Hostage situation unfolds over Facebook, ends peacefully

Definitely a tense situation for several hours this morning, police were able to end a hostage situation safely with Facebook in the mix.

Covered in detail on the New York Times earlier today, a hostage standoff in Pittsburgh ended without harm today after police successfully convinced 22-year-old Klein Michael Thaxton to give up peacefully. However, it’s possible that a few Facebook comments also helped encourage the military veteran to release his 58-year-old hostage. Around 8 a.m. this morning, Thaxton entered a large office building and took the elevator to the 16th floor. Thaxton entered the offices of CW Breitsman Associates, a company that handles employee-benefits programs for outside businesses, and took CEO Charles Breitsman hostage. It’s unclear if there was a previous relationship between Thaxton and Breitsman prior to this incident.

While some reports from people previously inside the building indicated that Thaxton was carrying a rifle, Thaxton was armed with a kitchen knife and hammer when he took Breitsman hostage. Police also thought that Thaxton could have been carrying some sort of explosive in addition to the firearm. 

As Pittsburgh police gathered outside the building to begin negotiating, Thaxton started posting depressing status updates on his Facebook page. In one of the posts, Thaxton stated “‘this life im livin rite now i dnt want anymore. ive lost everything and I aint gettin it back.“

During the day, Thaxton attempted to reach out to family members as well. In one of the updates, Thaxton posted “welln pops youll never have to woryy about me again you’ll nevr need to by me anything no need to ever waste ur hard earned money on me. i’ll live n jail you dnt want me around anymore thats kool bye…i love u assata sis.” As the hostage situation become more public, more of Thaxton’s friends and family posted to the page in an attempt to encourage him to give up without harming himself or others. 

According to Boston.com, police wanted to keep the Facebook page open at first in order to keep Thaxton talking and hoped that he would release more specific details about the situation inside the office. Regarding the use of the Facebook page, Pittsburgh police chief Nate Harper stated “It helped because it let the suspect know people cared about him. It was helpful because he was focusing on Facebook rather than harming the victim.”

As the hostage situation continued, police noticed that some people were encouraging Thaxton to continue the standoff. At this point, police moved quickly to cut off his access to the page. According to Harper, the people that left those messages could be charged as accessories to the crime.

After the comments started becoming more distracting, Harper also told the local press “We would hope his friends would stop communications on Facebook, let our trained negotiators deal with this matter.”

Around 2 p.m., police negotiators and Thaxton’s mother convinced Thaxton to give up and end the public spectacle that he was watching on television within the offices of CW Breitsman Associates. Thaxton has been charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and terroristic threats for his actions today. Breitsman was unharmed during the incident and was reunited with his family shortly after the hostage situation came to an end.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Trouble ahead? 4G LTE Kindle Fire doesn’t yet have FCC approval for sale

Amazon is marketing its new 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD tablet despite the fact that it hasn't yet received approval from the Federal Communications Commission. The situation has been described as unusual by attorneys and analysts familiar with the FCC's procedures.

You’d hope Amazon knows exactly what it’s doing, but the fact that it announced its new high-end 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD tablet before receiving approval for sale from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) will strike some as a little odd, and has been described as unusual by attorneys and analysts with knowledge of the FCC’s procedures .

The FCC tests all new wireless communication devices to discover if they interfere with other signals. Once cleared, the product is allowed to go on sale. According to a Reuters report on Thursday, Amazon has yet to get the green light, despite promising to ship the product on November 20.

The report said that a confirmation email from the e-commerce giant in response to a pre-order for the 8.9-inch 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD said: “We will send you an email asking you to confirm your pre-order of Kindle Fire when it is approved for sale by the Federal Communications Commission.”

Speaking to Reuters about the situation, John Jackson, a wireless analyst at CCS Insight, said, “I can’t think of an instance where a device has been offered by a US carrier or an independent retailer that has not had FCC approval yet.”

Charles Golvin, a wireless analyst at Forrester Research, suggests that failure to get FCC approval prior putting the device on the market can probably be put down to Amazon’s lack of experience with wireless products.

It’s not just the selling of the device which is prohibited prior to FCC approval – marketing is also banned, unless a disclaimer is included in the promotional material.

Amazon is, however, clear about the situation with its new high-end tablet, stating on its website, “The 4G device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.”

Mitchell Lazarus of law firm Fletcher told Reuters that in most cases companies with new wireless communication products go through the procedures with the FCC “so they don’t have to make these awkward disclaimers.”

It’s being suggested that approval may be taking a little longer than usual as the 4G wireless modem being used in Amazon’s tablet is of a new type, whereas many gadgets sent to the FCC for approval contain modems used in products previously passed by the FCC, and so go through the process more quickly.

The other Kindle Fires announced by Amazon on Thursday are Wi-Fi only devices and are fit for sale.

If the FCC does find some serious issues with Amazon’s priciest Kindle Fire, the company will have limited time to sort it out before the holiday season kicks off. Failure to have it on the shelves by then would be hugely damaging for the Seatlle-based company as it attempts to increase its share of a market still dominated by Apple with its popular iPad tablet. 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com