Facebook is testing an option that will let people buy directly from the website. Facebook which is the largest social network in the world is trying out a buy button to facilitate users in buying directly from their website instead of just hosting ads.

facebook-tests-buy-now

Even though it seems like an amazing business idea it seems rather ironic considering Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg is reported to have said earlier this year that Facebook had no plans to go in to direct e-commerce. Perhaps the idea was motivated by competition, as Twitter and Google. Inc are making it easy for their users to buy goods from their sites. In a Facebook blog post yesterday, the company communicated that the service was being tested with some small and medium-sized businesses in the US.

This is not the first time Facebook is taking such a step but efforts in the past have not really been fruitful an example would be Facebook Credits – a virtual currency – which was later abandoned.

After the initial digestion of the new idea, one starts to wonder how it will exactly work. Well, the information at the moment suggests that transaction privacy is paramount and Facebook said in a blog post that they had taken steps to ensure that the payment experience was safe

Mexico City officials reported on Thursday that the first known litter of gray wolves has been born recently. The gray wolf had disappeared completely from the wild in Mexico about three decades ago and this is part of a reintroduction program of the species so that they can no longer remain endangered.
Mexico’s National Commission for Natural Protected Areas stated that these litter sightings were of tremendous value and represented an important step in the recovery program since these pups have never come in contact with humans as opposed to wolves which breed in captivity.
The Mexican Gray Wolf was almost erased from existence in the US Southwest because of hunting, trapping and poisoning. As part of the reintroduction program the first wolves were released in to the wild in the Southwest starting in 1998 focusing mainly on Arizona and New Mexico. Now a US Fish and Wildlife Service has released an annual survey which showed that in January there were at least 83 of these exotic predators in Arizona and New Mexico. Regardless of the efforts of the concerned authorities the Mexican gray wolf remains an endangered species and continuous efforts are required to restore the balance that has been disturbed.

Outside of its agreement with United Launch Alliance – the multi-billion dollar agreement – the US Air Force released the first up to eight solicitations for space launch services. The solicitation was posted on Federal Business Opportunities on Tuesday and is the perhaps the first noticeable commercial outreach for launch services in a long time.

The National Reconnaissance Office which is responsible for the nation’s spy satellites needs a rocket to put a classified satellite into orbit by 2016.

SpaceX sued the Air Force in protest of its latest sole-source launch contract which had an $11 billion award for 36 boosters.

The Air Force and United Launch Alliance claim that SpaceX missed its chance when it did not protest the arrangement when it was first made in 2012. Ironically, while the Air Force and SpaceX continue to face each other in court, they are also cooperating to help SpaceX get certified to be competent enough for future US military contracts. By Tuesday the Air Force reported that Space X had completed three consecutive successful launches of its falcon 9 rocket.
General William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command said that the Air Force has 136 assigned to the certification process and was willing to spend about $100 million in the effort.
Congress is in the process of considering bills ranging from $25 million to $250 million to weigh options and begin work on a new rocket regime. However the Obama administration is reluctant towards the idea and estimates that the engine would cost $4.5 billion.

Alan Estevez, who oversees Department of Defense acquisition told legislators that even optimistically it could take eight years to have a new engine developed and tested. According to Shelton, the Air Force will end its relationship with the United Launch Alliance by the start of the year 2018. Space X plans to introduce a new heavy lift falcon rocket next year, then the company will have rockets at least technically capable of handling most of the military’s launch requirements.

John Taylor, SpaceX spokesman encouraged opening up more National Security Space missions to competitions.

Facebook is testing an option that will let people buy directly from the website. Facebook which is the largest social network in the world is trying out a buy button to facilitate users in buying directly from their website instead of just hosting ads.

Even though it seems like an amazing business idea it seems rather ironic considering Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg is reported to have said earlier this year that Facebook had no plans to go in to direct e-commerce. Perhaps the idea was motivated by competition, as Twitter and Google. Inc are making it easy for their users to buy goods from their sites. In a Facebook blog post yesterday, the company communicated that the service was being tested with some small and medium-sized businesses in the US.

This is not the first time Facebook is taking such a step but efforts in the past have not really been fruitful an example would be Facebook Credits – a virtual currency – which was later abandoned.

After the initial digestion of the new idea, one starts to wonder how it will exactly work. Well, the information at the moment suggests that transaction privacy is paramount and Facebook said in a blog post that they had taken steps to ensure that the payment experience was safe

Few days ago, Microsoft has cut total 6000 jobs from its Nokia Handset section; it was big news since it was the largest cuts of jobs in the 39 years history of the company. In that press conference Satya Nadella, the CEO has also declared that soon they will make some alteration in their XBOX entertainment department as well which is responsible for XBOX television programming. Yesterday, it was officially announced that Microsoft has closed its XBOX entertainment department. This immediate shut down will leave 18000 people unemployed. Most of them work in branch located in California and Vancouver.

Nadella has signed a long letter which praises and supports XBOX at the same time describe its significance to the company. The only thing which was not presented in that memo was any reference or mention of XBOX original television programming. The reports say that XBOX entertainment studios were going through a tough time due to its disorganized ways of working. The rapid change of executives in that studio is considered to be the cause of this situation. Firstly CEO Steve Ballmer hired Nancy tellem as an executive in 2012 but Steve himself said good bye to the company after a year of hiring. Almost immediately Steve departure, Don Mattrick also resigned from his post. It puts a question mark on the entire management of the company.

It is also heard that they would not end the “Halo” series even after the closure of XBOX entertainment studio.

COLUMBUS: Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine recently announced a proposed settlement of damages against Apple.inc for their involvement in the price fixing conspiracy in the e-books market. If the settlement agreement is approved by the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York it will resolve claims for damages brought forward by Ohio and 32 other states.
Attorney General Dewine has emphasized the importance of challenging anti-competitive practices and the need to protect consumers from such practices. He suggests that the settlement seeks to provide relief to the consumers and e-book purchasers.

E-book Price Fixing
The amount consumers are to receive under the settlement is dependent upon the District Court’s decision for Apple’s appeal against the finding that the company violated antitrust laws and conspired with numerous publishers to raise e-book prices between 2010 and 2012. The appeal remains pending before the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Nationwide consumers are to receive $400 million in case the court’s ruling is affirmed. In case the appellate court is not able to reaffirm the court’s ruling and the ruling of Apple’s appeal is in their favor the settlement provides a significantly smaller recovery of $50 million.
Interestingly, the settlement combined with earlier settlements with the publishers will amount to twice the actual payable damages in case Apple is held liable and the appeal fails.
E-book purchasers all over the nation have received a total of $166 million in settlement funds paid by the following publishers which have been determined to be involved in the conspiracy: Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now part of Penguin Random House); Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan; Hachette Book Group Inc.; Harper-Collins Publishers LLC; and Simon & Schuster Inc.
Notwithstanding the economic inefficiency or lack of cogency in the rationale for compensation these high amounts ought to fulfill the deterrent purpose of damages to say the least.