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Report: Facebook screenplay based on book

If an anonymous source is correct, the confirmed screenplay-in-the-works about Facebook's origins by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is tied to a forthcoming book about the social network by Bringing Down The House author Ben Mezrich.

Independent Harvard alumni publication 02138 reported on Friday that the film rights to Mezrich's book had been acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment and producer Scott Rubin, who have been confirmed as the backers of Sorkin's screenplay.

Here's the backstory: A partial book proposal from Mezrich, who has come under scrutiny for allegedly exaggerating details in his nonfiction works, leaked to … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 798: There is no poop, so leave the diamonds alone

It's a tortured analogy sort of day, including some confusing stuff about water and water bottles and then a whole long thing about a sandbox, poop, and dirty diamonds. You'll love it. In the actual news today, the IE8 beta arrives (has it solved the malicious cross-scripting problem!?), and several judges seem to have actually visited the Internet. And so did Aaron Sorkin! And he liked it! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 798

IE 8 beta gives other browsers a run for their money http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10027345-83.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7585741.stm… Read more

Dell's designs on cloud computing

SAN FRANCISCO--Standing 52 stories in the air at the upscale Carnelian Room in the Bank of America building here, executives from Dell, Facebook, and Salesforce.com discussed the meaning and use of the latest technology buzzword, cloud computing.

The sky was blue and cloudless, but it didn't adversely impact the atmosphere of what turned out to be a Dell marketing event. It was pitched as an announcement about a partnership that involves "the next generation of cloud computing."

You might recall that Dell is the company that owns the URL Cloudcomputing.com, and made a failed attempt … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: Slicing up the Web with Mozilla's Ubiquity

A new browser plug-in from Mozilla allows anyone to slice and dice the Web in almost anyway they want. It's a command-line interface called Ubiquity, and Webware.com's Rafe Needleman stops by to explain what this and similar applications like it mean for the future of the Web.

Also in today's episode: the RIAA wins an important victory, film studios possibly collaborating on a new DRM scheme, and a Facebook movie might be in the works. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Mozilla Ubiquity and the fracturing of the Web

Report: Studios want interoperable DRM… Read more

'Facebook: The Movie': Now, who should play Mark Zuckerberg?

If a recently created group on Facebook is to be believed, entertainment stalwart Aaron Sorkin--creator of The West Wing and A Few Good Men--is working on penning a movie for Sony and producer Scott Rudin about the origins of Facebook. Someone claiming to be Sorkin's researcher created the group so that he can learn more about the site, and several hundred Facebook members have already joined.

So maybe it's real and maybe it isn't real. But let's start asking the really important questions: which young actor should play founder Mark Zuckerberg?

I say Jason Schwartzman. He'… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 796: Is that an HTC Dream in your pocket?

In today's show, we're introduced to the concept of the "banana phone" (complete with drawings), China tells GoDaddy to Go Away, a Scottish bank sends a computer into the eBay abyss full of customer data, and Apple's latest iPhone firmware shuts down copy-and-paste. As expected, Molly blows her stack. Like, a couple times. It's crazy. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 796

Apple event for September 9 http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/08/25/rumor-apple-event-for-september-9th

Network notary system thwarts man-in-the-middle attacks http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080826-network-notary-system-thwarts-man-in-the-middle-attacks.html http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/New-Firefox-Extension-Thwarts-MITM-Attacks-97239… Read more

Avoid getting blitzed by Facebook spam

Like my colleague, CNET News' Caroline McCarthy, I've noticed a worrisome uptick in the amount of spam splatting against my Facebook Wall. It also nestles into my in-box in the form of a courtesy e-mail message prompting me to read my Wall.

While Facebook seems to have internal methods to resolve the malicious spam that has hijacked my friends' accounts, the only other recourse they offer is to update your antivirus software against an attack. That's too late. You want to block it before it ever drops its malware payload, and that means installing software that's designed … Read more

Another nail in the 'Scrabulous' coffin

There's no more Scrabulous on Facebook. For real. Unless you're in India.

According to the Associated Press, the social network has officially disabled access to the popular online game, which closely resembles classic board game Scrabble, after receiving a complaint from Mattel, the company that publishes it outside the United States and Canada. Access within the U.S. and Canada had already been blocked.

The rights to Scrabble are owned by different companies: Hasbro handles the game in North America, and Mattel internationally. The two takedowns were different: The creators of Scrabulous disabled U.S. and Canadian access on their own, … Read more

Facebook hits 100 million users

Facebook has hit 100 million active users. No formal press release has been issued, so you're going to have to believe the guy who built the site.

The news came straight from the source: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and several of his fellow executives put it in their status messages on the social network, and platform manager Dave Morin broadcast it in his Twitter feed. At least one of them referred to the number being "active users," the statistic that Facebook prefers to use, rather than registered accounts overall.

While Facebook got its start at Harvard University … Read more