Introducing Graph Search Beta  —  Facebook's mission is to make the world more open and connected.  The main way we do this is by giving people the tools to map out their relationships with the people and things they care about.  We call this map the graph.  It's big and constantly expanding with new people, content and connections.

Apple Stock Slide Could Cost It the Market Cap Lead  —  Tuesday is proving to be another brutal day for Apple on Wall Street.  The company's shares, which briefly slipped below $500 on Monday, continued their downward slide Tuesday, drifting below that mark once again.

New MySpace opens to the public alongside new Justin Timberlake single  —  MySpace this week quietly opened up its redesigned site to the public.  The so-called “New MySpace” entered internal beta testing in July, and was previewed in September.  Thus far, however, it has only been accessible …

If you lose your cellphone, don't blame Wayne Dobson … Wayne Dobson doesn't have your cellphone.  —  Even if it looks like he might.  —  In the past two years the 59-year-old retiree has been pestered by people showing up at all hours of the day and night at his house, demanding their phones.

Belgian consumer group sues Apple over its ‘misleading and illegal’ warranty policy  —  Belgian consumer protection organization Test-Aankoop yesterday filed a lawsuit (Dutch) against Apple for not respecting local laws on warranties.  —  All Apple hardware comes with a one-year limited commercial warranty …

IBM Exec Husband of Aaron Swartz Prosecutor Takes to Twitter to Defend His Wife  —  In the wake of the suicide of hacker hero Aaron Swartz, his friends and family released a statement placing the onus for his death on “a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach.”

Silver Lake in advanced Dell buyout talks: sources  —  (Reuters) - Talks to take No. 3 computer maker Dell Inc private are in an advanced stage with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.  —  Buyout firm Silver Lake Partners …

What if Microsoft exited the search business?  —  Amazingly, most everyone totally ignores a linchpin competitive assumption when they talk about search competition and Google's antitrust liabilities - that Microsoft will always be a competitor in the search advertising business.

Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows - drive-by crapware installers  —  Many people in the technology startup community have very high regards for Paul Graham and Y Combinator, the exclusive seed accelerator program in Silicon Valley which has under its belt acclaimed successes like reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox.

California to Give Web Courses a Big Trial  —  A plan to offer an array of online college classes at a California state university could, if the students are successful, open the door to teaching hundreds of thousands of California students at a lower cost via the Internet.

GoBank: It's a Real Bank, and It's Made by Real Internet People  —  Green Dot today launches the smartphone-based GoBank, which will have no overdraft or penalty fees, no minimum balance and a “pay what you feel is right” monthly membership fee.  —  Let's take a step back to set this up.

OkCupid Wants to Send Members on a ‘Crazy Blind Date’  —  OkCupid, the dating site, has spent the last few years experimenting with ways to appeal to increasingly tech-savvy and pressed-for-time singles.  In 2011, the company rolled out a “locals” feature that showed other singles nearby …

Wi-Fi + Cellular Models of iPad mini & Fourth Generation iPad Available in China This Friday  —  BEIJINGJanuary 15, 2013Apple® today announced the Wi-Fi + Cellular versions of iPad® mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina® display will be available in China on Friday …

An Ivy education without the debt?  Minerva Project creates non-profit to figure out how  —  The Minerva Project, which turned heads last April with its mega $25 million seed round, has grand ambitions for bringing a Harvard-level education to the Web.  But there are two aspects …

LG deflects blame for Nexus 4 supply issues  —  Google has had some pretty heavy supply shortages since putting the Nexus 4 handset on sale in November, but manufacturer LG doesn't see a problem from its point of view.  An official speaking to the Chosun Ilbo has said that production …