Author: Zach Walton

In 2011, LulzSec was a name that everybody knew. They were the hacking group behind the PlayStation Network hack of 2011 that brought the service down for more than a month. They were also responsible for a number of other attacks on companies over the course of a few months.

Since then, the members of LulzSec have been rounded up and taken to trial. The latest trial saw Cody Kretsinger, known as “Recursion” in online circles, sentenced to a year in prison. He was convicted on one count of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. After his year in prison, he will remain under home detention.

You may be thinking that Kretsinger’s sentence is a little light. He was able to get his sentence down to a year thanks to a plea bargain he made last year with federal prosecutors. As part of that plea bargain, he admitted to hacking into a Sony Pictures’ database and sharing the information with other members of LulzSec.

Home detention won’t be the only thing that Kretsigner has to look forward to after his stint in prison either. The U.S. district judge ordered him to complete 1,000 hours of community service. Maybe he can help clean up Sony Pictures’ studios in Los Angeles to help make up the $600,000 in damages that federal prosecutors say he caused the studio.

Kretsinger is one of the last original LulzSec members to be sentenced for their hacking spree in 2011. The hacker collective fell apart last year when its leader, known as Sabu, went rogue and started working with the FBI as an informant. There have been attempts to resurrect the group since then, but nothing has come of it.

[h/t: Reuters]

Everybody by now knows the name Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He’s one of the suspects allegedly responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings. He was killed last night after a shootout with police. Pictures of the aftermath have surfaced on the Internet (Warning: NSFW), but now people want to know more about the suspect before all of this happened.

In an issue of The Comment, a Boston University College of Communications magazine, from 2010, Tsarnaev is the subject of a profile and short photo interview that looked at his aspirations to become a U.S. Olympic boxer and a naturalized citizen. It’s revealed that he trained in boxing at the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts Center. He was studying at the Bunker Hill Community College in Boston to become an engineer, but he was taking a year off to train.

Here’s some photos of Tsarnaev in and out of the ring:

Despite aspiring to compete for the U.S. in the Olympics, it seems that Tsarnaev didn’t have any American friends. He said just as much in the interview:

“I don’t have a single American friend. I don’t understand them.”

He said that he didn’t want to compete for Russia because his home region of Chechnya wasn’t independent. Some have suggested, including his uncle, that he was radicalized by the violent Muslim sects that have been waging a war of independence against Russia for the past few decades.

For a final fun fact, he said that he loves Borat, the 2006 mockumentary that chronicled a faux-Middle Eastern man’s trip to America. He does say, however, that some of the jokes were a bit much.

[h/t: Reddit]

Google.org is the search giant’s philanthropic arm that helps enforce positive change around the world. Now the company is helping non-profits and charities with a new mobile app.

Google launched a new Android app – One Today – in beta today. The app features a new charity or non-profit everyday in which people can choose to donate a dollar to. The app is designed to increase the discoverability of lesser known charities by letting them tap into the millions of Android users around the world.

The charities and non-profits currently featured in One Today include Ahsoka, an organization dedicated to teaching children empathy; Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, an organization dedicated to protecting rhinos; Trees for the Future, an organization dedicated to growing trees in Kenya; and more. Each organization requires a certain amount of money to reach their goal with each dollar donated going towards that goal so Google encourages donators to challenge their friends to donate as well to help the non-profits reach their goals.

What’s interesting is that Google will be applying an algorithm to all of this. As you give to non-profits and charities, Google will curate a list just for you that includes charities that it thinks you’ll be interested in based upon your past history.

One Today is a great example of harnessing the spending power of mobile users for good. Heavy mobile users spend at least a dollar every day on games, in-game add-ons and other apps. Tapping into those heavy spenders to give just one dollar a day can make a huge difference.

This all sounds good, but you can’t just start giving money to charities just yet. One Today is available through a limited pilot in the U.S. for now so interested parties must request an invite to get the app. You can download it from the Play Store if you want, but it will be useless without the invite. The app will be available at a later date on iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry so generous minded folks without an Android device will still be able to give in the future.

[h/t: Droid Life]

The Boston manhunt is still going strong after one of the suspects in last week’s marathon bombing was shot and killed last night. The other suspect, who is still at large, is still in the Boston area with police sweeping through the Watertown area looking for him.

The residents of Watertown, and Boston at large, were encouraged to lock their doors and stay off the streets today. During the downtime, one Redditor who lives in Watertown did a live AMA (Ask Me Anything) of the situation.

