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ST. LOUIS — Police officers were called to the home of Orlando Harris on Oct. 15, nine days before he went on a shooting rampage inside a St. Louis high school. Harris’ mother had asked officers to remove the weapon, an AR-15 rifle, from her home, citing her son’s mental health struggles. Police had been called to the home before.St. Louis police had also been informed that Harris, 19, recently failed a federal background check when he tried to buy a weapon from a local dealer.So why didn’t police confiscate the AR-15 before Monday’s attack at Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, which left two people dead and seven others injured?They say slight differences in state and federal gun possession laws tied their hands when Harris’ mother asked them to remove the weapon on Oct. 15. They also point to a controversial new law in Missouri that claims state statutes supersede federal law when it comes to gun possession. “It is our belief that under existing state law SLMPD would have no authority to seize the firearm in question,” police Sgt.  » Read More

A young family were left 'homeless' after being scammed when they replied to a Facebook message. Kaitlin Clayton, 18, and Dylan Doherty, 21, from Southport, were looking for a home to live together following the birth of their son Archie five months ago. The couple had search on estate agents and property lettings websites before turning to Facebook marketplace. Kaitlin sent several messages to adverts that interested her, before she received a Facebook message from a man who said he'd seen her applications and that may be able to help. She went to view a flat with a friend, and agreed to pay a £250 deposit as well as a £50 'pet fee', receiving a receipt for both, the Liverpool Echo reported. Kaitlin told the paper: "We were getting so excited to move in. We've got a new born and we've worked and worked so hard to get this flat. READ MORE: Teenager questioned on suspicion of murder following stabbing of student Luke O'Connor in Fallowfield "We were really looking forward to move,  » Read More

Or, to put it the other way round, Meta has a Facebook problem. Either way, as Elon Musk takes control of Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg, the previous Emperor of Social Media, is looking distinctly unclothed. Elon Musk, the world’s Shitposter in Chief, sealed his deal to buy Twitter just as we were finishing this article off, so we’re just going to have to deal with that another time. Besides, it’s too early to really say how it’s all going to play out. Musk seemingly thinks that Twitter needs less content regulation and moderation, but that is increasingly a minority position that may have something to do with him being a rich, white, cis male. For everyone else, Twitter is already far too often the “free-for-all hellscape” that he says he wants to prevent it becoming. His ambitions reportedly seem to be along the lines of creating a global version of China’s WeChat, which started off as a simple messaging app, but has since expanded to become a multi-functional platform that dominates the screen time of many people’s daily lives.   » Read More

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will testify in a case by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that argues the company's proposed deal to buy virtual reality (VR) content maker Within Unlimited should be blocked.In a court document filed with U.S. District Court Northern District Of California on Friday, the FTC listed 18 witnesses it plans to question, including Zuckerberg, Within CEO Chris Milk and Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.They were also on a list of witnesses submitted on Friday by defendants Meta and Within.In addition to defending the Within acquisition, Zuckerberg is expected to be questioned about the Facebook-parent's strategy for its VR business, as well as the company's plans to support third-party developers, according to the court document.The FTC had filed a lawsuit in July saying that Meta's acquisition of Within would "tend to create a monopoly" in the market for VR-dedicated fitness apps.The regulator argues that the proposed deal would "substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly" in that market.  » Read More

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – A woman who is one of six people charged in a conspiracy plot that resulted in the slaying of a man live on Facebook to settle an online beef is being released from jail on a personal recognizance bond.Martita Bonner waived her preliminary examination Thursday, Oct. 27, sending her case to the Washtenaw County Trial Court for further proceedings in the slaying of Terrell Smith, 46, who was killed June 28.The waiver comes after Bonner, 41, testified against her codefendants, which included her nephew Shereif Bonner, 24, as part of a plea deal where her charge of conspiracy to commit open murder will be reduced to accessory to murder after the fact.Related: Trash talk online led to men killing man live on Facebook, testimony revealsDuring her Oct. 27 hearing, the court granted an additional agreement between prosecutors and the defense, agreeing to release Bonner from the Washtenaw County Jail on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond and a GPS tether.Bonner testified during her nephew’s preliminary examination saying that she knew a fight was going to happen and traveled along with him and others to where Smith was to record the fight,  » Read More

Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown is taking advantage of Meta's stock plunge. He bought shares before the open Thursday, although it is not a substantial position, he said on CNBC's " Halftime Report ." Meta tumbled more than 20% Thursday, continuing the freefall that began after the social media company posted an earnings miss and issued a weak forecast after the bell Wednesday. Over the past year, the Facebook parent company has seen a huge loss in market cap, which is now at around $270 billion. More than a year ago, it was at $1 trillion . Brown's move isn't necessarily an endorsement of the company or its CEO Mark Zuckerberg . Instead, he's betting on a potential turnaround once the company realizes it has to make some changes. "I can come in today and make the bet that this guy doesn't want to burn his own house down," Brown said. He likened the moment to the one surrounding Netflix 's recent decision to offer an ad-supported service . That was an idea Wall Street wanted but the company initially dismissed,  » Read More

Meta employees demonstrate the Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headset during a media preview at the Meta Store in Burlingame, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Nic Coury/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Nic Coury/Bloomberg via Getty Images Meta employees demonstrate the Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headset during a media preview at the Meta Store in Burlingame, Calif. on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Nic Coury/Bloomberg via Getty Images It's gotten tougher for Big Tech. Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta said revenue fell 4% in the three months from July through September compared to a year earlier, from $29 billion to $27.7 billion. The announcement caused shares to plunge on Wednesday. The company said the losses reflected uncertainty in the broader economy as companies pull back on digital advertising and struggle with inflation. Meta's financial struggles follow a trend among similar companies. Alphabet, which reported earnings Tuesday, said revenue from Google advertising was $54.5 billion, down from $56.3 billion the prior quarter.  » Read More

Barbara Ortutay  |  Associated PressFacebook parent Meta on Wednesday reported that its revenue declined for a second consecutive quarter, hurt by falling advertising sales as it faces competition from TikTok’s wildly popular video app.The quarter’s weak results raised fresh questions about whether Meta’s plans to spend $10 billion a year on the metaverse – a concept that doesn’t quite exist yet and possibly never will – is prudent while its main source of revenue is faltering.The quarterly results from Meta Platforms Inc. sent its stock tumbling 19% in after-hours trading to $105.20. If the sell-off holds through Thursday’s regular trading day, it will be the lowest it’s been since 2016. The stock closed Wednesday down 61% for the year.Meta’s disappointing results followed weak earnings reports from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft this week. The Menlo Park, California, company earned $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, in the three month period that ended Sept. 30. That’s down 52% from, $9.19 billion, or $3.22 per share, in the same period a year earlier.  » Read More

Meta is introducing new ways for brands to discover whether other accounts use their intellectual property (IP) on Facebook and Instagram. A tool from Meta called Brand Rights Protection is getting upgraded with better search functionality, which enables businesses and brands to search by image. The tool will uncover other types of content, including posts on Facebook and Instagram, using that image. Businesses will have the ability to report content utilizing their IP without permission, prompting Meta to conduct an investigation and remove the infringing content. This new search functionality is part of a series of updates to Meta’s Brand Rights Protection tool, which is available exclusively to businesses with registered trademarks. From a search enthusiast’s perspective, I found it interesting that Meta has a search tool that’s not available to the public. This article will cover what you can do with Brand Rights Protection and how to gain access to it. Search For Stolen Content With Meta’s Brand Rights Protection Brand Rights Protection allows brands to identify and report counterfeit,  » Read More

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place on Nov. 8, 2021. This evening, the International Space Station’s Progress 81 thrusters fired for 5 minutes, 5 seconds in a Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM) to provide the complex an extra measure of distance away from the predicted track of a fragment of Russian Cosmos 1408 debris. The thruster firing occurred at 8:25 p.m. EDT and the maneuver had no impact on station operations. Without the maneuver, it was predicted that the fragment could have passed within about three miles from the station. The PDAM increased the station’s altitude by 2/10 of a mile at apogee and 8/10 of a mile at perigee and left the station in an orbit of 264.3 x 255.4 statute miles. Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter,  » Read More