In a stunning development unprecedented in the modern history of the Internet, a country of more than 80 million people has found itself almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the world.

Early in the morning in Cairo, a series of complaints of mobile phone outages said Mobinil, the country's largest mobile provider, was no longer providing service.

National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening.

The 3-yard tall catapult was found about 20 yards from the U.S. border on a flatbed towed by a sports utility vehicle, according to a Mexican army officer with the 45th military zone in the border state of Sonora.

Facebook announced today that it is now offering users the ability to use encryption to protect their accounts from being compromised when they are interacting with the site, something security experts have been seeking for a while.

"Starting today we'll provide you with the ability to experience Facebook entirely over HTTPS. You should consider enabling this option if you frequently use Facebook from public Internet access points found at coffee shops, airports, libraries, or schools," the post says.

German researchers have created software called X-Pire that gives images an expiration date by tagging them with an encrypted key.

Dr Backes said development work began about 18 months ago as potentially risky patterns of activity on social networks, such as Facebook, showed a pressing need for such a system.

Viewing these images requires the free X-Pire browser add-on. Currently only a version that works with Firefox is available. Those without the viewer will be unable to see any protected image.

Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei Technologies has filed a lawsuit against Motorola, accusing the technology giant of trying to transfer Huawei's intellectual property to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) without permission.

"Motorola... has not responded with assurances that it will prevent disclosure of that information to NSN," Huawei said in a statement. "If Huawei's proprietary commercial property and information is transferred to a third party, Huawei will suffer irreparable commercial damage."

Google is ready to fire a shot across the bow of the so-called content farms, willing to acknowledge recent criticism of the quality of its search results but still not quite ready to detail specific remedies.

Google has been thinking for quite some time about how to deal with content that isn't obvious spam but is clearly not designed with the best interests of the user in mind, Cutts said.

In a move redolent of the New Zealand haka war dance, Toshiba has decided to stick out its tongue, widen its eyes, and tell Apple that the iPad is, as they say in certain English quarters, pants.

For the site continues: "Add this to the list of interesting places on the Internet you can't see on your device. Of course, if you had a Toshiba Tablet, you would enjoy the entire Internet. Yep, Flash sites too."

"They chose this 'Pentalobe' fastener specifically because it was new, guaranteeing repair tools would be both rare and expensive," said Kyle Wiens, iFixit's CEO. "The iPhone 4 originally shipped with Phillips screws, but Apple has transitioned completely to this new security screw. Shame on them."

Wiens added that if you own an iPhone 4 that came with Phillips screws and you take it to an Apple store for repair, Apple employees will replace the screws with the Pentalobular screws to prevent you from getting inside.

"This move is a part of Apple's strategic plan to increase the rate of obsolescence of their hardware," Wiens said.

Playboy's current app features no naked photos, in line with Apple's strict no nudity policy.

In April 2010, founder Steve Jobs wrote to a customer who complained about the company's stance, saying it was Apple's "moral responsibility" to keep porn off the iPhone.

"If you want porn, get an Android," he said, referring to the operating system used on rival smartphones.

The RIAA, no stranger to playing the bogeyman when it comes to technological change, is concerned that .music, for example, could be used to encourage copyright infringement.

"We strongly urge you to take these concerns seriously... we prefer a practical solution to these issues, and hope to avoid the need to escalate the issue further."

Regardless, the RIAA's argument that .music equals piracy is pretty poor, possibly disingenuous, and unlikely to influence the Guidebook.