E3 Flasher – Used for Downgrading PS3 Firmware

Revisions:
5-13-14: Initial release.

---

So recently I just bought a used PS3 off of Amazon which is a 80GB fat PS3 model. Just my luck, this PS3 is the 4.55 firmware, which means that if I ever want to downgrade it to 3.55 so I can install CFW, I will need to get a hold of the E3 flasher (or find someone with E3 flasher and do it for me).

My brother used to have one of the first generation fat PS3 launch consoles that could play PS2 games, but he recently sold that off (doh!). But he was smart, he knew in the beginning not to update the firmware to the latest official version, and he was enjoying the 3.55 CFW for the longest time until work got into his way and he had just little time for gaming.

Now here I am embarking on my own PS3 adventure, and the concept of PS3 modding is interesting, but not sure if I am ready to take the plunge.

Maybe you have a PS3 and you want to take the plunge and get it modded. Did you update it to the latest firmware? If you have a compatible model, you can purchase a device called an E3 Flasher. Essentially what it does is it reflashes the NOR chip on the PS3 so you can properly downgrade it.

Depending on where you buy this online, it can range from $75 up to $125. The process seems easy, but there is a lot to do to make sure it works right. All fat PS3 are compatible, and only certain models of slim PS3 is compatible with the E3 Flasher.

If you are interested in learning more about how the E3 Flasher works, see an example Youtube tutorial video shown below:

Right now I am enjoy a few games on the PS3, so if you want to add me, my PSN name is VersatileNinja. Thanks!

Heartbleed Bug – Change Your Online Passwords Now

Revisions:
4/11/2014: Initial release.

---

This last week there has been an encryption flaw identified inside the Open SSL protocol that is used in many popular websites today that can affect you. See the excerpt below from the main heartbleed.com website:


The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet. SSL/TLS provides communication security and privacy over the Internet for applications such as web, email, instant messaging (IM) and some virtual private networks (VPNs).

The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users.

So what are some example sites? Well, this is what I’m going to be doing this weekend, changing passwords for a lot of my accounts at sites like:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Gmail
• Yahoo
• Flickr
• Youtube
• Dropbox
• Box

and a few more.

Thankfully, banking websites or sites like amazon or ebay were not compromised. To learn more about the bug, and other sites that have or have not patched their servers, see the links below.

I am advising anyone who reads this article to change your passwords as soon as possible. You do not want to be part of identity theft or worse. It will become a living nightmare.

Heartbleed Site

Mashable

TeamViewer – Great Remote Control Program

Revisions:
2/7/14: Initial Release.

---

I just love TeamViewer. I cannot explain how awesome it is, and this Winter season, I’m using it in ways I wonder how I could have done 10 years ago.

As I am writing this post, I am in my living room watching the Sochi Olympics. I am on my laptop, but I have TeamViewer opened controlling my desktop PC upstairs. See the screenshot at the top of the post.

Windows 7- System Ratings Index – How Is Yours?

Revisions:
1-25-14: Initial release.

---

Above is my picture of my current Windows 7 system rating index. In the very near future, I will be upgrading my current desktop PC from a dual core AMD 3800+ at 2.0GHZ to the newer AMD FX-8320 processor (8 core).

I’m going to be getting a new motherboard, and new RAM. For now, I will re-use my existing video card, but I expect to upgrade that as well soon in the future.

I will post the new system rating index results once I have fully upgraded my computer, but how about you? How does your system rating compare to mine?

Which item is the bottleneck in your system? Take a screenshot, share, and let’s compare!

Subscene – Great Site to Find Subtitles

Revisions:
12-30-13: Initial release.

---

So you have a movie on your hard drive, but you need the subtitles? Where you going to get them from? Ripping subtitles from your own dvd/blu-ray collection is one possibility, but it is a big pain in the rear to do so.

A great alternative is to go to the website Subscene.com. Here they have user submitted subtitles for almost every single movie known to man, whether it is for retail rips, or downloaded copies.

For example, a quick search for subtitles for “The Da Vinci Code” brought up this:

Of course, you can get the subtitle in the language of your choice. So give it a try! You might find something that you couldn’t find anywhere else.

Using SmartPhone Without a Voice Service Plan

Revisions:
12-27-13: Initial release.

---

A few months ago I had purchased an iPhone 4 from Amazon (used) for a really great price from Amazon gift cards that I had in my account.

