You know you want it.

Why waste time surfing free porn on the Internet when you can drop $300 on a 250GB hard drive loaded with 56 years worth of "Playboy" magazine? That's 650 issues of bare-naked "Bunnies." PLUS, the articles.

"National Geographic" did it last year with 120 years worth of issues on a 160GB hard drive for $200 – including 100 free gigabytes left for future updates. One might argue that "National Geographic," which quaintly once served as the sheltered boy's "Playboy," is a better deal.

Then again, the contents of this 250GB "Playboy" offering is sheltered compared to what hormone-screaming adolescents might discover on today's open Internet.  

Heck, one might actually covet this collection of old-timey articles contained within the "Playboy" hard drive repository. "Since 1953, Playboy has published truly extraordinary writers — like fiction by Arthur C. Clarke, Ian Fleming, Vladimir Nabokov, P. G. Wodehouse, and Margaret Atwood," Barrie Hardymon wrote earlier this year on NPR's Blog of the Nation. "The Playboy interview featured everyone from Jimmy Carter, to Malcolm X interviewed by Alex Haley."

I myself read the John Lennon interview at a formidable age (in a magazine pilfered from an irresponsible adult) and it totally blew my pre-adolescent mind.

That's not a hint. I actually see no reason for owning a big hunk o' hard drive when most of this stuff is accessible online … including the first issue's photos of a pre-famous Marilyn Monroe.

I just thought you might be interested … though good luck hiding it from your girlfriend. It doesn't exactly fit under the mattress.

Friend Helen A.S. Popkin on Facebook or follow her on Twitter ... but if you get creepy, she'll totally block you.

AT&T;

AT&T is totally checking you out.

Gripe about AT&T on Twitter and there's a good chance the service provider will find out. You might even hear from a customer service representative. Just last year AT&T picked up on my colleague Wilson Rothman's Twitter feed, after he complained about dropped iPhone calls, which led to what he describes as "a strange, but positive, experience."

This is nothing new. Companies began monitoring individual customer complaints on the Internet before Twitter hit the scene — but the microblogging service does make it easier. AT&T is now taking Twitter monitoring a step forward by taking a big step back — macro-tracking complaints about service outages in real time with experimental software developed within the company.

True story.  AT&T isn't just saying that to get you to shut your pie hole about your crummy iPhone reception.

"At AT&T's GNOC (Global Network Operations Center), screens track the volume of specific keywords on Twitter against real-time network data," writes ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez. "For example, an increased number of complaints in a particular area is a red flag for their engineers that something could be impacting the local network."

The "Social Media Data Analysis" on the right compares real-time number of AT&T-referencing tweets per hour (blue) compared to those of the week before (yellow). Big spikes mean possible trouble, and that's when the humans hit the Twittersphere to see what all the AT&T tweeting is about.

Those monitoring the system then uses the time-stamped tweets and locations and compares the data to customer service calls. Twitter trends can even indicate service problems faster and more efficiently than customer complaint logs, which take longer to log and analyze.

And you thought Twitter was useless!

via ReadWriteWeb

Friend Helen A.S. Popkin on Facebook or follow her on Twitter ... all the kids (and major utility companies) are doin' it!

Verizon, courtesy of Engadget

So many people are getting impatient, waiting for Verizon Wireless to pop an iPhone. Apparently that includes creatives at Verizon's own website. Today, an Engadget reader spotted a Motorola Droid X holiday promo bragging about voice-activated Google Maps. The boast is totally true — Google Maps and Navigation are among the best features of top Android phones — but displayed on the phone is, quite plainly, an iPhone Maps screenshot. It's likely more unfortunate slip-up than naughty taunt, but either way, we can't wait till January.

"The Dude" on the left totally looks like CGI Jeff Bridges! (Right?!)

The release of a quarter-million secret U.S. diplomatic communiqués could lead to serious misunderstandings in some of the most sensitive parts of the world — but why should you be confused!

The whizzes behind the Taiwanese animation company NMA have once again interpreted a major news event for your convenience with this computer-animated summary of the latest WikiLeaks kerfuffle.

Here we see still-flaxen haired WikiLeaks Julian Assange battling with an excrement-stealing "Uncle Sam," in what appears to be another digitally-enhanced roll for "Tron" star Jeff Bridges. (Ladies, am I right?)

