Sony President and Chairman Howard Stringer finally speaks out about their network’s breach and offers those affected a literal sense of security.

In a letter posted on the Playstation blog, Stringer apologizes to users about the breach. “As a company we — and I — apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible,” wrote Stringer.

The Playstation Network has been down since a hack on April 20 that caused over 70 million users’ secured information like names, addresses, telephone numbers, passwords and possibly credit card information, to be at risk. But users were not immediately aware of the reason they couldn’t log on to the network.

“I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question,” wrote Stringer, “As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened. I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had — or had not — been taken.”

Stringer insists that to their knowledge none of the credit card or personal information has been misused and that they are continuing to monitor the situation. But to put customers at ease, Sony is offering some security.

“We are also moving ahead with plans to help protect our customers from identity theft around the world,” wrote Stringerr, “A program for U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user was launched earlier today and announcements for other regions will be coming soon.”

The security comes in the form of Debix Inc., an identity theft insurance firm in the U.S. who will use “AllClear ID Plus” for any affected customers. For time lost on the Network, Sony is offering other incentives. “As we have announced, we will be offering a ‘Welcome Back’ package to our customers once our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are up and running. This will include, among other benefits, a month of free PlayStation Plus membership for all PSN customers, as well as an extension of subscriptions for PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited customers to make up for time lost.”

Stringer stated that he knows this is a frustrating time for users but that the network will be up “in the coming days.” Until then, “Our investigation is ongoing, and we are upgrading our security so that if attacks like this happen again, our defenses will be even stronger,” he wrote. “We are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible.”

What do you think about Sony’s reaction time and resolution ideas? Have they forever lost your trust or are you willing to use the PSN again?

The first trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (geez that’s a mouthful) from director Rupert Wyatt has officially hit the internet. These ain’t your Tim Burton primates…

Is anyone else sincerely creeped out by those things? Honestly, the people at WETA (Lord of the Rings, Avatar) are amazing. I find it hilarious that Andy Serkis is playing yet another primate (he depicted Kong in King Kong) but he’s actually bringing that chimp to life exceptionally well.

“The main thing we’re trying to do is create these completely believable ape characters and treat them completely in a live-action sense,” senior visual effects supervisor Joe Leterri told Empire Online who have some breakdowns of the visual effects.

“This actually grew most directly out of what we were doing on Avatar, but here we brought the motion capture completely onto the live-action stage. We had to hide all of the motion-capture cameras all over the live-action sets. And so we could have Andy Serkis, and any of the other actors playing the apes in the set with the [non-ape] actors actually performing.”

Serkis also spoke about the chimpanzee he plays named Caesar. ”Kong was purely a gorilla, so I went all-out to to make that work and play the psychology and DNA of a pure gorilla,” he said. “But this is much more mercurial and ‘shifting sands’ in terms of who this creature is, because he’s brought up with human beings, and then he’s inherited this drug which has enhanced his intelligence, so you have to almost forget he’s a chimp, really. We’ve been experimenting with treating him much more as a human being, really. It feels more like a human drama story.”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes also stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter) and will swing into theaters August 5. The official website, ApesWillRise.com, is now live.

Ben Templesmith now has his own app thanks to IDW Pubishing! Dubbed Templesmith Comics, the company announced today they would be selling the writer/artist’s collection in his very own digital comics storefront.

Available exclusively for the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, Templesmith Comics is the fifth store IDW has opened. G.I. Joe Comics, Transformers Comics, Star Trek, and IDW Comics were opened previously.

“Ben’s work deserves to be featured on it’s own,” said Jeff Webber, Director of ePublishing for IDW. “The custom designed app includes several of Ben’s biggest series – Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Singularity 7, Groom Lake, Shadowplay, Welcome to Hoxford, and even a special G.I. Joe story featuring the Baroness. These books have been top sellers on other platforms such as Sony PSP, so we wanted to bring them to his iPad and iPhone fans as one complete library.”

