Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning. Here's everything that you need to know before taking that first sip of coffee today:
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt kicked up more dust in the Google+ "Nym Wars," saying that the nascent social network is primarily an "identity service" to help build other Google products. But how is that different from Facebook?
Whatever. New numbers say Google+ members are losing interest.
At least Google Docs has a "pimp" new look.
WikiLeaks just published on the Web nearly 134,000 leaked diplomatic cables, and the State Department fears diplomatic sources, including activists, journalists and academics in authoritarian countries, could face reprisals, including dismissal from their jobs, prosecution or violence.
Asus is coming out with MacBook Air clones.
After months of listening to fan input, famed game developer BioWare announced that the official female version of Commander Shepard will be a fire-red ginger for its forthcoming "Mass Effect 3."
A 22-year-old male juror pleaded guilty to trying to "friend" the female defendant in his case, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Instead of accepting his advances, the woman told her lawyer, who told the judge, who pounded the gavel.
Beyonce's baby news, shared at the MTV Video Music Awards, not only eclipsed the evening's other winners, it also broke a record on Twitter: 8,868 tweets per second.
There are skeptics who aren't ready to label more hours spent online than sleeping or working as being as addictive or as detrimental as traditional vices, but there is treatment for Internet addiction.
And because we're gonna run this into the ground, please enjoy 10 stupid ways New Yorkers prepared for Hurricane Irene.
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.