Facebook Now Allows Users toga Play Basketball, Chess on Messengerg.

pixabay.com/LoboStudioHamburg Facebook on Thursday unveiled an update to its iOS Messenger app while the Android app was updated on Wednesday. Generally, when Facebook updates its apps it’s never clear and updates like these are accompanied by a change log that has “various bug fixes”.For the first time, the social media giant provided some advice in the change log. It reads, “Shoot Some Hoops: Want to see what’s hiding behind the basketball emoji in Messenger? Just send one and tap to find out!”You will have to follow the directions in the Messenger and you will be able to see the arcade-style basketball game. You will have to flick a basketball towards a hoop and when you make of miss basket, the Facebook stickers and emojis cheer you on.Users will have to first open a Messenger conversation and send a basketball emoji to start a game. After sending it, tap on the emoji and Messenger and the basketball game would begin. However, it’s worth noting that the users will have to install the latest version. Initially, double-tap on the ball would work but later, the single tap would work subsequently, notes CNET.Like us on FacebookThe Messenger also shows high scores in the conversation thread, through which your friends would also know your score. Both recipients can share their high score.Once you reach 10 in a row, the basket begins to move across the screen, similar to the arcade. This makes the game more hard and challenging. It would be impressive if you can get to 30.However, Facebook has not just included the basketball game, last month it launched the chess game in the chat. For which, you will have to type “@fbchess” into your chat box with a friend and engages them in some Messenger-based game, notes PC Mag.Users can also just send @dailycute back and forth if you are done with the game for the day

New Windows 10 Preview Build Intros Extensions for Edge Browserhj...........

 said its latest preview build of Windows 10 arrives with some features that are high on the wish lists of developer "Insiders," in particular, extensions for the Edge browser. Edge, the successor to Microsoft's legacy Internet Explorer, first came out last summer with the release of the Windows 10 operating system.
Announced yesterday, the debut of the new Windows preview was accompanied by the long-awaited rollout of Windows 10 Mobile, currently available to only a select group of Windows 8.1 phones. Delayed repeatedly, the new mobile operating system will be offered over the coming weeks as a manually launched upgrade, rather than an automated "push" update.

The new preview build version of Windows 10 introduces three extensions for the Edge browser: Mouse Gestures, the Reddit Enhancement Suite and Microsoft Translator, which can automatically translate Web pages in more than 50 languages. Microsoft said it expects to release a number of other popular extensions for Edge later this year.

More Edge Updates, Better Maps

"Since the beginning of the Microsoft Edge project, our roadmap has always included extensions in order to support a vibrant community of developer innovation on top of the browser, enabling new and interesting scenarios for our customers," Microsoft Edge general manager Drew DeBruyne said yesterday in a post on the Windows Experience Blog. At the same time, Microsoft has made it a priority to create a browser that avoids poorly written or malicious extensions, which can be "a huge source of security, reliability and performance issues for browsers," he said.

To prevent such issues, Microsoft will first release new Edge extensions to its Windows Insiders for testing, DeBruyne said. After a successful test period, extensions will then become available to all users through the Windows Store. Other Edge extensions expected to come out later this year include those for AdBlock, Adblock Plus, Amazon, Evernote and LastPass, according to DeBruyne.

The Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14291 also adds several other new features for Edge, including the ability to pin tabs for saving frequently visited Web sites and apps, easier tab closing for mobile devices, and paste-and-go/paste-and-search clipboard features. In addition, the preview introduces a number of improvements to the Maps app, including the ability to view multiple searches on a single map at once, and one-tap access to search and directions.

Windows 10 Mobile for Newer Devices Only

Windows 10 Mobile, meanwhile, is now available for download from the Windows Store as an upgrade to owners of 18 different models of Windows Phone 8.1 devices. Most eligible phones are Lumia devices, including the 640, 640XL, 930 and 1520. But the new OS is also available for the BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q and MCJ Madosma Q501.

Some devices that were able to run versions of the mobile operating system as part of the Windows 10 Mobile Insider program will not support the new release, according to Michael Fortin, corporate vice president for Windows and Devices Group core quality.

"As Windows 10 delivers significant new innovations, many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience," Fortin noted in the blog post. "Our goal is to only offer the Windows 10 upgrade to devices that we are confident can continue to deliver a good customer experience.

Microsoft says hiring go-go dancers at Xbox party was wrongbc

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft says it was “unequivocally wrong” for hosting a party with scantily dressed female dancers during a video game developers’ conference.

The party sparked a firestorm of criticism this week, in an industry that’s been struggling to overcome longstanding complaints that it has objectified women and made them feel unwelcome as players and game-builders. In response, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division issued a statement saying the after-hours entertainment “represented Xbox and Microsoft in a way that was absolutely not consistent or aligned to our values.”

An Xbox spokeswoman declined to answer questions about the dancers, who wore abbreviated school-girl outfits as they reportedly greeted party-goers and danced on platforms.

The Associated Press

The party was held Thursday night during the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Several people who attended the after-hours party complained on social media that they were offended and disappointed at seeing the go-go dancers. Some also noted the irony that, just hours earlier, Microsoft had sponsored a “Women in Gaming” luncheon to promote diversity in the industry.

In a statement, Xbox chief Phil Spencer acknowledged the event “disappointed many people” and pledged to “do better in the future.”

Xbox also released an email that Spencer sent to employees, which said the criticism was deserved. “I am personally committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion is central to our everyday business,” he added.

Indiana town grateful all survived basketball team bus crash

DEMOTTE, Ind. — It was not the celebration planned, but a northwest Indiana community was grateful on Saturday that all 27 people on board a school bus carrying a high school basketball team survived a crash that left the bus upside down in a ditch with part of its roof smashed in.

The bus carrying the Griffith High School boys basketball team to a state tournament semi-final game rolled over after a woman driver who had spilled her drink sideswiped the bus on Interstate 65.

Griffith High School Superintendent Peter Morikis said freshman boys basketball coach David Garrett was in stable condition at a Chicago suburban hospital. All 20 of the students had been treated and released as well as three coaches, the team trainer, a ball boy and the bus driver.

“When I saw pictures of the bus, my heart sank,” Griffith Schools Superintendent Peter Morikis said in a statement. “We are grateful tonight that, despite a multitude of bumps, bruises, gashes and scrapes, every person involved in the crash has survived.”

Dominique T. Small, 23, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was southbound in the left lane when the lid of her drink came off and spilled on her. Small tried to grab the drink but lost control of her 2001 Kia and sideswiped the bus, which was southbound in the right lane, said State Police Sgt. Ann Wojas.

Small and a passenger in her car also were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Wojas said.

Mark Kadowaki, a surgeon from North Carolina who was traveling to Wisconsin, said he arrived on the scene shortly after the accident and found the bus “upside down.”

“There were still some people trapped in the bus,” Kadowaki told The Times (http://bit.ly/1T1hBUW ). “One gentleman had to be extracted from the bus by the emergency crew. Everyone else was able to come out of the bus under their own power or with assistance.”

The Indiana High School Athletic Association said on its Twitter account that the team’s game against Marion was postponed. Officials said they’ll talk with Griffith High School administrators Sunday about a possible makeup date.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and no one had been ticketed or charged as of Saturday evening.

Griffith Public Schools will have counselors available to students and staff next week to help heal the emotional wounds.

A prayer service was scheduled for Sunday at a local park in the community of about 16,500 people.

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Information from: Post-Tribune, http://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/

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