Downloadable for free through iTunes, Templesmith Comics comes with three free books and the option to purchase over 30 for either $.99 or $1.99. IDW currently has over 650 individual issues available through the App Store, with more becoming available every week.

Via Twitter, Templesmith had this to say, “Yes, I have my own app now. Any creator with name recognition & a back catalog should have one I think.” He also replied to a fan asking about possible Android versions of the application, “I have no idea on an android version of the app, sorry. I’m Mac user so such things are foreign to me.”

As you may already know, ComiXology sells digital comics through the Android market and since the IDW apps are powered by iVerse, which is compatible with Android phones, it’s probably only a matter of time and reader demand before the IDW storefronts become available there.

What’s better than one iPhone distribution app? If you’re SLG Publishing it’s two!

SLG has announced that it will partner with iPhone applications Panefly and comiXology to distribute its comics to iPhone users.

Both applications will have the same books, such as online-only The Warlord of Io as well as books such as The War at Ellsmere and Chumble Spuzz.

“I think a key to success in publishing at this juncture is to make sure our titles are available in as many channels as possible,” said SLG president Dan Vado in a release. “Digital distribution could be as important for us as our distribution through Hot Topic was a few years back. Sales in that channel actually helped us create new readers for us.”

Want to catch up on your favorite books on your iPhone? Well, you’re in luck — IDW announced yesterday that it would be expanding its digital publishing operations.

The company, which released its first Transformers comics to iTunes in May, said it would be releasing the Transformers: Rise of the Fallen prequel and adaptation graphic novels starting yesterday. In addition, the G.I. JOE: Rise of Cobra prequel comic is also up, as did G.I. JOE: Origins and CSI.

Furthermore, IDW has promised that J. Scott Campbell’s Danger Girl will be the next comic to be hitting the web, as well as — wait for it — the 1980s classic Transformers comics! By supplementing and bypassing the traditional distribution routes by going to a device as ubiquitous as an iPod (the newer versions being able to download anything via WiFi anyway), this is a really smart move for IDW, and will really help get their catalog out to not just people far away from a comic shop, but to iTunes shoppers who might not ordinarily consider looking to buy a comic in the first place.

“The digital medium represents a huge opportunity for the comics industry, and we’re proud to be leading the way,” IDW’s CEO Ted Adams said in a statement. “Through epublishing, we can introduce an entire new audience to comics and the joys of comic books.”

Well, maybe that’s not completely accurate — but thankfully, there are no radioactive isotopes involved.

RichardDawkins.net has reported that Spanish scientists from the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) have determined that human beings can develop echolocation by producing particular kinds of tongue clicks.

Lead author Juan Antonio Martínez said that “in certain circumstances, we humans could rival bats in our echolocation or biosonar capacity.” This had previously been noted as a rare phenomenon, such as blind guide for the blind Daniel Kish and Ben Underwood, known by some as the world’s best “echolocator.”

Yet don’t start busting out your billy clubs just yet:

In order to learn how to emit, receive and interpret sounds, the scientists are developing a method that uses a series of protocols. This first step is for the individual to know how to make and identify his or her own sounds (they are different for each person), and later to know how to use them to distinguish between objects according to their geometrical properties “as is done by ships’ sonar”.

Now all we need to do is teach these guys echolocation, and we’ve got ourselves a superhero!

[Tip of the hat to Lee Garbett for the link]

What better way to tell the story of a politician as overwrought as Michele Bachmann than as a comic book? After all, if a comic book writer had created Bachmann, she’d be hard to believe. Just a couple of months after Barack Obama’s inauguration (and his swath of guest appearances in comics), Bachmann declared that it was time for the people of the US to have an “orderly revolution” to throw Obama out of office.

Comic book publishers would be pretty bummed to see their cash cow thrown out, so it’s probably a good thing for the industry that Bachmann’s revolution seems to be on the back burner for the moment. But for those of you who want to be prepared in case she manages to pull it off, you could do worse than checking out False Witness! The Michele Bachmann story.

