Based at their Redmond HQ, the right person for the job will "focus specifically on what makes gaming experiences "LIVE Enabled" through aspects such as avatar integration, social interactions, and multi-screen experiences."

I imagine to do all that, they'll be needing some top-notch Windows Mobile handsets, and really the Snapdragon-powered HTC HD2 is the only device on the market so far capable of doing it. Not that it at all resembles a device targeted at Xbox gamers. Give me a Zune phone any day of the week. [Microsoft via Engadget and Kotaku]

Image Credit: T3

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but it's a pretty sobering reminder of why parents should pay attention to how their kids play games. The usual concern is violence in the games themselves and dumb kids blithely screaming "fag!" at each other, but there are obviously way worse things out there.

I know MySpace purges known sex offenders and many states require them to register all online identities, including Live gamertags, but I've never heard of any particular campaigns where Xbox Live went after them, so I'd be curious what kind of safeguards they have in place, if any. [SF Gate via Max Console]

11:50: Ten minutes left until the star (Daniel Radcliffe) and the director (David Yates) pop up and start talking about the movie while watching the movie.

11:51: If you're using the PlayStation 3, you should make sure you've got the correct audio output to hear the audio stream. Otherwise, like myself last time, you'll hear nothing.

11:53: If you miss this, it'll be on BD-Live in a few weeks, says the British announcer.

11:53: I just figured out that they're doing this livecast at 12 noon instead of 6PM Pacific because kids in the UK need to watch this too. Otherwise, it'd be 2 in the morning.

11:55: There's a weird bug right now with two audio streams being overlayed simultaneously. One announcement and one...announcement.

11:56: Oh and if you need to get in, here's the invite.

12:00: Two voices talking simultaneously is more annoying than you'd imagine.

12:02: It's about to start in a minute.

12:02: Before we start, I gotta say this was probably in the top half of the Harry Potter movies, for me. The only problems I had with it was the fact that it looked like the whole movie had a power outage. And, that it didn't follow the book as closely as other movies.

12:03: It's starting.

12:04: I'm having audio difficulties and had to restart the movie.

12:05: It would be nice to go through one of these screenings without technical problems. You'd think the PS3 would be the most stable platform, but I guess not. And now it's having trouble loading the BD-Live.

12:06: Millions of kids around the world are logging into BD-Live right now apparently. Hey kids, get off my (virtual) lawn.

12:06: I'm back in! Daniel is talking about Harry Potter and how he differs from the character.

12:07: To answer a person who asked a question about if Dan learned anything from Harry Potter, he says yes.

12:10: His favorite movie is #5. He likes shooting and watching that one.

12:10: The director says he doesn't have a favorite.

12:12: Oh wait, the director couldn't make it—this is someone else.

12:12: Harry Potter is there though.

12:13: Daniel is saying the director is great, and can see the whole film while shooting an individual scene.

12:13: Here's a little hint of how Dumbledore is gay: he was treasuring a knitting magazine (with JK, the author, on the cover).

12:15: Someone asked what other movies he wants to try and get into, and Dan says he wants to concentrate on finishing the last two movies, and then maybe go back to the stage in London or NY.

12:17: Now a question about Alan Rickman. How did Dan feel about hearing Alan Rickman speak, in the first movie? Answer: probably terrified.

12:19: It's too bad the director isn't here, because I would very much ask him why the movie is shot during a power outage...in a black hole. Seriously, I couldn't see anything.

12:20: Q: Is Helena Bonham Carter as cool as she looks?

12:20: A: Yes. Also she is mad. And she pulls off that wig well, and she is hilarious.

12:23: Someone just asked him about what bands he likes. It'd be better if they focused on, you know, what's going on in the movie, but I guess that's the kind of question we're going to get today.

12:24: Q: Is Emma Watson as beautiful in person as she is in the movies?

12:24: A: "Yes!!" That Dan.

12:25: And now they're singing the praises of Blu-ray, and saying the interactive experience of Blu-ray is "mindblowing."

12:25: This is the first time they've actually seen one of the Harry Potter movies on Blu-ray, apparently.

12:27: What Blu-rays would you want directors' Q&A of? Post in the comments.

12:27: Q: "What's your favorite special effects sequence in this film?"