Also featured is a cavalcade of world leader caricatures — a suddenly-naked French president Nicolas Sarkozy, go-go dancing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi (go-go dancing apparently de rigueur in all NMA productions) and bare-breasted, chest-beating "alpha dog," Vladmir Putin (aka "Batman.") Note: No actual secrets were spilled in the making of this video.

Helen A.S. Popkin is always going "blah blah blah" about Facebook, then she asks you to Friend her or follow her on Twitter ...because that's how she rolls.

Related:

• 'Transvestite terrorist' refuses body scan in new video
• Video: Internet coming for your children!
• The Facebook movie in one minute
  

Comcast made a move during the past several weeks that may threaten Netflix and other video services, according to the New York Times. It levied a "toll" to Netflix's contracted video delivery service, called Level 3, which the company felt forced to pay in order to "ensure customers did not experience any disruptions." This brings a new wrinkle to the "network neutrality" debate.

In effect, without charging Netflix or its own cable broadband customers extra, but instead charging the provider of the video stream itself, Comcast gets to test the waters of segregated pricing, the very imbalance that supporters of net neutrality seek to counter. In this instance, Level 3, the contractor that dearly wants Netflix's business, is forced to pay extra to keep it. Eventually, this could lead to Netflix raising its own prices in order to cover the expenses of its streaming contractors. Neither Netflix or Comcast responded to the New York Times when approached about the matter. (Comcast is in final negotiations to buy NBC Universal; msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft.)

There isn't yet a net neutrality law that requires broadband providers to allow any and all traffic to and from their customers' homes, but for the most part, that's how landline broadband works. That's even what Google and Verizon said in their infamous pledge to keep home broadband "neutral" while making cellular wireless data streams a premium domain. They did allow in their proposal for "broadband providers to offer additional, differentiated online services." But that would, presumably, not come at the cost of boxing out competitors.

The whole thing comes at a tricky time for the cable giant. The NYT points out that, as the FCC and Department of Justice look over Comcast's bid to buy NBC Universal, one stipulation may be that Comcast must keep its "Internet network open to competitors." So, to that end, would Comcast, soon to be a joint owner in Hulu Plus, charge their own affiliated video providers the same "toll"?

In a statement clearly aimed at both the Netflix-loving public and the regulators currently deciding the fate of the Comcast-NBC deal, Level 3's chief legal officer Thomas Stortz said:

Level 3 believes Comcast’s current position violates the spirit and letter of the FCC’s proposed Internet Policy principles and other regulations and statutes, as well as Comcast’s previous public statements about favoring an open Internet. While the network neutrality debate in Washington has focused on what actions a broadband access provider might take to filter, prioritize or manage content requested by its subscribers, Comcast’s decision goes well beyond this. With this action, Comcast is preventing competing content from ever being delivered to Comcast’s subscribers at all, unless Comcast’s unilaterally-determined toll is paid — even though Comcast’s subscribers requested the content. With this action, Comcast demonstrates the risk of a ‘closed’ Internet, where a retail broadband Internet access provider decides whether and how their subscribers interact with content.

What this really shows is that no matter how much campaigning happens for something that guarantees "neutrality," there will certainly be a million loopholes for broadband providers to test. Even if they ultimately fail, tricks like this can make them some decent money in the meantime.

Etsy's "Gift Ideas for Facebook Friends" page

I struggle with finding gifts for friends, so when Business Insider tipped us off about Etsy's "Gift Ideas for Facebook Friends" feature, I was excited.

After trying it for a little bit, I'm a little less excited, but it could still be helpful for friends who are prolific in their "Likes" on Facebook. 

It doesn't work for all your friends. If they (or you) haven't hit the "Like" button on all the bands, sports teams, activities, hobbies or movies, etc. available on Facebook, then they probably won't show up as an option when the page pulls up Facebook friends.

So I tried it for a friend who lives in Denver.

While it makes some good suggestions, you should still weigh your friendship and what you know about your pals before you hit the purchase button.

My Denver friend really does love the Broncos, so any of those gift ideas would probably work for her, especially the fleece scarf!

Part of the results page that pulls up after selecting a Facebook friend to shop for

But while she likes U2, I can't see buying her a pop art Bono print as suggested by the Etsy tool. Hmmm, no. Or, the personalized wine bag with the golf theme letter or the Katy Perry cupcake bra. Not so much. These things are perhaps more in the realm of Regretsy.

