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Buzz Out Loud 820: Stupid cloud

Richard Stallman says anyone who puts their data in the cloud is stupid. Cooley thinks he's right about some things, but finds other parts of his statement stupid. Find out which is which. We also get into a discussion of why exactly the House of Representatives' Web site went down. Cooley doesn't buy any of it. Actually Brian's pretty cranky today. You'll enjoy it. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 820

Stallman rejects cloud computing http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-why-stallman-is-wrong-when-he-calls-cloud-computing-stupid.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman… Read more

Dress up your Facebook profile with PageRage

In case you're one of the millions of people who are sick of Facebook's new design, and want to change the way it looks, there's a simple solution called PageRage. It won't tweak things to look like they did before, but it will let you to do one of the things Facebook has never allowed--theme your profile.

Like competitor MySpace has allowed for years, PageRage lets you customize both the background and design elements on your profile. There are a handful of pre-sets to choose from, all of which you can browse right from the company's Facebook application. … Read more

Getting philosophical about Facebook's new hub

Along with its nifty new iPhone application, Facebook on Monday night unveiled a new home page. No, not the moderately infamous "redesign" of its member pages--this is a new look for the page that you see when you navigate to Facebook.com without being logged in. It's what you'll see if you're not yet a member.

There's a pretty new blue gradient background, sure, and it makes the whole page look a little bit less stuffy. But more importantly, there's a map of the world with little Facebook "head" icons … Read more

Facebook delivers version 2.0 of its iPhone app

Facebook on Tuesday released version 2.0 of its popular iPhone app (iTunes Store link). This release contains a lot of the functionality that is in the full version of Facebook, making the iPhone version much more attractive. Some key features added include friend requests, notifications, people search, photo tagging/captioning, full News/Mini Feeds, message attachments, and inbox search.

The application, overall, seems to be more snappy and definitely has a better look to it. The inclusion of friend requests and notifications is big here, adding a whole new level of usefulness to the app. People search is also … Read more

Facebook's new general counsel coy about role

Facebook's appointment of Ted Ullyot as its first general counsel might spook some in freewheeling Silicon Valley: he served as chief of staff to former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and as an associate counsel to President George W. Bush.

But in an interview Monday with CNET News, Ullyot said that his past resume will make it easier for the fast-growing social network to deal with Washington insiders--because he used to be one himself.

"Having served in the executive branch in Washington and also in the judicial branch, I have a pretty good understanding of those issues,&… Read more

Give Digsby another chance

The first iteration of multiprotocol chat-client Digsby that circulated earlier this year made a splash, but fell short of its potential. Although it incorporated e-mail and social-networking notifications with its instant-messaging services, it was a massive resource pig. Even users with top-of-the-line computers found the drag it caused not to be worth the convenience of having all communications wrapped up in a pretty bow.

The latest version, released last week, is a huge step forward in the resources department. In the changelog for this release, Build 32 r17926, the publisher directly addresses the RAM hogging. ''We optimized from the ground … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: The day the music (almost) stopped

CNET News' Greg Sandoval is following the last-minute goings-on in Washington which enabled Web music providers extra time to reach an accord on royalty payments.

With the stock market in free fall today, what might be the likely impact on the technology sector? ZDNet's Editor in Chief Larry Dignan weighs in.

Hard to believe but Henry Ford's Model T, one of the most significant breakthrough products of all time, celebrates its centenary.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today's stories:

Photos: The Model T turns 100

Gadget hounds get ready for CEATEC

Nero Liquid TV:TiVo for your PC… Read more

Facebook hires D.C. lawyer as general counsel

Facebook has hired the former chief of staff to onetime U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales as its general counsel, according to the Los Angeles Times. Ted Ullyot, currently a Washington, D.C.-based partner for the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, will relocate to the Bay Area and join the Palo Alto social network next month.

He appears to have been hand-picked by Elliot Schrage, the former Google executive who joined Facebook as vice president of communications and public policy this spring, and Sheryl Sandberg, another Google alum who now serves as the company's chief operating officer.

Ullyot "… Read more

Facebook being used to recruit spies

Web 2.0 activists keep repeating that there is no such thing as privacy. Now the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it tends to be known in movies, has declared that it is using Web 2.0's finest creation, Facebook, in order to find new devotees.

A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign Office whispered: "The Secret Intelligence Service's open recruitment campaign continues to target wide pools of talent representative of British society today. A number of channels are used to promote job opportunities in the organisation. Facebook is a recent example."

This … Read more