Craig Ramsden is a 19 year old kid from the U.K.  Recently he left a Facebook status saying “I’m twisted at home. My head’s up my ****. I feel like killin some1 need to stay off the hard stuff ha —- it it’s Saturday ha.”  Shortly after writing that he went to a bar and stabbed Paul Gilligan, 31, to death.  Yesterday Ramsden was sentenced to over 17 years in jail.  This is the same punishment that was given to Edward Richardson for murdering his wife, Sarah for changing her Facebook relationship status to Single.

The Facebook post that Ramsden wrote was shortly deleted after the stabbing, but police were able to find it by examining the laptop used by a witness that visited Ramsden Facebook page after hearing about the stabbing.  The judge dismissed the idea that Ramsden was provoked because he actually returned to the bar and committed the act after writing about what he was intending on doing.

Facebook has about 150 million users.

[via CNET]

Facebook has removed a group that calls for ‘Global collection to hire a sharpshooter to liquidate Evo Morales.’  The group was formed this past August and over 8,000 members joined.  Morales is the President of Bolivia.

“We need to get the money to inspire someone to do it,” stated the group creator Hony Pierola, 20.  Pierola created the group “to laugh a little and wouldn’t be so stupid as to do it with serious intentions.”  But as more people joined, the group got really heated.  One of the postings from August 10 called out for torturing and suffering of Morales “like he’s doing indirectly to many Bolivian people.”  Morales has caused a division in Bolivia regarding policies for empowering Native Americans in the country.  Ivan Canelas, a spokesman for the government of Bolivia did not know about the Facebook group, but officials will be looking into it.

Jaime Schopflin, spokeswoman for Facebook stated that the group was in violation of TOS and was removed within 90 minutes of the first complaint.

[via Telegraph]

Just when I thought that Facebook applications were slowing down after the new design, WedSnap has been acquired.  WedSnap is the parent company of WeddingBook, a Facebook application with about 400,000 active users.  WeddingBook is an application that connects Facebook users to wedding events.

WeddingBook features photos, dresses, stylish wedding decor suggestions, fellow brides and grooms to chat with, a wedding countdown.  There is also a built in Wedding profile box, a guest book, wedding party RSVPs, engagement photos, wedding statuses, links to registries and wedding websites.

WeddingBook won a $250,000 grant from the fbFund in October 2008.  The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.  After the acquisition was made, TheKnot’s brand was integrated into the application.

[via Mashable]

There are some sick people out there and some of them even use Facebook.  Edward Richardson, 41, was accused of killing his girlfriend Sarah Richardson, 26, at her parents’ home in Staffordshire, England.  Richardson tried to kill himself after murdering his girlfriend, but ended up being sentenced to life with a minimum of 17 years in prison according to BBC.

“Richardson became enraged when Sarah changed her marital status on Facebook to single and decided to go and see her as she was not responding to his messages, stated Fiona Cortese of the Crown Prosecution Service.  “He gained entry by breaking the front door window and made his way into the property.”

It is quite easy to jump to conclusions here regarding this incident.  The first conclusion some people may make is that Facebook is being irresponsible for having a relationship status feature as it can emotionally toy with humans.  Given that this is the first case I’ve heard of murder taking place based on a Facebook action, I don’t see how the social network can be seen as the catalyst here.

What happened is that Richardson clearly has mental issues that were not addressed at the right time.   We as the media can’t read his mind so it is best to let the courts decide his fate.  God bless the Richardson family during this difficult time.

Joel Comm has quite an extensive track record for making money on the Internet.  In 1995, Joe launched WorldVillage.com and two years later sold ClassicGames.com to Yahoo!  After that, Joel launched several online shopping websites and then wrote a book called The AdSense Code, a New York Times best seller.  To top all that off, he came up with the iFart application, the #1 iPhone application for three consecutive weeks.  Last year Comm hosted the first Internet reality show called “the Next Internet Millionaire.”  Comm is currently working on a “Twitter Power” book.

Even after all this credibility, Facebook decided to kick him off their social network.  Comm has 4,999 Facebook friends and then sent messages to about 30 of the 900 people that wanted to add him.  Facebook maximizes the number of friends that you can add at 4,999.  Facebook believed that the message that he was sending to the friend requests was considered “spam.”

Comm told Robert Scoble that he received a warning for sending the messages and stopped immediately after, but they still kicked him off two days later. The two messages that Comm sent to his friend requesters include:

“Thanks for the request! I’ve reached my 5000 friend limit on Facebook, but you can follow me on my fan page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Joel-Comm/9907159309?ref=s

Hope to see you there!”

and

“hiya! I’m glad you had the opportunity to see me speak at Harv Eker’s event. I’m at my Facebook friend limit, but visit my blog and you can stay up to date on my activities. http://www.joelcomm.com”

Some people want to use Facebook as a marketing tool and want to reach out to as many people as possible without actually knowing the people in real life.  Is this a fair use for Facebook?  I believe if MySpace has no problem with it, neither should Facebook.

