You know you've achieved some level of success when someone makes a movie about your company.
In a couple of weeks, The Social Network will be released into theaters, joining the (very) short list of films based on websites. Now you can wow/annoy your friends with these facts about Facebook:
1. Al Pacino was the original "face" on the Facebook logo, back when the site was located at thefacebook.com.
2. Facebook has been banned at many workplaces, and in countries including Pakistan, China and Iran.
3. Facebook recently passed Google as the website where Americans spend the most time (41.1 million minutes in August), according to a recent comScore, Inc. survey.
4. Founder Mark Zuckerberg, at 26, is the world's youngest billionaire. He's also one of the most successful college dropouts.
5. The popularity of the "25 random things" meme and the rate at which infectious diseases spread share a similar mathematical curve.
6. About 60 million people, or 1 percent of the world's population, have played FarmVille.
7. Arizona is the 17th most social state, ranking right behind Tennessee and right above Colorado, according to Facebakers.com. About 42 percent of those Arizona users are 35 or older.
8. The site allows offers 76 different language choices, including Pirate and Upside Down.
9. Thirty-two percent of North American residents are active users. Oceana (Australia and surrounding areas) has the largest market penetration at 40.3 percent, according to O'Reilly Radar.
10. If you have 130 friends on Facebook, congratulations: You are average.
THE WEEK ON THE RANGE
We read through various tea leaves in the race between Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Republican challenger Jesse Kelly (you can find details in this week's Skinny); caught up with the latest polls in the governor's race (Republican Jan Brewer is crushing Democrat Terry Goddard); and shared a Rasmussen survey of the U.S. Senate race (Republican John McCain is crushing Democrat Rodney Glassman).
We directed you toward Blog for Arizona, where David Safier has been pointing out that Republican John Huppenthal, a state senator running for state superintendent of public instruction, is ducking public appearances with his Democratic opponent, Penny Kotterman; followed the strange tale of Green Party candidates convinced to run for office by Republicans; and shared the craziest stump speech we've seen all year.
We told you to check out the new weekly Geeks Who Drink pub quiz; gave you a heads-up on the return of PARK(ing) Day; and suggested you check out Robots vs. Fake Robots, an Etcetera production at Live Theatre Workshop.
On the Chow beat: We let you know that May's Counter Chicken and Waffles has opened; welcomed chef Virginia Wooters—formerly of McClintock's, Wildflower and The Dish—to the Abbey, which is slated to open next month; and suggested that you check out the happy hour at Athens on Fourth Avenue.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
"Um. Dude. I don't know why you are so upset, but maybe you need to adjust your meds? Holy cats! I wouldn't want you as my treasurer. You scare me more than a little. 'Drastic'? OK, yes, whatever you say. Just calm down."
—"Ben," in response to "Here's What an Advanced Degree in Communications Can Do for You!" (The Range, Sept. 10), a post including a video of an impassioned (read: crazed) campaign speech by a candidate for the office of Stark County, Ohio, treasurer.
BEST OF WWW
A couple of weeks ago, we brought you an interview with local folklorist Big Jim Griffith, who talked about, among other things, the annual Tucson Meet Yourself festival. This week, Mari Herreras continues the TMY video series by interviewing Richard Noel, a Trinidad and Tobago native who sits on the board of directors—and plays a killer steel drum.
Also this week on TucsonWeeklyTV.com, we interview some UA students about the Islamic Center of Tucson and the Muslim Students Association.
