Will Facebook finally become profitable?

[s]ocial-networking Web site Facebook Inc. is quietly working on a new advertising system that would let marketers target users with ads based on the massive amounts of information people reveal on the site about themselves.”

The Washington Post reports that “Microsoft Corp. has partnered with handset manufacturer Nokia Corp. to deliver some of its Windows Live services on wireless handsets in Europe and the Middle East.  Beginning Wednesday, users of Nokia’s S60 handsets — specifically, the Nokia N73, N80 Internet Edition, N95, N76 and the N93i — in 11 countries will have direct access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces through the handsets’ ‘Download!’ feature.”

The Register writes that “[i]t looks like Comcast, America’s biggest cable network, has put the squeeze on BitTorrent users.  On Friday, the widely-read BitTorrent blog TorrentFreak reported that many Comcast users were unable to ‘seed’ their BitTorrent downloads, which severely slows the exchange of music and video” over the P2P protocol.

According to Internetnews.com, “Google tipped its hand Tuesday evening that it is still interested in participating in the January 700 MHz spectrum auction. The auction may be one of the most lucrative in U.S. history with speculation that it will bring in as much as $20 billion.  Delivering a keynote address at the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s annual Aspen, Colo., technology conference, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the search and online advertising giant would ‘probably’ bid on some of the spectrum, according to a Reuters news story.”

Inc.com reports that, according to a recent study by the Milken Institute, “Hawaii and New York remain the most expensive states to run a business, while South Dakota is the cheapest.  Soaring electricity costs kept Hawaii in the number one spot for the third year in a row on the Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank’s annual business-cost index. Record-high rates for office space put New York high in the second spot.”