Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz will get all Sound of Music on the social networking giant by saying (or hopefully singing) “So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu” to the website he helped create alongside Mark Zuckberg while studying at Harvard nearly five years ago. Hmm, does that makes Zucks Julie Andrews or Captain von Trapp? Sorry, can’t resist a musical reference. Annnyway, Moskovitz, along with engineering manager Justin Rosenstein, plan to leave Facebook for an as-yet-unnamed start-up they hope will be “to your work life what Facebook.com is to your social life.” In a note on his Facebook page, Rosenstein commented, “Leaving Facebook makes me sad, but I feel I have to follow my passion on this.” Hmm, I’m thinking the oodles of cash and stocks will help soothe any lingering sadness about the departure.

Prepare to toast some Tweety Martinis and Fail Whale Fruity Cocktails New Yorkers because Twitter’s latest TweetUp will go down next week and feature an appearance by CEO Jack Dorsey. No word on location or a specific date, but check out twitter.com/TweetupNYC for updates. Update: TweetUp with Mr. Dorsey will go down tonight at Angels & Kings and include an open vodka bar from 8-10. You know what that means? Apple Twit-tinis!

Having trouble placing that face? Apparently, chimps have an edge over other primates — including humans — in the recognition department, or you may say they can make heads and tales of the situation. Primatologists at Emory University say that their study to published in Advanced Science Letters reveals that our fuzzy cousins possess the ability to match the faces of other chimps with the appropriate hindquarters of individuals they know, a rarity in the animal kingdom where parts aren’t necessarily incorporated into recognition of a whole being, a fact confirmed by many a bad relationship. Of course, being naked helped scientists did admit.

A turbulent economic situation has eBay execs trying to regain some footing with workforce slashes and billion dollar acquisitions. The online auction house and retailer announced plans today to cut 1,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its global workforce, and drop an estimated $1.3 billion to snap up PayPal rival Bill Me Later and Denmark-based classified advertising sites DBA.dk and BilBasen. eBay owns PayPal and plans to combine it with Bill Me Later following the completion of the $945 million acquisition. The website’s shares fell 8 percent following the announcements, sinking to the lowest level in over five years.

Things to do in Omaha: stalk Warren Buffett, catch an Omaha Beef indoor football game, play a round at the Johnny Goodman Golf Course and, if you’re lucky enough to visit America’s “Gateway to the West” in mid-May 2009, then you can swing by the BIG OMAHA Conference. Don’t worry, Gary Vaynerchuk plans to attend, so count on the vino flowing as you hit the town in Nebraska’s largest city. The Social Media shindig is rumored to kick off May 7 and may include appearances by Tim Ferriss and Frank Gruber, but it seems the big names could hold out pending a confirmation from Omaha’s favorite son, Mr. Buffett himself.

Maybe grabbing a book still can’t trump joining the soccer team, but a new study by Duke University Children’s Hospital shows that girls who read books about a person making healthy lifestyle choices does positively affect their weight. Overweight girls who read the book Lake Rescue decreased their body mass index by 1% over six months as opposed to those who didn’t and saw a rise in their BMI by .5%. Dr. Sarah Armstrong, who is thrilled to have scientific backup for a course of action she has often recommended to her patients, noted that, “If their BMI percentile goes down, it means they are they are either losing weight or getting tall and not gaining weight,” and for the many children struggling with obesity today, this is good news. So, grab that library card and take a walk; the librarians could use the company.

Dorothy Sisk found a little more than she bargained for after Hurricane Ike swept through her Texas town, and we’re not talking about the neighbor’s car. In the wake of the disaster, Sisk and her colleague from Lamar University — who just happened to be a paleontologist — discovered a mammoth tooth the size of a football in her front yard. The Columbian mammoth roamed this continent up until about 10,000 years ago, and they believe the fossil resembling a compacted loaf of sliced bread could be from that animal. Sisk is currently planning to send the tooth to Austin’s Texas Memorial Museum for further study.

As the world gears up for the Nobel prize announcements starting today, and serious discussions of scientific topics ranging from climate change to the latest genetic discoveries are creasing brows everywhere, perhaps it’s time to give a nod to the lighter side of science as celebrated by the “18th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony.” Instead of debating the intellectual merits of the candidates, how about acknowledging the surprising intellect of slime mold? Or did you know that erratic behavior in people is far more disturbing than someone being a jerk all the time? Without the unusual scientific discoveries honored by the Ig Nobel awards, strippers could not make important economic decisions based on the knowledge that they make more money while ovulating or consumers could be fooled into thinking food is fresher based on the volume of the crunch. The straight talk award, though, definitely should have gone to little Miss Sweetie-Poo, the official time warning system of the event who yelled, “Please stop! I’m bored!” Point taken.

