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Bin Laden raid live-blogged (week in review)

Pakistani Twitter users unwittingly describe raid in progress, while Sony grapples with security headache. Also: Intel goes 3D.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil
3 min read

Bin Laden's compound, seen from space (photos)

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Twitter was where many people got news of the death of Osama bin Laden, but it was also unwittingly an excellent venue to follow the raid as it happened.

Speculation that American special forces had killed Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most wanted man in the world, first began to trickle out when the White House communications director posted on Twitter that President Obama planned to address the nation Sunday evening. A onetime chief of staff for former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld was credited for the Twitter scoop when he posted this note: "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn."
•  Republican's tweet first from government with bin Laden news
•  News agencies don't race Twitter on bin Laden

But even before U.S. special forces succeeded in their mission, Twitter users were recording the events as they were unfolding, not knowing precisely what they were describing. Sohaib Athar, who describes himself as a 30-ish independent software consultant, was in Abbottabad, Pakistan, as U.S. special forces stormed bin Laden's mansion. Athar heard the helicopters used during the raid. He shared updates live on Twitter, according to the microblogging service's timestamps.
•  Sohaib Athar on Twitter fame after bin Laden raid (Q&A)
•  Bin Laden, Twitter, and the frenzy of noise
•  Malware exploits bin Laden death in search, Facebook
•  How bin Laden and 9/11 attacks shaped electronic privacy
•  Complete bin Laden coverage

More headlines

Third attack against Sony planned

A source tells CNET a third major cyberattack is planned on Sony this weekend and could lead to the release of information copied from the company's servers
•  Sony says planted file in attack was named 'Anonymous'
•  Anonymous: We didn't hack PlayStation Network
•  Sony Online Entertainment data may have been stolen
•  Senator slams Sony's response to security breach
•  Why has Sony's CEO remained silent on security breach?
•  The PlayStation Network breach (faq)
•  Complete PSN breach coverage

Intel unveils new 3D transistor structure

New chips based on the 22-nanometer designs will run at a lower voltage and with lower power leakage, in an effort to improve both performance and energy efficiency.
•  How Intel's 3D tech redefines the transistor (FAQ)

Lime Wire's day of reckoning is here

A jury will decide how much money Lime Wire and founder Mark Gorton should pay for "willfully" infringing songs from record labels. For some hardliners in the music industry, the Lime Wire case is about retribution.
•  Lime Wire strikes back in court against RIAA

RIM, Microsoft ally in smartphone wars

The handset maker and the software giant tap Microsoft's Bing as they join forces to combat competition in the smartphone market from Google and Apple.
•  Microsoft-RIM caveat: Dim results in deals with rivals

Tethering apps 'blocked' in Android Market

Android users on AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile no longer have access to some apps that allow consumers to use their smartphones as broadband modems for free access to the Internet.
•  Report: Mobile app stores a $3.8 billion biz in 2011
•  How apps stay on top in the App Store

LastPass forcing members to change passwords

The password management service has spotted some "anomalies" that could point to a security breach. It's erring on the site of caution and making users change their master passwords.
•  Why potential LastPass data breach isn't last straw

Also of note
•  TiVo, EchoStar case ends with $500 million payout
•  Lawsuit accuses Apple, others of fixing worker pay
•  Report: Wireless carriers rethink mobile payments
•  AT&T makes broadband data caps official