If you use the PlayStation Network, it's time to change your passwords everywhere

After days of outage, Sony is finally coming clean regarding exactly what the "external intruder" gained access to during their hack attack on the gaming giant. And the news is not good. Sony has essentially given up all information about their customers except their credit card numbers... they think.

As Seybold lays it out, the hacker — or “unauthorized person” to be specific — managed to obtain pretty much every bit of information you might’ve given the company, which I’m listing below:

- Name
- Address (city, state, zip)
- Country
- Email address
- Birthdate
- PSN / Qriocity password and login
- PSN online ID / handle
- Purchase history
- Billing address
- Password security answers

The biggest issue here is that most people use the same information to log into their game networks as they use to log into their banks and other financial companies. Thus, by simply reusing the usernames, personal info, and "personal security answers" here, the hacker may be able to steal money from many PSN users without having to touch Sony's network again.

If you're a PSN user, please change your username, password, and security answers at any financial services website that used the same info as Sony's system. Don't wait for the hackers to sell this info to criminals.

Pigeon with a Thumb Drive beats ADSL

In college we had a joke about "Sneaker Net." Back in those days, the joke was that it was faster to load a file onto a floppy, walk it down the hall in the dorm, and copy it off the floppy onto another computer, than it would be to transfer the same file over the school network. Of course, those were the days of dial-up and things have come a long way.

But perhaps not so much in Africa, where a carrier pigeon carrying a 4 GB thumb drive delivered a large file 60 miles faster than the local ADSL. By the time the pigeon arrived, the file had only transferred 4% across the network

Just one more tweet! Please!!!

It was not long ago that I valued the complete escape that a vacation offered. The office couldn't reach me by hook or by crook. I was completely free from anyone I did not choose to contact in some way. Nowadays, I find myself seeking out hotels with internet - wired or wireless. And add to this an iPhone that connects to 3G 24/7, and a Skype connection that I can check from any network-connected computer.

Is this a network or connection addiction? I am not the only one I know who is this way. I am not even the most prolific tweeter I know. Is this a sickness, or just the usual human proclivity to overdo everything?

AT&T hamstrings Slingplayer for iPhone

I don't own a Slingplayer. Don't even want one. But I can see the utility of it, especially for those who travel and desperately want a chance to watch their local sports team or local news broadcasts. (For those not aware, Slingplayers allow you to stream your local TV across the internet to any net-connected system which can run their software.) Slingplayer has been available for Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices for years, and finally an iPhone app is on the way, perhaps in the next 24 hours.

The problem? Despite already allowing Slingplayers on all other Smartphones on its network, AT&T has forced Apple to ban use of Slingplayer on their 3G network so that the final release app only works on Wifi. Why? AT&T says "the iPhone is not a phone but a computer." The real reason? AT&T is finally coming to grips with the fact they have sold more network bandwidth than they have to offer.

I suspect a class action lawsuit may be on the way, if AT&T does not rectify the situation by late summer. The next iPhone is sure to stress their network even more, and nothing says "push Apple to Verizon" faster than banning apps users desperately want.