A Facebook sale to Microsoft is practically taken for granted by whipped-up bloggers, wishful thinkers, and tech pundits. By everyone, in short, except for those who would actually decide such matters. Kara Swisher says a sale is unlikely. My sources are more definite: Microsoft has asked if Facebook would sell, and gotten an unequivocal "no." Founder Mark Zuckerberg controls three out of five potential Facebook board seats, and he doesn't want to sell.

And there's no sign of ongoing talks after Microsoft's bankers were rebuffed. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was recently spotted walking down University Avenue in Palo Alto, mere blocks away from Facebook headquarters. "He never called to say he'd be in the neighborhood," a Facebook insider told us. If he were actively courting Facebook, don't you think he would have at least dropped by for a round of Xbox?

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