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Facebook's Graph Search bars adults snooping for minors

Facebook is taking preventative measures to make sure parents don't get up in arms about their children's privacy when Graph Search is rolled out to the public.

The social network said today in a blog post that it implemented specific Graph Search rules for teenagers. These rules dictate that if an adult does a search that could display a minor's location or age, the only results that will be returned are that person's friends. If a minor is searching, only friends and friends of friends also between the ages of 13 and 17 will be shown.… Read more

White House debuts 'enhanced' streaming for SOTU speech

The White House is debuting a new way to watch President Obama's State of the Union speech tonight -- it has created an "online-only enhanced" live stream that lets viewers both watch in real time and see different policy charts, stats, and data.

Obama mentioned the live stream on his Twitter page:

Watch Obama's #SOTU address with enhanced graphics, charts, and useful stats on his plan to keep us moving forward: OFA.BO/eJ9Z7k

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 12, 2013

This "enhanced" live stream seems to be geared toward people who don't have … Read more

Facebook reportedly set to buy Microsoft's ad-serving business

Facebook, always looking for ways to help advertisers get more out of the social network, is reportedly getting close to inking a deal to buy Microsoft's Atlas advertising platform. News of the discussions surfaced in December, but according to a report in Ad Age, the agreement could come as early as next week.

The price, according to the report, is expected to be less than $100 million. Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment.

Microsoft's Atlas Solutions is an ad-serving product that helps advertisers buy and manage ads. The software giant acquired the business as part of its… Read more

Good news on mobile, Zuckerberg! Now answer these six questions

Mark Zuckerberg and his top lieutenants of course had plenty to say about the social network's fourth-quarter performance on yesterday's earnings call with investors and analysts. But what they didn't say proves more telling.

When it came to Facebook's newfound health on mobile, they shared lots. So much, in fact, that it obscured hot topics such as the engagement potential of the just-rolled-out Graph Search; Facebook Gifts; and the Instagram backlash over the terms of service mess.

Intentional oversights? Absolutely. Wise withholdings? The jury's still out as investors consider -- maybe guess is a better … Read more

Facebook answers questions about privacy in Graph Search

Facebook is going on the defensive with an explanatory new blog post and video that attempt to assuage privacy concerns around Graph Search, the company's beta search tool for uncovering people, places, photos, and interests that have been buried alive inside the social network.

Graph Search, launched in beta about two weeks ago, offers Facebook users a new way to discover information on the social network, but it also exposes a copious amount of personal data that members may not realize is available for public scrutiny. "Actual Facebook Graph Searches," a one-day Tumblr experiment, exposed the tell-all … Read more

Wii U getting updates, new games

Wednesday's CNET Update:

Stories mentioned in today's tech news roundup:

- Nintendo announced several updates and new games for the Wii U console.

- GigaOM's report on DIAL, a protocol being worked on by Netflix and YouTube for second-screen apps.

- Google beat analyst expectations by reporting its first-ever $50 billion year.

- Tumblr: Actual Facebook Graph Searches

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Facebook Graph searches: Hooker hunger and other delish data

Facebook Graph Search enables a type of discovery never before possible -- you know, like learning which of your married friends like prostitutes. True story.

Tom Scott, a self-described Web comedian, has created a brilliant but disconcerting Tumblr blog called "Actual Facebook Graph Searches" to showcase some of the problematic side effects of a search engine that surfaces tidbits the masses never intended to see the light of the day.

Graph Search, launched in limited beta last week, is Facebook's version of the search engine. It's a structured entity that directs members down a rabbit hole of revelations around people, places, interests, and photos. It's fun, fascinating, and quite freaky, as Scott's Tumblr shows us, particularly if you're interested in "Married people who like Prostitutes" or "Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like Getting Drunk!" … Read more

Find, delete your profane posts on Facebook with FaceWash

It's easy to write a quick post on Twitter or Facebook in a moment of joy -- or rage -- exclaiming your emotion with a few profane words in tow. But over time the way we want to use a social network may change, and it might make more sense for Facebook to become a professional representation of yourself. And with Graph Search just around the corner, your Facebook past is going to be extremely easy to search; possibly surfacing a side of you you'd rather not have your potential employers or family members see. Heck, you may … Read more

Facebook Graph Search: 4 big reasons it matters

In its most basic state, Facebook's nascent Graph Search is a structured search engine for finding people, places, photos, and interests on Facebook. But the third-pillar product, which surfaces information hiding in Facebook's secret garden, has depth that we're only beginning to understand.

Graph Search is a new paradigm in search that could make modern search giants start to look dated. It's also a powerful new vehicle for discovery. Ultimately, Graph Search is smart, original, and a foundational piece of Facebook's future as a relevant social network.

Let's talk about why.

1. Graph Search … Read more

Facebook unveils new search tool (week in review)

Facebook unveiled a new tool this week it touts as helping find people, photos, places, and interests that are most relevant to Facebook users.

Graph Search is the social network's newest way for users to make sense of its massive base of 1 billion users, 240 billion photos, and 1 trillion connections. The tool is meant to provide people the answers to their questions about people, photos, places, and interests. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Graph Search is launching to a small number of people and is available only on the desktop and in English for the time being.

People … Read more