Here’s the proof provided that shows he is in the Watertown area:

The top question posed to the redditor, who is going by the handle of kamikazi, describes the situation last night when news first broke out that a cop at MIT had been shot and killed by the suspects. He also described the scene when the shootout began early in the morning as police pursued the suspects near his neighborhood.

“Before I went to bed last night I checked reddit and the MIT shooting was just breaking(like 15 minutes old) I remember thinking. “Maybe it’s the Bombers but more likely probably a mugging gone bad or something”

Woke up sometime between 12:30-1:30(I was groggy so don’t really remember) to what sounded like someone taking out their trash but being an absolutely loud ass douche about it. Lots of banging and rustling. Probably was the shoot out which is 3ish/4ish blocks away.”

Obviously, the people in Watertown could never guess that their community would be the center of national attention. Rabidkamakazi addresses this after a redditor asked him if he was scared or excited about the events around him:

“Both really. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in the zone of a mjaor news story. Now I know. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying. Especially because of the bomb aspect. I’ve been running to my windows occasionally to take pictures and I keep thinking. Well what if a bomb denoted now and blew in this window. I’d be pretty fucked.”

He also says that he hopes nobody else dies, including the suspect:

“I’m hoping no one else dies, including the bomber. I want his ass dragged before a judge so he can go to prision and die a slow painful death by shanking, not a fast one from a cops bullet.”

Finally, he says that he already has a plan in place for once everything blows over:

“Call my parents and loved ones. Buy a pack of cigs. Have one. Throw the rest away. then see how I feel about work.”

If you want to know more details from Redditors living in Boston, check out the /r/Boston subreddit. It’s been updated throughout the day with reports people are getting in from every news source imaginable, including pictures from the area.

Iron Man 3 premiers in theaters on May 3. Before the theatrical release, Gameloft will be giving mobile gamers a taste of the action with its latest mobile game tie-in.

Iron Man 3 – The Official Game – is a freemium title for iOS and Android that gives players the chance to use 18 of Iron Man’s most iconic suits as Tony Stark battles across various missions.

Some players expressed concern in the YouTube comments that Iron Man 3 will devolve into a shallow cash cow as the game encourages players to spend real money to unlock new weapons and armors. Gameloft says that’s not the case as every armor and weapon can be unlocked through normal gameplay. Of course, the developer doesn’t say just how long players will have to play before unlocking the advance armors, but at least it’s possible.

Iron Man 3 – The Official Game – will be out on iPhone, iPad and Android devices on April 25.

Wireless carrier contracts are just a way of life. Well, they used to be until T-Mobile rebranded itself as the unCarrier by getting rid of two-year contracts entirely. This led to some consumers demanding that Verizon do the same, and those consumers now number in the thousands.

A petition on Change.org asking Verizon to drop contracts has reached over 94,000 signatures. Its next milestone will be to reach 150,000 signatures, but just reaching 100,000 signatures should send a strong signal to the higher ups at Verizon that its consumer base wants a system where they’re not tied down to expensive contracts for two years, but are rather allowed to come and go as they please.

The movement definitely has support, but the hard part is convincing Verizon to do away with its expensive, and highly lucrative, contracts. Thankfully, the company at least seems willing to do so as its CEO, Lowell McAdam, said earlier this month that he would be ok with following T-Mobile’s lead into canceling contracts if there was enough consumer demand.

If Verizon did follow T-Mobile’s lead, it’s not like contracts would just magically disappear. They would replaced with what T-Mobile calls the “Simple Choice” plan which essentially replaces the contract with small monthly payments. The smartphone is still subsidized and you will still pay the same for data as you did before. The only difference is that you can leave the carrier at any time. Granted, you will have to pay the balance left on the phone if it’s not completely paid off.

Still, supporters say Verizon adopting a T-Mobile-like contract-less plan would be good for consumers on all carriers, not just Verizon and T-Mobile. With the backing of a major carrier like Verizon, other carriers like AT&T and Sprint would have no choice but to adopt a no contract policy as well. It could also possibly lead to all the wireless carriers agreeing on phone unlocking, an issue that the government hasn’t had much luck in regulating.

[h/t: Wireless Week]

3D printers can be used for a lot of things, but a music player never seemed like one of them. One inventor at Art Hack Day 2013 in Stockholm proved that assumption wrong with his own unique 3D printer that doubled as a music player.

