Facebook facelift feeds mobile appetite, may appeal to advertisers

MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Facebook Inc introduced a visually richer, mobile device-oriented "newsfeed" on Thursday, in the most significant changes to date for the social network's most recognizable feature.

The changes to the newsfeed, whose look and feel has remained largely unchanged since its inception, include a division into several sections, with separate areas for photographs and music. They will begin rolling out in limited fashion from Thursday.

The overhaul, which standardizes the feed across mobile devices and desktop computers, is designed to keep users active and interacting as well as appeal to advertisers, as Facebook battles Google Inc for Internet market share.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg had singled out the feature as in need of a makeover as recently as January, when the company introduced "graph search" to address inadequacies in allowing users to trawl for information across the world's largest social network.

Facebook's newsfeed, an ever-changing stream of photos, videos and comments uploaded from friends, is the first page most users see upon logging in. It is one of three "pillars" of the service, along with search and user profiles.

The last major update to the feature occurred in September 2011. Since then, the company has incorporated ads directly into the feed and has shifted its focus to creating "mobile-first experiences," because more people now access the social network from smartphones and desktops than from desktop computers.

The addition of advertising, however, prompted complaints from users who preferred an unblemished stream of personally relevant comments, underscoring the difficulty in balancing advertiser-friendly formats - such as larger images - with keeping its 1 billion-plus members engaged.

FACEBOOK VERSUS GOOGLE

The world's largest social network is moving to regain Wall Street's confidence after a botched IPO last year, addressing concerns about its long-term prospects - many of which center on an industry-wide shift toward the use of mobile devices.

Facebook shares, which are still more than a quarter off their IPO price of $38, were up 2 percent at $27.99 on Thursday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

Facebook and Google, which both got their start on desktop computers, are now managing a transition of their products onto smartphones and tablets, which typically yield less revenue than on PCs.

The two Internet mainstays are also waging a war for revenue in mobile advertising - a market that is still small compared with the traditional desktop but that is growing exponentially.

In terms of overall mobile advertising, Google commanded a 53.5 percent share in 2012, aided by its dominance in search-based ads. Facebook had just 8.4 percent, a distant runner-up, according to estimates from research house eMarketer.

But in terms of mobile display ad sales, Facebook narrowly edges out its rival with 18.4 percent of the market versus Google's 17 percent, the research outfit estimated.

(Writing by Edwin Chan; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-unveils-mobile-first-picture-friendly-newsfeed-183031854--sector.html

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Bidding on a Foreclosed home - Zillow Real Estate Advice

Hi, I am at a HUD home that is listed at 79,000 but the market value is closer to 135,000. My?Realtor?told me that the listing agent posted the property at a low price in order to get interest in the property. Is there a good way to decide what to bid on the property in order to have a good chance of winning.?

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Bidding-on-a-Foreclosed-home/481553/

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Giant Camel Fossils Unearthed in Canada's High Arctic

Only yesterday, a team of researchers working with the Canadian Museum of Nature made a rather surprising announcement.

Thus, they stated that, while investigating Canada's High Arctic, they managed to unearth several bone remains belonging to a species of giant, prehistoric camels. After analyzing these camel fossils, the researchers came to the conclusion that said camels used to inhabit this part of the world roughly 3.5 million years ago, when local temperatures were about 14 degrees Celsius higher than they currently are.

The official website for the Canadian Museum of Nature says that, all in all, the 30 fossil fragments these scientists stumbled upon used to make up the leg bone of one such camel.

Although the remains were found during three summer expeditions, which took place in 2006, 2008 and 2010, respectively, it took a while for the researchers to carry out tests and figure out which species these bone fragments belonged to.

Commenting on the importance of these findings, Dr. Natalia Rybczynski, a vertebrate paleontologist now working with the Canadian Museum of Nature, argued as follows:

?This is an important discovery because it provides the first evidence of camels living in the High Arctic region.?

?It extends the previous range of camels in North America northward by about 1200 km, and suggests that the lineage that gave rise to modern camels may have been originally adapted to living in an Arctic forest environment,? Dr. Natalia Rybczynski went on to add.

The same source informs us that the fossils were unearthed on Canada?s Ellesmere Island, and that, judging by their size, these ancient camels used to be roughly 30% larger than their modern relatives.

