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New Facebook Privacy Settings Explained: This Week’s New Privacy Settings Making Control Simple, says Facebook.

When I was a child growing up in New England, we had a saying: If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute. The same, it seems, can be said for Facebook’s privacy policies. Barely 4 weeks ago, Facebook announced their new open graph platform that follows you across the web – a privacy policy that seems based on the less (privacy) is more (revenue) principle. A mere 4 months earlier, Facebook announced sweeping privacy policy changes that users found beyond confusing. And a few months before that Facebook announced privacy policy changes that allowed developers to mine your Facebook inbox for data! And now, just today, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced yet another change to Facebook’s privacy policies and Facebook privacy settings system, this one, he promises, “making control simple.”

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“Sexiest Video Ever” Touted via Facebook Actually Installs Malicious Adware

A new Facebook malware notice making the rounds is tricking users into installing malicious adware which then causes countless ads to popup on your PC. The malicious Facebook post, which is made to look as if it was posted by one of your Facebook friends, shows a small image (usually of a woman in a mini skirt on an exercise bike), with a link to click, saying “This is without doubt the sexiest video ever!” Don’t be taken in by it!

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Facebook Fan Page Leads to Betty White Hosting SNL and Lampooning Facebook

A few months ago a gentleman by the name of David Mathews created a Facebook page suggesting, and requesting, that actress Betty White host an episode of Saturday Night Live (“SNL”). Explained Mathews, on the Facebook page, “Betty White has been doing television since before I Love Lucy! What a way to honor her career, her comedic timing, and her life than by inviting her to host Saturday Night Live!!!” Well, Betty White got the SNL gig, and David Mathews got to meet Betty White. All because of Facebook (and Mathews’ efforts). But read on to learn what Betty White had to say about Facebook! (Or just watch and listen – there’s a video.)

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At Last, a Viable Alternative to Facebook

At last, someone has come up with a viable alternative to Facebook.  Diaspora, the love brainchild of four self-described nerds, promises to be Facebook without the privacy issues.  The four NYU students, Dan Grippi, Max Salzberg, Raphael Sofaer, and Ilya Zhitomirskiy, were as upset as anyone about the privacy pillaging juggernaut that Facebook has become and, in the time-honored tradition of student nerds, have said ‘Hell no, we’re not going to take it,” and, taking keyboards in hand, are doing something about it.

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How to Link Directly to a Particular Facebook Status Update

With as unprivacy oriented as Facebook is, you would think that it would be obvious how to link directly to one of your Facebook status updates. But, even though the way to do it is staring you right in the face whenever you look at any profile in Facebook, it isn’t obvious at all. Although, once you know the secret, it’s dead easy to link directly to any status update on Facebook. (Under the hood, it’s identified as the “story_fbid”, but you don’t actually need to know that.)

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Here is Exactly What Facebook’s New System is Sharing About You, and Where and How They Are Doing It

We take Facebook safety seriously. A few days ago in one of our articles on Facebook we told you about Facebook’s new open social graph and Facebook apps that allow Facebook to follow you around from site to site, sharing what you are doing, and how to opt out of it doing so – that is just one of the many Facebook risks you can read about here. (On an interesting sidenote, in researching this article we found that many people search for Facebook info and never find it because they misspell “Facebook” in a number of ways, including Facebok, Faceboo, Acebook, Fcebook, Fcebook, Faebook, Fasebook, Faccebook, Facebbook, Faacebook, Faecbook, Faceebook, Fcaebook, Facebookk, Facebooks, Ffacebook, Facebood, Facerbook, Faceboock, and our personal favorite, Fecebook.)

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Facebook Status Update Results in Donated Kidney for Man from Mayor of his Hometown

While trafficking in body parts is not allowed on eBay, apparently there is no such restriction on Facebook. And fortunate that is for Carlos Sanchez and April Capone Almon, of East Haven, Connecticut. This is the story of a desparate Facebook status update, a kind-hearted mayor, and a new lease on life.

