Tag Archives: launching

Empowering Independent Bookstores: Launching E-Book Sales to Compete with Amazon

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The online platform Bookshop.org is set to introduce a new service that allows independent bookstores in the UK to offer e-books, presenting a viable alternative to Amazon’s Kindle offerings.

These independent bookstores retain 100% of the profits from their e-book sales, with pricing matching that of Amazon.

Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director of Bookshop.org UK, remarked: “Digital readers are no longer constrained by Amazon’s monopoly, enabling them to purchase e-books at comparable prices on bookshop.org.”

Bookshop.org launched in November 2020 as a platform for independent bookstores to sell physical books within the UK, allowing them to retain 30% of the cover price from each sale. The UK site has successfully generated £4.5 million for independent bookstores to date.

Customers will have the option to buy e-books through their chosen bookstores. Profits from orders that are not associated with a specific bookstore will contribute to a communal pool, which will then be redistributed to all participating stores on the platform.

“We may have a passion for print, but e-books play a vital role in the lives of countless readers,” stated Nic Bottomley, co-owner of B’s ​​Baths In Baths Reading Emporium.

Erin Kelly, the author of Poison Tree, expressed her enthusiasm for the e-book revolution, emphasizing its capability to connect with readers who lack access to traditional formats. She is thrilled that the “ultimate comprehensive format” will soon be available on bookshop.org, which also plans to introduce audiobooks in 2026.

A YouGov poll from earlier this year indicates that nearly 25% of the British population favors e-books over other formats.

The new platform will feature a catalog of over 1 million e-books from major publishers and can be accessed through the BookShop.org app on both Apple and Android devices.

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“Due to Amazon’s specific digital rights management (DRM) requirements, it is currently impossible to acquire DRM-protected e-books from Bookshop.org or local bookstores for reading on Kindle,” stated Bookshop.org. However, they plan to partner with e-reader company Kobo to support Kobo devices by the end of the year, with long-term plans to provide their own E Ink devices.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Astronauts launching into space in Boeing capsules reduce the number of pairs flying together

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A team of four astronauts is gearing up for launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday. This marks the beginning of the process to bring NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Willmore back to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore have been capturing public interest since their launch in June on a test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned to stay at the space station for a week, they are now set to spend nine months in orbit.

During their journey to the ISS, the Boeing capsule faced various challenges like thruster malfunctions and propellant leaks. Consequently, NASA decided to return the Starliner craft to Earth with only one crew member, leaving the two astronauts aboard the orbiting outpost.

NASA then rearranged crew rotations to free up seats on the SpaceX Dragon Capsule for Williams and Willmore to return home.

On September 29th, the capsule arrived at the space station carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The plan is for Willmore and Williams to hitch a ride back with them at the end of their approximately six-month mission.

As the new crew gets ready to launch, NASA astronauts Anne McLain and Nicole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Onishi, and Russian astronaut Kiril Peskov are set to blast off into space on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the Crew-10 mission.

The liftoff is scheduled for 7:48pm from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Crew-10 astronauts are expected to dock around 6am on Thursday and reach the space station later that day, taking over from the current crew of four.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Meta puts a stop to launching advanced AI models in the EU

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Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta announced that it would not release an advanced version of its artificial intelligence model in the EU, citing “unpredictable” behavior of regulators.

The owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are preparing to make the Llama model available in a multimodal format, meaning it can work with text, video, images and audio, not just one format. Llama is an open-source model, meaning users can freely download and adapt it.

But a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the model would not be available in the EU, a decision that highlights tensions between big tech companies and Brussels amid an increasingly tough regulatory environment.

“We plan to release a multi-modal Llama model in the coming months, but it will not be released in the EU due to the unpredictable regulatory environment there,” the spokesperson said.