Anyway, it's a fun and potentially useful feature that might make holiday shopping easier. If you try it, let us know what you think.

 "The Pee-wee Herman revival rollicking at full steam, what better time than now to wax nostalgic for 'Pee-wee's Playhouse,' one of the most subversive, brilliant, and groundbreaking achievements in television and children's programming?" writes Urlesque's Eliot Glazer. Indeed. Truer words were never blogged.  

If you're too young and/or willfully ignorant to remember the Saturday morning show (1987-1990) or the original adult-oriented "Pee-wee Herman Show" (1980) currently in revival on Broadway, hit up Netflix and pop-culture educate yourself ASAP.

Meanwhile, check out this super-cut of every "secret word" issued at the beginning every "Pee-wee's Playhouse" episode. Generally issued by Conky, the show's resident robot, the secret word came with a strict mandate: If someone accidentally said the secret word, everyone had to scream.

Observe:

All the kids are doin' it! Follow Helen A.S. Popkin on Twitter, or just friend her on Facebook. What are ya, chicken?

Helen Mirren as The Queen in, well, "The Queen."

The Queen...er...I mean actress Dame Helen Mirren has been paid a king's ransom to appear in a new advertisement for Nintendo's "Wii Fit Plus" game.

The 65-year-old actress won an Oscar for her portrayal of Her Majesty in the 2006 film "The Queen" and has appeared in films such as "Red" and "Gosford Park." But in her latest role, she appears in sweat pants to pitch the virtues of virtual exercise.

"I would have never imagined myself exercising through a video console and now I feel very, very modern and very young," she says in the ad, which started appearing in Australia over the weekend.

Mirren also insists, "I'm not a sporty person, I never was, which is why 'Wii Fit Plus' is so good for me personally."

Not a sporty person? We're having a hard time believing that one. Have you seen how fit that Dame is when she's not playing the dowdy Queen? She's 65-years-old, people.

Nintendo has spent a lot of time trying to make the Wii a game machine for all kinds of players and clearly the company hopes that Mirren's new advertisement will help make the console more friendly to the older crowd.

According to MSN News, Mirren was paid £500,000 ($800,000) for the two-day shoot.

A friend of the actress said, "Nintendo insisted they wanted Helen and no one else. They wanted an older, more attractive woman to show that the Wii isn't just for children."

Speaking of not for children, check out this British version of the "Wii Fit Plus" commercial in which Mirren compares the fitness program to having a new lover every day.

Well, when you put it that way...!

For related stories, check out:
Mark Wahlberg will star in 'Uncharted' movie
Actress in controversial 'Call of Duty' ad calls it a 'dream role'
'Editing the Dead' lets you choose your own zombie adventure

Winda Benedetti writes the Citizen Gamer column for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

Apple in legal battle to protect the iPhone.

Legal wrangling is a sport that Apple excels at, with attorneys who are now going to throw down for Steve Jobs over patents in what looks to be an effort to protect the iPhone from the continuing onslaught of Android phones.

Bloomberg Businessweek reported today that Apple's latest legal salvo comes against no less than the world's largest mobile-phone maker, Nokia Oyj. The two will go at it before the International Trade Commission, an "independent, quasijudicial federal agency" that has amongst its "broad investigative responsibilities on matters of trade" the power to adjudicate "cases involving imports that allegedly infringe intellectual property rights."

At stake: Apple's right to import the iPhone, which is manufactured abroad, and at the same time block the import of its main competitors, including phones powered by Google's Android operating system.

Both Apple and Nokia are arguing over intellectual property violations.

Apple is also taking on other heavy hitters over patents: Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp., two companies that have smart phones equipped with Android.

In October, Apple sued Motorola over 9 phones it claimed used its multitouch technology without its permission. In the past year or so, Nokia has also taken Apple to court over several of its popular products, including the iPad.

Bloomberg gives a little context for how the long arm of the law has often had Apple in its grasp: 

Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008, the year after the iPhone was introduced, topping Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., according to LegalMetric Inc., a compiler of litigation data based in St. Louis.

While lawsuits are nothing new for Apple, the company does seem to be feeling the heat from Android, which catapulted to a quarter of the world's market share of smart phone operating systems vs. the Apple iOS mobile operating system's 16.7 percent share, down from 17.1 percent last year, according to a Gartner Research report released earlier this month.

