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BRITISH director Sally Potter is one of the movies' leading experimentalists and early adopters - she once shot a feature on an iPhone. And for her new movie, "Ginger and Rosa," she solicited auditions online, via Facebook. She received 2,000 submissions, cut that down to 200 legitimate candidates, cut that number down to 50 serious candidates and then . . . gave up and did what everybody does when they need a teen actress. Hired Elle Fanning. That's even though Fanning was 13, and the role was written for a 16-year-old.

IT WAS THE phone call gun enthusiasts feared under President Obama's America, and it came unexpectedly on a Thursday for one South Jersey man sucking down some cold ones at the local Applebee's. Come home now, the police are here. They want to take a look at your guns. Police in Carneys Point, Salem County, said Shawn Moore was "ranting and waiving," "aggressive" and acting "arrogantly" when he rushed home from the restaurant March 14 to find them there, asking to look at his firearms because of an anonymous call they had received about his children's safety.

IN AMERICA, some boys get bicycles for their birthdays and others get military-style rifles. One South Jersey boy got the latter recently for his 11th birthday, and his father, Shawn Moore, posted a picture of him on Facebook, bedecked in camouflage, cradling his new semiautomatic Smith & Wesson M&P15-22. But someone saw the picture on Facebook and reported it to New Jersey's Division of Children and Families, and the agency came knocking Friday, with the police. "Last night I was out with a buddy of mine.

HERE'S A LOOK at some dumb criminals who have implicated themselves online: -An Indiana man, arrested on assault charges after a 2009 bar fight in New York, fled before his sentencing. But Chris Crego left plenty of cyber clues for cops to catch him: He posted his wanted poster on his Facebook page, along with his current hometown, employer and work hours. U.S. Marshals easily tracked him down, and police posted this thank-you note to Crego's Facebook page: "It was due to your diligence in keeping us informed that now you are under arrest.

ALMOST every day, we hear about a pop star blowing up on the Internet. But who knew that YouTube can make a fast and enduring phenomenon of Broadway tunesmiths, too? Philadelphia-born lyricist/composer Benj Pasek and his musical writing partner, Justin Paul - lately getting props on NBC-TV's "Smash" - are here to tell of the Web's charms and power in giving them a big head start on the competition. Way back in 2005, while Pasek and Paul were still musical theater majors at the University of Michigan, Web exposure of their material ignited one of the most successful theatrical shows that's never played on Broadway.

DEAR ABBY: My husband of eight years had an affair with an old girlfriend, who is also married. I have spent the last nine months trying to forgive him, but he keeps breaking my heart because he can't seem to get over her. First he was sending her emails, then trying to call her because he felt so guilty over the affair and "needed someone to talk to. " Next, he went over to her house to see her. I know he loves me, but I know without a...

Adapted from a recent online discussion. Question: I've recently started dating someone who is much less communicative than I am. I think we like each other, but is this a red flag? I tend to be an over-communicator, so I'm not sure if my way is really the correct way to do things, so I'm hesitant in ending some- thing over a differ- ence like this. Answer: The thing is, there's no "right" way to commu- nicate except to be honest and true to yourself. If you feel happier and more fulfilled around people who share your emotional style, then don't apologize for that - heed it, and know you have every right to break up with anyone who doesn't feel like a good fit. If you're naturally outgoing, then don't apologize for that, either.

A PHOTO of Emmett Till's casket that I saw on Facebook last week chilled me to my core. I was reminded of that tragedy from our nation's history of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi during the summer of 1955, who offended a white woman and who wound up paying with his life. Next, I found myself staring at a photo of the Bryant Grocery and Meat Market, where Till and the shop owner's wife, Carolyn Bryant, whom Till is said to have whistled at, had encountered each other.

The "Facebook Stalker," a 20-year-old South Jersey man arrested last fall for threatening a woman on the social-media network, was charged again Wednesday with making terroristic threats. Craig L. Wyatt Jr.'s bail was set at $100,000 and he was being held at the Burlington County Jail. The previous bail for Wyatt, of Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, had been $35,000. Police said Wyatt told his victims that they had only a few weeks to live, so they should spend their time wisely.