Sony hack: Playstation remains offline, Microsoft’s Xbox restored |
- Sony hack: Playstation remains offline, Microsoft’s Xbox restored
- Boxing Day wrapup: Liverpool, Chelsea, City and United keep gifts to themselves
- US-Cuba ties: Maduro congratulates Castro brothers
- N. Korean parody ‘The Interview’ nets US$1m on opening day
- Real Madrid’s year draws to a close
- US holiday spending led by women’s apparel, dining, says MasterCard
| Sony hack: Playstation remains offline, Microsoft’s Xbox restored Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:51 PM PST
The PlayStation network remained down, while Xbox's service returned to all except three of its applications during the day. The disruption started Christmas Day, PlayStation and Xbox said on their Twitter feeds, adding that they were working to restore service. A message posted to the Xbox status page early yesterday upgraded service to "limited" -- a sign that support teams were making inroads in fixing the problem. A new Twitter user going by the name "Lizard Squad" took credit for the disruption, claiming it had the "nation on strings." The name is the same used by a group of hackers that has targeted Sony in the past, though it was not possible to verify the Twitter account's authenticity. The account did not return requests for comment and only became active Wednesday. Sony was hit by a sophisticated hacking attack this month that stole massive amounts of data from its servers. The US has blamed North Korea for the attack, with the reclusive state seen as furious at the release of Sony film "The Interview," which parodies leader Kim Jong-Un. After initially canceling the film's December 25 release, Sony backtracked and brought it out to a small number of US theatres. The film was also made available online -- including through the Xbox console and, soon, the PlayStation. On its @PlayStation Twitter account, Sony said: "We're aware that some users are having issues logging into PSN ― engineers are investigating." A day after the difficulties began, @AskPlayStation posted: "Our engineers are continuing to work hard to resolve the network issues users have experienced today. Thanks for your continued patience!" Analysts said a direct connection with the Sony Pictures attack was unlikely, and that the latest hack was probably the work of fame-seeking amateurs. "The timing suggests that this is an attack that we can put in the category of adolescents who are looking for a bit of glory," said Pierre Samson of the European Circle Security and Information Systems. "There is a very small probability that there was a direct link with the attack on Sony Pictures, you can order an attack to online services fairly easily with few resources." He said thousands of similar hacks are launched daily, although they are not always effective. Gamers vent Though a direct connection between "The Interview" and the service disruptions could not be confirmed, some gamers were convinced a link exists. "I blame that darn movie 'The Interview,'" wrote a user going by as2009man on a PlayStation community forum message board. "It's the gift that keeps on giving." Another poster to the same forum said he was getting fed up with the game world's vulnerability to repeated denial of service attacks. "A DDos attack is like a semi (truck) driver intentionally jackknifing his rig on a busy interstate and shutting down traffic for a few hours," said a gamer writing under the name shadoefax. Game users also took to Twitter to vent their frustration. "After this christmas, #lizardsquad is forever on the naughty list," one frustrated gamer fumed. Experts said hackers had warned they might strike on Christmas Day, and that major companies should have been better prepared. "What is very strange is that Sony and Microsoft are used to this kind of attack, and I don't understand why these big companies don't do more to protect themselves," Jean-Francois Beuze, president of SIFARIS information systems, told AFP. "Maybe they think the government will step in to help them restore the situation and flush out hackers, making an example by catching groups like Lizard Squad." A major cyber attack on PlayStation in 2011 saw personal details from 77 million customers stolen, preventing customers from playing online and forcing Sony to disable the network for more than three weeks. ― AFP  |
| Boxing Day wrapup: Liverpool, Chelsea, City and United keep gifts to themselves Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:48 PM PST
