Microsoft has revealed its February update for Xbox One includes an option for tile transparency, along with Game Hub pages.
The update is available now to those in the dashboard beta, but will roll out to the masses early next month. In terms of what it’s bringing with it, a new tile transparency option will enable you to decide just how much of your console’s custom backgrounds you want to be able to see.
The biggest addition, however, is that of Game Hubs – new pages where your progression stats, Achievements, DLC details, leaderboards and Twitch videos for a given title are collated from your friends and the wider gaming community.
Other new features include the addition of a trending TV show tab that you can use to see what those with cable TV or the console’s TV Tuner are watching, as well as the option to stream live TV to both Windows Phone and Android if you have one of the Tuners. There’s also said to be improvements to how the console works with newer TV models.
The first edition of Charlie Hebdo since the terror attacks in Paris last week that left 17 people dead appeared to sell out at newsstands across France within minutes of going on sale Wednesday, according to reports.
Copies of Charlie Hebdo‘s defiant new issue were running low just a few minutes after being made available at kiosks across the country, according to Agence France-Press and the Associated Press. The AP said it witnessed scuffles as people realized that copies were selling quickly.
Wednesday’s issue of the satirical newspaper features a cartoon on its cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad. He is crying and holding a sign in his hands that says, “Je suis Charle” (“I am Charlie”) — a reference to the slogan adopted by anti-violence and free speech campaigners in the wake of the attacks. It is forbidden under Islam to show images depicting the prophet.
Three million copies have been printed — 60,000 are usually published— and the print run may be extended. It has been translated into six languages and is being distributed internationally for the first time.
A week ago, gunmen linked to radical Islam murdered eight staff members at the magazine along with four other people. Four more people were killed in separate attacks on a policewomen and at a kosher supermarket.
The publication of Charlie Hebdo‘s controversial cover comes as France’s government was preparing new, tougher anti-terror laws. On Wednesday, police detained French comic Dieudonne for defending terrorism in comments posted on Facebook.
According to Alpha Kappa Alpha‘s website, VH1 Sorority Sisters cast members April McRae and Rwanda “Joy” Hammond have been suspended from the nation’s oldest historically Black sorority.
The controversy and suspensions are due to the opinion of many that the VH1 show misrepresents greek life and goes against the rich legacy of historically Black greek organizations.
Both members were officially suspended on Dec. 26th –and the suspensions are in effect until July 2016. Both McRae and Hammond cannot participate in “any and all Sorority activities, in any capacity, until restored to good standing by the Regional Director, upon approval of the International President,” according to the rules on Alpha Kappa Alpha’s website.
McRae spoke to The Root in an interview and said officials from the national offices reached out to her and expressed how they felt about her involvement with the VH1 reality show:
“The regional director for my area reached out—They were under the impression that the first petition had silenced the show,” April told The Root. “I did receive a letter about the show and how they felt about my participation. My lawyer is involved now, so I’d rather not discuss that.”
On Wednesday night, David and Tamela Mann will add a reality show to their repertoire with their highly anticipated show “It’s a Mann’s Word”. The show will premier on Wednesday, January 14 at 9:00 p.m. EST on BET.
The couple are not new to television, thanks to director, screenwriter and playwright Tyler Perry. The couple is well known for their starring roles on Tyler Perry’s #1 comedy, “Meet the Browns” as well as their stage performances in many of Perry’s plays. Tamela is also a well known and award winning gospel singer who has worked with and collaborated with artists such as Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Mary J. Blige and Celine Dion.
The Mann’s new reality show will give their fans and viewers a peek into their lives and what goes into making them the celebrities that they are. The show will also give more insight about who the Manns are and take a look at their home life with their family and close friends.
The first season will be eight one hour shows.
My interest in this show is two fold. First, I am excited to see a show that promises to show A Black family in a positive light, especially since we tend to only see negativity on reality shows,especially those that feature Black women. My other reason for taking an interest in the show is that I think Tamela Mann is the perfect example of what I call a Mocha Mogul. Mann balances marriage, motherhood and “money-making” but up until now, we never really knew how she was doing it successfully.
It seems to constantly be suggested to us that if a woman has a great career like Mann’s then she must either forgo marriage and motherhood or do a poor job in those roles. It will be great to watch the Manns in action as they juggle the different aspects of their lives.
Tamela and David have been married for 26 years and have worked together in their singing careers, as well as in their acting careers and other entrepreneurship ventures. The couple have four adult children.