For those of you outside of Minnesota who don’t spend your evenings with Sean Hannity or Keith Olbermann, Bachmann is the representative from Minnesota’s 6th congressional district. Her latest claim to fame is a rather public refusal to fill out the 2010 census forms for nebulous reasons connected to “personal” information. Rather like Sarah Palin, Bachmann is a pretty, populist Christian conservative with a reputation for saying outlandish things and a spectacular ability to mobilize the “base.”

Issue number one of False Witness! is less the narrative of Michele Bachmann and more a story of the religious right’s rise, tied together with the rise of Bachmann. As such, it’s rather text-heavy, and contains contributions by several different artists. The art doesn’t so much tell the story as add to it, turning all the characters to outsize caricatures while telling stories drawn straight from the news (with a “citations” page in the back just in case you doubt). The creators are certainly aware of this–even throwing in a two-page spread in which the comic critiques itself so that you don’t have to–and notes that it is an “important political story.”

The book is worth the $4 cover price just for the page in which Bachmann chants “You Will Pay!” at a fellow Republican who doubted her, in panels growing ever closer to eyes glowing with lunacy and a forehead beaded with sweat (evoking Nixon’s famous debate sweats, perhaps?). Yet like many satires, it is aimed mainly at the converted, and probably won’t be picked up by anyone but those who already know who Bachmann is and find her frightening–or amusing. Though the creators do a good job of illustrating the schisms and splits in the Republican party, when it comes to specific claims of demagoguery or extremism, the book is at its most effective when it lets Bachmann’s own, documented words speak for themselves. Readers who don’t already agree that Bachmann is a fundamentalist extremist will probably never get anywhere near the comic, so I doubt it will have much effect on Bachmann’s popularity at home.

We are promised more issues after this first one, so I’m hopeful that we’ll get more narrative when the creators don’t need to cram years of history of the Republican party into their comic. Perhaps we’ll get some Michele Bachmann origin stories, some more tales of her time in the state senate, or, since unlike Palin she shows no signs of going away, more stories of her newest headline-grabbing antics. Or perhaps Bachmann will prove me wrong and turn out to be the biggest boon to comic retailers since Spider-Man met Obama.

Stranger things have happened.

After he got through with it, it was a robot in disguise!

Via Topless Robot, there’s a guy (wow, I nearly typed “god”) in Lemoore, California who loved Transformers so much, he built an 18-foot-tall version of Bumblebee out of his yellow Volkswagen Beetle.

The statue, which weighs 1,200 pounds, even has what looks to be a PVC-pipe gun. Simply stunning, even if it stands almost as bow-legged as Tony Danza.

I had the wonderful opportunity to chat it up with iPhone/iPod developer Olivier Yiptong about his new app Comicstrips. It’s the best comic reader for the tech! Check out their site for the straight poop.

download original audio source

A big question that’s been kicked around the blogosphere for the past few weeks has been whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning to the Terminator franchise.

The Governator’s answer? A resounding… maybe.

“I made it very clear that I don’t have the time to do the movie,” Schwarzennegger told the Los Angeles Times. “I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together, and so they are working on that right now.”

In other words, Arnie is referring to using footage from the previous three Terminator films to cobble together a nice cameo of the T-800 cybernetic organism. Considering the film is set to come out May 21st, I’m feeling a little skeptical about the time frame.

But the use of CGI and previously shot footage is not unprecedented: when Oliver Reed passed away during the filming of Gladiator, director Ridley Scott managed to use a body double, CGI, and earlier footage to give his character a proper send-off.

It’s as if Japan is deliberately trying to freak me out.

Not only do they have a company called CYBERDYNE — which Terminator fans will note is the company that created Skynet and, by proxy, the robot-powered apocalypse known as Judgment Day — but they are creating up to 500 robotic exoskeletons.

So yes, I’m pretty sure I need a new pair of underroos.

