom, has used the brand name since 1974. Similar-sounding trademarks in the same industry can be infringing; Logitech chose to avoid this situation.




In the UK, Logitech trades under 'Logi (UK) Ltd'; a 'Logitech' based in Glasgow, Scotland manufactures precision cutting, lapping and polishing equipment for the materials processing industry. In Canada, Logitech International uses its own name without conflict with Logitech Electronics, an InterTAN Canada Ltd. supplier of consumer electronics since 1988.




Since the 1980s, Logitech has made computer mice and keyboards directly for Apple, HP, Dell and for other platforms including PlayStation.




Logitech International S.A. was co-founded in Apples, Vaud, Switzerland, in 1981 by two Stanford Masters alumni, Daniel Borel and Pierluigi Zappacosta, and Giacomo Marini, formerly a manager at Olivetti.




The mass-marketed computer mouse was the product that made Logitech well-known. The range of products offered improvements over a product originally developed at LAMI (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) by professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and engineer André Guignard, who was involved in the design changes of the computer mouse originally invented by Douglas Engelbart.




For a time during its formative years, Logitech's Silicon Valley offices occupied space at 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California, home to a number of noted technology startups.




From there, Logitech expanded its product line (see below) to encompass many mass market computer peripherals and beyond (such as the "Harmony" range of programmable universal remote controls).




The first Logitech mice were made in Le Lieu, in the Swiss Canton of Vaud by Dubois Depraz SA.




Production facilities were then established in the US, Taiwan, Ireland and moved subsequently to Suzhou, China. As of 2005, the manufacturing operations in China produce approximately half of Logitech's products. The remaining production is outsourced to contract manufacturers and original design manufacturers in Asia.

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PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus is a paid PlayStation Network subscription service that was officially unveiled at E3 2010 by Jack Tretton, President and CEO of SCEA. Rumors of such service had been in speculation since Kaz Hirai's announcement at TGS 2009 of a possible paid service for PSN but with the current PSN service still available. Launched alongside PS3 firmware 3.40 and PSP firmware 6.30 on June 29, 2010, the paid-for subscription service provides users with enhanced services on the PlayStation Network, on top of the current PSN service which is still available with all of its features. These enhancements include the ability to have demos, game and system software updates download automatically to the PlayStation 3. Subscribers also get early or exclusive access to some betas, game demos, premium downloadable content and other PlayStation Store items as well as a free subscription to Qore. Users may choose to purchase either a one-year or a three-month subscription to PlayStation Plus.




SCEA offered a limited time offer for the one-year subscription, which was additional three-months for free, while SCEE offered one-year subscribers a digital copy of LittleBigPlanet for a limited time. Regular free bonuses are also made available. These include PlayStation Store discounts and free PlayStation Network games and Downloadable Content (DLC), PSone Classics and PlayStation Minis which the user will own for the duration of their subscription as well as themes and avatars which the user can keep after their subscription has lapsed. PlayStation Plus also offers "Full Game Trials" of some PlayStation Network and retail games, allowing the user to download the full game and use it for one hour. Users can later purchase the game and continue their progress. For SCEA, the first Full Game Trial is for inFamous, while European subscribers get to try out Shatter and Savage Moon. In addition, users who are PlayStation Plus subscribers have the PlayStation Plus icon by their PSN ID. Users can only sign up for PlayStation Plus through the PlayStation Store via the PS3.

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PlayStation Network

PlayStation Network

PlayStation Network, often abbreviated as PSN, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service provided/run by Sony Computer Entertainment for use with the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable video game consoles. As of April, 2011, there are 77 million registered PlayStation Network accounts. Since April 20, 2011, the PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment's network has been offline due to a "compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion".




History




In 2006, Sony announced an online network for the PlayStation 3 system at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing meeting in Tokyo, tentatively named "PlayStation Network Platform". Sony also confirmed that the service will always be connected, free, and include multiplayer support. The full list of features available at launch was announced at their TGS 2006 press conference. When the network launched, the registration interface could only be accessed through the PS3 or PSP system interfaces. This has been changed since to allow users to sign up from the PlayStation Network website.