So, is this new reality show a good or bad idea? Well, considering how quickly reality shows can go bad, that remains to be seen. We can’t deny that reality shows seem to be where otherwise seemingly good marriages and reputations go to meet their demise but I am hopeful and optimistic that this show will ultimately be good.
The deal is expected to be completed Wednesday morning.
Bowles will join Maccagnan to lead the Jets’ new regime as they attempt to rebuild the franchise’s credibility after a 4-12 record, its fourth consecutive non-winning season.
The decision to hire Bowles, who spent Tuesday meeting and dining with Maccagnan, owner Woody Johnson and other team officials, comes as a mild surprise because most of the speculation focused on Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
The Jets might have shifted away from Quinn because rules prohibited them from making an offer until the Seahawks’ postseason run is over, which could be Feb. 1 at the Super Bowl.
Johnson & Co. were so smitten with Quinn they were prepared to take a late-night flight to Seattle on Saturday to reel him in if the Seahawks had lost their divisional playoff game. Maccagan, who wasn’t hired until Tuesday, would have been on the recruiting trip.
On Monday, the Jets turned their focus to Bowles, inviting him for a second interview. They made sure to schedule it before he returned to the Atlanta Falcons for a second interview, slated for Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, the Jets canceled an interview with Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, another indication that Bowles was their new target.
In Bowles, the Jets are getting a highly respected defensive coach. Despite the loss of several starters, the Cardinals finished fifth this season in points allowed. Beset by quarterback injuries, the Cardinals rode the defense to an 11-5 record and a wild-card berth.
Because of their struggles on offense, the Jets figured to be in the market for a head coach with expertise on that side of the ball, but Johnson hired his fifth straight defensive-minded coach. The Jets haven’t had an offensive-minded coach since Rich Kotite in 1996.
Bowles has been planning and hoping to bring in Chan Gailey as his offensive coordinator upon landing a head-coaching job, league sources told Schefter.
The Jets interviewed six other candidates for the position, including four on the offensive side — former Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone, San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich, Seahawks line coach Tom Cable and Jets running backs coach Anthony Lynn.
The only defensive candidates were Bowles, Quinn and McDermott.
Like Maccagnan, Bowles was helped by his connection to Charley Casserly, who, along with Ron Wolf, was hired by Johnson as a consultant during the concurrent searches. Bowles played safety for the Washington Redskins from 1986 to 1990 and 1992 to 1993, when Casserly was the team’s general manager. He was a starter on their Super Bowl-winning team in 1987.
After his playing career, Bowles worked briefly under Wolf, the former Green Bay Packers GM. He was on the Packers’ player personnel staff in 1995 and 1996.
This job is a homecoming for Bowles, who grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and spent a season as the Jets’ secondary coach (2000). He has coached for six NFL teams, including three games as the Miami Dolphins‘ interim head coach at the end of the 2011 season.
From a football standpoint, Bowles is similar to Ryan in that he believes in an attacking 3-4 defensive scheme. Personality-wise, they couldn’t be more different. Publicly, Bowles is laid back and guarded, although he has been known to rip into players behind the scenes.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and ESPN senior NFL writer John Clayton contributed to this report.
Adrian Broner raised a lot of eyebrows when TMZ Sports asked him about his offer from ROC Nation Sports and Jay Z to manage his career. Broner was offered a 5-year, $40 million contract to which his response revealed that he was less than enthusiastic about joining Jay Z and his growing roster of superstars.
Broner actually called the offer bull*hit and went on to say that Jay Z could “suck his d*ck” and even went on to say “fu*k Rihanna” when TMZ offered that if he did sign he would be closer to the pop star.
TMZ Sports caught up to rapper and boxing promoter Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and surprisingly 50 Cent actually sided with Jay Z. 50 has never been one to hold his tongue and has actually had a beef with Jigga Man. Maybe it is because he is older and wiser, but 50 seemed surprised at Broner’s statements and offered his own advice.
“That wasn’t a good idea to say that. 40 million, he should take it,” 50 Cent said to TMZ.
Broner seemed to be offended not only of the offer, but the fact that Jay Z himself did not call him personally to make the offer.
“I mean, you know, they sent an email whatever,” Broner said. “You know, Jay Z didn’t do it literally. They shot the email or whatever, I wasn’t happy with it. The capacity of the contract was $40 million for five years, that’s just bullshit…Like I wanted to tell him, and hopefully this get to him, stop sending your workers to come talk to me. I’m a boss, man. Bosses talk to bosses.”