?Perhaps some specializations seen in modern camels, such as their wide flat feet, large eyes and humps for fat may be adaptations derived from living in a polar environment,? the scientists who uncovered these fossils theorize.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Giant-Camel-Fossils-Unearthed-in-Canada-s-High-Arctic-334731.shtml

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Afghan court slaps prison time on Kabul Bank execs

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, not pictured, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March, 4, 2013. Karzai lashed out once again at his supposed ally, Pakistan, saying Monday that a statement by a Pakistani cleric endorsing suicide bombings in Afghanistan shows the neighboring country is not sincere in efforts to fight terrorism. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, not pictured, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, March, 4, 2013. Karzai lashed out once again at his supposed ally, Pakistan, saying Monday that a statement by a Pakistani cleric endorsing suicide bombings in Afghanistan shows the neighboring country is not sincere in efforts to fight terrorism. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan tribunal convicted two top executives from Kabul Bank and sentenced them to five-year prison terms on Tuesday for their role in a massive corruption scandal that led to the collapse of Afghanistan's largest bank and threatened the country's fragile economy.

Judge Shams-ul-Rahman Shams said the bank's former chairman Sherkhan Farnood and former chief executive officer Khalilullah Ferozi were guilty of theft of $278 million and $530 million, respectively. Farnood and Ferozi have also been ordered to pay back these funds.

The two were among 21 Kabul Bank and government employees found guilty of wrongdoing on Tuesday.

The convictions were the first from the Kabul Bank debacle, which erupted in 2010 and in which $861 in fraudulent loans disappeared into the pockets of friends and relatives of the powerful men behind the bank.

"These 21 individuals are going to be sentenced because of their role in the Kabul Bank crisis," Shams said, before reading out the list of names.

Among those convicted was the former chief of the country's central bank, Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, who was sentenced to two years in prison for misusing his authority and failing to inform the government of what was going on inside Kabul Bank.

Notably absent from the list were some of the highest-profile names attached to the bank, such as shareholders Mahmoud Karzai, one of the Afghan president's brothers, and Hassan Fahim, a brother of the country's first Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

They were not included in this case but Shams said more than 20 people are still under investigation and more indictments may be forthcoming.

The bank's collapse and subsequent bailout represents more than 5 percent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product, making it one of the largest banking failures in the world.

An independent report issued last year said Kabul Bank was run like Ponzi scheme with deposits being used to fund lavish villas in Dubai and other luxury purchases. Hundreds of millions of dollars were sent out of Afghanistan ? some in airplane food trays, according to the report.

The scandal has become a test case for President Hamid Karzai's pledge to clean up the notoriously corrupt government. Karzai has been regularly accused of prosecuting low-level graft while ignoring massive thievery on the part of friends or powerful allies. Last year's report by the Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee said political interference has stymied much of the Kabul Bank investigation.

The Afghan government is almost entirely paid for by foreign donors, many of whom have threatened to pull or curtail financing if they do not see proof that the Karzai administration is assuring that funds reach Afghan citizens as intended.

The defendants have the option to appeal Tuesday's decision by the three-judge panel, which is considered a primary court ruling.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-05-Afghan-Kabul%20Bank/id-de23da2820614e21991b12afa2aa6ff4

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Iowa GOP: No more no-fault for parents, divorce too damaging

Seven Iowa Republicans are pushing a bill to end no-fault divorce for parents of minors, citing the negative impact divorce has on children.

Seven Iowa Republicans are promoting a bill in the state legislature that would prohibit parents of minors from obtaining a no-fault divorce. Iowa State Capitol pictured. (CC/Dave Parker)

Some Iowa republicans want to put an end to divorce for parents, reports Radio Iowa. All 50 states have ?no-fault? laws allowing couples to divorce without citing evidence of wrongdoing from either spouse. In 1970 Iowa became the second state in the nation to adopt a no-fault divorce law.

Representative Tedd Gassman was on a three-member subcommittee that debated the bill Monday. Gassman said the issue is ?near and dear? to his heart because his daughter and son-in-law recently divorced, putting his granddaughter at risk.

?There?s a 16-year-old girl in this whole mix now. Guess what? What are the possibilities of her being more promiscuous? What are the possibilities of all these other things surrounding her life that a 16-year-old girl, with hormones raging, can get herself into??

Under the proposed legislation, parents with kids under the age of 18 would be prohibited from obtaining a no-fault divorce. Instead, they?d have to show a spouse was guilty of adultery, had been sent to prison on a felony conviction, had physically or sexually abused someone in the family, or had abandoned the family for at least a year.

