Meta is letting Trump back on to Facebook and Instagram after a two year suspension because apparently trying to overthrow the US government doesn’t deserve a permanent ban. Yeah go figure.

We know that any decision we make on this issue will be fiercely criticized. Reasonable people will disagree over whether it is the right decision. But a decision had to be made, so we have tried to make it as best we can in a way that is consistent with our values and the process we established in response to the Oversight Board’s guidance.

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/01/trump-facebook-instagram-account-suspension/

Saying “reasonable people” is such a weaselly way of dismissing valid opinions. It’s incredibly easy to say, “Look how unreasonable they are being!” if the person disagreeing with you happens to be emotional or vocal about their displeasure. It’s right up there with “Debate me” as being inherently disingenuous about your true intentions.

I continue to look forward to Meta burning itself to the ground.

Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes plans to overhaul a unit created by her predecessor to investigate unsubstantiated claims of election fraud into a task force focused on reinforcing voting rights instead.

The newly elected Democrat hopes the unit will “reprioritize the mission and resources” it has into “protecting voting access and combating voter suppression,” she told the Guardian on Saturday.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/new-arizona-ag-to-flip-predecessors-sham-election-fraud-unit-into-voting-rights-task-force

Yes. More of this please.

Despite a $22 billion deal with the US military, Microsoft lacks any faith in its augmented reality (AR) goggles, and this has apparently translated into a virtually unusable product. It’s no surprise, then, that Microsoft—supposedly beholden to thousands of layoffs if it wants to survive—would ditch the goggles given the first opportunity.

https://www.extremetech.com/electronics/342480-microsoft-lays-off-all-of-its-vr-mixed-reality-and-hololens-employees

I can’t think of a more complete way for a company to say “Yeah, we got nothing.”

It is an utterly staggering amount of money for one person to lose and still have far more wealth than the vast majority of humanity will ever know.

The largest loss of personal fortune is that of Elon Musk (South Africa), estimated by Forbes to be roughly $165 billion (£135B / €155B) as of December 2022.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/94151-largest-loss-of-personal-fortune

By far one of my favorite websites since its launch. Thanks Molly for creating it!

https://web3isgoinggreat.com

I have to give it the pharmaceutical industry, they always find new euphemisms for being greedy.

The Journal spoke with Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Monday, who said of the 400 percent price hike: “I would think this type of pricing is consistent with the value.”

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/01/moderna-may-match-pfizers-400-price-hike-on-covid-vaccines-report-says/