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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Homeland Security’s chilling response to criticism: subpoenaing your Gmail.

    A Washington Post report digs into one 67-year-old man’s experience being targeted by a warrantless administrative subpoena that doesn’t need sign off from a judge or jury.

    Among their demands, which they wanted dating back to Sept. 1: the day, time and duration of all his online sessions; every associated IP and physical address; a list of each service he used; any alternate usernames and email addresses; the date he opened his account; his credit card, driver’s license and Social Security numbers.

    Jeffrey Epstein arranged a meeting with Tim Cook for the former head of WindowsJeffrey Epstein arranged a meeting with Tim Cook for the former head of Windows
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Luigi Mangione won’t be facing the death penalty.

    US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed two of the charges Mangione faced in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, and doing so, removed the death penalty as a punishment for a potential jury to consider when the case goes to trial.

    MARGARET M. GARNETT, United States District Judge: Defendant Luigi Nicholas Mangione is charged in a four-count indictment with interstate travel for the purpose of stalking Brian Thompson, causing his death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(1)(A) and 2261(b)(1) (Count One); use of electronic communication systems for the purpose of stalking Brian Thompson, causing his death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(2)(A) and 2261(b)(1) (Count Two); murder of Brian Thompson through use of a firearm during and in relation to the stalking crimes charged in Counts One and Two, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(j) (Count Three); and use of a firearm, which was brandished, discharged, and equipped with a silencer, during and in relation to the stalking crimes charged in Counts One and Two, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii) and (c)(1)(B)(ii) (Count Four). Dkt. No. 21. The crimes charged in Counts Three and Four require that the stalking crimes in Counts One and Two meet the federal statutory definition of a “crime of violence” as a matter of law. The Defendant has moved to dismiss Counts Three and Four on the ground that this requirement is not satisfied. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is GRANTED.
    Apple’s second biggest acquisition ever is an AI company that listens to ‘silent speech’Apple’s second biggest acquisition ever is an AI company that listens to ‘silent speech’
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Report claims Ubiquiti’s gear serves “a critical communications need of the Russian military, including in drone operations.”

    Today’s reports from Hunterbrook Media and Pablo Torre Finds Out claim the company’s hardware is seemingly easily obtained and popularly used in Russia’s war effort through already-sanctioned distributors and other middlemen.

    Ubiquiti, which was fined $500k in 2014 over “reckless disregard” for Iran sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Oracle admits it broke TikTok.

    Without explaining why its cloud status page doesn’t list any outages, TikTok USDS part-owner Oracle outed itself as the previously unnamed “US data center partner” that experienced a power outage over the weekend, blocking videos from publishing and unraveling its all-important algorithm for a few days.

    Michael Egbert, Oracle Spokesperson:

    Over the weekend, an Oracle data center experienced a temporary weather-related power outage which impacted TikTok. The challenges U.S. TikTok users may be experiencing are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage, which Oracle and TikTok are working to quickly resolve.

    TikTok US is mostly back up and runningTikTok US is mostly back up and running
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    TikTok is still struggling in the US due to a “cascading systems failure.”

    TikTok’s US service crashed early Sunday morning, and as of late Monday night, it still hasn’t fully recovered.

    After finally announcing the problem started with a power outage at an unnamed partner’s data center, TikTok USDS followed up with an updated statement saying, “While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we’ve been working to resolve together with our data center partner,” and listing some of the bugs users are experiencing. There’s still no ETA for a full fix.

    We’re continuing to resolve a major infrastructure issue triggered by a power outage at one of our U.S. data center partner sites. While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we’ve been working to resolve together with our data center partner. What this means for your Tik Tok experience: . You may notice multiple bugs, slower load times, or timed-out requests, including when posting new content. Creators may temporarily see “0” views or likes on videos, and your earnings may look like they’re missing. This is a display error caused by server timeouts; your actual data and engagement are safe. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to bring TikTok back to full capacity as soon as we can. TikTok USDS JV
    Image: TikTok USDSJV (X)
    TikTok is still down, here are all the latest updatesTikTok is still down, here are all the latest updates
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Is New TikTok banning the word “Epstein” in DMs? Not really.

    Despite claims floating around social media, the truth is a bit more complicated, not least by the fact that TikTok in the US is still largely down, about a day and a half after its data center power outage problems started.

    While tweets from random users, the governor of California, and PopBase claimed TikTok US DMs now censor “Epstein,” testing it from our end showed that its messaging feature bans many innocuous single-word messages, like “test.” Using the convicted sex offender’s name in a sentence, however, goes through unbanned.

    A screenshot of a TikTok DM conversation showing messages for single words like “Epstein” and “test” are blocked, but using the word Epstein in a sentence is not, contrary to rumors claiming otherwise..
    TikTok DM screenshot showing the words “Epstein” and “test” trip the service’s ban by themselves, but not in a sentence.

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