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Lunch #downtown. Too nice out. #stlouis #stl #skyline

Microsoft’s new home video game console, Xbox One, will launch with a new ‘Snap Mode’ that allows players to view and access multiple apps simultaneously. At an Xbox reveal event held at its Redmond headquarters, Microsoft showed the latest version of Skype, as well as an NBA app running alongside live TV and the movie Star Trek. The on-stage announcer demonstrated being able to ‘snap’ Skype to the right-hand side of the screen, while the Star Trek movie continued on the left-hand side. Side-loaded apps were shown taking up roughly a quarter of the screen, with the predominant experience taking place across the other three-quarters. It wasn’t clear, however, whether the ratio of these apps could be tweaked, or whether users could switch them over so that the secondary app took up the majority of the screen. What it obvious, however, is that Microsoft wants to use this functionality to help users multi-task while playing on the Xbox One. This could include formerly second-screen viewing apps, but also in-game functionality, such as social sharing and communication with over players. (This is a developing story. Please refresh for further updates.) Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Today at its #XboxReveal event, Microsoft announced that Skype will be making its way to the new Xbox One console, along with improved voice commands, faster content genre switching, and the ability to view two forms of content at once. Here’s what the Skype integration into the Xbox One looks like live, when snapped to the right side of the screen: You are not stuck using it in snap mode, naturally, but it is an option. Skype for Xbox makes sense given two facts: Microsoft owns Skype, and it built Kinect, one of the world’s most popular voice recognizing hardware tools. For more on the new Xbox, check all of TNW’s coverage here.

The new Xbox controller was introduced alongside a brand new console today at an event in a tent outside Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Washington. It looks very similar but has a redesigned directional pad, one of the big complaints with the earlier versions. The history of the Xbox controller The original Xbox launched with a controller that could most politely be described as gargantuan. though I had little problems with it, it was quickly bashed for being too tall and too thick for many smaller hands. What it did do, however, is set a template for the stick layout that still hasn’t changed to this day. D-pad on the left, sticks upper left and lower right, with start, select and Xbox gem in the center. The D-pad, unfortunately, was a sloppy mess which triggered randomly on whatever axis it felt like at the moment. Shortly after the release of the original console, Microsoft responded to criticism with a slimmer, sleeker model of controller with an ‘S’ tacked on. Not much else changed, and the d-pad remained a train wreck. The 360 controller brought about a few changes while maintaining the same overall stick and button placement. The addition of shoulder bumpers added a ‘PlayStation’ feel to the scheme, and allowed for more complex game interactions. Many big titles adopted the new buttons right away. More to follow.

Xbox One: Microsoft's Next Gen Gaming Console Unveiled tip @techmeme

NBC has added another show in its summer lineup: Siberia, a drama about contestants in a reality show gone wrong. Set to premiere July 1 at 10 p.m., Siberia is reportedly a spooky adventure thriller reminiscent of Lost, set in a remote Siberian territory. Jeff Bader, NBC Entertainment's president of program planning, strategy, and research, believes Siberia's combination of survival drama and mystery will compel viewers. "We believe a scripted series that offers an insightful behind-the-scenes view of how a reality concept comes together—especially when things don't go according to plan—will connect with our audience in a very satisfying way," Bader told The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter offers a more detailed synopsis: Sixteen contestants descend on Siberia's Tunguska not knowing the land's mysterious past (it was hit with a meteorite 100 years prior). When a contestant is badly injured and no help arrives, the contestants realize that strange occurrences are not part of the reality show. With their safety threatened, the contestants are forced to work together to survive. The networks are looking to bulk up summer programming with scripted series following last year's underperforming round of reality shows. Siberia joins the summer schedule along with crime procedural Crossing Lines and the dramedy Camp.

10 Awesome Google Doodles For Inspiration

Microsoft has revealed its new Xbox, the successor to the Xbox 360. It’s a next-generation console, with plenty of power under the hood, but it’s also clearly about consolidating your digital entertainment and operate as much more of a lifestyle device. “Where all of your entertainment comes alive in one place,” is how Microsoft’s Don Mattrick put it on stage during his introduction. The entire event was prefaced with a description of the various types of non-game media that’s becoming popular with online streaming set-top boxes and mobile devices. “To continue to lead, we must provide compelling answers to new questions,” Mattrick said. “Design and build an all-in-one system to light up a new generation of games, TV and entertainment,” in a way that’s “simple, instant and complete” is how he characterized the mission for the new device. Voice Control Kinect is part of the package, and it’s a voice controlled experience from power on throughout the entire process. Your voice cues the Xbox to your user profile and sets up all your custom options. Then, you can dictate activities to Xbox One, sort of like how many imagined Apple would do their own Apple TV with Siri. Changing between activities is as easy as telling the Xbox One exactly what you want it to be doing. It’s remarkably quick, quicker even than the process of changing channels on my at-home cable box hardware. But voice control isn’t the only trick, there’s also gesture recognition tech for controlling the system with your hands. Snap Mode There’s a “Snap Mode” feature, too, which looks like the Microsoft Windows 8 experience, in that it allows you to run two activities simultaneously. So you can watch a movie and then also browse the Internet at the same time, for example, to look up elements of that film. You can even use Skype, newly introduced to Xbox with the Xbox One, and have that running in Snap Mode too. The Snap Mode feature does something that has until now mostly been reserved for computers and for mobile and tablet devices: provides a second-screen experience that runs right alongside things like live TV. Adding basically a HUD layer to live TV might be the Xbox One’s biggest appeal for content providers who are looking for additional ways to engage audiences losing interest in traditional ads. Tech Details The Xbox One has 8GB of RAM, along with a Blu-ray drive, as well as a native 64-bit architecture, a 500GB onboard hard drive, HDMI in and out, 802.11n Wi-Fi as well as an 8-core CPU and USB 3.0 connectivity. That’s mostly in line with what we’ve heard from previous rumors, but it’s still quite impressive. The big advantage of the Xbox One is its architecture, however, according to Microsoft’s Marc Whitten. He said essentially it’s like they’ve combined three operating systems in one to deliver the seamless transition between games, applications, and live entertainment. The Xbox architecture combines with Windows, via a third OS that handles fast switching between multi-tasking apps. Developing…