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Why You Need to Care About Facebook’s New Open Graph Platform with Social Plugins – The Social Graph that Follows You Everywhere

Facebook – the site that changes its interface, services, and values almost as often as we change our underwear (hint: daily), has once again announced a major change that affects all Facebook users – and users of other services – in a major way. This week’s announcement is that Facebook is now sharing it’s new “like” system with partners like Microsoft Fuse Docs, Pandora, and Yelp – and any other site that wants to feature the new Facebook social plugins – creating what Facebook calls a “social graph” or “open graph”. This means that when you “like” something on Facebook, that “like” will follow you around to Pandora, Yelp, and Microsoft Fuse Docs – and vice versa. The good news is that you can opt out of it (and we tell you how).

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The Story Behind the Emma Christmas Eve Suicide Over a Facebook Status Update

Stories are swirling over a girl named Emma who allegedly committed suicide on Christmas eve, 2008, as the result of some Facebook status update messages aimed at her. The status update messages directed at “Emma” are indeed horrible (see image below), however, there is doubt that a girl named Emma actually committed suicide on Christmas eve, or at all, even though a Facebook fan page entitled “Teenager committed SUICIDE because of THIS status update – Leaked from 2008” would have you think otherwise. However, the story does match quite closely the suicide of Phoebe Prince, which occurred this January.

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Facebook Linked to Venereal Disease (Yes, Really)

Hard though it may seem to grok the connection at first, Facebook has been positively linked to venereal disease. In particular, syphilis has reared its ugly head, with an increase in incidence of the dreaded VD in some areas as high as four times previously quiescent numbers, most of which is being attributed to link-ups for casual sex across multiple partners that are occurring on Facebook.

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Fake Facebook “Facebook Password Reset Confirmation” Phishing Messages on the Rise, Bearing Viruses

If you get an email supposedly from Facebook (top addresses have been change@facebook.com and support@facebook.com) , asking for a “Facebook Password Reset Confirmation”, don’t panic thinking that someone has reset your Facebook password (that’s exactly what the bad guys want you to do), and whatever you do don’t download or open the attachment that is in the email! The attachment, named either facebook_password_139.zip or facebook_password_239.zip, is actually a Windows malware file, facebook_password_139.exe or facebook_password_239.exe.

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Facebook is Now Choosing Which Friends’ Feeds to Show You and Blocking the Rest! Here’s How to Get All of Your Facebook Friends’ Feeds Back

With recent changes to Facebook, it turns out that Facebook is now choosing which friends’ news feeds to show you in the live feed view, and, essentially, blocking all the rest! Meaning that all of your other friends are blocked from being shown in your live feed update! Here’s how to undo that and get all of your Facebook friends’ live feed news back.

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Facebook and M Login – There are Lots of Ways to Do a Facebook Mobile Login

As more and more people go mobile – and more and more people join Facebook – it’s only natural that more and more people want to combine the two, and have Facebook and m login (shorthand these days for “mobile login”). Happily, there is a mobile Facebook login page, and there is also a Facebook mobile application for just about every smartphone out there, so you can m login to your heart’s content. So if you’re wondering “how do I access Facebook on my phone?”, read on to learn about the ways to mobile login to Facebook, and about some of the Facebook mobile applications that are available.

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What Does it Mean to Poke Someone on Facebook and How to Do It

With the recent Facebook poking arrest, a lot of people want to know what it means to “poke” someone on Facebook. A Facebook poke is basically a way of waving at someone from across Facebook. A poke on Facebook is a shorthand way of saying “Yo, I’m thinking of you.” In addition to wondering “what is a poke on Facebook”, a lot of people wonder “When you poke someone on Facebook does anyone else see it?” Keep reading for the answer to that, and all the information about poking on Facebook, including how to do it, and how to know if you’ve been poked on Facebook.

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Facebook Applications Can Now Require Your Email Address

It’s no secret that Facebook has an.. interesting … view of user privacy. In fact, Facebook CEO Mark Zucker recently suggested that Facebook users (should) have no expectation of privacy. Now to add insult to the complete-lack-of-privacy injury, starting a few days ago, Facebook applications now have permission to grab your email address – that is to require that you divulge your email address before you can use their application.