Leaders Chelsea set the tone by overcoming West Ham United 2-0. City followed suit with a 3-1 success at West Bromwich Albion and United kept pace by beating Newcastle United 3-1, with Wayne Rooney scoring twice and making one. Chelsea continue to lead City by three points, with United seven points further back, while West Ham's loss allowed Southampton, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Liverpool to make up ground in the race for the top four. Goals in each half from John Terry and Diego Costa — his 13th of the campaign — earned Jose Mourinho's Chelsea a one-sided home win over West Ham, who slipped to fifth. West Ham were expected to provide a stern test after a run of five games without defeat, but despite Morgan Amalfitano hitting the post late on, Sam Allardyce's team were well beaten in what was the London rivals' 100th encounter. "We played a very good game against a very difficult opponent. When we scored, we had the game always under control," Mourinho told Sky Sports. "I am really happy. We are doing very well." City were again without injured strikers Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko at a snow-splattered Hawthorns, but they made short work of West Brom regardless to register a ninth consecutive victory. Fernando punished an error by goalkeeper Ben Foster to put City ahead in the eighth minute, with a Yaya Toure penalty and a David Silva goal extending the visitors' lead before Brown Ideye scored a late consolation. "I am very pleased with the performance," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini. "It was very difficult to play, especially in the second half. In the first 45 minutes, both teams could play and we did very well and scored three goals. In the second half, it was more difficult." Giroud sent off Manchester United returned to winning ways following last weekend's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa by sinking Newcastle at Old Trafford. Rooney broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute, tapping in after a sliding Radamel Falcao steered Juan Mata's pass across goal, and added a second goal 13 minutes later with an assured finish from Mata's pass. The United captain, who played in midfield again, teed up Robin van Persie to head home the hosts' third eight minutes into the second half, before Papiss Cisse replied with an excellent late penalty. "We make progress in every game, but we are also doing bad things in every game and we have to improve that," United manager Louis van Gaal told BT Sport. "But I'm satisfied because we are dominating a lot of games. We're not always winning, but that is coming." Southampton moved into the top four, three points below United, by winning 3-1 at Crystal Palace, who slipped into the relegation zone. Sadio Mane rounded Allan McGregor to put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute and quick-fire goals by defenders Ryan Bertrand and Toby Alderweireld made the game safe before Scott Dann scored late on. Arsenal also exploited West Ham's defeat by edging Queens Park Rangers 2-1, despite losing Olivier Giroud to a second-half red card. Alexis Sanchez saw an early penalty saved by Rob Green, but atoned by heading in Kieran Gibbs's drilled cross in the 37th minute. Giroud was sent off for lowering his head into Nedum Onuoha's face early in the second period, but Sanchez teed up Tomas Rosicky to make it 2-0 before Charlie Austin replied with a 79th-minute penalty. "It was was a deserved red card," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. "Olivier is a guy who, when he makes mistakes, he stands up and admits it." Sterling revives Liverpool Tottenham remain level on points with Arsenal, two points below the top four, after winning 2-1 at bottom club Leicester City. Christian Eriksen's 71st-minute free-kick secured victory after Leonardo Ulloa had cancelled out Harry Kane's first-minute opener for Spurs. Swansea climbed as well, moving to within four points of the Champions League places by beating Villa 1-0 thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson's curling 13th-minute free-kick. Liverpool ended a run of three games without victory by winning 1-0 at Burnley through Raheem Sterling's first league goal since September. Liverpool lost goalkeeper Brad Jones to injury, which saw the dropped Simon Mignolet summoned from the bench, and Merseyside rivals Everton also lost their goalkeeper in a 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City. Tim Howard was forced off in the second half at Goodison Park, after Bojan Krkic had scored the game's only goal from the penalty spot in the 38th minute. In the day's other game, Gaston Ramirez scored one and made another as Hull City escaped from the bottom three by coming from behind to win 3-1 at Sunderland. Adam Johnson put Sunderland ahead in the first minute, but Ramirez equalised with a speculative shot and then teed up James Chester before Nikica Jelavic added a third in injury time. — AFP |
| US-Cuba ties: Maduro congratulates Castro brothers Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:42 PM PST
This month's historic announcement that the United States and Cuba were restoring diplomatic relations after half a century of hostility undercuts the stridently anti-American stance Maduro has adopted as his country slides into a deepening economic crisis. Venezuela had long found in its close ally Cuba a comrade in its anti-American diatribe, but the dynamic has now changed. "Much more than good news is the real possibility that the United States recognises the sacred right of Cuba to be free and sovereign," Maduro said in a letter to President Raul Castro published by Cuban media. "There is still a long way to go before Washington will recognize that we are no longer its backyard, to end the criminal blockade" of Cuba, in force since 1962, Maduro added. As part of the agreement, the United States released three Cuban agents it had held since 1998 who were part of the so-called Cuba Five, while Havana released an unidentified spy and US contractor Alan Gross. "We celebrate with infinite joy the completion of the final release of the Cuban Five, thus closing one of the many chapters of the United States' interventionist and criminal policy," Maduro wrote. Castro took over from his ailing brother Fidel in 2006. Venezuela has been Cuba's main political and economic ally since the late President Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999. — AFP |