Besides being the bane of every newspaper delivery person’s existence who was stuck folding the stupid things into the Sunday edition (and in Pittsburgh, following the inclusion of Bibles the previous week), the Obsession DVD has drawn a flurry of protest. In Dayton, Ohio, though, the speculation regarding the effects of this media has taken a more sinister tone, especially after the nursery of a local mosque was gassed during prayers for Ramadan on the heels of its distribution. Local officials and the mosque claim no connection between the two events, but members have voiced their concerns as have citizens across the nation seeing as the DVD’s were specifically sent to swing states.

No, it’s not a matter of worrying that the cleavage leaning over the table will distract poll workers while squirrelly operatives stuff the ballot box here in the great state of Pennsylvania, but whether a musical hat may intimidate voters. Two election officials from the ‘Burgh have gone to court over Democratic Governor Ed Rendall’s memo suggesting to the counties that voters sporting political messages be allowed to vote, but the state GOP is against the measure calling it a partisan move. The suit states that “nothing would prevent a partisan group from synchronizing a battalion of like-minded individuals … to descend on a polling place, presenting a domineering, united front, certain to dissuade the average citizen who may privately hold different beliefs.” Apparently, this is one of the rare cases of liberals being able to intimidate anyone if discussions of national security are anything to go by. I’d be more worried about the fool wearing a Cleveland Brown’s jersey myself.

It starts with a possessiveness that may seem like love, then the insults that you’re sure they don’t mean, and maybe the constant texting just means you’re on their mind a lot, but each and every one of these things may spell danger in a relationship; Rhode Island schools are determined to send that message loud and clear to their middle and high school students with the newly-passed Lindsey Ann Burke Act. When their daughter’s life was violently terminated by an abusive boyfriend, Ann and Chris Burke made a commitment to add domestic violence to the curriculum alongside sex-ed and drug education: “You may have killed her physical body, but I’ll be damned: her spirit is still living on in her family and friends.” Although Texas has a law on the books regarding relationship violence, the idea of incorporating a curriculum like Rhode Island’s is gaining popularity with the help of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Equipped with oxygen, a special neoprene suit and a huge parachute, Holly Budge broke new ground (though not literally) by being the first person to skydive over the world’s highest peak. For the low, low price of 13,000 pounds, the “Everest Skydive” is a truly one-of-a-kind experience that’s been fifteen years in the making for British company High and Wild. Nigel Gifford, who runs the company, decided to blend his love of jumping with his experience as a Himalayan guide to create this unique tour, which includes some first-time jumpers tandeming with experts, begging the question, where exactly does one go after jumping over Mount Everest? Victoria Falls in a barrel?

Nineteen of Gawker Media’s 133 editorial workers will likely spend the evening curled up in a ball on a cushy chair sipping Xanax-laced chamomile tea and listening to smooth jazz. Citing concerns of a downturn in advertising sales, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton sent out a Debbie Downer memo today announcing the layoffs of 19 people at the blog collective’s 12 sites. The shifts and cuts include Denton removing himself as managing editor at Gawker.com, moving media reporter Gabriel Snyde into the role and giving the boot to three of Valleywag’s five staffers. Ouch! What a crappy way to kick off the weekend; pass that prescription-spiked hot brew this way.

Tom Dooley isn’t the only one hanging his head low today since the founding member of the Kingston Trio, Nick Reynolds, passed away Wednesday at the age of 75. For anyone who’s Dad didn’t have their albums on repeat during any car ride of substantial length, the Kingston Trio was key in making room in the American music scene for a folk comeback, which led to the popularity of Dylan and Baez. According to his son, Joshua, “Dad was so happy he turned people onto music in a way that people could really approach it, in a simple and honest way.” Turn around, and your two, turn around and your four, turn around and your an old man going out of life’s door…

She stands by the open window, staring at the moon and soothing a broken heart with cigarette in hand; a familiar scene in black and white celluloid, but little did she realize that the smoke in her hand could be causing her woe. A research team from the University of Melbourne tracked women over a decade to see what effect heavy smoking had on their mental health and found that smokers were twice as likely to develop depression than non-smokers. This study joins a growing body of research pointing a nicotine-stained finger at smoking as a contributing factor to women’s depression in addition to cancer and heart disease. On the upside, just think of the money to be saved by cutting out smoking and antidepressants. Woo hoo!

As if Wall Street’s assets hadn’t received enough exposure lately, Playboy is ready to take advantage of a tough market to bolster its bottom line. Females in financial positions — the bigger the better — are being sought for the February 2009 “Women of Wall Street” edition of the magazine, although the pay probably won’t cover the rent on that Manhattan apartment. Playboy is banking on the large pool of well-groomed New York honeys looking for “…attention, the opportunity, the experience of doing it.” This might be the only part of Wall Street Joe Six-Pack won’t be whining about come Valentine’s Day.

