.::REALITYRECALL::.

The House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade continues to seek answers regarding last month’s breach of the PlayStation Network’s security. The one it got yesterday from Purdue professor and security expert Dr. Gene Spafford is troubling, to say the least, if the situation he detailed actually played out as described.

Spafford told the subcommittee that, according to security mailing lists he subscribes to, “individuals who work in security and participate in the Sony network” had learned “several months ago” that PSN was hosted on servers running “very old versions of Apache software that were unpatched and had no firewall installed.”

The professor continued, “they had reported these [issues] in an open forum that was monitored by Sony employees, but had seen no response and no change or update to the software.” The timeframe for these events was “two to three months prior to the incident where the break-ins occurred,” according to Spafford.

It’s important to note that his account of the situation and information is second-hand. Still, the potential for this testimony to cause the subcommittee, headed by representative Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), to demand more answers from Sony — and, more specifically, the individuals mentioned by Spafford — does exist.

Sony could not be reached for comment.

PSN servers were ‘unpatched and had no firewall installed,’ security expert testifies originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 May 2011 18:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video store Blockbuster’s Canadian operations have been placed into receivership by an Ontario court after the chain missed payments on its debt.

Video games don’t have the greatest history of pandering to the tastes of women. That’s probably because so many game devs are frustrated nerdy dudes working out their own issues via XML. This explains why so many female game protagonists are smoking hot redheads who want to hook up with the nerdiest NPC in the game. It also explains why women in video games tend to be… busty.

Think we’re kidding? Go to your cabinet now and pick a game. Any game. Fact is, just like how every technological advance is popularized by porn, every step in the evolution of gaming is marked by the diligence of programmers with the sexual maturity of 12 year old boys, working day and night to put breasts into games whether they need to be there or not.

Sexist? Often. Sleazy? Probably. But it’s possible that the insistence on increasingly realistic breasts in games helped usher in the more adult themes we’ve come to take for granted in gaming over the decades. Or at least we’re telling ourselves that to assuage our guilt. Here are the 40 greatest boobs in video game history.

40) Samus Aran

This was the reward you got for beating 1986′s Metroid in record time. Nowadays it would be ‘Achievement unlocked: basement dweller!’

39) Eve from Leisure Suit Larry

Eve is who you got to hot tub with in 1987, when you beat Leisure Suit Larry. It’s primitive, but in the 80s people could only see in 8 bits and 4 colors.

38) Felicia (Darkstalkers version, 1994)

By the early 90s it got a lot easier to pander. Witness the birth of cosplay.

37) Morrigan (Darkstalkers version, 1994)

Yeah, there’s a reason 12 year olds packed arcades into the late 90s. Now soliciting joystick puns.

36) Sarah Morrison from Tabula Rasa

Remember what we said earlier about redheads? Here’s your proof.

35) Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark

The thing is, Joanna never does this in the game. She’s too busy breaking and entering and killing Datadyne honchos to seduce anyone.

34) Lara Croft from Tomb Raider

If video games had a ‘jiggle’ era, it was almost certainly initiated with Tomb Raider. I also blame this game for the popularity of Daisy Dukes.

33) Andariel from Diablo 2

Speaking of redheads, what is it with fantasy games and demons with human breasts? I’m pretty sure demons aren’t mammals.

32) Sonya Blade from Mortal Kombat

After Mortal Kombat, fighting game makers decided large, barely-covered breasts were the best defense in a fight. This sounds like bad advice for real life. Unless guys want to try using their nuts as a shield.

31) Mileena from Mortal Kombat

When you play Mortal Kombat, you’re going see some cleavage. It’s in the company handbook.

30) Kitana from Mortal Kombat

You’ll also see sideboob. No it doesn’t make any sense to us either.

29) Ivy Valentine from the Soulcalibur series

Soulcalibur saw Mortal Kombat’s ante and raised it considerably. Where Mortal Kombat had unrealistic scantily clad-ness, Soulcalibur had… well, gratuitous and unnecessary are words that come to mind. Note that Ivy’s weapon of choice is a whip with blades on it. And a bikini. There’s Christian subtext, I’m sure of it.

28) Taki from the Soulcalibur series

Two questions: 1) how is that outfit so form fitting?; 2) No seriously, how do you make navel-conforming cloth?

27) Seong Mi-Na from the Soulcalibur series

Judging by her outfit, Seong Mi-Na clearly went to the Miss Manners fetish academy for creepy western men.

