This afternoon Facebook is hosting a privacy call to update a few press members about the company’s latest changes. With a lot of confusion about what exactly is taking place, the company wants to make some clarifications as the changes will have a significant impact on the user experience. We’ll begin updating this post as the call begins.

[1:01 PM EDT] – Waiting for the call to begin.
[1:08 PM EDT] – Still waiting (and btw, I’m blogging on a bus, not to be confused with a boat)
[1:10 PM EDT] – Facebook logo just came up in the presentation.…

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Earlier this year the New York Observer did a piece about a man from Facebook who decided to begin painting portraits of users’ profiles. While not the first person to turn to Facebook as a source of inspiration, Matt Held has been creating some amazing looking portraits of people on the site. As he mentions in the video below, there is a limitless amount of source material. Surprisingly he hasn’t created a business of it yet. He picks out people that have unique photos rather than focusing on generating revenue.

While I can’t say that I’ve never been focused revenue,…

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AdNectar is one of the most interesting advertising companies that currently service the Facebook platform as well as other social platforms. What makes them unique is their laser focus on virtual gifts. When I first met them in person earlier this year, they were one of the presenting companies at a conference in New York and I had a chance to learn more about what their company offers. AdNectar is in an interesting position in that they are competing directly with companies like Facebook who currently offer branded gift campaigns outside of the platform.

I’ve been trying to get an…

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Facebook continues to go on a tear and according to our own statistics compiled with data provided by Facebook during interviews a couple months ago, we now estimate Facebook’s total active user base to have surpassed 225 million. The company actually should have surpassed 225 million a couple of weeks ago but we’ve accounted for the possibility of a slight slow down in growth, although the company continues to attract millions of new users weekly.

So how much is all this growth costing for Facebook? According to a report published by Data Center Knowledge yesterday, the current cost of Facebook’s…

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UPDATE: Asian Shares Rise Amid Japan Holiday, But ANZ Drops (Adds information, quotes, updates/adds market levels)SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)–Asian share markets were broadly higher Wednesday as investors started to look past the swine flu headlines. Trade was subdued amid a Japanese holiday, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group fell after its first half net profit dropped 28%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3% with South Korea’s Kospi Composite up 1.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index 1.6% higher. U.S. stock futures were up a tad. Better-than-expected U.S. consumer data helped support Wall Street late Tuesday, with indexes ending only mildly lower.But…

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GLOBAL MARKETS: European Stocks Seen Just Up, Eyes On Banks By Kimberly Vlach Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRESLONDON (Dow Jones)–European stocks are expected to open modestly higher, supported by an almost flat close on Wall Street, even though traders remain cautious ahead of details of the capital requirements of the U.S. banks and the impact on the global economy should further injections be required.”Financial stocks are going to remain squarely in focus after yesterday’s reports of more capital being required at Citigroup and Bank of America,” said Matt Buckland, a trader at CMC Markets. “The outlook for the sector as…

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Euro bounces back against US dollarThe European currency that declined to a 3-day low of 1.3508 against the US dollar at 2:20 am ET Friday strengthened thereafter. The euro-dollar pair is currently trading at 1.3633, compared to 1.3606 hit late New York Thursday. Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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British Pound Tumbles To Fresh Multi-year Lows Against Most MajorsDuring early trading on Friday, the British pound slumped to fresh multi-year lows against its most major counterparts, as investors grew fearful about the global financial crisis despite concerted efforts by central banks around the world to unfreeze the credit markets and prevent a global slowdown. The pound slipped to a 5-year low against the dollar, 12-year low against the franc and a more than 7-year low against the yen. The pound also weakened against the euro and touched a 1-month low. The pound dropped on concern a dispute between the…

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