A round-up of tech news and updates

It is hard to keep up sometimes with all of the news in the tech world, so here is a roundup of some of the stories that may have gotten lost among the other headlines and the busy end-of-school year schedule.

• Citibank announced that it suffered a large breach in May, where over 300,000 customers' names, account numbers and email addresses were obtained by identity thieves.  Passwords and security codes weren't compromised.  Customers will be contacted by Citi and will not be liable for fraudulent purchases that result.  Again, this was a case where the systems were improperly protected, not the fault of the users.  Be especially vigilant for phishing emails now that these theives know enough about you to send legitimate-looking phishing emails.
• The hacker group LulzSecurity has been on a bit of a rampage taking over or disabling websites ranging from PBS.org to CIA.gov and a wide variety of other targets.  They are believed to be an off-shoot group from the loose hacker collective Anonymous.  It is frustrating for all of us as they may have our log ins and passwords amongst the 62,000 they have released to the world.  The best advice we can give is to make sure that you don't share your password across all of your accounts.
• Google announced that it is expanded its search options to include image search and voice search.  You can go to Images.Google.com and click the camera icon, upload your image and it will bring up related info in images and the web.  They also brought over voice search from their mobile application.  You need to be using the Google Chrome internet browser and have a microphone for your computer (either embedded in your laptop for example, or an attached one).  From the main Google.com page, click on the microphone icon.
• At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), game makers announced new hardware such as the Wii U (a new console and controller from Nintendo) and Sony's portable Vita and new integrated gameplay with Xbox Kinect. The Engadget blog gives a great starting point if you want to read about all of the announcements.

And don't forget--there is still time to sign up for virtual high school classes for Prince William County Schools.  Even if you have a busy summer planned, this is a chance to make up work, free up some room in your schedule for more electives or AP classes or just to make sure that you keep the brain's wheels spinning over the summer.  Tuition is $400 for Prince William County School students. Registration ends June 26th.  All information is available at the virtual high school website.