12:27: A: The island near the end of the movie, with the cabin and all the monsters in the water.

12:28: A: Dan's favorite is the dragon chase in #4.

12:30: Q: "If you had the ability to use an invisibility cloak, what would you do?"

12:30: A: Dan says robbing banks. He did not say sneaking a peek of Emma Watson.

12:32: Q: "Are you or the others going to be Twittering soon?"

12:32: A: Dan says no. He says he likes Twitter, but he feels he'd be inundated.

12:35: Dan's talking about sports.

12:36: For the most part, the audio stream is a lot more stable than it was during the Terminator live event.

12:38: What's the next step in these? Video streaming of them in a corner? That might be pretty fun.

12:39: Dan says he was in the right place at the right time to get the part of Harry.

12:43: Unfortunately the two people answering questions, Dan and the other guy, don't know any technical stuff. It's too bad the director couldn't show up.

12:44: Q: Has anyone ever challenged you to a Harry Potter trivia match?

12:44: A: Yes, and I've lost every time.

12:48: I'm leaving out the questions about him playing Quidditch and other silly dialogue, btw.

12:54: To answer my own question, I would really love to hear Michael Bay give a commentary on Transformers 2. I'd like to hear his thoughts behind why he wanted to do the CG a certain way, or if he left that all up to the CG folks.

12:57: Q: Besides acting, do you want to get into another part of the film business?

12:57: A: I'd love to direct, but it's a long way off.

12:59: And now, a peepee break.

1:06: We're back.

1:06: They're talking about how an actor on screen now playing Marcus Belby was killed, stabbed, while protecting his brother.

1:10: It would be nicer if you could submit questions directly from your Blu-ray player as well. That would make it more of an all-in-one experience, without having to have a phone or a computer in front of you.

1:15: On another note, BD-Live kind of forms the basis of community watching, in a sense. Right now you can watch with directors and hear them talk, but if you can go in the direction of the Netflix community watch on Xbox Live, you can get communal viewings with your friends as well. That would be pretty interesting, being able to watch the same movie, synced, with a buddy across the country.

1:21: Someone asked if they could get Ricky Gervais into the movies.

1:34: Slight spoiler for #7: They'll be playing themselves in that one scene.

1:41: They're talking about the acting process, and the audition process and so forth. Nothing that interesting.

1:43: Q: Do you find it hard working around green screens and CG?

1:44: A: Not really. I don't have to spend a lot of time in front of a green screen. I only have to do about three days in front of a green screen at a time. In the first film I did a month in front of a screen for Quidditch and that was mind numbing.

1:52: Looks like the audio stream just cut out.

1:53: It's back.

2:00: I'd also like to hear JJ Abrams talk about Star Trek too. That would be one interesting live commentary.

2:01: I think they're doing another peepee break now.

2:10: Now the audio is just cutting in and out like mad.

2:29: Oh wow has it been 20 minutes since I typed something. How long is this movie?

2:34: The audio is finicky again, and the movie's about to end.

2:42: Movie's over, and they're saying their thanks for watching.

2:42: Thanks for reading! (Maybe we should stick with Sci Fi movies from now on.)

Ustream has had an official iPhone app available for a while now, but due to Apple's strict policies users could only upload video online after filming was finished—ie, not live at all. Enabling live streaming video from your iPhone to the internet, it works over a 3G connection and can update Twitter/Facebook etc of your live-streaming status.

You've probably seen updates from friends before, using Ustream or Qik on other devices (or jailbroken iPhones), but this week's app launch is big news for anyone who's been following the live-streaming video debacle.

If you're tossing up whether to download Live Knocking Video or Ustream, well, they're both free—but otherwise we'd suggest going for the latter as it has one major advantage over Knocking, the ability to stream video to the internet, rather than purely to another iPhone. Of course, you can't ignore Knocking's developer's gall, emailing Steve Jobs himself to get his app approved. [Ustream via TechCrunch]

The crux of the matter is that the warranty on an Xbox 360 "is not transferable," so if you buy a used console "that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE." So if you buy a used Xbox 360, make sure it's from a less-than-shady party—and if you buy from a used games shop, make 'em connect it to Xbox Live so you know you're getting something that works. [Major Nelson]

Oh wait, you just died—as planned. Oh my, the fact that you were alive just seconds ago.