[via Scoble]

It seems like whenever a major event happens that shakes the blogosphere, the Twitter community is the first to respond.  This is true for the Obama’s inauguration, the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, the Hudson River airplane accident, etc.  Twitter is also becoming a marketing tool for celebrities.  Now that Twitter is garnering so much more attention, it is only natural for the company to raise more funding to keep the traction going.

A source at TechCrunch has it that Twitter has signed a term sheet with at least one venture capital company, including Institutional Venture Partners, to raise a new round of funding that will put the company at a $250 million valuation.  It is pretty likely that the company will raise over $20 million in VC money.  Last May the company raised $15 million and the year before that they raised $5 million.

The big question here is whether major corporations believe Twitter is worth at least $250 million.  Apparently Facebook did as they offered the microblogging service $500 million in cash and stock options that Twitter reportedly turned down.  Facebook’s actual value has been questioned multiple times by multiple companies so it was pretty logical for Twitter to hold off for now.

Another problem Twitter has is the lack of a revenue model.  Twitter’s servers are being hammered by the five million plus users that they have.  Of these millions of users, none of them have to pay to use the service.  This is a niche that Yammer, an enterprise Twitter-like service,  filled in.  If Twitter begins to charge for premium services, then it is pretty likely that people will start paying because many of the users have already established a reputation.

One thing that is for certain is that this new round of funding will keep Twitter running through the weak economy and may see itself being acquired when the acquisition market begins to heat up once again.

Social media will be in full effect during Inauguration day.  Tweets will be sent back-and-forth, Flickr enthusiasts will be snapping pictures away, live streams of the event will be all over the Internet, and people will be able to watch the event from their mobile phones.

Twitter: Tweet tweet!  The amount of tweets being sent back-and-forth on Twitter tomorrow will be so substantial that the company is doubling their capacity.  Current TV and Twitter have partnered to showcase interesting tweets throughout the day tomorrow.

Live Streaming: The New York Times, Hulu, Joost, and UStream.tv will be live streaming the inauguration event.   Anyone that owns an iPhone can watch the inauguration on their phone using UStream’s iPhone application.

Flickr: Flickr will is hosting an event at a bar nearby the inauguration in Washington D.C.  Photo enthusiasts will be able to see images pulled from the election and from the induction ceremony.

Microsoft and CNN are working on a way to release a digital panorama of the event using Microsoft’s Photosynth software.  Microsoft is looking for professional photographs and user-generated photos to put together a final panorama of the event.

Facebook and CNN have put together an event that will publish status messages of users on CNN.com Live.  The event is available at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=56799103571

iPhone Application: There is a free 2009 Presidential Inauguration Guide iPhone application available for those who are travelling to D.C.  The application lets iPhone users look up public transit information, find Wi-Fi hot spots, and includes a Zagat guide for the city.

As most of you know by now, a U.S. Airways Group plane number 1549 had two engines lose power simultaneously when several birds were sucked into them.  The plane had to make an emergency splashdown a few days ago in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.  Fortunately ferries on the river responded immediately and helped everyone safely escape the river and the sinking plane.  Although several people were injured, everyone made it out alive.

The way that the accident was handled is mainly credited to U.S. Airways pilot Captain C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger III.  He knew that the passengers would have a better chance at surviving if he turned the plane to head towards the river.  Now people on Facebook are showing their appreciation by joining a Fan page created in honor of the airlines pilot.

Over 300,000 people have joined at a rate of more than 1,000 new fans per minute.  Over 279 items have been posted and the wall has been signed over 14,000 times.

The role that social media played regarding the entire emergency as a while is impressive. Janis Krums used Twitter and his iPhone to show the first picture of the plane accident.  He also wrote a tweet saying that he was on his way to help the passengers escaping from the sinking plane from the ferry that he was on.

[via ZDNet]

Duane Brady, a South African man from Eldorado Park, a city just south of Johannesburg had to show up in court for making rude remarks about his wife’s friend on Facebook.  Danielle Cox, his wife’s friend wasn’t too appreciative of the comments so she made sure that he was punished for it.

Brady appeared at the Kliptown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday with a charge of crimen injuria.  Captain Phillemon Khorombi  mentioned that Brady did not plead and he was in custody until he had his bail application complete.

Faan Coetzee, a lawyer in Johannesburg stated “If you write something on Facebook or on a website, it’s as good a shouting it from a stage.”

“You mustn’t think what you say on the web is less serious or less valid,” added Coetzee.  “If you are then charged and wanted to argue that it was a joke, you’ll have to prove it - as you would have to do in any other case.”

It’s interesting to see how things work in Johannesburg.  Be careful when using Facebook in South Africa, you never know if you’ll end up like Brady.

Police in Queenstown, New Zealand took footage from a security-camera of a burglar breaking a safe at a local tavern and posted it on Facebook.  Viewers of the images and movie posted by the police onto Facebook were able to identify the man and rat him out.  He was in cuffs the next day.