Wow! Harsh words for someone who has not made $40 million in his career! Although he has shown potential, Broner has taken a couple of losses and seems to spend more time partying and on Instagram than honing his skills in the squared circle.
50 Cent has had a turbulent relationship with Jay Z in the past, but understands business and the hierarchy of the sports and entertainment industries. Jay Z is a very powerful entity and I think 50 knows that Jay Z has the power to literally shut down careers with a simple word.
Broner later offered an apology but it really might be a little too late.
“One of the main reasons why I was wrong is you never invite another man to another man’s private part,” he said in a video obtained by TMZ Sports. “That’s just ridiculous. I was caught up in the moment. And I want to apologize to Jay for that. I’m a man at the end of the day. And I’m wrong…I never should have said ‘forget Rihanna.’ I said it in a more explicit way. But I just wanna say ‘I’m wrong’ to the public…And if Jay wanna talk to me you can get in touch with me and holla at me and we’ll talk about it.”
Broner has already made a buffoonish spectacle of himself before the scathing statements he made towards Jay Z and is going to be interesting to see how the rest of Broner’s career is going to play out.
We may have just witnessed the end of Adrian Broner’s career and it was not even in the ring.
There is only one fight that boxing fans all around the world are salivating to see and that is Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao. Negotiations and rumors of negotiations have also made many boxing fans cynical as to if the fight will ever happen.
Mayweather is undefeated and at the end of his career and is regarded as one of the best boxers pound for pound in the history of the sport and Pacquiao, although he was proven to be vulnerable by getting knocked out, still remains Mayweather’s top challenger because of his raw power and speed.
Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield offered his insight as to why the fight is taking so long to come into fruition, if it even happens at all. Holyfield spoke with Atlanta Blackstar and he says the sport is so corrupt that boxing’s nameless authorities would determine the winner of the fight, not the boxers.
“Boxing chooses who boxing wants to win,” Holyfield said. “That’s just how it is.
“Generally, it’s a pick ‘em fight,” he added. “But if they want Floyd to win, he’ll win. If they want Manny to win, he’ll win.”
According to Holyfield, Mayweather is likely considering that corruption on deciding if he should fight Pacquiao at all.
“I don’t think it’s too late,” Holyfield, 52, said. “It’s two guys who take care of themselves. If you want to know about Mayweather, he takes care of his body, even though he’s a night owl…Pacquiao, he really doesn’t have anything to lose. Floyd is the one who has everything to lose because he doesn’t want to lose. When you’ve already lost, what difference does it make? But Floyd wants to be undefeated (for his career). Now it comes down to if he’s going to risk it all for this one (fight).
“It’s a big risk because you know what the game of boxing is. The game of boxing is one of those things where if they don’t want Mayweather to win they just won’t give it to him. He realizes that. And (then his) record is gone down the drain. I don’t think he’s afraid. He recognizes that in boxing, people do what they want to do. And they just say, ‘You lost.’ They cheat people. Who hasn’t been cheated (in boxing)?”
BOSSes, do you think Mayweather’s legacy would be hurt if he retires without fighting Pacquiao? If Floyd or Pacquiao knocks each other out that should eliminate any chance of corruption – shouldn’t it? In such a high stakes sport like boxing, one never knows how far the corruption is rooted and what lengths the “powers that be” would take to control the outcome of the fight.
Is the corruption in boxing as bad as Evander Holyfield says?
<img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-452953″ src=”https://ioneblackdoctor.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/crouch.jpg?w=800&h=449″ alt=”crouch” width=”800″ height=”449″ />Andrae Crouch, a legendary gospel performer, songwriter and choir director whose work graced songs by Michael Jackson and Madonna and movies such as “The Lion King,” has died. He was 72.
Crouch died Thursday, January 8th, 2015 in the afternoon at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he had been admitted Saturday after suffering a heart attack, said his publicist, Brian Mayes.
The Recording Academy, which awarded seven Grammys to Crouch during a career that spanned more than 50 years, said in a statement that he was “a remarkable musician and legendary figure” who was “fiercely devoted to evolving the sound of contemporary, urban gospel music.”
Crouch had health issues in recent years, including diabetes and cancer. In December, he was hospitalized after suffering a bout with pneumonia and congestive heart failure prompting him to cancel his “Let The Church Say Amen Celebration Tour” slated to start December 9 in Philadelphia.
Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra Crouch, also a singer, lived in the Pacoima area of Los Angeles. They were pastors at the New Christ Memorial Church in the Los Angeles suburb of San Fernando.
“Today my twin brother, womb-mate and best friend went home to be with the Lord,” said Pastor Sandra Crouch. “I tried to keep him here but God loved him best.”
Crouch’s success came despite a lifelong struggle with dyslexia. He pinned his first gospel song at the age of 14. To create, he would make drawings that allowed him to grasp the concept. For the Michael Jackson song, “Man in the Mirror”, he drew a mirror with an image in it.
Pastor Sandra Crouch reports that her brother got his start in music at their father’s small church, which was opened in a garage in the San Fernando Valley in 1951. Their father needed a piano player for the church, prayed on it, and three weeks later Crouch was working the keys.
His work in gospel can be summed up in this quote from Crouch, “I think that when we like songs in gospel and it hits that part of the soul or the mind that brings back familiarity to the person or to the listeners, I think we zero in on something that will always be needed. It touches that part of their heart that has been untouched or maybe it has been touched, but they never wanted to admit it. I think that when they get back to that, I think that we are still in a place that people enjoy it the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed.”
The Ohio State Buckeyes won college football’s 1st annual national championship title with a comically lopsided win over the hapless Oregon Ducks last night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
But there was an even bigger story brewing at AT&T Stadium. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James was there celebrating the Buckeyes’ win when he should have been in Florida rehabbing his knee.
Cleveland fans were not thrilled to see LeBron receive as much airtime as the Buckeyes’ third string quarterback Cardale Jones.
There was a shot of LeBron watching the game from his luxury skybox. Then there was a shot of LeBron coaching — yes, coaching — the team on the sidelines during the game.
It was almost too much for sports fans who thought LeBron was hogging the limelight for himself instead of letting the kids enjoy their moment in the sun.
After the game, LeBron posted this image of himself and his hard leg crew relaxing on a private jet during the flight back home, baller style.
“On this bird celebrating a great night for OHIO!!” James wrote in the photo caption. You would think he won a championship title for Ohio instead of a bunch of hard working kids.
Irate fans fired off memes of LeBron at the game to demonstrate their disgust at his attention-grabbing antics.
LeBron’s antics are a sad reminder that all the money and fame in the world can’t replace the love and guidance of a father in a boy’s formative years.
She says she wasn’t being dismissive of the women who’ve accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault when she came to the comedian’s defense in an online interview.
Rashad played Clair Huxtable, Bill Cosby’s TV wife, on the groundbreaking NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show.”
Cosby’s now been accused of harassing, drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women. And in an interview with Showbiz 411, Rashad said she never saw any indication of the behavior that the women have attributed to the legendary actor.
“Forget these women,” Rashad told the outlet. “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”
Fast forward to Wednesday night.
Rashad says the Showbiz 411 piece didn’t accurately reflect what she said — especially the “forget these women” part.
“That was a misquote. That is not what I said,” Rashad said. “What I said is, ‘this is not about the women. This is about something else. This is about the obliteration of legacy.'”
Allred calls Rashad out
In coming to the defense of her TV husband, Rashad has now waded into a controversy that continues to dog Cosby.
More than 20 women have come forward with claims, and a defamation lawsuit has been filed against Cosby.
On Wednesday, attorney Gloria Allred brought out three more women — Linda Kirkpatrick, Lynn Neal and a woman who chose to be identified only as Kacey — who say they were sexually assaulted by the comedian after being drugged by him.
While introducing the women, Allred addressed Rashad’s statements to Showbiz 411.
“Phylicia, you should be supporting these women rather than joining Cosby’s paid ‘attack dogs’ who are trying to undermine them in any way that they can,” Allred said.
Cosby stays mum
And Cosby? He’s maintaining his silence — as he’s done while his reputation suffers.
He was in Kitchener, Ontario, on Wednesday night for a standup appearance.
A few dozen protestors rallied outside, but the show went on without a hitch.
Larger protests are planned for Thursday night’s shows.
After his set, Cosby released a statement thanking attendees.
“I would like to personally thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring laughter back into your lives tonight,” he said. Also, I would like to applaud all of you and give you a standing ovation for respecting yourselves, the theatre (Centre In The Square) and the event organizers that produced a spectacular show for the Kitchener Community.”
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The Breakroom 
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