Sales of tablets worldwide — and at this point, that's primarily Apple's iPad — are hurting sales of PCs, according to a preliminary forecast by Gartner released Monday.

The research firm revised its PC sales estimates for 2010 from a 17.9 percent increase to 14.3 percent over 2009. Next year, PC sales will increase 15.9 percent, down from the firm's earlier projection of 18.1 percent growth.

The reason? "Weaker consumer demand" for PCs and "growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10 percent of PC units by 2014."

Gartner's report reinforces its October findings, saying that the "all-in-one nature" of tablets "will result in the cannibalization of other consumer electronics devices such as e-readers, gaming devices and media players." The firm believes that "driven by sales of the iPad," tablet sales, worldwide, are expected to reach 19.5 million units this year, 54.8 million units in 2011, exceeding 208 million units in 2014.

The tablet dent is a significant one, considering the iPad was released last spring, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, considered the iPad's main competitor right now, just within the past month.

Indeed, iPads have been flying off store shelves so far this holiday shopping season, says Piper Jaffray, as noted in a report by Fortune Monday. The firm measured Black Friday sales of Apple products, and said iPads were selling at a rate of 8.8 units an hour, more than for Mac computers.

The iPad, said Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, "is becoming "the Mac of the masses." And, he believes Apple will sell 5.5 million iPads this quarter alone.

The Galaxy Tab is also doing extremely well, with more than 600,000 sold so far, according to Samsung.

PCs, said George Shiffler, Gartner research director in a statement, "are still seen as necessities, but the PC industry's inability to significantly innovate and its overreliance on a business model predicated on driving volume through price declines are finally impacting the industry's ability to induce new replacement cycles.

"As the PC market slows, vendors that differentiate themselves through services and technology innovation rather than unit volume and price will dictate the future. Even then, leading vendors will be challenged to keep PCs from losing the device 'limelight' to more innovative products that offer better dedicated compute capabilities."

In some markets around the world, where income is much less than in places like the United States, "there is good chance that consumers will simply leapfrog PCs and move directly to alternative devices in the coming years rather than following the traditional pattern of purchasing a PC as their first computing device," Gartner said.

While tablets are a key reason for the expected decrease in PC sales, there are others, Gartner said:

Consumer wallets are continuing "to shrink": Home "mobile PCs have suffered the steepest downgrade with shipments in mature markets expected to be significantly weaker. Consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe continue to postpone purchases in the face of financial and economic uncertainty." But, Gartner says, the "bigger issue for PCs in the home market is consumers temporarily, if not permanently, forgoing PC purchases in favor of media tablets."

The challenge of "emerging devices": Media tablet capabilities "are expected to become more PC-like in the coming years, luring consumers away from PCs and displacing a significant volume of PC shipments, especially mini-notebooks. Media tablets are rapidly finding favor with PC buyers who are attracted to their more-dedicated entertainment-driven features and their instant-on capability."

PCs will last longer as other devices help do their chores:As other devices like smart phones and tablets take on the chores of PCs, that will have an "important indirect impact" on PC sales. "As this happens, analysts foresee users extending the lifetimes of PCs because there will be less need to replace them as often," Gartner said.

Virtual desktops will play a bigger role in the work world: In the next few years, users that "adopt hosted virtual desktops to access their compute capabilities will do so predominantly by using refurbished PCs and thin clients. These alternative devices will displace new PC units, thereby reducing expected future desk-based shipment growth."

Worldwide this year, PC shipments will total 352.4 million units, a 14.3 percent increase from 2009, and next year, will reach  409 million units, Gartner estimates. 

Sometimes, oversharing on Facebook can lead to some serious consequences — like getting fired.

UK bank worker Kate Furlong found out firsthand after bragging about the severance check she was going to get for being laid off.

Lessons to be learned here, perhaps: Think before you write anything on Facebook. Don't post on Facebook expecting it to be to "a chat with my mates outside of work." Companies expecting CIA-level lockdowns on information might have to either become more vigilant, accept the social network's role as a place for private venting, or make business policies very clear on what they expect workers to do or not to do on social networking sites. The lines between private and business blur constantly and it's not going to get any less complicated.

Furlong, 23, is the latest victim, although it could be argued she should have known better.