Apparently the back cover pops off to get to the microSD slot. It might be thicker than the Kindle, but not enough to matter. The LCD is surprisingly nice, though the viewing angle isn't super wide or anything, as I found out trying to angle around the crowd. But yeah, it looks like what an ereader should look like.

Here's a quick touchy touchy video:

4:24: Barnes & Noble's CEO has taken the stage. He's planning on unveiling something, he says, but first, some history!

4:27: You see, Barnes & Noble has done a lot of things with paper books, evidently. All of which are tangential to the matter at hand, that ridiculous two-screened Kindle killer thing that we're all itching to lay eyes on. Sidenote: this sounds like a eulogy for paper more than anything else.

4:28: Ah, on to the ebook stuff. William Lynch, President, is here to talk about electricity and the internet and such.

4:31: Some relevant background: Barnes & Noble has over a million books in their ebook store, and have seen over three million downloads for their mobile apps. They've even decided to give a quick nod to B&N-compatible hardware from iRex and Plastic Logic, which is awfully sportsmanlike.

4:33: Yes! On with the Nook. The intro video is standard boilerplate: the screen is "crystal clear," downloads happen in "seconds." Of course you already know this.

4:36: Now we've got hardware. It exists, in spacetime! It looks smaller than I would've thought in a human being's hand. Interestingly, Android earned a shoutout—the OS was sorely missing from the prior leaked launch materials, despite that fact that it's total nerdbait.

4:38: The onscreen keyboard—on the bottom screen, natch—looks spacious but kind of gridlike, rather than staggered, which could make typing a little awkward. The bottom screen turns off when you haven't used it in a while, which makes sense: it'd kill battery life, and if you're using it for controls, you probably don't need to see it most of the time anyway.

4:40: Malcom Gladwell is here to read one of his books for a few seconds. I mean, hey, nice essays and all, but that's a strange looking man.

4:43: They're putting the Nook in all of their stores—this could be kind of a coup for them, since Amazon doesn't even have stores. This is what their giant retail displays will look like.

4:47: If you take a Nook to a brick-and-mortar store, you get free Wi-Fi, which is nice, I guess. More importantly, you get to browse an entire ebook for free each time you visit, which is sort of like a digital equivalent to shelf browsing. Sort of.

4:49: Aaaaaand that's it, at least for the tragically gutted announcement portion of tonight's proceedings. The Nook, as we expected, will ship by the end of November, and preorders will open tonight. People who were lucky enough to squeeze a preorder through earlier today know that "late November" means "November 30th."

There's a Q&A session coming up in a few minutes, so they're telling press to stay. At the same time, they're blasting the stupid "TONIGHT'S GONNA BE A GOOD NIGHT, MAZEL TOV" song, which says to me, "Go." We'll stick around, but only out of a sense of duty.

Q&A

4:56: We're back, and questions kick off with a question about ePub formats. They like it, which is why their entire catalog will switch to it when the Nook launches.

4:58: So, what about Android? They like it because it's optimized for small screens, but they're not saying a whole lot about apps. They, ahem, "haven't announced" anything about app development, but they're comfortable using the phrase "when we do," which is veeeery promising.

4:58: Says the rep about the prospect of a browser, "browsers on E ink are clumsy." Yeah! Stick it to E Ink! He's right though.

5:00: How does lending work? It'll work between any Barnes & Noble account, meaning anything with a Barnes & Noble reader app—iPhone, BlackBerry, PC, another B&N-compatible reader, etc.

5:06: Now Matt's got a question. Actually, like three: Is there anything exclusive to the Nook that you can't get in other apps? No.

And back to Android, anything else on those apps? Yeah, they're open to it, including games, but they're not making any announcements yet. (Again, promising!)

And finally, what kind of touchscreen tech does the bottom screen use? It's capacitive (but I don't think it's multitouch).

5:10: Now my turn, to follow up on this Android business, which all seems a little half-done: They've got reader apps on iPhone and BlackBerry, and now the Nook, which runs Android, so where's the Android app? "We're watching it closely" is an odd answer, but there was a tacit acknowledgment that the inconsistency seems weird. I'm reading this as a likely yes for an Android app, but there's really no way to tell when it'll come out.

