Israeli social media firm Blink first spotted a new “Buy Tickets” option appearing on some events.

The button links users to a third-party website, however, so Facebook hasn’t begun to process ticket payments or anything. Although users have to leave Facebook for the actual transaction, it is still interesting to see Facebook tests ticketing inside events.

And here’s what the “Buy Tickets” button looks like in another setting:

Of course, any suggestion that Facebook could be working on getting into the tickets business is rather premature. But Facebook did just launch a giant ecommerce initiative with “Gifts,” and they already have the framework to process these kinds of transactions.

We’ve reached out to Facebook for comment and will update this article accordingly.

UPDATE: Facebook tells us that it’s nothing “hugely different from what was there before.” Before, it was a bit.ly link, now it’s a button. It still sends ticket buyers to a third-party site.

[via AllFacebook]

“The noPhoto isn’t just freedom; it’s a decidedly American version of freedom. It’s a microprocessor controlled, 100% made in the USA, professionally engineered license plate frame designed to do one thing – let you drive like you were meant to. Here at noLimits, we believe that you have a right to go about your daily business without being constantly monitored and watched,” says the company.

The noPhoto is a digital license plate frame that the company claims will be the end of traffic tickets doled out by traffic cameras.

The concept behind the device is pretty simple. The frame features a “high performance sensor” that detects the flash of a traffic cam. As soon as that happens, the frame sends out two strong flashes of light that basically blind the camera, making a driver’s license plate number unreadable.

“Yes, the noPhoto reacts fast enough,” they say. Check out their product video below:

Here’s how bright noPhoto can light up your license plate, according to the company:

Sounds good, right? Sticking it to the man, one avoided ticket at a time. But you’re probably thinking that there’s no way this is legal. noLimit Enterprises says it is:

“Since there is nothing physically covering or obscuring the license plate, the noPhoto does not violate any license plate cover laws. Quite literally, we are using the same light and the same bulbs that red light and speed cameras do. The noPhoto does not cover any state names, and there are no laws in existence regulating how much light is cast onto the license plate.”

No law is existence yet.

The project is current in the crowdfunding phase. According to its page on indiegogo, it’s raised a little over $13,000 of an $80,000 goal with 17 days left in the campaign.

[h/t Mashable]

The company will sell tickets to various music, sporting and entertainment events, just as it does in the US.

“The UK has an incredibly rich and vibrant event landscape with an amazing sporting, music and theatre scene and we are looking forward to bringing UK fans our customer centric approach that has made us not only the largest ticket marketplace in the US but also the best at serving fans,” said StubHub CEO Chris Tsakalakis.

Physical ticket buying and pick-up locations are opening in London’s West End, and across the UK.

eBay acquired StubHub in 2007, and StubHub itself has been making acquisitions of late as well. In fact, just last week, eBay announced StubHub’s acquisition of Peekspy, makers of FanVenues 3D mapping technology, which lets users look at seating results.

In late December, StubHub acquired Zvents, giving the service access to 100 times the events it already had. That was a big one.

This week, JetBlue ran a very successful campaign in New York City. How do we know it was successful? No one was hurt, no one is really complaining, and it got some press. While many in the social media world would use other metrics, I think these are pretty darn good.

So what did they do? They gave away 1000 round trip tickets in three locations that required people to follow their "guidance" on Twitter to know where to go and what to show up with. This is where the "no one got hurt" part makes sense, huh?

CNET reported:

It was apparently one step short of a cattle stampede when low-cost airline JetBlue used its Twitter account to announce that, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration, it would be giving out about a thousand free round-trip tickets at three undisclosed locations in Manhattan on Wednesday.

"One of the things we knew was that people were just going to follow us," JetBlue public relations representative Morgan Johnston told CNET, relating anecdotes about one woman who claimed she sprinted in heels from midtown to the Financial District (one of the giveaway spots), people chasing the JetBlue team in taxis as they left one location to head to the next, entire offices clearing out when they heard that one of the ticket giveaways was nearby, and a cab driver who left his passenger behind in order to get out and claim a ticket. "It was like the Pied Piper of Hamlin."

Once again I reiterate: no one got hurt. I have to admit that if I was responsible for this kind of promotion that caused mini-panics in offices and a run on taxi cab fares in NYC, I would have some concerns. Fortunately for JetBlue, this one worked well, and I tip my cap to them.

So, would you have the confidence to give something like this a shot? Of course, it would be best if your business lends itself to this kind of reaction. If you are selling pipe fittings in Peoria, you will need to tweak the concept considerably.

This is the fun of social media, though. There is a chance to do things that have never been done before. As people begin to experiment more and more, it is likely that those with jangly nerves need not apply.

What do you think about JetBlue’s "event?" What could you do that would cause a stir and make the cash register ring?

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In 2007, plenty of interest among music fans manifested itself in numerous blogs. Billboard Magazine, once one of those outlets that owned music news, blogged about problems getting in the show.