Brussels is introducing an EU AI law which comes into force next month, while new regulatory requirements for big tech companies are being introduced in the form of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

However, Meta’s decision regarding its multimodal Llama model has implications on its compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Meta was ordered to stop training its AI models on posts from Facebook and Instagram users in the EU for potential violations of privacy regulations.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which oversees Meta’s compliance with GDPR, said it was in discussions with the company about training its models.

However, Meta is concerned that other EU data watchdogs could step in to the regulatory process and halt its approval. Although a text-based version of Llama is available in the EU, and a new text-only version is due to be released in the EU soon, these models have not been trained on EU Meta user data.

The move comes after Apple announced last month that it would not roll out some new AI features in the EU due to concerns about compliance with the DMA.

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Meta had planned to use the multimodal Llama model in products such as Ray-Ban smart glasses and smartphones. Llama’s decision was first reported by Axios.

Meta also announced on Wednesday that it had suspended use of its Generative AI tool in Brazil after the Brazilian government raised privacy concerns about the use of user data to train models. The company said it decided to suspend use of the tool while it consults with Brazil’s data authorities.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Spaceship Launch 3: When is SpaceX launching their flight today?

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SpaceX's Starship is preparing for flight

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After two failed missions, SpaceX will launch its third large-scale Starship rocket on March 14th. Here's everything you need to know about it.

What is a starship?

starship It is the most powerful rocket ever made. Measuring 121 meters long, the reusable booster can lift the second stage to an altitude of more than 70 kilometers before safely landing. This second stage is also reusable and is intended to make Starship an affordable, reliable vehicle that can quickly turn around and start again. The ultimate goal of this project is to land humans on the moon and later on Mars.

What time does Starship take off?

SpaceX announced live stream video The launch will begin at 8:25 a.m. local time in Texas (13:25 GMT). The actual launch will take place approximately 30 minutes after the livestream begins.

Where will the starship go?

As you can imagine, this launch is our most ambitious yet. What SpaceX is aiming for Successfully launch the first and second stages, transporting the starship into space, opening and closing the payload door as a test, and finally refueling from one starship to another as a first step. Shuffle from one tank to another. This is essential for long-range missions and reignites the engines for controlled re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

The launch will follow a new trajectory that will see the second stage splash down in the Indian Ocean. Although designed as a reusable aircraft, the mission is to make slow, controlled landings at sea rather than on land or ships. This is easier and safer at this stage of development.

What happened the last time a starship was launched?

There have been two Starship launches, both of which ended in failure, which is part of SpaceX's “fail fast, learn fast” strategy.

During the first launch on April 20 last year, three of the 33 engines in the first stage failed to ignite. Several more planes subsequently failed in flight. The rocket then went out of control and activated its self-destruct device, leading to what SpaceX sarcastically calls a “rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD).” The entire flight lasted about three minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 39 kilometers.

Starship's second launch took place on November 18th. This time, all 33 engines fired and the rocket flew far enough for the first and second stages to separate. However, as the first stage decelerated and rotated to begin the landing procedure, it exploded. The second stage continued to fly smoothly until it reached an altitude of about 149 kilometers (149 kilometers), passing the Kármán Line, which marks the beginning of the universe, but it stopped transmitting data before completing its orbit, causing the safety device to fail. I did. Return to Earth.

What if this launch fails?

It probably won't work in some ways. It is highly unlikely that a starship will complete its mission perfectly. However, any failure will provide data and experience that can be used to improve the design and process for the fourth launch. SpaceX has shown in the past that it can iterate quickly and make significant progress with each launch.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Uncommon footage captures killer whale guiding its calf in hunting and launching a dolphin high into the air

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A rare video was captured this week by a whale-watching trip off the coast of San Diego, showing an orca teaching its baby how to hunt by headbutting a dolphin and flipping it over multiple times in the air.

Wildlife filmmaker Domenic Biagini, who shot the footage, described the scene, saying: “The killer whale catches the dolphin, but when the dolphin slows down, he releases it after it is subdued and brings the baby killer whale with him to catch it himself.” “Seeing that level of communication and understanding was like watching a family.”