Scientific American has some more details:

The exoskeleton detects—via a sensor attached to the wearer’s skin—brain signals sent to muscles to get them moving. The exoskeleton’s computer analyzes these signals to determine how it must move (and with how much force) to assist the wearer. The company claims on its Web site that the device can also operate autonomously (based on data stored in its computer), which is key when used by people suffering spinal cord injuries or physical disabilities resulting from strokes or other disorders.

They also note that the company knows what the name Cyberdyne has meant in the past. Which means it might stay that way in the future.

Say it with me now: AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!

The Xbox 360 and PS3 each already have some very strong multimedia capabilities. The 360 has that wonderful Netflix streaming, allowing Gold members to stream their “Watch Now” playlist directly to their TV, even with some shows and movies in HD. The PS3 is famously a blu ray player, and one of the best on the market. If you’ve seen blu ray in action, you know that it really is a substantial difference. Both have various applications available for both PC and Mac that allow you to stream video that’s on your computer to your system of choice, moving you away from the computer screen and back to the living room, and can play most divx files off your computer or a burned disc.

But what about that wonder of wonders, Hulu? Hulu, for the uninitiated, is a website that streams video from several sources like Fox, NBC, Comedy Central, and many many more. Missed your favorite show? Forgot to Tivo it? Hulu to the rescue. However, the limitation has been that you have to watch it on the computer. This is something a lot of people have gotten used to and really don’t mind too much, but it’s still not the optimum way to watch video when you have that big widescreen in front of your couch.

Enter PlayOn. From MediaMall Technologies, PlayOn solves the Hulu problem (and much more) for Xbox360 and PS3 owners. The program is remarkably easy to use. Download the server onto your PC (XP and Vista only for now), and there’s virtually no setup. On most computers, the automatic settings are perfect (it even auto-detects your firewalls) and you’re literally good to go the moment you start the program and turn on your console. You can also input your Hulu username and password to access your queue. Varying quality settings allow the streaming to work no matter how fast your system and internet connection, provided you meet the relatively low minimum requirements. Now, this is still internet streaming, so this is not high definition quality, but it’s good enough to have in the background or to watch that missed episode. Videophiles will complain, but the general public should love it.

Hulu is actually only the tip of the iceberg, as well. Youtube (including user queues) streams nicely through PlayOn, as does CBS, ESPN, Amazon Video On Demand, and even Netflix. That last one is quite the boon for PS3 owners jealous of their 360 counterparts. Again, since it’s through an extra server, you’re not going to get quite the same quality. HD is not yet available through this extra software, but the quality is passable; think pre-digital cable and you have a pretty good idea of how things will look on your TV.

PlayOn is not free beyond the two week trial. The $39.99 price tag is the only downside to the story. This is considerably steeper than most media servers, but it also does a lot more than just stream your saved video. They have also recently launched an affiliate program, allowing you to get the software for free by signing up for a number of other services. If the program were $20 or even $30, this would be an absolute must-own for 360 or PS3 owners. At $40, I can still give it the highest recommendation for PS3 owners, as it equalizes the Netflix issue, plus adds the bonuses of an easy-to-use interface for Hulu and Youtube. For 360 owners, only tv/movie addicts need apply, but it certainly does expand the options for them in a major way. Easy to use from start (on your PC) to finish (on your 360 or PS3), MediaMall Technologies has put together an amazing product, updates it on a regular basis, and has turned two great multimedia hubs in the living room into something even more special.

A friend of mine emailed me this link yesterday:

NASA wants your opinion in naming the International Space Station’s Node 3 – a connecting module and its cupola – before the two segments travel to space and are installed on the orbiting laboratory. The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity- and Node 2- Harmony.

So what’s one of the names you can vote on?

That’s right. Serenity. So get your butt over there and vote.

It looks that Warner Bros. will be striking the iron when it’s hot.

