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Sunday, July 14, 2013

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Trayvon Martin supporters, many dressed in hoodies, are continuing to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman through mostly peaceful rallies from coast to coast.

Read more from NBC News - http://nbcnews.to/13iyV90

Photo: People rally to honor Trayvon Martin at Union Square in New York. (Getty Images)
Trayvon Martin supporters, many dressed in hoodies, are continuing to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman through mostly peaceful rallies from coast to coast.

Read more from @[10150138890205613:128:NBC News] -  http://nbcnews.to/13iyV90

Photo: People rally to honor Trayvon Martin at Union Square in New York. (Getty Images)

good story

GOOD STORY - Dog survives 4 alarm fire in Flower Mound: Probably the biggest incident we missed over the weekend (Friday) was a 4 alarm large home fire in Flower Mound on High Point Dr. As Alertpage posted, Flower Mound FD units arrived to find heavy fire from the attic of the home. The family was uninjured, but crews were alerted of the family's missing dog, Amber, believed to be inside the home. 3 & 1/2 hours later, Amber was found ALIVE inside the burning home! Amber is now safe and hanging out with her family. We are sorry to the family for the loss of their beautiful home, but what a great story midst such a tragic event. (Thanks Sheri Baldwin with Shots by Sheri for the picture). Here is a Lewisville FD chief after crews rescued her.

Ouya: A charming but flawed $100 video game console

Today, video game systems are dominated by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. They make big, expensive, state-of-the-art gaming consoles that attract the world's top developers and the most intricate games.

But the fastest-growing video game segment has no use for all those bells and whistles. Smartphone and tablet games are cruder and simpler but are often as fun and innovative, and immensely popular with the average consumer who would never dream of shelling out $500 for a video game console.
What if those casual gamers could play games in the same vein as those smartphone titles, but designed around the living room experience, on a console that costs less than $100? Ouya, a Kickstarter-backed video game project, is betting that people would bite.
The $99 Ouya video game console is a fascinating concept that at times delights with inexpensive, high-quality games. Though it is both crude and temperamental, the little box still manages to win you over with its charm.
Ouya is packed with the same guts as a smartphone or media streamer. It's small and silent.
Related story: Ouya hits store shelves
But then you turn on the console, and chaos ensues. There is no easy way to search for games or even organize the ones you have. There is no central online framework for multiplayer gaming. And for every amazing game, such as the Ouya-exclusive "Towerfall," there's a truly awful version of some Android game.
To cut through the noise, Ouya attempts to spotlight the worthwhile games. Its staff curates a top picks list, and the console displays a list of most-played titles. It's a concept that mostly works.
At its best, Ouya is home to wonderfully fun multiplayer games with stripped-down-but-stylish graphics, and short-but-sweet single player adventures. There are already a half dozen games that are worth paying for, and for a device that video game developers have only had access to for a few months, that's not bad.
The big plan for Ouya is to work with top independent game developers to produce exclusive titles for the console. And big name publishers like SquareEnix and Sega have begun porting over some of their biggest franchises in the form of Sonic and Final Fantasy. It's not enough to for Ouya to fall back on just yet, but it's a solid start.
Most games will fall between $5 and $20 and every game features a free playable demo of some sort.
But even the handful of titles worth paying for aren't always a joy to play. Some of the more ambitious games, especially the 3-D titles running at the highest of high-definition resolutions, tend to fall victim to lag.
Related story: The $99 box that wants to crush the Xbox
The controller, which Ouya has engineered from scratch, is functional and gets the job done. But that's about the best that can be said about it. Although many Ouya games simply don't require the same level of ergonomics, tactile feedback, and responsiveness that a big-budget console game would require, the controller still feels a bit cheap.
The four trigger buttons on top of the controller are too close together, and there is a sporadic lag between button presses and the action on screen. The performance of the touch pad in the middle of the controller is so inconsistent that most users probably are better off just ignoring it.
Luckily, Ouya allows users to connect any USB or Bluetooth game controller, including Xbox or PlayStation controllers -- if a particular game provides the support for third-party controllers. It's part of Ouya's open-source strategy: If the console is theoretically capable of doing something, developers will be allowed to do it. If a developer can write the code for it, Ouya will support any piece of gaming technology under the sun. Ouya has no real rules or limitations.
What will make or break the Ouya, however is the software. It wants to be a destination for game developers to experiment, and a galvanizing product for the emerging indie game space. Whether or not consumers really want that remains up in the air.
The company says it's committed to constantly improving and evolving the Ouya platform to better serve gamers and developers, and this has already been evident in the early updates it has released so far. It's not unreasonable to expect many of the Ouya's issues to be solved via future updates.
For those who are intrigued by the Ouya, it's cheap and promising enough that it's worth buying and tinkering around with. For everyone else, it's probably better to wait.
But keep an eye on the Ouya, because it's hardly a failure. To top of page