26) Sophitia from the Soulcalibur series

Ok, now they’re just pandering. Come on guys.

25) Cassandra from the Soulcalibur series

At least her bustier straps are leather. That’s a little actual support. Because overflow is a problem and really, underwire is bad for working out. And I’m sure that’s exactly what the devs were thinkings.

24) Anna Williams from Tekken

You’d never know it but she’s the world’s oldest woman. The secret is competing in The King of Iron Fist Tournament, and pandering to desperate nerds.

23) Michelle Change from Tekken

Tekken is the king of weird fetish fuel. Michelle here is wearing a bikini and an Indian headdress. She’s at the Tekken tournament because she got lost on her way to Coachella

22) Christie Monteiro from Tekken

This is just… really blatantly pandering. No shame at all.

21) Felicia (Marvel Vs. Capcom version)

This is probably the basis of 50% of all Comic Con costumes.

20) Lulu from Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy has pioneered the existential angst + gratuitous TnA school of storytelling.

19) The Cimmerian Woman from Age of Conan

Q: Conan, what is best in life?

A: To crush your enemies. To see them driven before you. To holy crap how could anyone sword fight in that?

18) Bloodrayne

I can’t help but think Bloodrayne is looking you in the eye and saying ‘my blades are up here idiots!”

17) Rachel from Ninja Gaiden

I really wish they hadn’t let John Millius consult on the Ninja Gaiden series.

16) Lady from Devil May Cry

You think this game is about vampires, but she’s wondering what, exactly, is the matrix?

15) The Everquest Cover Elf

F2P is l33t for ‘NSFW’.

14) Kasumi from Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive (to Tekken): you see, the problem is that you haven’t really considered how little clothing is needed in life or death combat.

Tekken: What’s ‘clothing’?

13) Lei-Fang from Dead or Alive

Dead Or Alive (to Tekken): See what we mean?

Tekken: oh I see. Volleyball really is the most dangerous game.

12) Asari Dancer in Mass Effect

Apparently, in the future gentleman’s clubs still don’t feature readings of Hume.

11) Morrigan (Marvel Vs. Capcom version)

This is the other 50% of all Comic Con costumes.

10) Miranda from Mass Effect 2

I promise this is saved by context. Miranda is doing it on purpose.

09) Tifa from Final Fantasy VII

Tifa is the existential crisis version of Lara Croft. The only thing desperate devs love more than redheads is clinical depression.

08) Isabela from Dragon Age 2

Isabela is actually an exceptionally well written character. But her designer really needs to check out non augmented bodies from time to time. Because those… aren’t breasts.

07) Shura from Soulcalibur 4

It’s not difficult to be the most practically-dressed female character in a Soulcalibur game.

06) Samus Aran (Modern version)

And once again, we have a ridiculously form-fitting jumpsuit. Thing is, it isn’t even necessary. We’re more interested in unlocking the Wave Beam.

05) Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury and King of Fighters

Sometimes you can only marvel at design decisions. “How much support and protection does this offer?” “None.” “Excellent. Now could you rastafy her by 30%?”

04) Anne from Jurassic Park: Tresspasser

You’d think it wouldn’t be possible to shoehorn gratuitous breasts onto the playable character in a FPS. You’d be wrong. We can’t cure cancer but by god we’re going to put boobs into a genre that normally won’t let you see shoes. Our civilization will last forever.

03) Jade from Mortal Kombat

This is an example of the Mortal Kombat team showing restraint.

02) Yangus from Dragon Quest

You have to admit: 30+ years of boobs R&D have made spectacular manboobs possible.

01) The Brood Mother from Dragon Age: Origins

These are the greatest boobs ever put into a game ever. And no, you cannot have my brain bleach. I just drank all of it.

Smartphones on Canadian high-speed networks are not coming close to getting the speeds the networks’ advertisements say they deliver, new tests suggest.

Windows only: Google Docs is a great on-the-go and collaboration tool, but using the webapp to upload and download files is a little slow. SyncDocs keeps your Google Docs library in sync with a local folder on your computer for easy access. More »

Microsoft has launched a new Canadian-based online advertising campaign aimed at trying to convince consumers that they should once again choose a Windows PC over a Mac.