However, music publication NME came through with the set list from the two hour concert. In a way this showed how far media coverage has come with the Internet, and how far it has to go.

Though NME followed up with a solid review, there was no stream to follow of the show. No audio, no video, no chance for some horrid, clever person to (horrors!) record this performance.

A once in a lifetime reunion should have had a greater reach than its audience. If the much-expected DVD of the concert does emerge, that would make up for this for a lot of fans. We shouldn’t have to wait for a DVD, not when modern multimedia streaming and content distribution networks could have made the show a lot more immediate to what would have been a grateful online audience.

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Going users can see who else on the site has plans to attend various events such as parties or concerts and they can decide if they want to attend the same event.

The site is geared toward 20-somethings in Boston, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It plans to expand to Miami and Atlanta and 10 other cities early next year.

Unlike Ticketmaster, Going hopes to sell tickets to events that are not available through the usual outlets. Thursday’s Moby concert in New York is its first event as a ticket seller.

"Ticketing was the last-mile solution for the 300,000 local monthly RSVPs that occur on our site," Going.com CEO and founder Evan Schumacher said. "Our goal was to connect the long tail of promoters with event-seeking audiences."

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) will offer tickets through a lottery system. Ticket applications will be accepted from December10 until December 30. There is no word on many tickets each person can purchase or when the lottery will take place.

A lottery was held in June for the first round of 1.6 million tickets. The sale of those tickets went smoothly. China plans to sell seven million tickets for the games over three phases with three-quarters of the tickets reserved for local residents.

Last week when the Olympic tickets were for sale online the system received more than eight million hits in the first hour causing the site to crash. The site could only handle one million hits and 150,000 sales in an hour. Just 9,000 tickets out of the 1.85 million that went on sale were sold.

Organizers said they are using the lottery system, "In the interest of fairness and for everyone’s convenience." People living outside of China will get a chance to buy tickets in April 2008.

The Web site received 8 million hits in the first hour it was open and the ticketing telephone line had 3. 8 million calls, according to the Olympic organizing committee. Organizers said they had not anticipated the demand and will announce plans for sales on November 5. Only 9,000 tickets out of the 1.85 million that went on sale were sold.

"We sincerely apologize to the general public,” Beijing officials said. “Because of the overwhelming volume of page visits, the technical system was unable to perform the tasks well enough, and many applicants were unable to successfully submit their applications.”

A lottery in June for the first round of 1.6 million tickets went well. China plans to sell seven million tickets for the games over three phases with three-quarters of the tickets going to local residents.

"Tuesday morning’s turnout for the ticket sale fully reflected the Chinese people’s longing and support for the Olympic Games," China’s Olympic organizers said.

The team and their fans are experiencing a sports nightmare: a World Series that starts in Denver on Saturday with 20,000 tickets up for grabs, and no way to purchase them. TheDenverChannel.com reported on the frustrations of numerous fans who have been shut out of the high-tech ticket process.

Blame for the problem has been laid at the feet of unnamed malicious attackers, who caused the servers managed by Paciolan to shut down as thousands of fans hit the system. They and Major League Baseball have addressed the problem, according to a statement from the Rockies, and plan to try selling tickets again, online, starting at 2 pm EDT.

“Our partners at MLB.com and Paciolan have fully assessed the situation and assured us that tomorrow’s online sale will go as originally planned,” a Rockies spokesperson said.

Fark.com owner Drew Curtis told TheDenverChannel he was one of the many people shut off from the process, as he tried to buy tickets for his father, a Colorado resident.

“These idiots always have these consultants that tell them, ‘Sure, the server can handle the traffic,’” said Curtis. “In reality, that only works over the course of a day. If a zillion people hit the damn thing all at once, it goes boom. Think CNN on 9/11.”

Only about 500 tickets had been sold before the attacks took the system offline.

In the suit against StubHub, which is owned by Ebay the Patriots maintain that the site allows fans to break state law and violate team policies. Team rules prohibit reselling game tickets for a profit.

StubHub began contacting the 13,000 customers yesterday to tell them that their personal information had been turned over to the Patriots after a ruling by Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel.

"We take the privacy of our customers very seriously, so we made every effort to appeal this ruling. Unfortunately, our appeals were not successful," StubHub said in an e-mail to the customers according to the Boston Globe.

In the ruling Judge van Gestel wrote, "The Patriots have said that they intend to use the identities of the purchasers and sellers not only for this case, but also for its own other allegedly legitimate uses, such as canceling season tickets of ‘violators’ or reporting to authorities those customers that they deem to be in violation of the Massachusetts antiscalping law."

Tickets for some Patriots games are selling on StubHub far above face value. Tickets that the team originally sold for $125 are now selling for $650 on StubHub. Standing room tickets, which were $49, are for sale for $120 to $150.

A lawyer for the Patriots would not say what the team would do with the 13,000 names that StubHub turned over according to the AP. The Center for Democracy and Technology, an advocacy group, said the court ruling infringes on the rights of Patriots fans.