Us IRL on Monday. (Photo: Flickr)

Anonymous has a totally calm and measured response to yesterday's news that CISPA, a controversial law that would let the government access personal data from Internet companies without a warrant, passed the House of Representatives: it's demanding that websites "blackout" on Monday. 

The hacker collective posted a salty letter on its "Anon Insiders" blog earlier today demanding that the American government will "not get our Internet" and lambasted CISPA for turning social media sites into "legally untouchable government spies."

So, this is how Anons will fight back:

We are going dark on MONDAY April 22nd at 6 AM GMT for 24 hours to protest your illogical and terrorizing bill against the Internet itself. Even with the whole Internet crying out to stop this BILL, the US House of Representatives failed to do so blinded by lobbyist’s money and cum in your eyes.

Huffington Post notes that the group doesn't plan on attacking the Internet on Monday, rather it's requesting sites from operating similar to last year's SOPA protest. And there's already a hashtag associated with the event called #CISPABlackout. So far, it seems to be receiving an apathetic response since only 3,000 tweets containing it have been recorded.

But Anonymous shouldn't enter full-on freak-out mode yet. CISPA will now move to the Democratic-controlled Senate where it will face a tougher fight and President Obama has threatened to veto the bill if it landed on his desk.

After this shit week, it sure feels like Anonymous is doing all us a favor by granting us an excuse to have a long weekend. Thanks?

Tekserve's first iPad Mini customer. (Photo: Twitter.com/KJHartNYC)

Though lower Manhattan is still shrouded in darkness, some local businesses have stayed open, serving whatever's left in the kitchen by candlelight. But restaurants and bars aren't the only ones working to return some sense of normalcy to neighborhoods ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. Tekserve, the retail and service store for Apple products in the Flatiron, has remained open throughout the blackout, its customers illuminated only by flashlights.

Tekserve CEO Kevin Hart told Betabeat that he was tired of sitting in the store by himself, and realized that if he used the store's inventory of charged laptops and iPads, they could easily get themselves up and running during the blackout. The store opened Wednesday at 11 a.m. and has been open every day since from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Employees braved two-hour-plus commutes to sell Apple products--the most popular being the Mophie battery pack for iPhone, of course--to customers without power in lower Manhattan. Using iPads equipped with Verizon 4G and Square to complete purchases, the Tekserve team has sold a slew of Apple products to customers, including iPhones, iPads and battery packs.

"We've sold speakers so people can attach them to Apple devices and use them as entertainment system," Mr. Hart said. "We’ve sold whole new system setups. A lot of folks have lost devices due to water or power surge damage. They need to get their lives back to normal, so they come in to buy equipment."

What's it like working in a pitch-black store, we wondered. "They’re having a blast," Mr. Hart said of Tekserve's employees. "It’s like being a kid in a fort you made under your parents’ couch. The customers are impressed with our ingenuity, and people are just so happy to find something that’s open because they’re looking for battery packs for their Apple devices. People are looking for iPads so they can reconnect to the world."

Hurricane Sandy can't deter Apple enthusiasts looking to get their hands on the new iPad Mini, either. The Mini goes on sale today, and Mr. Hart said they sold their first one to a customer at 9:04 a.m.

"On Wednesday we saw just north of 100 customers," Mr. Hart said. "Yesterday we saw about 250 and today I would guess with the new iPad 4 and the Mini, I’m anticipating we’re going to have a brisk day. If we see south of 500 people I’d be surprised."