| N. Korean parody ‘The Interview’ nets US$1m on opening day Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:39 PM PST
"The limited release, in under 10 per cent of the amount of theatres originally planned, featured numerous sellouts and a first-day gross over $1 million," said Rory Bruer, global distribution president from Sony Pictures. After initially planning to halt release of the film that sparked an international incident, "The Interview" opened in about 300 cinemas, mostly small independent theatres, December 25. The film was also released online for rental or purchase. Major US theatre chains announced last week that they would not show the film after threats from hackers who claimed a cyber attack of Sony Studios. The low-brow comedy featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco revolves around the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. It infuriated North Korea, who the US has blamed for the cyber attack. "Considering the incredibly challenging circumstances, we are extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out to experience 'The Interview' on the first day of its unconventional release," Bruer said in a statement. The film played to packed theatres across the US, with many viewers coming out to make a statement about free speech. Online services for Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles, which had decided to release the film online, went down Thursday, allegedly attacked by hackers. A file sharing website reported the film had been illegally downloaded over 750,000 times. Online views of the film had not yet been released. ― AFP |
| Real Madrid’s year draws to a close Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:37 PM PST DECEMBER 27 ― As another European football year draws to a close, we can reflect on 12 months which have more or less belonged to Real Madrid. It has been a sensational 2014 for the Spanish giants, who have claimed no less than four major trophies ― the Spanish Cup, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup ― to return to the top of the game's global bragging rights after a long period of domination by their eternal rivals Barcelona. A huge amount of the credit must go to Real's under-rated manager Carlo Ancelotti, whose smooth handling of the psychological complexities inherent within his club's day to day life has allowed him to claim more trophies in the last eight months than predecessor Jose Mourinho was able to muster in three years. Ancelotti has been able to instil an atmosphere of harmony and togetherness within a previously bitterly divided club, harnessing the enormous egos of superstar performers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos for the good of the group and fashioning a true team rather than a collection of talented but disconnected individuals. Indeed, it was notable that Real's only failure of the year came in La Liga, where they were beaten to the title by a team who showed just how much can be achieved by a truly unified commitment to a common cause: Atletico Madrid. Although the year ended up as a great triumph for Real, we should not overlook the incredible achievements of their near neighbours, whose low-budget team somehow held off the challenge of two of most expensively assembled squads in the history of the sport ― Real and Barcelona ― to win the Spanish league title and came within an injury time equaliser of adding the Champions League. With the exception of veteran David Villa, who in truth played little more than a supplementary role in their success, none of Diego Simeone's players were superstars before they soared to the title and, even now, very few of them are household names ― captain Gabi still isn't deemed good enough to even get into the Spain squad, never mind the team. As a demonstration of collective, selfless hard work, Atletico's success set a benchmark for other teams to follow. At the game's highest level, even the most famous of names and greatest of talents will not achieve success if they are not operating within a coherent team structure ― a lesson Real appeared to have learned from Atletico, whereas Barcelona still haven't got the message. Away from Spain, the most powerful club in Europe are German powerhouse Bayern Munich, who ended Pep Guardiola's first season in charge by retaining the Bundesliga at a canter and adding the German Cup. However, they were also humbled in the Champions League semi-final against Real, losing 5-0 on aggregate including a shocking 4-0 home defeat in the second leg, and the jury is still out on whether Guardiola and his unique style of play will be able to reach the unprecedented heights they previously enjoyed at Barcelona. Guardiola and Bayern expect success on the European stage, not just domestically, and the Spanish manager's quest to regain his undoubted former status as the greatest coach in the world will be