She'd worked at the bank for three-and-a-half years, according to the Daily Mail, and made about $28,000 a year. So, for her, staying at the job until 2012 would have ensured a $9,300 severance check, and it would have been a windfall. When the debt officer's employer, the Royal Bank of Scotland, announced September 2 plans to cut 3,500 jobs, she received a call from her manager that day that she was one of those 3,500, unless she wanted to relocate 26 miles to another office.

She had called in sick that day, but the news seemed to lift her spirits, rather than make her feel worse.

The UK Parents Lounge, which gave a bevy of examples of other jobs lost because of Facebook indiscretions, posted what she then put on Facebook as a status update:

"I speak for myself when I say WoOOOOooooOooooHOoooOooOoo' it was pretty damn obvious something like this was coming. I'm neither stupid nor naive ... and quite honestly it is the best news ever as far as I am concerned!''

She was unstoppable after that with more comments:

"They will give us the option to take early retirement (for those eligible obviously), transfer to Birmingham and if so, the possibility of a travel allowance, or redundancies. Either way, SCORE!!!."

And here's what probably sealed her fate:

"I’ve just hung on by my fingertips to stick around long enough for a nice payout when they could’ve had me out long ago without a penny! More fool them! Haha! Xx."

These comments caught the eye of a tattle-taling colleague who snitched on her to her boss, who suspended Furlong when she returned September 13. While she was "sacked" (love the Brit-speak!) in October, Furlong announced her counter-move Friday.

In the UK, workers who feel unfairly treated by their employers can take them to an employment tribunal, which is what Furlong told the Daily Mail she's going to do. She told them, "The information was already out there and all I was doing was having a chat with mates. I don’t feel I should have been sacked. They got rid of me so they didn’t have to pay any redundancy."

Others in our country have also felt the wrath of Facebook backlash.

In August, a Massachusetts high school teacher was forced to resign after posting some derogatory comments about her students, reported ABC News.

In May, a Charlotte waitress lost her job after complaining about a cheap tip, according to the Charlotte Observer.

And last year, a stadium worker lost his job of six-plus years with the Philadelphia Eagles for posting on Facebook about a player being let go, reported ESPN. Yes, this was the same team that gave a dogfighting former convict — albeit an incredibly gifted athlete — a two-year contract worth almost $10 million.

So if you're on Facebook, even with privacy settings, just assume you're being watched.

Maybe you were too much of a traditionalist to shop on Thanksgiving, and perhaps you opted to sleep in rather than brave the crowds on Black Friday.

But now it's Cyber Monday - the day when many online retailers are offering big holiday promotions - and you are finding yourself drawn by the siren call of shopping.

There are plenty of cyber shopping deals out there, on Monday and further into the week, but it pays to make sure you are getting a good one.

WalletPop has five tips for getting a deal on Cyber Monday. Among them: Compare prices to make sure another website isn’t going to give you an even better price, use coupon sites and read up on reviews to make sure you are getting the best quality product for the price.

Readers, are you shopping on Cyber Monday? Click here to vote and discuss.

On Black Friday, in the mad rush for securing holiday presents, parents may want to make a beeline straight for the electronics department.

Nowadays, children's tastes are running on the expensive side, so unless you've got an entrepreneurial whiz kid in your family, the adults are the ones who are going to have to fork over some serious cash (or credit) to appease their tiny humans. (And if your spouse or significant other is of the I-don't-want-to-grow-up-I'm-a-Toys-r-Us-kid big kid school who also expects some high-priced electronic "toys," then you will also be coughing up some bucks.)

For kids ages 6 - 12, the iPad would be at the top of a 17-item wishlist to Santa, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen in October. It may be bigger than they are, but 31 percent of those kids want it. Another Apple product, the iPod Touch, tied for second place, along with any computer, at 29 percent. In third place: the Nintendo DS portable gaming system, with 25 percent.

(Hat tip to CNET for giving us a heads-up about the survey.)

Rounding out the top 10 products that kids in this age range covet:

• A three-way tie for fourth place: Sony's PlayStation 3, any (non-iPhone) smart phone, and a mobile phone, with 21 percent
• Another three-way tie for fifth place: the Apple iPhone, a television, and the Nintendo 3DS (due out in spring 2011), with 20 percent.

And parents: you might want to save the Nook, Kindle and other e-readers for yourself, since e-readers were the least sought after electronic acquisition by kids, with 11 percent.

