Facebook

Well, according to a post on the official Facebook blog, the social network's messaging feature is getting a much-needed revamp from its cruddy, bare-bones state. Select users have the new in-box now; it'll be rolling out to everyone else over the next few weeks.

The catch is that there aren't actually very many new features, just a better presentation of existing ones for the most part. You'll now be able to accomplish such technological marvels as filter your in-box for unread messages (wow!) and flag unwanted messages as spam.

There's also a more clearly delineated … Read more

Internet companies and privacy experts will appear before a Congressional subcommittee later on Thursday to discuss the privacy implications of behavioral advertising.

Representatives from Google, Yahoo, and Facebook will appear before two subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce to discuss behavioral advertising, or the practice of tailoring Internet ads to a Web surfer's behavior on a particular Web site. In order to do that, Internet companies have to collect personal data, and members of Congress as well as privacy advocates are interested in hearing more about how that data is being handled.… Read more

Facebook's targeted advertising program is "materially different from behavioral targeting as it is usually discussed," Chris Kelly, the social network's chief privacy officer, said in remarks prepared for a Thursday morning hearing before two House subcommittees.

"In offering its free service to users, Facebook is dedicated to developing advertising that is relevant and personal without invading users' privacy, and to giving users more control over how their personal information is used in the online advertising environment," read the remarks for two subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.… Read more

A State Department press briefing gives some insight into why the U.S. government requested that Twitter postpone a scheduled downtime during a crucial period in the post-election upheaval in Iran.

"I think, as I was following this, these developments over the weekend...I began to recognize the importance of new social media as a vital tool for citizens' empowerment and as a way for people to get their messages out," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday, according to a transcript of the department's daily press briefing (which was not held specifically to address the Twitter … Read more

Miami-Dade police believe that a dog-loving class clown who joined the "Catch the Cat Killer!" Facebook group may be the alleged cat killer himself, according to a report in the Miami Herald.

The Miami-Dade cat killer had been terrorizing neighborhoods, especially the towns of Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, since May 10, when the first two carcasses were found, mutilated in a such a way as to cause maximum horror for whoever discovered them.

The man police arrested on suspicion of the crimes, 18-year-old Tyler Hayes Weinman, is known as a "dog-loving class clown and a swim … Read more

Chinese filtering software has been criticized for having holes. The solution? Fix it. How communist. We also give you a hack for getting free tethering on the iPhone and we bemoan the fate of MySpace.

Opera Unite aims to reinvent the Web http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2009/06/hi-my-name-is-opera-and-ill-be-your-server-today.html

http://mashable.com/2009/06/16/opera-unite/

AT&T won’t charge extra for MMS on iPhone http://www.applethoughts.com/news/show/94126/at-t-not-planning-on-charging-for-mms.html

…And here’s how … Read more

Widgets, portable pieces of Web code, have become synonymous with interactive Web page components, often Flash-based games and ads can stick out like a sore thumb. Functions are great, but they need to be seamless.

Instead of just offering a page function, the widget technology is turning out native applications that blend seamlessly with newsfeeds and spread virally through friend lists. Accordingly, the w-word had to go and this morning iWidgets became Transpond. Transpond, a word that actually doesn't mean anything, calls to mind words like "translate" and "respond," more positive connotations than the has-been … Read more

Several hundred journalists who cover Facebook, including me, were told by the company last week that their names had been reserved by Facebook ahead of the scheduled Saturday morning land grab. We were told that we didn't have to line up with the masses, that no matter when we got on the system, we wouldn't see our names on someone else's account (image link, NSFW language).

At the time, this appeared to be a deft media relations move. Without it, some influential journalist somewhere would probably not have gotten the URL he or she wanted, leading to … Read more

We're proud to announce the debut of CNET LIVE, the new portal for all live shows, including The 404, on CNET. Don't worry, the transition won't be as difficult as DTV. We'll give you detailed instructions on how to tell all your friends about the show! Listen in for all the juicy details on our weekend staycation and why Wilson should never consume liquor again.

So now that the weekend is over, we can talk about our top secret trip...to Atlantic City! It's always good to get away for a little bit, even if it's just for a day, so we packed up our bags and took off to AC for a little gambling and good times. What was supposed to be a relaxing trip turned out to be 24 hours of "The Hangover"-esque partying. We all indulged in our own vices: Jeff hit the blackjack tables like a white bat out of hell, Justin explored the dark crevices of AC's back alleys, and Wilson Tang ate chicken. That's right, you read it correctly: Wilson Tang finally broke his "vegetarianism" and is now an official chicken chaser. Unfortunately, his bout with poultry at Friday's dinner left him with a mad stomach ache and he party pooped his way out of the trip. What a shrew!

Click here for a full set of pictures from The 404's trip to Atlantic City.

Lots of stories to talk about today, namely two big news items from over the weekend: the DTV official transition and the mad rush for Facebook Vanity URLs. Actually, the long-awaited DTV transition went off without a hitch, which makes sense, because it's been in the works forever now, although we're pretty sure someone in Florida tried to eat her converter box. Facebook Vanity also had little to no effect on real life, although there did seem to be a slight flux in traffic on Thursday night as people rushed to reserve their own Facebook URLs. In the spirit of American sportsmanship, some of the landgrabs were a little disingenuous; for example, check out the profile for our own Molly Wood. In fact, my own name got snaked by another Justin Yu, so feel free to add him and let him know how much you love The 404. In the meantime, check out the Facebook profiles for the Real Justin Yu, Wilson Tang, and Jeff Bakalar.