5:12: And another, is there any desktop client software? No—it'll mount via microUSB, and show up as mass storage. Book transfers are intended to be wireless. USB's there for music and photo transfers, as well as charging.

5:13: They're strangely happy to say they're developing a Windows Mobile app—"we are," they say—so why so coy about Android?

5:18: Everyone's left the stage, and they're playing GO AWAY music again, so that's it. OR IS IT? (It is.)

The free show starts now, at 9PM PST (midnight EST), and can be found either here or here. It'll be broadcast with Apple's own HTTP streaming protocol, which is designed to be able to handle the crush of tons of viewers all at once. It's a pretty exciting development and we'll definitely check in for a minute to see how well the whole process works. [First Streaming Site, Second Streaming Site via New Teevee]

Not every game, but it is a mix of third-party stuff: Sonic, call of Duty 2, Crackdown, Bioshock Mass Effect and more. Dodged whether games will be downloadable the day they're released to retail. Also don't expect to use your credit card direct for anything now: "We're not getting rid of the point system." Booo.

Still, the disc's time is clearly ticking.

The Facebook client looks pretty similar to the typical Xbox Experience interface, with individual sidescrolling windows that might actually be a little tedious to trawl through. It'll also support Facebook Connect, which will let you upload, for example, in-game screenshots to your Facebook profile in real-time.

Xbox Live will also get Twitter, though we don't know much about it yet—looks like it's presented in one big feed, unlike Facebook, which is great. We'll keep you updated as we learn more. And for more ongoing info, head over to our liveblog.

Everything seems to be going ok right now, although they are having some problems with one of their cameras.

Mission STS-125—which will service and upgrade the space telescope Hubble for the last time—is scheduled to launch today at 2:01 PM.

It seems that everything is going according to schedule. If you have time, watch it live, as they have an astronaut explaining the incredible complexities and checks they have to go through before launching, as well as other details about how the shuttle works. Not to talk about all those awesome voices in mission control saying all kinds of cool phrases like "All systems nominal" and "We hear you loud and clear!"

Seriously, I never get tired of watching this.

Enjoy the show. [NASA]

Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans - the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.

However, instead of adopting Nine Inch Nails' position on free music, Coldplay is saying that they are doing this as a thank you to fans in this time of economic recession. I'm not going to argue with their reasons. It's free and I like Chris Martin. Although not in the way Jason Chen likes Chris Martin. OK, maybe a little.

Check the band's tour dates at their web site, and go there on May 15 to get the album. [Coldplay]

Apparently, someone spammed swarms of Xbox Live users, offering a 2-year-old girl for sale with the simple pitch, "selling a child, will pay for shipping." The spammer also included Manos' phone number in the message.

Many of these Live subscribers subsequently called Manos to give her a piece of their mind. There was no mention if any offers were made, but on the bright side, Manos has "a good idea who is responsible." And we're guessing she wasn't referring to herself. [Charlotte Sun via Kotaku]

And incidentally, this awesome post art is compliments of Luke Plunkett from Kotaku.

First, the vital info. The actual swearing in ceremony takes place at 11:30am EST and will go for about two hours.. There are lots more options listed on Lifehacker, but these are the ones that are probably most worthy of your time.

Live Streaming Feeds
If you don't have access to a TV, but don't have to worry about the corporate gestapo monitoring your every web movement, live streams of the inauguration are probably the way to go—and they're plentiful. From the sounds of it, there are two good choices:

• Live Senate Feed: The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies' stream is about as official as it gets, with not only the live inauguration available, but also clips to past inaugurations and an overload of supplementary content on anything tangentially related to the event.

• CNN/Facebook: There was nothing more quality/entertaining/ridiculous than CNN's coverage of live events during the 2008 Presidential Campaign (pundit debate scorecards, holographic projections, Toobs!) and from the sounds of it, the CNN/Facebook live inauguration feed will be no different. You log into Facebook direct from CNN's live site, watch the inauguration, and watch your friends' status updates in real-time.

• There's also Hulu, but they're streaming the network which shall not be named.

Non-video Web 2.0 Updates
• InaugurationReport.com: If you can't get away with video at your desk, but can hide some text/photo updates behind a tab, you might want to consider InaugurationReport.com, which takes all the citizen generated content from Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and SMS, then aggregates it all on one page. It's your one stop shop for quick desk updates.