Teen jailed for Facebook 'joke' is released

CNN) -- The Texas teen facing a felony terrorism charge over an alleged threat on Facebook has been released on bail after an anonymous donor posted a $500,000 bond.
Justin Carter, 19, had spent five months in prison for posting, during an argument about a video game, what he said was a sarcastic comment about how he was going to "shoot up a kindergarten."
"I just think it got taken out of context, and it's been blown out of proportion," Carter told Kate Bolduan on "New Day," CNN's morning show. The brief interview marked Carter's first public comments since he was jailed in February.
Carter's case has received widespread media attention and alarmed free-speech activists. His arrest came amid heightened concerns over school violence since December's mass shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
In February, Carter and a friend were arguing on Facebook with someone else over the online video game "League of Legends." His father told CNN that other gamer called Justin crazy and his son responded with sarcasm.
Teen: Comments 'taken out of context'
Mom: 'Facebook threat' was sarcastic
According to court documents, Justin wrote, "I'm f***ed in the head alright. I think I'ma (sic) shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them."
Jack Carter said his son followed the claim with "LOL" and "J/K" -- indicating that the comment wasn't serious.
"Any clear reading and full reading of the context of that statement would make it obvious that this was just a sarcastic joke," Chad Van Brunt, one of Carter's attorneys, told CNN on Friday. "If we get to trial ... it's just going to be abundantly clear, if it's not already."
Authorities said someone reported the comment -- which came about two months after the mass killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School -- leading to Carter's arrest February 21 on a felony charge of making terroristic threats. In Texas, that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The teen had remained in jail because Jack Carter and his wife, Jennifer, said they couldn't afford to post the bond required to free their son. The family's attorney, Don Flanary, told CNN that Justin Carter had suffered abuse while behind bars, and his parents had expressed concerns about his safety.
Carter was released Thursday to his home near New Braunfels, Texas, after an unnamed donor came forward and posted the bond, Flanary said. He said the donor wishes to remain anonymous.
"For now I'm over-the-moon happy. I just want to spend all my time talking to him and looking at him," mother Jennifer Carter told CNN on Friday. "There's been a lot of hugs going around and crying. We don't have to worry anymore about him being hurt (in jail) ... and for any parent that's just such a relief."
An online petition seeking Justin Carter's release from jail had received more than 126,000 signatures.
A pretrial hearing for Carter is scheduled August 12. Flanary told CNN he will be filing a motion to dismiss the charges because they violate Carter's First Amendment rights.
The Comal County district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, has not responded to CNN's requests for comment.
The case is viewed by some as a cautionary tale about the repercussions of controversial statements posted online.
Asked by CNN's Bolduan what he might have done differently, Carter said, "I certainly would have thought a lot more about what I said and how permanent my writing -- and everyone's writing -- is (on the Internet). People should be very, very careful of what they say. It's being recorded all the time, if you say it on any website, anywhere.
"And you can get in trouble for something that's not something you should get in trouble for. I just want people to be warned."

