Answer to the giraffe riddle on Facebook
The riddle: 3:00 am, the doorbell rings and you wake up.
Website maps 1.2 billion Facebook faces
(CNN) -- Facebook has so many users -- more than a billion, or roughly the population of India -- that squeezing them all into one Web page seems almost impossible.And yet someone has done just that.A new project, "The Faces of Facebook," collects more than 1.27 billion Facebook profile photos on one site, arranged in chronological order according to when the person joined the social network.
NSA mines Facebook for connections, Americans' profiles
NEW YORK (CNN) -- In addition to phone records and email logs, the National Security Agency uses Facebook and other social media profiles to create maps of social connections -- including those of American citizens.The revelation was disclosed by the New York Times on Sunday, using documents provided to the newspaper by former government contractor Edward Snowden."We assume as Americans that if somebody in the government is looking at your information, it's because they have a reason, because you're suspected of a crime," Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, told CNN.But the documents do not specify how many Americans' social connections have been analyzed, or whether any have been implicated in wrongdoing.Change in policyThe surveillance began after a policy change in November 2010.Prior to then, the "chaining" of a foreign person's contacts had to stop when it reached an American citizen or legal resident.The policy change was intended to help the NSA "discover and track" connections from a foreign intelligence subject to an American citizen, the leaked documents show.It allows NSA analysts to use social media, geo-location information, insurance and tax records, plus other public and private sources to enhance their analysis of phone and email records, The Times reported Sunday.The "metadata" from phone and email records in the database include details such as who a person called or e-mailed.A PowerPoint slide provided to the newspaper by Snowden shows how analysts use software to create diagrams of where a person was at certain times, their traveling companions, their social networks and email correspondents.Defending the practicePresident Barack Obama has ordered a review of NSA's data collection practices because of Snowden's leaks.
Facebook stock tops $50 for first time
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- More than a year after its botched initial public offering, Facebook's stock continues to race higher.
U.S. court says 'liking' something on Facebook is free speech
(CNN) -- A U.S. court of appeals gave Facebook a thumbs up on Wednesday when it ruled that "likes" on the social network are protected as free speech under the Constitution.In 2009, six employees at the Hampton Sheriff's Office in Virginia lost their jobs after expressing support for their boss' opponent in an upcoming election for sheriff, some by liking and commenting on the opponent's Facebook page.U.S. Circuit Judge William Traxler found that "liking" something on the social network was the "Internet equivalent of displaying a political sign in one's front yard," an act the Supreme Court has already ruled as protected speech.The decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, was a reversal of an earlier ruling on the case, in which District Judge Raymond Jackson said liking a Facebook page was "insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection."Other courts have ruled that posts on the social network are protected as free speech, but Jackson differentiated between making full statements and just clicking a button to like something.Two of the employees, Deputy Daniel Carter and Robert McCoy, claimed they were fired by Sheriff B.J. Roberts specifically for liking a Facebook profile for Roberts' opponent, Jim Adams.
New Facebook flap: Your face in some product's ad
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A new Facebook policy that allows your picture to be used in a product or store's ad without your knowledge has privacy groups united in opposition.Executives from six public interest groups on Wednesday signed a joint letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking that the agency act to stop Facebook's new privacy and data use policies."Facebook users who reasonably believed that their images and content would not be used for commercial purposes without their consent will now find their pictures showing up on the pages of their friends endorsing the products of Facebook's advertisers," said the letter. "Remarkably, their images could even be used by Facebook to endorse products that the user does not like or even use."Facebook's new proposed policy was announced last week in the wake of a $20 million settlement of a class action suit about its privacy rules.The new rules "while not incorporating all features that some of the objectors might prefer, has significant value and provides benefits that likely could not be obtained outside the context of a negotiated settlement," wrote Judge Richard Seeborg in his order approving the court settlement.But the public interest groups argue that the settlement, and the changes that Facebook agreed to, do not go far enough, particularly when it comes to protecting the rights of minors who use the site."It requires 'Alice in Wonderland' logic to see this as anything but a major setback for the privacy rights of Facebook users," said the group's letter.The posting on Facebook's site by Erin Egan, its Chief Privacy Officer, says the proposed changes in its rules were done to help its users understand how the social media site uses their information.
Harley-Davidson offers special app for 110th Anniversary
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Getting the word out about the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Celebration has never been easier!
