That Internet War Apocalypse Is a Lie  —  You might've read some headlines today—in very reputable publications—saying that there's an online attack underway.  The biggest in history.  Enough to slow down the internet.  This would be exciting and scary, except it's just not true.

Where in the World Are Windows Phones Outselling iPhones?  —  On Wednesday morning, Frank Shaw, the head of public relations at Microsoft, published a blog post tallying Microsoft's progress across several different product areas, including Windows Phone, its operating system for smartphones.

Egypt catches divers cutting Internet cable amid disruptions  —  (Reuters) - Egypt's coastguard caught three divers cutting through an undersea Internet cable on Wednesday, the army said, the first suggestion criminals might be involved in days of severed connections and disruptions online.

Researchers create fiber network that operates at 99.7% speed of light, smashes speed and latency records  —  Researchers at the University of Southampton in England have produced optical fibers that can transfer data at 99.7% of the universe's speed limit: The speed of light.

Mike Dell's former lieutenant leads coup attempt  —  (Reuters) - Dave Johnson finds himself once again pitted against a former employer.  —  In leading Blackstone Group's 11th-hour bid for Dell Inc, the acquisitions expert and famously tough negotiator has seated himself across the table from ex-boss and company founder Michael Dell.

Facebook gets OK to build second campus in Menlo Park  —  Facebook has obtained Menlo Park's permission to build a second campus west of Bayfront Expressway, near its headquarters on the other side of the road.  —  “Congratulations,” Mayor Peter Ohtaki told Facebook officials Tuesday night …

Taking Cues From the Valley, Walmart Brings the Shotgun Approach to E-Commerce  —  Imagine walking into one of Walmart's stores today.  You'll see the familiar aisles, the usual customer service floor reps, the check-out stands.  You'll shop as you always have.

You Won't Believe How Adorable This Kitty Is!  Click for More!  —  Companies Hire ‘Ethical Hackers’ To Dupe Employees; Crutches as Props  —  Employees beware: Don't fall prey to a cat named Dr. Zaius.  —  “Check out these kitties! :  -)” read emails featuring the photo of a Turkish Angora cat …

Google Glass Will Be Made In The U.S.A., Report Claims, At An Assembly Facility In Santa Clara  —  Google Glass, the advanced head-mounted computing project the company is gearing up for a possible launch later this year, will be assembled in the U.S., according to a new report from the Financial Times today.

Google Launches Maps Engine Lite, Makes It Easy To Create Advanced Custom Maps  —  For years now, Google has offered its Google Maps Engine to enterprises that want to visualize their custom geospacial data.  Starting today, anybody will be able to use a subset of this functionality …

Silicon Valley city flips switch on big Wi-Fi project  —  The city of Santa Clara flipped on a big Internet switch this week, becoming what it says is the first in the country to use wireless, digital “smart meters” on homes as channels for free citywide outdoor Wi-Fi.

FBI Pursuing Real-Time Gmail Spying Powers as “Top Priority” for 2013  —  For now, law enforcement has trouble monitoring Gmail communications in real time  —  Despite the pervasiveness of law enforcement surveillance of digital communication, the FBI still has a difficult time monitoring Gmail, Google Voice, and Dropbox in real time.

Thousands of accounts found to host unsecured passwords, photos, and other files on Amazon's cloud  —  By not setting their cloud storage accounts to private, businesses and developers have been inadvertently allowing unauthorized parties to retrieve sensitive documents, images and other files previously believed to be inaccessible.

Bitcoin takes a big step into the mainstream with support from Expensify  —  Expensify, an online travel-expense tracking service for businesses, will allow reimbursements to be made in Bitcoin, the all-digital currency that is gaining in popularity.  It's the first sizeable enterprise business …

Google's Knowledge Graph expands into movies on Android tablets thanks to facial recognition  —  Not content to let Amazon hold the limelight with its new X-Ray for TV feature unveiled this morning, Google is unveiling a similar feature for movies in the Google Play store.

Amazon Officially Announces Comedy Pilot ‘Betas’  —  As it just did with Zombieland, Amazon Studios acknowledged the existence of its comedy pilot Betas after the project was cast and well into production.  Set in the land of Silicon Valley start-ups where the right algorithm can make you king …

U.S. law to restrict government purchases of Chinese IT equipment  —  (Reuters) - Congress quietly tucked in a new cyber-espionage review process for U.S. government technology purchases into the funding law signed this week by President Barack Obama, reflecting growing U.S. concern over Chinese cyber attacks.

Portugal media demands Google pays for news  —  (Reuters) - Portuguese media companies, struggling through the worst recession since the 1970s, are pressing Google to pay for content on its news search engine, echoing similar demands elsewhere in Europe.  —  Alberico Fernandes …

As News Publications Experiment With Sponsored Content, Google Says Keep It Out Of Google News  —  News publications having “sponsored content “deals are on the rise, and Google's apparently concerned enough that it's issued a warning today that publishers should keep such content out of Google News.

The Messaging Apps That Are Eating Apple, Facebook  —  On a recent Saturday, Johan Dijkland, a 23-year-old student in Emmen, Netherlands, opened a free messaging app called Line on his iPhone.  Then he tapped on a virtual sticker of a sleepy panda with a “good night” speech bubble and pressed send to a friend.