TV show set shakes as house blast sparks fire through neighborhood

(CNN) -- Residents of a Corpus Christi, Texas, neighborhood had the kind of wake-up call no homeowner wants to get.
An early morning explosion Friday shook the area, sparking a fire that rushed through the neighborhood. In the end, three homes were flattened and about 70 others were damaged, the Red Cross told CNN affiliate KIII.
Two people injured were in critical condition Saturday night. They were first taken to a local hospital and then flown to the burn unit at San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center, according to the Corpus Christi Fire Department.
KIII news anchors, in the studio nearly two miles away from the blast site, were in the middle of their live morning newscast Friday when they -- and their viewers -- heard a loud boom. The room appeared to shake slightly.
Eryk Phillips lives in the home behind the blast site.
"I woke up and my ears were ringing," Phillips told KIII. When his hearing started to come back, he said, "I could hear sirens, car alarms going off and all that... and I'm thinking, 'Wow, am I going to die?'"
Phillips' home is littered with glass and insulation. Part of the ceiling is peeled away.
He is among 34 people evacuated.
The fire department believes the cause was probably a natural gas leak inside a home. But state and local investigators are on the scene digging through rubble to determine.

'Glee' star Cory Monteith found dead in hotel in Canada

CNN) -- Cory Monteith, who played heart throb Finn Hudson in the Fox hit "Glee," was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on Saturday, police said. He was 31.
Police said the cause of death was not immediately apparent, but they ruled out foul play.
Medical examiners will conduct an autopsy on Monday.
Monteith's body was discovered by staff members at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel after he missed his checkout time, acting Chief Constable Doug LePard told reporters.
Monteith apparently had several people over to his room at one point Friday night, but LePard said Monteith, who had checked in July 6, was seen on hotel surveillance video returning to his room in the early morning hours by himself.
A look back at those we have lost in 2013. A look back at those we have lost in 2013.
People we lost in 2013
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Photos: People we lost in 2013 Photos: People we lost in 2013
Director: Monteith's death 'devastating'
Police: No foul play in Monteith death
'Glee' star found dead in hotel room
The glue of 'Glee'
Adam Shankman, who directed an episode for each of the past three seasons, told CNN's Poppy Harlow that he had talked to Monteith on Saturday morning. The actor said he wanted to come down to California to Jet Ski.
Shankman said Monteith was the glue of "Glee." He was always welcoming, whether it was to a guest director or a new cast member, Shankman said.
The actor knew all of his lines when filming began each time and would congratulate his fellow cast members when he thought they did well.
"He showed up every day and he was a delight," Shankman said.
'My heart is broken'
One of his castmates on "Glee," Mark Salling, tweeted a simple "no" after police held their news conference.
Dot-Marie Jones, who plays the football coach at the fictional William McKinley High tweeted: "I have no words! My heart is broken. Cory was not only a hell of a friend, he was one amazing man that I will hold close to my heart forever.
"I am blessed to have worked with him and love him so much! My heart is with his family and our whole Glee family! I love you all!"
Offscreen, Monteith was dating co-star Lea Michele.
He was madly in love with her, Shankman said. "He felt like it had renewed his spirit."
Reps for the actress asked Sunday "that everyone kindly respect Lea's privacy during this devastating time."
Struggles with substance abuse
Monteith spent time in rehab this year, checking into a drug addiction treatment facility in late March.
He had been frank about his struggles with substance abuse, telling Parade magazine in 2011 that he began using drugs at 13, and by 19 went into rehab after his mother and friends intervened.
"I had several interactions with him yesterday where he said that he was doing amazing," Shankman said. "He even said I am feeling fantastic. I'm like everybody else, really devastated and confused by what happened."
Awards for show
Monteith had been on the musical comedy show since it began in 2009.
On the show, Monteith played the dim quarterback of the football team at the Ohio high school who is forced to join the glee club. After graduation, he comes back to town and helps direct a musical at the school.
In 2011, he won a Teen Choice Award for top actor in a comedy. The show's cast won a Screen Actors Guild Award for an ensemble in a comedy the previous year.
He was in three projects that are in post-production, according to the Internet Movie Database.
One of them was a movie entitled "All The Wrong Reasons," also starring Kevin Zegers.
"I've never lost a friend this close. This feels like a mistake," Zegers wrote.