Google stepped into Israel late Monday with the acquisition of LabPixies, a company that develops personalized Web site gadgets for mobile devices and Google's personal search engine homepage, iGoogle. Israel became a hotbed for technology startups in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A variety of businesses set up shop in Tel Aviv to create innovative products, from silicon to wireless. Google says it launched iGoogle in 2005 to fulfill the need for gadgets on personalized homepages. LabPixes helps to fill that need.

You have to wonder about privacy issues when you see droves of Google engineers either leave or deactivate their Facebook account after execs at the social network site announced at F8 the company would build "social" into the structure of the Web. Some point to concerns about defaulting to an opt-in that allows third party sites like Yelp to personalize your experience.

Connecticut’s top law enforcement official is once again publicly condemning Craigslist for enabling users to post unlawful sex ads. "A cursory review of the adult services section still reveals posts that are clearly for illegal prostitution," Blumenthal wrote in a letter to a lawyer for Craigslist. "Even though some of these ads attempt to shield their true purpose by pretending to be for legitimate adult services, they remain blatant solicitations for sex." Blumenthal goes on to complain that Craigslist "acted irresponsibly" by deciding to keep the $10-per-ad fee that it charges users to place adult listings. Last …

LG Electronics has teamed with the Tribeca Film Festival to show a premier of a new feature film, “Keep Surfing,� not on the silver screen, but on one of its LED high-definition televisions. The TVs have THX Display Certification, meaning viewers can experience the same colors, shadows and details as theatergoers, according to the company. The film, which took 10 years to make, chronicles river-surfing on the Eisbach in Munich, Germany.--Aaron Baar

After introducing its Open Graph initiative and new social plug-ins last week, Facebook today has posted a follow-up FAQ about the new widgets including the "Like" button that already appear on CNN.com, Washingtonpost.com and some 75 other sites. The company's effort to "socialize" the Web has raised questions about exactly what types of user information are shared via the plug-ins and how widely. The FAQ also covers the Instant Personalization feature on sites like Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft's new Docs.com site. Read the full post here.

The Wall Street Journal is the latest publisher to partner with hot location-based social network FourSquare. Initially, WSJ.com will provide tips from “Lunch Boxâ€� -- its daily column of restaurant reviews -- and users can follow the Journal on Foursquare for “more on the best New York has to offer.â€� The partnership also introduces three new badges, each with their own separate New York challenge. “The Urban Adventurer tasks users to check-in to each of the five New York boroughs,â€� Mashable explains. “The Banker Badge requires three check-ins in the financial district, and the Lunch Box badge can be …

We suppose it was only a matter of time. The New York Times reports that spammers are paying people in developing countries to breach Web site security by solving captchas, which ask visitors to type in a string of semi-obscured characters to prove they are not robots. (The term is apparently a loose acronym for “completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart.â€�) Luis von Ahn, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who pioneered the security method, estimates that thousands of people in developing countries, primarily in Asia, are solving these puzzles for pay. “There …

Last week, it was revealed that social buying site Blippy was disclosing members’ credit card numbers on Google. Reaching out to users, the company outlined what happened and posted its plan on its blog Monday: “This is a very serious issue and simply apologizing is not enough … We’ve spent the last 48 hours working around the clock to dissect the issues, reach out to affected users, and put together a plan to ensure this never happens again.â€� As such, the startup is rolling out a five-pronged effort that includes hiring a chief security officer, performing regular audits, investing in …

Pizza chain Papa John’s is launching a social-media campaign at its Facebook site, called “Papa’s Specialty Pizza Challengeâ€� asking consumers to suggest a new pizza. And in an unusual twist, the company is offering the winner of the promotion a portion of profits from sales from the top pie, which will join the menu list at restaurants and a $1,000 to help market the pie during the month when the finalists compete for sales volume. When consumers go to Facebook.com/PapaJohns, besides entering the toppings list they’ve devised, they also have to write a brief rumination of 250 words …