Chief Keef, the 17-year old rap star, has been arrested in Atlanta for smoking weed in an upscale hotel. Keef has been arrested twice before despite his young age and was sued earlier this year for child support by a girl who claims he got her pregnant when he was just 15. One of his previous arrests was for heroin manufacture. The rapper has been in Atlanta shooting a video with Gucci Mane for the track “Darker”. Chief Keef was arrested in Atlanta yesterday. Yes, again. trib.in/118Csvy — RedEye Chicago (@redeyechicago) May 21, 2013 He can not stay out of trouble RT @globalgrind: JUST IN: Chief Keef arrested for disorderly conduct! bit.ly/118fPr7 — ‘ Shayy † || Feb 30(@Love_Shayyxx) May 21, 2013 Tryna party with Gucci Mane, mistake 1 thru100, go home & go to school—>”@tmz: Chief Keef — ARRESTED in Atlanta tmz.me/1a0o0oN“ — GrownWomanStatus (@HedesireMF) May 21, 2013 RT @_murmade: Woke up to see Chief Keef got arrested…… I’m sure it’ll be a great day. — Kaimell THE Mack (@KaimellBeMackin) May 21, 2013 I wonder how many tears he’ll drop to this judge RT @tmz: Chief Keef — ARRESTED in Atlanta tmz.me/1a0o0oN — Keith N. (@JusAire) May 21, 2013

Facebook is more than just a tool to stay in touch with friends or waste time. Sometimes people post valuable information that you may want to refer to later. So how do you find an old post on Facebook, if you barely remember the content, let alone who posted it or where? Facebook doesn’t exactly make this convenient. While there are several ways to find stuff on Facebook, they are all but comprehensive or reliable. This situation also forces you to spend even more time on Facebook, increasing the likelihood that you will get distracted. One way to increase your chances of finding something and thus waste less time, is to enable Facebook email notifications. As I explore the benefits of email notifications, I will also show you other ways to search Facebook. Why Would I Need Facebook Email Notifications? Facebook Email Notifications are useful for two main reasons. First, you can read updates without visiting Facebook. Second, you are creating a searchable archive of those posts. Facebook is an incredible time sink. It’s tough not to scroll down your News Feed or view the notifications that have accumulated since your last visit. The best thing you can do to escape this drift is to visit Facebook less. Email notifications allow you to do that and at least partially fight your FOMO (fear of missing out) because you will receive notifications of important posts and events. At some point in the past Facebook retired its old Wall and Timeline search option. Recently, Graph Search was introduced, but it doesn’t really search posts on your Timeline or News Feed. So when you want to find a post or a comment in which you were mentioned, you have to manually search Facebook, for example by expanding the relevant time frame in your News Feed and using your browser’s search feature. If you have Facebook email notifications enabled, however, you can simply use your email client’s search tool. With Gmail’s filter and search features, this is super convenient. Alternatively, you could download your Facebook expanded archive and search it. However, it can take several hours before your archive is ready for download. It also gets outdated the next day, and it doesn’t contain group posts. Presently, it’s possible to search within groups. However, it’s unpredictable which features Facebook will remove or otherwise alter. So if you rely on the group search option, it’s better to be on the safe side and also collect group posts via Facebook email notifications. How Can I Enable Facebook Email Notifications? Facebook offers a range of ways to receive Notifications in the respective section under Account Settings. Besides email notifications, you can enable visual and audio notifications on Facebook, push notifications, and text messages. For email notifications you have two options: All notifications, except the ones you unsubscribe from Only notifications about your account, security and privacy You can unsubscribe from: Pokes Friend confirmations Friend suggestions Friends added based on your suggestions Once you have enabled email notifications and made a choice what to unsubscribe from, note that you can further customize email notifications under the What You Get Notified About header. Particularly interesting are notifications that concern activities of close friends and groups you are a member of. Note that you cannot opt out of activities that involve you, for example when someone comments on a post of yours. Won’t These Notifications Clog Up My Inbox? No, because you know that they are coming and you will take care of them in advance. What you need to do is set up an email filter. Your email client should allow you to automatically mark the notifications as read, make them bypass your inbox, and sort them to a separate label or folder. We have previously outlined how to set up email filters in Gmail, Yahoo, and Thunderbird. Conclusion Facebook email notification