The Internet, the country, and indeed the whole world is abuzz with the news of PRISM, the no-longer-secret program of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) first exposed by Glenn Greenwald of the British newspaper The Guardian, through which the United States federal government is accessing and mining all sorts of user data from the major ISPs and possibly cell phone companies. Data which is potentially about just about anybody and everybody, even you. The list of companies and ISPs alleged to be involved with PRISM, by which we mean allowing the government to data mine their users’ data, is impressive (read as “scary”) indeed, although most of them are quick to deny it. However, we have evidence (see screenshots below) that even though they are denying it, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, and AOL are all involved. There are rumours of DropBox and Amazon joining. And Verizon is also giving the Feds access to their user data. But as 1984 as this all is, we really only have one question: why is anybody surprised?

According to “sources”, Apple will be announcing a new iPhone trade in program late this month. The sources say that Apple has created a partnership with mobile phone distributer and trade-in master Brightstar.

You may or may not have ever worried that the person with whom you were about to hook up (or the person with whom you just hooked up) was related to you. But in Iceland they take their incest (prevention) seriously. That’s because, being a fairly tiny island nation, lots of Icelanders are related to lots of other Icelanders. In fact, there is a massive database (the Íslendingabók, or Book of Icelanders) in which would-be lovers look up that very information. Of course, in the heat of the moment, running to the computer may be second only to “What do you mean you don’t have a condom?” in terms of killing the mood. Now Icelandic lovers can can stay right in bed (or the car, or the alley), and whip out their smartphones to look up that same information, using the new Íslendinga app. In fact, if they each have the app, all they have to do is have their phone “do the bump”

The moment I heard about the Boston Marathon bombing, I did what many people did: I immediately sought out as much information as possible online. I watched the now widely dispersed videos of the bomb exploding, I looked at the gruesome pictures of victims of the attacks, and I read countless articles about the unfolding tragedy. It is of course trite to observe that the internet has fundamentally altered the way people consume news, breaking or otherwise, but the importance of this fact, however obvious it may be, was made especially vivid to me as I watched the story of the Boston Marathon bombing unfold over the last few days from England, where I am currently in graduate school.

Today is Pi Day. “What is Pi Day?”, you may ask. And, indeed, you may wish that it were “Pie Day”, instead, because hey, that sounds pretty tasty. But it is, indeed, Pi Day – because today’s date is 3.14 (March 14th). And while you may think that Pi Day is something that we made up, we assure you that it isn’t. Lots of people observe Pi Day, each in their own unique way. And yes, many of them involve a pi pie, so you can still have your pi and eat it too.

What is The Harlem Shake? That depends on whether you’re talking about the Harlem Shake dance, the Harlem Shake song, or the Harlem Shake video — by either Al B, Albee, Baauer, Bauer, Bauuer, or the Russian Army. And, the infectious internet meme doesn’t get any less complicated from there. But since the original Sunlight Harlem Shake, it has gone viral on YouTube (or uTube if you prefer) at breathtaking speed.

Cybersecurity experts have revealed that an army unit in China nicknamed “Advanced Persistent Threat 1” has been launching cyberattacks and data theft against American firms for some time. There seems to be enough evidence from the cybersecurity firm Mandiant to even pinpoint the origin of the attacks which have been linked to People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398.

The new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Cyber Espionage (the first NIE ever to address cybersecurity specifically), which is compiled by the office of the Director of National Intelligence (currently James R. Clapper), concludes that the United States is the target of a “major espionage campaign”, and fingers China as one of the leading offenders. This is providing a marketing opportunity for a new breed of services: organizations that will go out on the offensive for your company, basically hacking the hackers on your behalf, and essentially striking back at those attacking your network with a counter-strike. In fact, one such company calls itself “CrowdStrike”.

The French-language version of Twitter has been an ugly and contentious place lately, and the French government is taking action. With recent hashtags of #SiMonFilsEstGay (if my son is gay), #UnBonJuif (a good Jew), and #SiMaFilleRamèneUnNoir (if my daughter brings home a black guy), the Grand Instance Court in Paris has ordered Twitter to create a way to alert French authorities of illegal content when an offending tweet is sent out.

If you have cats, you may not realize that you are living with cold-blooded killers, at least you are according to New Zealand man Gareth Morgan. According to him, the country of New Zealand must eradicate cats, and then ban cats, in order to save the birds. Garrett Morgan has launched an online petition to completely get rid of cats in New Zealand, and even suggests euthanasia as an option for current cat owners.

Most Facebook users have said something on their Facebook pages that they regret, but probably not many like Indian citizen Shaheen Dhada, who was arrested and faced angry mob riots in India over comments she made on her Facebook timeline. Comments that many charger were aimed to malign Muslims with the Shiv Sena party.

We love it when we can report on an altruistic and novel use of social media. As any but the least sentient beings know, Spain has hit really hard financial times, with unemployment at a record 25%. Spanish soccer club Real Oviedo has fallen on particularly hard times – in fact, they are facing bankruptcy, with a tax bill of nearly $2.5million (US) looming in the next several weeks. But thanks to some enterprising, and socially-savvy fans, and club management thinking outside the box, Real Oviedo may have a second chance.

Do you know the name John McAfee? Well, if you have a PC with McAfee virus protection, then you just might. John McAfee is a computer programmer and the founder of the McAfee security software that just about anyone with a PC has already installed on their computers. McAfee is one of the first people ever to develop both an anti-virus software, and a virus scanner.

Google is going beyond Google Street View and rolling out the backpack cam operated Google Street View Trekker, a wilderness cam that offers a wilderness view of all the corners of the world that Google Street View has previously left untouched, namely woods views and forest views. The backpack cams can be carried by hikers and campers who are on foot and already headed to spots where cars and planes cannot easily go and Google is starting with the Grand Canyon.

Many are not aware that smoothie experts Jamba Juice have a secret underground menu, in addition to their regular Jamba Juice menu in stores. The secret menu contains flavors like Fruity Pebbles, White Gummi Bear, Butterfinger, Blue Gummy Bear and even a Screaming Orgasm.