NOTE: The following is the text of the news summary from the Sunday, June 12th It's Komplicated webcast.
ODDLY ENOUGH, BLACKBAT ISN'T THE BLACK GUY: DC Comics revealed one of their 52 new titles this week, Batwing, written by Judd Winick with art by Ben Oliver, this series is set predominantly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but is the only Batman arguably charged with covering an entire continent. Admittedly, there are no people of color on the creative staff of this series and the research has been done in part via "speaking to a number of folks and professors heading up African Studies at a couple of universities," which could cause some people to be concerned with authenticity. Nevertheless, by focusing on superheroics first and social issues second, this series proposes to expand on the ideas Grant Morrison developed when he introduced David Zavimbi to the DC Universe. Our hope is just that he doesn't end up like Hot Wing from the Silverhawks.
BLAME ANY CONVICTIONS ON ZUCKERBERG: In their latest bout with privacy issues, Facebook has added new technology for their "Tag Suggestions" feature. It scans your photo and uses facial recognition software to scan the photos of everybody else and nudge them to tag you. Remember throwing up on the hood of the police cruiser? How about that photo of you making out with your co-worker on your boss' desk? You don't want those seen, right? Facebook does. They seem to follow the philosophy, "better to beg forgiveness than ask permission." Best policy: police your photos and your privacy settings regularly.
[Source: Gizmodo]
EVERYBODY GET HACKED TONIGHT: Sony's not the only company to massively fail at online security. Gaming giant Nintendo and financial behemoth Citibank both reported that hackers sliced through the protections offered to consumers as if they were mere sheets of papier mache and swiped thousands upon thousands of credit card numbers, email addresses, names of first pets and unrequited dreams. After our webcast, the New York Times reported that the International Monetary Fund victim of a "large and sophisticated cyberattack whose dimensions are still unknown." The lesson here: nobody is safe, especially when the hackers are more skilled than anybody hired for data security.
[Source: Komplicated, Technorati and The New York Times]
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE: Sony's Playstation Network is back online and people are back to playing … but security expert Gregory Evans insists that Sony's security systems still have more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese. He claims that the company is "relying on the wrong people to secure their system." Specifically, Evans believes that Sony (and most companies) use "IT managers" instead of true security experts or, to put it a different way, hackers. Oy.
[Source: Joystiq]
HOW YOU SAY "KICK BUTT" IN JAPANESE: We took a look at the Japanese-language trailer for Marvel's new anime take on the Daywalker …
Which we thought looked pretty cool. Look for more coverage on this later this week on Komplicated.
[Source: The Daily What]
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: We followed up on our coverage of Botcon, analyzing the presentation of the new Transformers game and showcasing some of the cosplay.
[Source: Komplicated]
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1994: The good news is that Sony's new Playstation Suite turns many Android phones (running 2.3 and up) into gaming machines capable of playing Playstation games. The bad news is that means Playstation One games. Time to crank up Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style again!
[Source: Gizmodo]
NEXT? THE FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD BLACK PANTHER: A new teaser image from the Mouse House of Ideas showcases T'challa as "Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive." This follows a series of misadventures that took his throne, made him the first Wakandan ruler to fail his people, took him away from his hot mutant wife, took his money, took his country's mineral legacy, changed his homeland into a debtor nation, had him pick a fight with Luke Cage for getting bumped into, showed him getting outwitted by a half-educated eastern European crime boss and — worst of all — donning the colors of the United States, a country that had mocked and subverted him for decades as "American Panther." Sure. Why not? This ongoing tragedy is written by David Liss, the man who brought said stupid Luke Cage fight to market. Yay.
[Source: CBR]
DIGITAL DESPAIR: A while back, the first Mac virus of note in years made the rounds, scaring people as MacDefender. The self-same virus is back, now called MacShield. If you must buy virus software — considered a waste of time by most Mac advocates — buy it from a retailer you trust, not a pop up window.
[Source: Gizmodo]
A NEW WAY TO TUNE IN: Upcoming SyFy network show Defiance has an interesting twitch. It features a game component that promises online multiplayer like World of Warcraft and first person shooter stylings similar to Gears of War. However, more interestingly, things that happen on the show change the game experience and things that happen on the game change the show. Whoa!
[Source: DVICE]
CAN YOU HEAR ME ZAP? A new proof of concept experiment shows electricity being beamed via sound waves. By using frequencies beyond human and animal hearing ranges, Meredith Perry and Nora Dweck, two freshly minted University of Pennsylvania graduates have been able to make this work in small applications, but other scientists doubt the scalability and point to possible health concerns.
[Source: CNET]
NOTE: The It's Komplicated webcast will not broadcast Father's Day, June 19, 2011. We're looking at new broadcast times for the show after its week hiatus, so please stay tuned to the website for more information.