High Def Digest has announced that in March, just before the release of the highly anticipated live-action film, Warner Bros. will release a motion comic of all twelve chapters of Watchmen on Blu-Ray DVD.

The fledgling art form has been getting some serious attention in the past six months, with Invincible, Batman: Black and White, and even Max Payne starting to pioneer the motion comics frontier. But with Watchmen, this could not only introduce comics-averse audiences to the original story, but could in turn drum up anticipation for both the film and the original graphic novel.

According to the release, the suggest retail price will be $38.95, and will be released March 3.

Switched has picked up on the story that the New York Times reported (and Caleb linked) a week ago: the death spiral of the print newspaper spells trouble for cartoonists.

Last month, I attended a lecture by Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism about the future of journalism. As in the linked essay, he pointed out that people are not turning away from news–that the top newspapers have more readers now than they ever did. Those readers just happen to be online.

One of the things Rosenstiel talked about was the “decoupling” of news and advertising. Why would you buy an ad to sell cars in the New York Times for a ton of money when you can advertise on a website about cars, where more of your audience will be interested in your product?

Targeted advertising is the wave of the future with ads. And news is suddenly driven by targeted searches, Google news finder, and Twitter feeds.

We’re seeing the decoupling of comic strips from news in much the same way. As the articles pointed out, comic strips are moving to the Web, to their own sites, and to different sources of funding.

Though we’d love to see a world where all artists were able to do exactly what they want for the love of it, the practical fact is that we’ve all got to eat. As the media deals with the shift to the Internet, one of the biggest questions is how to survive as an artist–or a journalist–when the Web has everyone expecting content to be free all the time.

We at Blog@ are going to bring you a bunch of stories about webcomics this month, and we hope to be able to help answer some of these questions.

While The Dark Knight was only released this summer, it racked nearly a billion dollars, putting it as the second-highest grossing film behind Titanic. And the main reason the film succeeded as well as it did?

Hype.

News from the production leaked slowly but surely over the course of development. “Anticipated” didn’t seem to cover it — crowds of makeup-wearing clowns were being photographed in dozens of major cities more than a year before the film’s release. The San Diego Comic Con was the site of one PR stunt regarding the Joker’s mayhem, and it proved to be so popular that servers across the country couldn’t handle the demand.

Indeed, I would argue that The Dark Knight‘s success was due in part to stoking the anticipation of the fans to unbelievable heights, driving them out in droves to see the film again and again and again. Viral marketing and hidden clues worked because they piqued viewer’s interests and — most importantly — kept their minds on the product at hand.

So if a three-hour scavenger hunt spanning the 50 States gave you some teaser images… so be it. Because while the show Lost having pioneered much of this style of “alternate reality” gaming, nobody had ever thought to harness this with the sheer enthusiasm and speculation that only comics fans can muster.

And just six months later, I think Marvel is starting to follow suit.

Yes, there is speculation about a crossover between Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk in the upcoming Avengers film, that’s nothing new. (Although as the latter movies are released, I have no doubts that the hype will multiply exponentially.) No, I’m talking about Marvel is introducing this into their comics proper.

In the March solicitations for Secret Warriors #2, Marvel placed a strange note on the cover. Hm… curiouser and curiouser. If you click on www.agentofnothing.com and type in the password, you’re treated to preview art, free digital comics that sum up the backstory of Nick Fury’s latest commandos, as well as a message from the grizzled old spymaster himself.

And I’ll be honest — I think that if Marvel’s web team was creative about it, this could pull in all sorts of revenue, as well as to patch up tangled continuity for new readers. For example, if you’re trying to plug into Primatech Paper Company‘s secret files — something that the show Heroes did just a little too late in the first season — you could easily start off at a Mom-and-Pop store web site, complete with product placement. You could have fake advertisements, or even pop-ups en route to whatever site you’ve clicked. And I’m sure the Mighty Marvel Marketing Masterminds could think of something even smarter.