The burglar is 21 years old and broke into the pub on Monday.  From there he spent some time trying to break into the safe using an angle grinder.  After he couldn’t get it open, he gave up and left.  Before he left, he looked right at the camera.  The name of the suspect was not released.

The Queenstown police are calling this their first Facebook arrest.  The Queenstown police department established their social media presence about two months ago.  “It’s pretty popular, isn’t it, this site?” stated Constable Sean Drader.

Recently Facebook was used to identify a man that ate at a seafood restaurant in Melbourne and then ran off without paying the $323 bill.  Facebook was also used for the first time to serve a court order based on profile activity last month.

TheKnot.com parent company Knot Inc. has acquired Breastfeeding.com for an undisclosed price.  Knot Inc. is a wedding preparation website and publication and Breastfeeding.com is an advice website that provides information about everything related to breast-feeding.  Breastfeeding.com also contains a directory of lactation consultants.  The Knot Inc. owns WeddingChannel.com, TheNest.com, TheBump.com, and LilaGuide.com.

Breastfeeding.com is mainly user-generated content and features live chat sessions with lactation consultants.

The acquisition marks a strategic move for Knot Inc. as they plan to become the one stop shop for all things related to marriage and raising children.  Last week TheKnot.com launched several local programs that features venues for marriage in 10 major cities. Last February, TheKnot acquired TheBump.com for $1.4 million.

Another reason why this acquisition is interesting is because within the last month, Facebook decided to block uploaded pictures of women that are breastfeeding.  This sparked an outrage among the Facebook community.  Over 150,000 people joined the Facebook Group called “Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!(Official petition to Facebook).”

Regardless of Facebook’s decision, breastfeeding is an important part of raising a baby.  This is proven by Knot Inc.’s acquisition.

Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano are members of an Italian mafia.  In the last month, a couple of fan pages of these two Mafia leaders appeared on Facebook.  Anti-Mafia activists were not thrilled about this, so they joined these groups too.

“At first I was disturbed by the content of these ‘groups’,” stated Rita Borsellino, the sister of an anti-Mafia judge that was killed by the Cosa Nostra 17 years ago.  Rita’s sister was named Paolo Borsellino.  “I thought I would close down my Facebook page in protest, and then I realised it would be important to keep it as a tool for getting rid of these people,”

A couple of the group names on Facebook include “Free Toto Riina” and “Fans of Toto Riina, a misunderstood man.”  Each group has about 200 members.  The anti-Mafia group names that sprouted are called “Abolition of the Bernardo Provenzano fan club” and “No to Riina’s Facebook fans.”  Those groups now have over 3,000 members each.

Riina was arrested in 1993 and Provenzano in 2006.  Why have they become such a hot topic recently is anyone’s guess.

[via AFP]

It took Facebook about 4 months to grow about 50 million users.  They went from 100 million active users at the end of August to 150 million users as of today.  Not too shabby!  But I am not surprised by this figure considering Facebook is the #5 website in the world (Alexa).    About half of the 150 million number is using the social network every single day.  Facebook hosts well over 4 billion photos.

Facebook has about $516 million in funding, but is facing the challenge of monetizing their large user base.  This is one thing MySpace has figured out by leveraging advertising on their homepage.  The banners and pay-per-click text ads aren’t as useful on social networks as they are on search engines.

The 150 million active users include “people in every continent—even Antarctica. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria,” stated Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  The world population is about 6.7 billion of which 2% of that is on Facebook.  Given the current growth rate of technology, I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook has 10% of the world population in the next 5 years.  Capitalize on that, advertisers!

Power.com is a social networking company with 5 million users and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The company raised $8 million Series A investment from Draper Fisher Jurvetson.  On December 30, Facebook sued Power.com.

Power.com aggregates all of the activities from different social networks and places it on one page.  Facebook claims that Power.com is violating copyright and trademarks.  Facebook also referenced the scraping of proprietary data from the social network in the lawsuit.

“After discussing the issues with Power.com for about a month without reaching a resolution, we filed a lawsuit to enforce our terms of service, maintain the integrity of our site and to assure our users’ privacy and security are protected,” stated Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for Facebook.

Steve Vachani, founder of Power.com stated that his company has been in discussions with Facebook to get their feedback.  Facebook suggested that Power.com uses Facebook Connect instead of scraping the data directly.

Facebook attempted to stop Power.com for using data without permission.  The first complaint was sent on December 1 when Power.com was first announced.  On December 12, Vachani stated that Facebook Connect would be implemented in two weeks but then asked for an extension.  After December 26, Power.com kept using Facebook in an unauthorized manner.

That was the last straw.  Stay tuned for more updates regarding this lawsuit.

[via TechCrunch]

Organizers conducted a cyberprotest last Saturday on Facebook because the site removed breast-feeding photos from user profiles.  Over 58,000 people have joined a group called  “Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!” to revolt against the removal of breast-feed pictures.

According to Facebook, it only removes pictures if an entire breat is exposed.

Why people take things like this so seriously online is beyond me.