At the Tokyo Game Show on September 21, 2006, it was revealed that users will be able to download some of the PlayStation and PSP titles from the PlayStation Network for about US$5–$15, starting with those with the smallest game data.




On May 8, 2007 Sony Computer Entertainment announced PlayStation Network Cards,[11] a form of electronic money that can be used with the Store. PlayStation Network Tickets, available in units of 1,000, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 yen, can be purchased at convenience stores throughout Japan. Each ticket contains a 12 character alphanumeric code which can be input on the PlayStation Network to place credits in the virtual wallet.[13] The tickets are available through electronic kiosks at 26,000 convenience stores, including Lawsons, Family Mart, Daily Yamazaki, Ministop and Sunkus. They are also available at 26,000 post office ATMs, although registration is required first at a special mobile website.




A similar PlayStation Network card system based on actual cards instead of tickets was introduced in South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in Summer 2007 and in Spring 2008 in North America. And latterly the United Kingdom and the EU in October 2009. PlayStation Network Card was also launched in Malaysia in June 2009 in conjunction with the launch of the local PlayStation Store.




On June 29, 2010, a premium PSN subscription service was launched on top of the free PSN service called PlayStation Plus offering exclusive content to its subscribers.




In 2011, Sony sued George Hotz. One of the claims was that he had violated the PlayStation Network's Terms of Use (the PSN User Agreement), which Sony argued constituted a violation of law known as Breach of Contract.

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PlayStation Network

That may surprise you. The network itself has been out six days and, though we've been covering it, outrage has been minimal. The PlayStation Network offers multiplayer online gaming similar to Xbox Live. And it turns out there are 77 million PlayStation Network accounts, compared to the 30 million "active" Xbox Live accounts that Microsoft most recently boasted. But the experience isn't the same, and the devotion certainly isn't as fervent. The great majority of PlayStation and PSP owners have PlayStation Network accounts largely because they're free, and because not having them can be an inconvenience.


Well, now having them has become an inconvenience.


Seventy-seven million is a lot of accounts — compare that to Gawker Media's recent breach, where hackers stole data on 1.4 million readers. And while the attack last month on the Epsilon marketing company jeopardized more than 250 million people, the data the company had on those people was slight. Hackers could glean a person's name and email address, and whether or not they shopped at L.L. Bean, or banked at Citigroup.


With the PlayStation Network, Sony is already admitting that far richer information has probably been stolen: Name, address, date of birth, email address, online ID and password. It doesn't take a criminal mind to understand what that means, just connect the dots: known locations of expensive gaming hardware, potential logins to banks or Facebook, personal trivia that could be used for identity verification.


And that's assuming the hackers didn't get users' credit card numbers. You're well aware of what they could do with those, especially when paired with all that other relevant information.


For the record, while Sony tells us there are 77 million PlayStation Network user accounts worldwide, the company has not clarified how many individuals that represents. Some gamers have told us they have multiple accounts on the network. Still, without a doubt, tens of millions of people are sure to have been affected.


Alan Paller, research director of the SANS Institute, told Reuters that the breach may be the largest theft of identity data information on record.


Paller said Sony probably did not pay enough attention to security when it was developing the software that runs its network. In the rush to get out innovative new products, security can sometimes take a back seat.


"They have to innovate rapidly. That's the business model," Paller said to Reuters. "New software has errors in it. So they expose code with errors in it to large numbers of people, which is a catastrophe in the making."


Rest assured, Sony is not alone. Other companies will certainly experience similar breaches in the coming months. We may be entering the age of the data breach. Hopefully soon after that, we will enter the age of real data security, but for that to happen, companies need to shape up.


Companies are machines built to make money, not to protect your information. In many countries, the government has assumed that responsibility, but in America's free market, it's hard to hope for definitive privacy legislation. The most recent online privacy bill, proposed last month, angered opponents for being too harsh, and angered advocates for being too weak.


Unfortunately, the outrage has to come from us — and our wallets. Strong security needs to be a sales pitch that we buy into and hold companies accountable for. That will be effective, but only if we pay attention.


Information from Reuters was used in this report. And, msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.
(Source: ingame.msnbc.msn.com)
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