Forget the Big 10 for a moment, and take time to crack one of the Big 6 — Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner, Löwenbräu, Hofbräu, Spaten and Augustiner — in celebration of Oktoberfest, that magically-buzzed time of year when every beer drinker is just a little bit German. In Munich, where the tradition began in 1810, the Big 6 are the only beers allowed to be served at one of the world’s largest festivals. The brew has evolved from a dark lager to lighter varieties in recent years, but taste remains key and there’s no lack of weisswurst, kraut, pretzels and polka to keep the party going. So, grab your lederhosen and kick off the brewing season in style!

With commercials still airing about Michael Phelps, it’s hard to believe that the time has come to gear up for the next Winter Olympic games, but get your credit cards ready (if they’re working). Applications for 70% of tickets are being accepted starting today and running through November 7 using a system “…designed to thwart scalpers trying to snap up tickets to the best events.” Prices run from $25 for some events up to 1100 smackeroos for a seat to the opening ceremonies. Sign me up for some ice dancing!

We all know how redesigns can send normally sane people into a tizzy (see New Facebook upheaval), but the revamped look of Google’s Blogsearch home page has thus far earned polite golf claps, although it has also garnered plenty of comparisons to Techmeme. Google’s resident SEO policeman, Matt Cutts, discussed the makeover in his blog, pointing out Blogsearch now shares a similar look with Google News, but claims the it uses an entirely different code. Cutts also gave a shout out to Guy Kawasaki’s AllTop and up-and-coming social aggregator FriendFeed for their contributions to the world of discovery sites. Google makes everything seem like a skip through the meadow, but you know somewhere Techmeme has hired some serious secret service style bodyguards–beware of the Google Monster.

Sometimes the good Lord looks down and says, “You! Outta the gene pool!”, and this was one of those moments. A Wisconsin man, realizing his SUV was low on gas Saturday night, decided to “borrow” some gas from a nearby van. Darn those dark Cheeseland nights, though; he just couldn’t see how much fuel there was, so he flicked the Bic for a better look. The explosion raised the alarm in the neighborhood and the man and a female accomplice were found by authorities in a store parking lot with some pretty guilty-looking burns. A match made in heaven.

Accusations of ignorance are standard fare when folks from the States are the topic, but the literary world is up in arms after Nobel Prize judge, Horace Engdahl, remarked that Europe continues to lead the world in the art while American authors seem to dwell on passing trends: “The US is too isolated, too insular. They don’t translate enough and don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature. That ignorance is restraining.” The last US prize went to Toni Morrison in 1993, and it looks like Roth and Oates might not be on Engdahl’s short list for this year after all. At least we have Disney…oh, wait.

Big-hearted bloggers have stepped up and committed to helping teachers around the country in the annual Blogger Challenge, powered by DonorsChoose.org. The highly acclaimed nonprofit website allows donors to browse through project posts created by teachers who request classroom materials needed to help students learn. The Blogger Challenge allows big name blogs like TechCrunch, Engadget and BoingBoing to solicit donations from readers for projects selected by the blog and DonorsChoose keeps track of what sites bring in the most generous contributions. Fred Wilson, Robert Scoble and Kara Swisher have also put the challenge forth to their dedicated readers, but no one has yet enlisted the help of Sally Struthers–give that woman a sad lookin’ kid with a heart-wrenching story and she would have even the most penny-pinching cheapskate opening his wallet.

For everyone who got a little queasy at the thought of breast milk making the menu, grab that airsickness bag you swiped off your last flight. Serbian chef, Ljubomir Erovic, serves up dishes with a particularly, um, masculine flair using nature’s most obvious aphrodisiac: testicles. Don’t worry, guys, the human variety don’t make the ingredient lists; Erovic himself prefers the balls of stallions, bulls and ostriches, but allows for differing tastes. Minced or sliced, deep-fried or sauteed, the sky’s the limit once the little suckers have been washed for thirty to forty minutes. Not much more comforting is the fact that the author’s other job is selling dental and medical equipment. Ugh.

Vinnie England had a huge smile on his face getting his Bart Simpson tattoo on a vacation to Spain, but the smile has long faded while the tattoo lives on. The addition of a hair dye chemical, PPD, making the tattoo black, rather than henna’s red-brown color appears to be the culprit in the boy’s severe reaction to the tattoo. A few days after the image was applied, Vinnie began to complain of pain in his arm, and what began as a red ring around the picture soon turned to red blisters where the ink had touched his skin. Doctors believe the scarring from the severe reaction could be permanent.