As a plane with a Grumpy Cat flag flew overhead, courtesy of Friskies, the Technorati flooded into panel discussions and happy hour spots at the annual tech festival South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

Each new civil uprising seems to bring about the adoption of a social network that wasn't necessarily designed for organizing mass demonstration. Hong Kong's so-called Occupy Central protest is no exception.

A new mobile messaging app called FireChat is empowering nearby smartphone users to stay in touch even when there's no cellular service or Internet connection.