one of the fascinating storylines to follow in the year to come ― the prospect of another Champions League showdown between Bayern and Real, in particular, is mouth-watering. Another charismatic coach on a mission to restore a somewhat tarnished reputation is Guardiola's old foe, Mourinho, who has endured a rather mixed 2014 with Chelsea. After starting the year by failing to mount a serious Premier League title challenge and seeing his team knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Atletico (his fourth successive last four exit in the competition), the flamboyant Portuguese boss finishes the year with his team favourites for the EPL and looking very strong in Europe. For all his talk, bravado and reputation, Mourinho has not achieved anything of note since 2012, when he led Real Madrid to the Spanish title ― and even that was an isolated outbreak of success in an otherwise disappointing spell at the Bernabeu. Indeed, Mourinho last justified his unshakeably high self-esteem when he led Inter Milan to a Serie A and Champions League double in 2010, but a few months from now that peak will be as long as five years ago and Mourinho desperately need Chelsea to follow through their promising start to the season with at least one major trophy if he is to escape the tag of yesterday's man. One coach who has already succeeded in escaping the clutches of history is Louis van Gaal, who started 2014 as a largely forgotten figure but ended it as the trusted architect of Manchester United's attempts to return to their former glory ― having led the Netherlands to an unexpected World Cup semi-final berth in between. Van Gaal's success in 2014 has shown that older men (he is 63) can still prosper in a game dominated by new tactical ideas, and the Premier League title race will be a far more interesting spectacle if he can maintain United's excellent recent form to seriously challenge Chelsea and reigning champions Manchester City. Elsewhere on the continent, the attempts of Paris St Germain, Juventus and Liverpool to break into the elite are other storylines to follow, but as 2014 turns into 2015 there can be no doubt about the identity of the team to beat: Real Madrid. *This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| US holiday spending led by women’s apparel, dining, says MasterCard Posted: 26 Dec 2014 04:37 PM PST
The report, which tracks spending by combining sales activity in MasterCard's payments network with estimates of cash and other payment forms, offers an early look into how the holiday season shaped up. Official government data and results from retailers will not be available until next month. The results of the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report are the latest sign that a stronger economy boosted spending during the holiday season. An improving jobs market, with unemployment at a six-year low, and falling gasoline prices are among the factors helping to spur spending. The National Retail Federation, the industry's main trade body, is forecasting that retail sales will increase 4.1 percent during November and December, the biggest jump since 2011. The MasterCard report highlighted how uneven the gains are, with some surprising winners and losers. Casual dining and lodging were among the strongest categories, posting double-digit and nearly double-digit year-on-year sales growth, respectively, from "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, through Dec. 24. The results reflected a growing consumer preference for "experience" over goods, Sarah Quinlan, a senior vice president at MasterCard, said. The "economy is very strong but they are spending in a different way," she said in an interview. Contrary to some experts who predicted a strong showing for electronics, the category was among the weakest, with sales "basically flat" from Black Friday to Dec. 24 and in negative territory when looking at sales starting on Nov. 1, according to the report. Brian Sozzi, head of Belus Capital Advisors, still thinks Best Buy Co Inc, the country's largest electronics retailer, had a strong holiday season. A flat sales performance for the industry as a whole may simply point to volume sales of PCs and other products marked by steep price declines, he said. Based on his visits to Best Buy stores, Sozzi said higher-end televisions, headphones and watches sold well. "All of the pricier stuff for them moved and moved very aggressively to the point where the last couple of days before Christmas Eve the shelves were basically bare," he said. Quinlan said apparel overall showed single-digit growth, and women's apparel had mid-single-digit growth since Black Friday. She said it was not clear if the growth would translate into profits, echoing warnings by many analysts worried by heavy discounting in apparel this year. Sozzi said one likely winner of some of that apparel demand was JC Penney Co Inc, which he said was doing brisk sales of trendier women's items, as well as athletic apparel. Other strong categories noted in the MasterCard report were furniture, which Quinlan said highlighted growing consumer confidence in the economy, and jewelry, with sales growth in the mid-single digits from Black Friday through Christmas Eve. — Reuters |
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