Nielsen also surveyed consumers ages 13 and up. Of the top 10 electronics on their wishlists, most overlapped with the kids' top 10 grouping. Only the Blu-Ray player, e-reader and Nintendo Wii broke the barrier into the top 10 from the other list. The most popular interest among the older crowd is a new computer, followed by tie between a TV and a non-iPhone smart phone for second place, and the iPad in third. 

Marky Mark...I mean Mark Wahlberg will be playing Nathan Drake in the forthcoming "Uncharted" film based on the hit PS3 game franchise.

Looks like Mark Wahlberg is Nathan Drake.

The actor and star of movies like "The Departed," "Boogie Nights" and "Date Night" confirmed to MTV Multiplayer that he will be starring in a forthcoming movie based on the "Uncharted" games for the PS3. He will play Drake, the swashbuckling treasure hunter from both "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" and "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves."

Wahlberg also confirmed rumors that Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro may have roles in the film. Meanwhile, David O. Russell the man who helmed films like "Three Kings" and "I Heart Huckabees (and apparently has something of a temper on set  *warning NSFW) has been tapped as the film's director.

Wahlberg previously worked with Russell in "Three Kings." Meanwhile, this isn't the first time the actor has starred in a film adaptation of a video game. He played the leading role in the 2008 movie "Max Payne," an adaptation of the game franchise by the same name.

Wahlberg certainly seems a decent enough fit for the role of Drake, though I can't help but be disappointed they didn't pick my favorite (and woefully underappreciated) leading man Nathan Fillion. Fillion had hoped to star in the "Uncharted" film (and would have rocked that role btw).

Nathan Drake in Uncharted 2

Wahlberg told MTV that they hope to begin shooting the film this coming summer.

If this movie actually gets made, it'll be interesting to see how the game is translated to film — always a tricky proposition. It's already clear they'll be taking some liberties with the story line. Wahlberg told MTV that De Niro would play Drake's father and Pesci would play Drake's uncle — characters that have not appeared in either game.

But, as always, the big question is: Will this movie adaptation of a video game be any good? The best answer we can provide at this time: Keep your expectations low.

Sure, the film-making team seems solid enough. Perhaps this movie will succeed where so many others have failed. Then again, how can we dare to hope when our game movie expectations have been dashed on the cruel cruel rocks of reality so very many times.

For more on this topic, be sure to check out:
Take heart: There's still hope for gamer movies

And check out Todd Kenreck's review of "Uncharted 2" here:

Winda Benedetti writes the Citizen Gamer columnfor msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

It wasn't enough for Facebook to go after Lamebook and Teachbook. Now they want ownership over the "Face" part of their name too — at least when it comes to online chatting and bulletin boards — and they're awfully close to getting it.

The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has agreed to grant the "Face" trademark to Facebook with a Notice of Allowance, reports TechCrunch. But there are more hoops the social networking behemoth needs to jump through before it can claim "Face" as its own. Namely, it needs to pay an issue fee within three months, file a Statement of Use that shows it is using the trademark for commerce (providing a service or goods) aside from "Facebook."

And when they get that, they'll only have jurisdiction on the use of "Face" as it applies to: "Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter, none primarily featuring or relating to motoring or to cars."

Now, how that will go over with Apple and its FaceTime, we don't know, but that's a slugfest for which we'd love a front row seat.

Mashable notes that Facebook filed for this trademark back in 2005.

Facebook has already wrangled with one of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's former Harvard classmates, Aaron Greenspan (no relation to Alan), over his mobile payments app, FaceCash.

CNN reported Greenspan's opposition to the attempt by Facebook to trademark "Face" and quotes him, saying, "If you search the patent database, there are thousands of marks that contain the word 'face'...I understand where Facebook is coming from, but this move has big implications for my company and for others."

Greenspan has already had one victory with Facebook, in a settlement, after he claimed he had a part to play in its development. (Who didn't?)

Facebook has also had some skirmishes over the "book" part of its name with its heavy-handed treatment of Lamebook, a parody site that culls some of the funniest status updates and comments from Facebook. Facebook shut down their fan page, although the company later said it was "a mistake."

Facebook also pursued action against Teachbook, an online community of educators. 

In both cases, Facebook is the Goliath that makes it hard for David to even pull that sling back. If Apple does decide to put up a fight about FaceTime, now that's going to be epic, a true test of might vs. might!