?This basically is an attempt on my part to keep fathers in the home,? Gassman said. ?I sincerely believe that the family is the foundation of this nation and this nation will go the direction of our families. If our families break up, so will this nation.?

Representative Marti Anderson, a Democrat from Des Moines who opposes the bill, said the tension in her childhood home lasted eight years, until her parents divorced back when fault had to be proven. ?The stay-together time was very, very damaging to my family,? said Anderson, the oldest of four children, ?and although we?re all adults now, I?m not sure any of us have ever really gotten past that.?

Source: http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/03/05/Iowa-GOP-No-more-no-fault-for-parents-divorce-too-damaging/6711362525611/

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Fannie, Freddie to form new company

Margaret Chadbourn , Reuters ? ? ? 7 hrs.

WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will build a new joint company for securitizing home loans as a stepping stone toward shrinking the government's role in the mortgage market, the regulator of the U.S. government-controlled firms said on Monday.

"The overarching goal is to create something of value that could either be sold or used by policymakers as a foundational element of the mortgage market of the future," Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told the National Association for Business Economics.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were bailed out by the government in 2008, help finance about two-thirds of new U.S. home loans. DeMarco is seeking to shrink their footprint and reduce risks to the taxpayers that support the mortgage giants.

Since they were seized by the government, the companies have drawn nearly $190 billion from the U.S. Treasury to stay afloat.

By creating a new securitization company, FHFA intends to pave the way for a single securitization platform and force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to abandon their separate systems.

The aim is to shrink the role the two government-sponsored enterprises play in the housing system in the absence of legislation from Congress or direction from the Obama administration on their future.

DeMarco said the goal is to build a single infrastructure to support the mortgage credit business.

The new company will be structured as a joint venture that is owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, DeMarco told reporters on a conference call to discuss FHFA's plans.

He said the new joint venture is not expected to begin securitizing loans next year. Instead, the focus will be on creating the business and hiring staff. The company will have a separate chief executive and board.

DeMarco expects Congress will ultimately decide how the securitization platform is operated and whether it should be privatized.

"We are on a path to replace the outdated proprietary operational systems of Fannie and Freddie," DeMarco told reporters. "It could be turned to some form of a market utility."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not directly make loans. They provide financing to banks and lenders by purchasing mortgages, which they either keep on their books or package as securities which they then sell to investors with a guarantee.

DeMarco, in laying out FHFA's goals for 2013, said he also plans to start reducing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's role in the housing finance system by shrinking their business by 10 percent in the loan market for multifamily homes.

Fannie and Freddie will also aim to complete $30 billion in single-family credit guarantee business in 2013, sharing some of the risk with the private market. Those transactions could include mortgage insurance or other types of debt securities.

The companies will also be required to reduce the less liquid portion of their portfolio of mortgages by 5 percent next year. This goal comes on top of an existing mandate that requires Fannie and Freddie to shrink their investment portfolios over time and turn over profits to taxpayers.

Fannie Mae and Freddie suffered years of losses after the U.S. housing bubble burst, but have returned to profitability thanks to an improving housing market and their success in reducing their portfolios of poorly performing loans.

Even though the loans they have backed recently are performing well, DeMarco noted that the market was still "reliant on federal support, with very little private capital standing in front of the federal government's risk exposure."

Republicans and Democrats agree that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should eventually be wound down, but they have yet to find common ground on how to replace them.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/fannie-freddie-form-new-company-1C8686403

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The Payday Loan Cycle - AARP

See also: 4 reasons to avoid payday loans

One of the major draws of payday loans is their convenience and ease, most people with a valid checking account can acquire them. Their simplicity has made it possible for close to 19 million American households to use this service annually, spending more than 7 billion dollars solely on fees. Industry representatives claim that their regulated service is a good way to get money in unforeseen circumstances, and that millions of people use payday loans annually to great satisfaction.

Critics of the practice point out that the debt-trap structure of the loan makes it impossible to pay back in a timely fashion, with most customers being in increasing debt for more than six months. The practice is so controversial that many states have outlawed the use of payday loans.

This episode of Inside E Street features Michael Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending, and Jamie Fulmer, vice president of Public Affairs for Advance America. They hold a panel discussion with Lark McCarthy regarding the current use of payday loans. Also joining Inside E Street is Arizona House Rep. Debbie McCune Davis, who helped prohibit the use of payday loans in her state.

Source: http://www.aarp.org/money/credit-loans-debt/info-03-2013/payday-loans.html

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