Facebook friends could change your credit score
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Choose your Facebook friends wisely; they could help you get approved -- or rejected -- for a loan.A handful of tech startups are using social data to determine the risk of lending to people who have a difficult time accessing credit.
Facebook rolls out shared photo albums
(CNN) -- Next time you host a soiree, you can collect photos of the event from your guests in one album on Facebook.The social network has added shared photo albums so people can throw photos from an event or of a common subject into a single spot.
Florida university suspends fraternity over Facebook posts
MIAMI (CNN) -- References to drugs, comments about hazing and pictures of semi-nude women taken from posts on a closed Facebook page have prompted the suspension of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity on Florida International University's Miami campus.An e-mail containing 70 screen grabs of posts allegedly found on the Facebook page for active members of Pi Kappa Alpha, also known as Pike, were sent to school officials and members of the media, including CNN affiliate WSVN."Anyone have a connect for coke, not me, a friends wants, lol," says one post, while others mention "study drugs." There are offers to sell Adderall and Vyvanse, drugs prescribed to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Several postings allegedly made by members of the fraternity make reference to the "Pike pharmacy." One lets the group know the "Pike Pharmacy is on campus all day today again" and leaves a phone number to call.
Bill would make it illegal for employers to ask for social media passwords
MADISON (WITI) -- State lawmakers are considering a bill that would keep nosy bosses out of your personal business.
Zuckerberg's Facebook page hacked to prove security flaw
(CNN) -- He tried to warn them.
Facebook testing one-click checkout for mobile shopping
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Add Facebook to the large list of companies hoping to crack the mobile payments nut.Facebook said Thursday that it will launch an experimental program that allows users to store their credit card information on the site.
Facebook testing one-click checkout for mobile shopping
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Add Facebook to the large list of companies hoping to crack the mobile payments nut.Facebook said Thursday that it will launch an experimental program that allows users to store their credit card information on the site.
Facebook changes News Feed to put popular posts on top
(CNN) -- Facebook wants to make sure you don't miss the most important updates, photos, humblebrags and baby announcements from your friends.The company on Tuesday announced a tweak to its News Feed that will take a popular story -- one that's getting lots of comments and likes -- and put it back at the top of your feed to make sure you don't miss it.On a typical day, the average Facebook user is only seeing 20% of the posts from friends and pages that he or she follows.
Facebook launches platform for mobile game developers
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Facebook unveiled a new publishing platform for mobile game developers Tuesday, just a few days after the company wowed investors with impressive growth in mobile users and ad revenue.The company described the platform, named simply Mobile Games Publishing, as a "pilot program to help small and medium-sized developers take their mobile games global."The Mobile Games Publishing page promises a "deep" collaboration from Facebook: the company will promote those developers' games on its own mobile apps.
Teen jailed for alleged threat on Facebook released on bail
(CNN) -- The Texas teen facing a felony terrorism charge over an alleged threat on Facebook has been released on bail after an anonymous donor posted a $500,000 bond.Justin Carter, 19, had spent five months in prison for posting, during an argument about a video game, what he said was a sarcastic comment about how he was going to "shoot up a kindergarten.""I just think it got taken out of context, and it's been blown out of proportion," Carter told Kate Bolduan on "New Day," CNN's morning show.
Pat Robertson wishes Facebook had a 'vomit' button
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Televangelist Pat Robertson wishes Facebook had a 'vomit' button.
Facebook's Graph Search available to all in U.S.
(CNN) -- Facebook's Graph Search, which lets people more efficiently dig through the massive social network for people, places and other content, is now available on all English versions of the website in the U.S.The advanced search feature will appear as a normal search field at the top of Facebook.com, though it is not yet available to mobile users.Graph Search raised privacy concerns when it was originally announced, and this wider launch will mean more people can decide for themselves how useful or invasive it really is.To run a search, type in a full question that lays out what you want to find.
Jailed Facebook teen finally getting day in court
(CNN) -- A Texas teen who's been jailed more than four months for a Facebook comment he made during a video-game argument is finally getting a day in court that could let him go home.Justin Carter, who was 18 when he was arrested, will appear in Comal County (Texas) District Court on Tuesday, July 16, for a bond hearing, according to his lawyer, Don Flanary.Flanary told CNN he will argue to have Carter's $500,000 bond, which his family cannot afford to cover, reduced.Flanary, who is working the case for free, met with Carter for the first time on Tuesday.