What’s interesting about this particular 3D printer is that it not only plays music, but it prints the music as well. As it’s playing the music, the printer is also creating the “sound-form” of the music as its visualized by a computer program. During the event, the printer played and printed six songs, including the Imperial March and Carmen: Habanera.

Here’s the printer playing and printing Carmen:

You may be asking yourself, “What’s the point?” The point is that it’s really awesome.

If you want to try out 3D printed music for yourself, you can grab the source code here.

[h/t: 3ders]

Earlier this month, it was rumored that Microsoft was working on a 7-inch Windows 8 tablet. The news came after Microsoft changed up its rules reducing the minimum resolution for a Windows 8 device to 1024×768. Now the company has confirmed that it is indeed working on a smaller tablet.

During its earnings call yesterday, outgoing Microsoft CFO Peter Klein said that smaller Windows 8 devices are on the way. We can assume that he means that Microsoft itself is working on a cheaper, smaller Surface tablet, but don’t be surprised if Microsoft’s partners also announce smaller tablets.

As I’ve said before, smaller tablets may be key to a Windows 8 revival. The touch-friendly OS and Microsoft’s Surface tablets haven’t exactly been flying off store shelves. One of the major reasons is the high cost as the base Surface RT retails for $499. A seven-inch tablet would lower the price barrier for consumers interested in Windows 8 hardware, but were turned off by the high price of entry.

Of course, we have no idea when Microsoft or its partners will release these smaller Windows 8 tablets. A good bet is the latter half of this year as Windows Blue, or Windows 8.1, will be launching around that time. Microsoft is rumored to be completely revamping its marketing with Windows Blue and a cheap seven-inch tablet would fit nicely with marketing that extols an even friendlier Windows 8 experience on desktop and mobile.

Microsoft’s BUILD conference will be held in June of this year, and the company will also have a large presence at E3. While the latter will be mostly focused on the next Xbox, it wouldn’t be an entirely bad idea for Microsoft to show off a smaller Surface that can act as a controller for the company’s next game console.

[h/t: GottaBeMobile]

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder that’s still hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after the UK approved his extradition to Sweden. During that time, he has entertained a number of guests, including Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

WikiLeaks shared a verbatim transcript of a five-hour conversation between Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Julian Assange, Jared Cohen, former Secretary of State advisor to Hillary Clinton, and Lisa Shields, a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. The meeting was arranged so Schmidt and Cohen could speak with Assange about their new book – The New Digital Age.

A lot of the conversation comes from Assange as he discusses his motivations for starting WikiLeaks. Many people may already know his motivation – to make information free – but his conversation with Schmidt provided a few more details. Assange thinks that the current system of sharing information is broken because it has to go through three or four different channels before it reaches the average citizen. He said that WikiLeaks is “an attempt… at a total system” that collects, curates and disseminates primary sources without any of the self or government mandated censorship that crops up in traditional news publishing.

Much of the conversation after that is Assange continuing to discuss state and economic censorship, which the latter he claims is the more prevalent of the two. After a bit of that, however, Assange starts to discuss Bitcoin. He voices full support for the digital currency and advises people to jump in early because he assume that its value is going to skyrocket:

The Bitcoin actually has the balance and incentives right, and that is why it is starting to take off. The different combination of these things. No central nodes. It is all point to point. One does not need to trust any central mint. … The problems with traditional digital currencies on the internet is that you have to trust the mint not to print too much of it. And the incentives for the mint to keep printing are pretty high actually, because you can print free money. That means you need some kind of regulation. … Bitcoin instead has an algorithm where the anyone can create, anyone can be their own mint. They’re basically just searching for collisions with hashes.. A simple way is… they are searching for a sequence of zero bits on the beginning of the thing. And you have to randomly search for, in order to do this. So there is a lot of computational work in order to do this. And each Bitcoin software that is distributed.. That work algorithmically increases as time goes by. So the difficulty in producing Bitcoins becomes harder and harder and harder as time goes by and it is built into the system.

It should be noted that this conversation took place before recent Bitcoin boom and the subsequent crash.

Assange also touched upon how the Internet is inspiring revolution today, particularly in countries with oppressive governments:

The radicalization of internet educated youth. People who are receiving their values from the internet… and then as they find them to be compatible echoing them back. The echo back is now so strong that it drowns the original statements. Completely. The people I’ve dealt with from the 1960s radicals who helped liberate Greece and.. Salazar. They are saying that this moment in time is the most similar to what happened in this period of liberation movements in the 1960s, that they have seen.

