The fallout from the BlackBerry outage

Here’s what you may have missed last week while you were standing in line to get your new iPhone 4S or waiting for your email during the cataclysmic BlackBerry outage:

• As anyone with a BlackBerry is already well aware, Research In Motion suffered a major BlackBerry outage, lasting most of last week. However, they’re very, very, very sorry, according to a video apology from co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.

• As Google continues to tweak its brand, it’s planning to put the kibosh on Google+’s predecessor, Google Buzz, which was really only ever used by that one weird person in your social group anyway.

• Still mystified by social media and how you can use it to protect the reputation of your company? Check out these four ways that CIOs can get involved — they’re all pretty painless.

• Add this to your DVR: The Mythbusters are going to explore the mythos of Steve Jobs this Sunday.

• Do you get so sick of hearing about cloud this and cloud that, and it all starts sounding the same? There certainly is one thing that practically all cloud computing has in common: They use almost identical cloud icons. No, really.

• After a one-two punch to Netflix’s consumer reputation followed by a slow death plunge of its stock price, Lance Ulanoff wonders if it’s time for Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to take the fall.

• Were you betting that the iPhone 4S would tank? The early adopters scooped up over 4 million iPhone 4S’s this weekend, breaking Apple iPhone records. Early stocking-stuffer shopping, perhaps?

• If you’re wondering why you can’t get Siri to work on your new iPhone 4S, it might be because you disabled it, accidentally. Whoops! Stephen Fosketts has the scoop on getting Siri back on the job.

• To make up for last week’s major BlackBerry outage, subscribers will be able to download $100 worth of premium BlackBerry apps for free. Can Bejeweled, Texas Hold’Em Poker and Sims 3 really soothe hurt feelings over a BlackBerry outage resulting in almost a week of lost productivity?