According to The Inquirer, the campaign is entitled “Do the math” and offers up a varying range of personal computers from Apple while showing…

When to wean a child from the bottle can be a tricky call for parents, but new research appears to support a decision of
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Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog

When we launched Google Earth in 2005, most of us were still using flip phones. At the time, the thought of being able to cart around 197 million square miles of Earth in your pocket was still a distant dream. Last year, that dream came to fruition for Android users when we released Google Earth for Android. With the recent release of tablets based on Android 3.0, we wanted to take full advantage of the large screens and powerful processors that this exciting new breed of tablets had to offer.

Today’s update to Google Earth for Android makes Earth look better than ever on your tablet. We’ve added support for fully textured 3D buildings, so your tour through the streets of Manhattan will look more realistic than ever. There’s also a new action bar up top, enabling easier access to search, the option to “fly to your location” and layers such as Places, Panoramio photos, Wikipedia and 3D buildings.

Moving from a mobile phone to a tablet was like going from a regular movie theatre to IMAX. We took advantage of the larger screen size, including features like content pop-ups appearing within Earth view, so you can see more information without switching back and forth between pages.

One of my favorite buildings to fly around in Google Earth has always been the Colosseum in Rome, Italy:

With the larger tablet screen, I can fly around the 3D Colosseum while also browsing user photos from Panoramio. The photos pop up within the imagery so I can interact with them without losing sight of the Colosseum and its surroundings. Also, by clicking on the layer button on the action bar, I can choose which layers I want to browse.

This version is available for devices with Android 2.1 and above. The new tablet design is available for devices with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) and above. Please visit the Google Earth help center for more information.

To download or update Google Earth, head to m.google.com/earth in your device’s browser or visit Android Market. Enjoy a whole new world of Google Earth for tablets!

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager

A NASA probe circling the Earth has found evidence that confirms two key predictions based on Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

About 2,000 school teachers rallied in front of the legislature in Regina on Thursday morning as part of a day of job action.

If you have trouble sleeping, you're definitely not alone. More than half of US adults experience some symptom of insomnia at least a few nights a week. To help us get more of that elusive thing called sleep—and address issues beyond insomnia, like snoring, "monkey brain", and difficulty waking—we enlisted the help of a sleep specialist. Here's what we learned. More »

Cue up “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and call up the Wettest Bandits you know – the Winnetka home from the blockbuster 1990 film “Home Alone” is up for sale. [ more › ]

LastPass noticed a possible security issue with one of their databases and is now requiring some users to change their master password. If you’ve been having issues with the service but haven’t seen this notice yet, this may explain your problems. Also, oh really? You’d think a password vault would be a little more impervious than say, the PlayStation Network. But I really like how they responded to this intrusion. More »

Scientists have for the first time discovered a ‘happiness gene’, which works by regulating the transport of serotonin in the brain.

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Like two knights jostling for the hand of a fair maiden, both Facebook and Google appear to be courting the graces of Skype. A source close to Facebook recently told Reuters that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is thinking about buying Skype outright, as part of a deal that could be worth $3 to $4 billion. A second source, meanwhile, claimed that both Facebook and Google are more interested in forming a joint venture with the teleconferencing company, which has yet to issue an IPO. With discussions still in a nascent stage, both suitors are playing their cards close to their chests, while Skype, rather coyly, has declined to comment on the speculation. At this point, details are still hazy and rumor-infused, though it’s certainly not shocking to hear these kinds of murmurs buzzing around. Skype’s been integrating Facebook more deeply into its software for a while now and has gradually branched out to Android, as well (albeit with mixed results). Both Facebook and Google would also stand to benefit from Skype’s millions of users and all the targeted advertising potential they’d offer. Until we receive more substantiated reports, however, all discussions of possible unions remain restricted to the realm of conjecture.

Facebook, Google rumored to be vying for Skype deal originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Playbook’s 7-inch stature didn’t bother our reviewer Matt so much, but people are whispering that RIM is preparing a larger 10-inch size, to go head-to-head with the iPad/Motorola Xoom. BGR is hearing it’ll be later this year, and that the newly-announced BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 handset’s “summer” launch is expected to be August at the earliest. [BGR] More »

If you are a tech head, you’ve probably amassed quite a collection of miscellaneous cables that you aren’t currently using, but might need later on. Keep them organised and tangle-free with a few toilet paper tubes in a box. (more…)

Saskatchewan’s rural roads are taking a beating from all the excess moisture in the province, the minister of highways is warning.