Biagini owns Gone Whale Watching, one of several companies that spotted a pod of six orcas off the coast of San Diego on Monday. He said the orca hunt took about 30 minutes, which was much longer than the average orca hunt because he was teaching orca pups.

According to marine biologist Alisa Shulman Janiger, killer whales are among the ocean’s apex predators and are known to incorporate their large size and speed into their hunting strategies. She added that it is common for orcas to slow down the prey and show the children how to hunt.

Shulman-Janiger explained that the killer whales in the video are so young that their eye patches are yellow instead of white, a color that eventually fades as they get older.

Where do whales come from?

Shulman Janiger said the whale in Biagini’s footage is an eastern tropical Pacific orca, which typically lives in waters off Mexico and Central America. They are rarely seen in the relatively warm, calm waters of Southern California.

Speaking about the hunting behavior, Biagini said, “We try to explain to our guests that while what whales do to dolphins can sometimes be very gruesome, this is normal and healthy.”

Biagini also mentioned that after Monday’s hunt, the killer whales approached the boat to see what was going on and began to poke their heads out of the water, which is a behavior known as spy hopping.

‘Remember us at your Thanksgiving feast’: Killer whales celebrate the hunt

Biagini said the killer whales often celebrate after a successful hunt and zigzag back and forth through the water. He compared it to the feeling of happiness and smiling after a Thanksgiving meal.

Additionally, Biagini expressed concern about the increasing number of boats getting close to orcas to film social media videos, urging people to film animals in the most ethical way.

Danger of flocking to whale watching

Biagini also raised concerns about the number of boats surrounding the pod of killer whales, stating that too many boats with inexperienced operators could interfere with their hunting behavior or lead to collisions.

In a video he shot, a man driving a boat by himself abandons the wheel to lean out onto the deck to record the video.

Overall, Biagini emphasized the importance of being stewards of animals and approaching them in an ethical way.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Three-Step Guide to Launching and Sustaining a Cohesive Brand

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David Martin has led businesses through the evolution of brands for more than 40 years, with much of that experience focused on mergers and acquisitions. At a time when most mergers fail to reach their potential, David shares his insights into what creates lasting success when two companies combine.

i have seen The same story is repeated over and over again. Prior to the company’s merger, his marketing and communications teams are working around the clock as he integrates the two brands and prepares for the opening day launch. Two years later, the combined brand was rebranded.

but why?

The answer is simple. No one knows what life is like on the other side of the door until they walk through it. But many times teams come up with a brand strategy before the companies have any experience working together, and they still don’t honestly know who brings what and where the benefits are. You can predict synergies and how merging as one entity will succeed in existing markets or open doors to new markets. Still, it would be helpful if you could work with us before fully understanding and branding it. There are many things to do first.

Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a two-part series by David Martin. Read part 1 here.

Step 1: Manage audience expectations

When companies merge, employees and customers wonder, “How will this affect me?” Will I lose my job? Will a product I know and love be taken away? ”

Most of the time, it comes with a lot of anxiety. So the first job is to provide reassurance to stakeholders. The only way to do this is to follow the first rule. “Always do no harm.” We need to understand what they want, what’s important to them, and then use that understanding to guide collective action once companies come together.

No one knows what life is like on the other side of the door until they walk through it.

First, you need to ensure that no decisions are made or implemented that could lead to anxiety or fear.Remember, your goal is to reassure your target audience that nothing important to them will be lost and that you haven’t changed anything. Until then They had the opportunity to provide their opinions and insights on where opportunities lie. We can further communicate this commitment by giving an active voice through customer, investor and employee advisory boards.

This process can continue throughout much of the first year, once your target audience feels comfortable starting a positive conversation. In many cases, the customer is a customer of both companies, which means they are perfectly equipped to communicate where the synergies are and where to use one company and where to use the other. Masu. Think of this as a Venn diagram. It helps you understand where intersections and forks exist.

Source: techcrunch.com