He also says that the Internet is turning the youth of the Western world, who are typically a-political, into political activists thanks to the information they are able to receive on events that they would have otherwise not been exposed to in traditional media.

You can check out the rest of the transcript here. It’s incredibly fascinating and definitely worth your time.

For the past week, Bethesda has been teasing a new game announcement on Twitter. Some fans speculated that it was Fallout 4, but their hopes were dashed when Bethesda said it was something else entirely. That something else has turned out to be the new horror title from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

IGN revealed this morning that Besthesda and Mikami’s new studio, Tango Gameworks, are working on The Evil Within. It’s a new survival horror title that Mikami says will provide fans with the “perfect blend of horror and action.”

Unfortunately, we don’t have any gameplay footage. Instead, the first trailer is entirely live-action, but the monster designs shows incredible promise.

The Evil Within is scheduled for release in 2014. It’s coming to the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and next-gen consoles.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a love letter to the 80s. The game features the neon lights, out of place ninja cyborgs and larger-than-life battles that made the action movies of the 80s so memorable. It’s only fitting then that one of the most iconic actors of the 80s plays the leading role.

In the latest trailer for Blood Dragon, Michael Biehn speaks about his experience in recording the voice of Sergeant Rex “Power” Colt. It’s probably the best behind-the-scenes promo video that you’ll see this year.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon launches May 1 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Until now, developers interested in getting their hands on actual Firefox OS hardware had to either attend a workshop or install the OS on their Sony android device. Now Geeksphone is finally ready to start shipping out Firefox OS dev units.

Engadget reports that Geeksphone will start selling the Keon and Peak Firefox OS dev units next week. The Keon will retail for €91, while the Peak will retail for €149. It seems cheap, and that’s because developers will be getting cheap phones. The hardware isn’t going to win any awards and it isn’t meant to. Firefox OS hardware is targeting developing markets, and the cheap price reflects that.

If you do want at least a little power, you’ll want to go with the Peak. It’s a mid-range smartphone with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 and a 4.3-inch display. The Keon only has a Snapdragon S1 so developers will have to get a little creative when designing apps around the lower end of the hardware spectrum.

Thankfully, Geeksphone will be selling the phones worldwide instead of just in the countries where Firefox OS will be launching. Developers in the U.S. will be able to build apps to take advantage of the increasingly lucrative smartphone market in developing countries.

If you can’t afford or don’t want one of Geeksphone’s smartphones, you can always use the Firefox OS simulator. The simulator piggybacks off of your Firefox desktop installation to emulate the Firefox OS experience on the desktop. From there, you can test and debug any HTML5 apps you may have in the works.

Earlier this week, Bethesda teased its next game via Vine. Fans speculated it was Fallout 4 as work on Skyrim has now been completed. Bethesda says that’s not the case, and its latest Vine teaser seems to suggest they’re telling the truth on this one.

Over the past two days, Bethesda has posted two more Vine teasers on its Twitter feed:

vine.co/v/bFldAQgTIr6

— Bethesda Softworks (@Bethblog) April 17, 2013

mystery revealed tomorrow @ign vine.co/v/bUqveJ2uFeZ

— Bethesda Softworks (@Bethblog) April 18, 2013

As you can see, both of the above teasers look nothing like Fallout. If anything, it’s looking more and more like Bethesda is finally ready to reveal Zwei, a game from horror mastermind Shinji Mikami.

As the latest teaser reveals, we’ll find out more about the publisher’s next game tomorrow on IGN. It would be kind of hilarious if Zwei was Fallout 4 in disguise. That’s not to say Fallout fans should expect anything though. We’re probably still at least a year off from an announcement.

It’s another week and that means another Nintendo Download update that brings new content to your Nintendo 3DS, DSi and Wii U. This week’s download is full of retail games and sales on some of the best eShop games the 3DS has to offer.

First up is LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins, the prequel to LEGO City Undercover on the Wii U. The game will be available starting April 21 at retail and on the eShop.

At the Nintendo 3DS Direct event yesterday, Nintendo announced that it would be localizing the next three games in the Guild series from Level 5. Before those come out, you can now grab the first games in the Guild series at a reduced price this week. Liberation Maiden and Crimson Shroud are both $4.99 while Aero Porter is $2.99. Aside from the Guild series, Dress to Play: Cute Witches will also be on sale for $1.99 this week.

The following games will also launch on the 3DS eShop this week: