facebook

For many people, one of the greatest Facebook features is the ability to post status updates for the entire world to see. Unfortunately, in a matter of seconds these personal updates often get bumped down in favor of newer ones, without anyone ... having enough time to read them. However, those behind the popular social network are toying with the idea of allowing certain postings to take precedence over others, for a fee. The new and aptly named 'Highlight' option (available to those willing to shell out a few extra bucks) guarantees that more friends and family will have time to see a status ... (view more)

An upcoming revamp of Microsoft's search engine Bing will allow users to pose queries on Facebook. It's the first visible partnership of its type between the two Internet companies. The new tools will come in the form of a separate sidebar. As long ... as users are signed in to Facebook (meaning they must have an account), the sidebar will be active each time a Bing search is made. Bing, Facebook Coordinate Search Results Once users have typed in their query, the sidebar will come up with a list of Facebook friends that Bing believes may be able to help out. For example, if users search on a ... (view more)

Facebook has unveiled a plan that it hopes will encourage people to register as organ donors. It's an important move, because less than half of all American adults are currently signed up as organ donors, leaving a shortage of organs for ... transplants. At the moment, the most common way to formally consent to organ donation is to register when applying for a driver's license. A doctor quoted by the New York Times said this wasn't the best situation for everyone, however, because drawing the connection between driving an automobile and donating organs makes for an eerie feeling. (Source: nytimes ... (view more)

Facebook has officially announced its initial public stock offering will go on sale at a price between $28 and $35 a share. At the high end of that range, the company would claim a market capitalization of $95 billion. Facebook is only selling a ... portion of its shares. That means the most it could receive in this initial public offering (IPO) would be $13.58 billion, which would make this the ninth-most lucrative stock issue in world history, behind major firms like General Motors and Visa. (Source: ft.com ) Facebook IPO To Claim Internet Record The $13.58 billion figure would destroy all ... (view more)

Facebook has launched a new tool that allows its users to compare how much electricity they consume and compare the number with their Facebook friends. The idea is to give millions of people some added incentive to cut down on their wasted ... electricity. The free application allows users to link their Facebook memberships to their power company accounts. As long as they give permission, they'll automatically have their total monthly power consumption published on their Facebook pages. The new tool will then rank each user against all their friends with the power-counting app installed. This ... (view more)

Security experts at Kaspersky Lab, one of the leading anti-virus and computer security firms, recently announced they were able to take control of a hacker-built botnet containing more than 100,000 compromised computers. Unfortunately, less than 24 ... hours after the successful takedown, Kelihos, the cybercriminal gang behind the botnet, has already started building a new, large-scale collection of compromised computers to replace the one taken down. To stop the initial botnet, Kaspersky specialists used a method called "sinkholing." This technique involves direct infiltration of the botnet's ... (view more)

A recent Facebook scam has apparently duped professionals closely linked with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). A spokesperson for the company later confirmed that no confidential information was leaked. Facebook Friendship Unlocks Personal ... Info Recently, an unknown number of Facebook members accepted a friend request from a person they apparently believed was US Navy chief Admiral James Stavridis, who is also the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. (Source: guardian.co.uk ) Among those fooled into agreeing to the online friendship were several senior military officers and government ... (view more)

Yahoo is taking Facebook to court for violating approximately ten patents related to Internet advertising systems. It's the first patent showdown between these two web companies. The lawsuit has been filed in a San Jose, California federal court. ... Yahoo is reportedly represented by the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart ... (view more)

Recently, it was announced that Facebook users would see more advertising promotions in the weeks to come. One of the first companies to come aboard is Microsoft, which will have its Bing search engine page embedded on the logout page of Facebook's ... site. It's reported that after users log out of Facebook, they will be greeted with an interactive Bing advertisement complete with wallpaper and an active search box. Typing a query into the search box will open up a results page in a separate tab. "Logout advertisements" like these are said to be among the newest changes coming to Facebook. ... (view more)

Facebook has announced it will step up the amount of advertising displayed to users. It plans to include ads within news feeds and, for the first time, on mobile devices. Advertising makes up the vast majority of Facebook's revenue, the remainder ... coming from revenue associated with applications, like Farmville. However, to date Facebook has not followed the traditional model of offering advertisers a variety of different ad sizes and spaces at different prices. Instead, it has concentrated on its ability to target ads at users who meet a specific description set by the advertiser. That's ... (view more)