But with comics prices rising all over the place, it seems as though any form of revenue would be conducive. And what is best about this method of marketing is it not only could maintain fan loyalty if monetization could level out prices, but could in fact increase readership by bringing us into the mystery, explaining the backstory, and adding fuel to the thing we fans do best: speculate.

Paramount reps announced today that Star Trek will be released simultaneously on regular screens and IMAX on May 8, 2009.

According to press releases, the film will be re-mastered on IMAX DMR technology. Director JJ Abrams said:

I’m thrilled that audiences will be able to experience this new, epic world of Star Trek – with an incredible cast and mind-blowing visual effects – on what is, obviously, the most remarkable film format in the world.

The film, set to star Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as James Tiberius Kirk and Mr. Spock. As a prequel, the film will set up the genesis of the Starship Enterprise, with Kirk and Spock rising the ranks of Starfleet.

iPhones — the Final Frontier.

It’s been an interesting few years for comics, with the digitial revolution being mined by Marvel (with its exclusive online content, as well as the DVD archives of many of its comics) and DC (with its Zuda web comic contest). Even web sites with previews like Newsarama have done their part in changing the field of comics through the World Wide Web with four to eight-page previews (which, when you consider most issues are 22 pages, that’s a lot).

But what about the iPhone?

Smartphones are becoming far more than just cellular devices — they’re making the move to becoming mobile computers. So how will comics adapt?

Slowly but surely, comics are hitting the iPhone. It was announced today by Appstore that publisher IDW is issuing reprints for the iPhone of Peter David’s Star Trek series. The first of the five issues will be a rerelease of issue #13, the story known as “Return of the Worthy.” Trekmovie reports that after this run is completed, IDW will move on with other properties such as “Best of the Borg” and “Best of Deep Space 9.”

But the real kicker?

They only cost 99 cents each.

IDW is far from the only comic taking this route. Jeff Smith, long known as a guy ahead of the curve, has already released the first issue of Bone on the iPhone in October — also for 99 cents. And perhaps its no surprise that that app made Apple’s Pick of the Week.

With prices rising from many of the big companies, one question seems to be obvious: will this be a new method of distribution for comics retailers? If they can successfully work out the iPhone’s bugs — and those of you who have worked on just about any high-memory application can relate to the freezing and weird shutdowns that occassionally occur — maybe. With Apple’s stringent policies for the App Store, it’s the first technology that both promotes commerce and deters piracy… at least for now.

While I know I am particularly attached to the paper-and-staple format, if the economy keeps declining and the culture continues to move on-the-go, maybe your ubiquitous iPhone will start to become your ubiquitous comic book reader.

– Over at his blog, Scott Saavedra notes that he is rather ill and could use financial help, either via donations or by purchasing his some of his art work. (hat tip: Tom Spurgeon)

– Bloggers Paul O’Brian and Alistair Kennedy have started a new podcast, titled House to Astonish. It’s going to be an every-other-week affair, and focus on comics news and reviews. The premiere episode looks at recent Batman books, Dark Horse’s Gigantic and other books.

– Chris Butcher has more to say on the Bat-Manga! controversy.

– Tom Spurgeon tells us what comics he’s reading online these days.

– David Baille emailed us to let us know what a busy beaver he is these days. He’s got his first ever story in 2000AD this week, animator David Hailwood has animated a couple of his Zombies Interviews strips, and, perhaps most significantly, he’s started a new Webcomic, the Belly Button Bubble Chronicles.

– The work of cartoonists Josh Neufeld and David Rees can currently be seen at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library through January 10, 2009. From the press release: “Neufeld will show material from his true-life graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and Rees will exhibit a collection of his “Clip-Art Comics.” Neufeld will be showing original pages, oversized giclée prints, and an example of the creative process from script to final art.”

– The Windy City Times talks to Alison Bechdel about the release of the new Dykes to Watch Out For collection.

– A quick reminder: Quentin Blake is awesome.

– For your Monday enjoyment: Ten years of New Yorker covers.