The most interesting part about this purchase is I had no intention to get a data plan or voice service plan for it. Why is that? Well, I already had a company cell phone that I use for business and sometimes personal use, but it wouldn’t be right to have personal stuff and games on a business phone.

Do You Sell or Buy Used Electronics?

Revisions:

12-26-12: Initial release.

---

So the holiday seasons are over, and you might have gotten new electronics under the tree? If so, what do you do with your old ones? Do you keep them around lying in the dust, recycle them, donate them, or go through the hassle of selling them?

The PSX-Scene.com – Legal Playstation News for Enthusiasts

Revisions:
4-5-11: Initial release.

---

Do you own a Sony game device? Maybe its a PS1, PS2, or a PSP. Did you know that all Sony game products are jail-breakable or moddable? I am a proud owner of several Sony devices, and I have taken great joy in jailbreaking them to do things that the consumer was not able to do in the first place. The greatest feat of it all is being able to make backups of my games so then I can preserve the original copies.

However, we know that the Playstation scene is a constantly moving force. It is can be tough sometimes to find good and legit news that isn’t faked, or maybe you want to know about the latest homebrew programs or hacks for your favorite Sony device. Where do you get started?

[Weekly Wrapup] Wanna buy MySpace?; Tweets Hit Techmeme

MySpace Is For Sale

Big news:  MySpace still exists.  No, I’m not kidding.  And they’re for sale.

Parent company News Corp. has admitted that they are considering selling MySpace, just a day after announcing massive layoffs affecting nearly 50% of their staff.  “News Corp. is assessing a number of possibilities including a sale, a merger and a spinout,” spokesperson Rosabel Tao told Bloomberg.  News Corp. bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, but the site has been declining dramatically and it has proven unsustainable.  It was one of the first large social networking sites, but it was quickly overtaken by Facebook.  MySpace recently tried to make a comeback by redesigning the site and calling themselves “the leading social entertainment destination powered by the passion of fans.”  MySpace was originally cool because it gave musicians a place to hang out virtually and share music.  The redesign is probably an attempt to recapture that initial appeal.  But their 65 million users simply fail to compare to Facebook’s 600 million users.  If News Corp. wants to sell, they need to sell now.

Tweets Hit Techmeme, Blogging Officially Dies

Tech news aggregator Techmeme has announced that tweets can now become headlines or discussion posts on the site.  This is yet another indicator that Twitter is becoming a mainstream source of news and information, which is a big step forward for Twitter as a company.  But could it also be an indicator that blogging is dead?

I sure hope not.  But a blog aggregator full of arbitrary tweets sounds like a recipe for disaster in the blogging community.

Techmeme says tweets are not taking over the site; they are going to be tactfully blended with the other types of headlines:

Since 2007 I’ve been asked about 200 times about whether we would introduce a “Techmeme for tweets,” i.e. a Techmeme made up of just tweets. My answer for this has always remained “no”. Any news site aiming for a certain level of comprehensiveness can’t limit itself in such an arbitrary way. Most of the time, the best headline for a story, and the best link for a story is, well, a story, not 140 characters. But omitting tweets from Techmeme wasn’t the best approach either. We believe a mix of blog posts, articles, and a smattering of tweets (plus other new forms of content), is the best way to distill what’s happening right now in technology. We hope you’ll agree, enjoying Techmeme all the more, and will maybe even contribute something to Techmeme now that it requires only 140 characters.

[Weekly Wrapup] New MySpace; HDTV Deals; Beatles On iTunes

This Week:

• The New MySpace
• Best Buy HDTV Deals
• Apple’s BIG Announcement:  The Beatles Are On iTunes
• Donate To Wikipedia!

The New MySpace

MySpace has finally rolled out the long-awaited redesign of their website.  Is it good?  Kinda.  Great?  No.  Better?  Definitely.  I did a long piece on United Tech Guys about the positives and negatives, but to sum it up, the negatives outweigh the positives.

MySpace is dropping the “a place for friends” tagline in order to become “the leading entertainment destination that is socially powered by the passions of fans and curators.”  This is an attempt to redefine what MySpace is as a whole, so as not to be the loser in the battle against companies like Facebook and Twitter.  The new design is cleaner and more organized, without a doubt.

The negatives include the backlash on Twitter, the busy and disorganized homepage, the head-start that Facebook has (with 500 million users, compared to MySpace’s 61 million), and quite a bit more.  Also, have you seen the MySpace Logo Video?  Bizarre.  Very bizarre.