advertising program

Facebook is looking to resurrect its Beacon platform, this time with a little less controversy. Dubbed Facebook Connect, the company describes the new service as the next iteration of the Facebook platform that allows users to connect their Facebook identity, friends and privacy to any site.

This opens the door for third-party Web sites to implement and offer more Facebook features, such as showing a user which of their friends also have accounts on a site.

Apple is taking some shots at Microsoft by launching its own series of commercials. It didn't take long for the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant to poke fun at Microsoft after it launched a $350 million advertising program with a series of "I'm a PC" and Jerry Seinfeld commercials.

One commercial, the bean counter, features an accountant sitting at a desk with two piles of money. The accountant is dividing the pile into two, with one pile for Windows Vista advertising dollars and the other to be used to fix problems with Vista.