Mobile Web
If you do suffer the misfortune of being under heavy surveillance, then your only option left is to consider a new job grab your iPhone/G1, fake a lengthy trip to the bathroom, and use one of these services from the comfort of your stall:

• Ustream on iPhone: Ustream promises to stream the inauguration to your iPhone using their fancy new app...IF it manages to get approved by Apple before tomorrow. And considering that's a big if, I wouldn't place all your inauguration viewing hopes and dreams behind this.

• Inauguration Report on iPhone and Android: Inauguration Report also has free iPhone and Android apps where you can not only take in all the same content as the desktop client, but you can also provide live updates if you have any. However, seeing as you've resorted to hiding in a bathroom stall, I doubt you'll have any.

And as I've already mentioned, you can get the whole laundry list of online Inauguration offerings over on [Lifehacker].

The Xbox 360's lack of Wi-Fi is a totally killer hardware flaw—if you're not right on top of your router, you've either gotta string miles of ethernet cable or buy that pricey ass dongle from Microsoft. Unless you check out one of the cheaper alternatives. Here's every major way to get your Xbox going on Wi-Fi, sorted by easiest to hardest (but most satisfying).

Donglage
Dongles are, by far, the easiest way to get your Xbox 360 on a wireless network. But they also tend to be the priciest.

• Microsoft's official wireless adapter is $87, which is absolute horseshit for a Wi-Fi antenna attached to a USB cable. But it looks the nicest and is super easy to use—just plug and play. Update: This weekend you can get one for $69.

• The next stop is a third-party wireless adapter, where you've got your pick from Linksys ($65), Belkin ($70) and hey, Linksys ($90, but it's 802.11n). Same deal, plug and play.

• Finally, your cheapest option is from...Microsoft. Turns out, a regular Xbox wireless adapter (which is a supercheap $50), works just fine, with a tiny bit of finagling: Don't put in its actual install CD. Just plug it in, and set your encryption. It might take two tries to get it to work, but it will. And, it won't eat up a USB port like the official Xbox 360 one. Spoiler alert: This is our pick for best option, based on its combo of cheapness and convenience, if you can find one.

Share Your Computer's Connection
Sharing your computer's connection is the cheapest option—it's actually the freest one. It'll work with a laptop or desktop, though a laptop is more truly wireless—the desktop bit is an option if your router's just a step too far out of the way. Basically, you're plugging your Xbox into the computer's ethernet port, and then having it use your computer's wireless connection to connect to the internet.

Windows
It's actually harder to reliably share the internet love on Windows with its cousin, the Xbox 360, than it is on a Mac: No method worked reliably for us across multiple Windows computers. But here's how it should work:

1. Share your computer's wireless connection. Microsoft actually details the process here, and it's pretty easy. From the Network and Sharing center, click on the manage network connections option on the left. From there, right click on the connect you wanna share (probably wireless, unless you're daisy-chaining 'cause your box just won't reach) and hit properties. Under the sharing tab, just check the box to allow that connection to be shared. Plug your Xbox into the ethernet port.

2. There are a few other ways to proceed at this point, and you're probably going to have try at least a couple of them to find one that'll work. You could bridge the two connections (dicey), or you could manually assign the ethernet port an IP address, detailed here (PDF). This Instructable relies on automagicalness to resolve the settings, and I have had that work in the past, though not when I was sorting through methods for this how to.

All in all, expect to do some Googling and troubleshooting if you go the Windows route.

Mac
You'd think this would be easy, 'cause I heard somewhere that Macs just work, and internet sharing on Macs typically ain't hard, but there is a tiny bit of jujitsu involved here. This method, from Joystiq, is the most reliable one I used.

1. On your Mac, pop open Terminal, and type "ifconfig en0" (number zero, no quotes). A whole bunch of crap will pop up. Find where it says "inet 192.xxx.x.xxx" (it should be 192, anyway). Write that junk down. It will probably be 192.168.2.1, like mine. Also find out your router's IP address, which is most likely 192.168.1.1 (Linksys) or 192.168.0.1 (D-Link uses this), depending on your manufacturer. If you have Apple's Airport gear, the router will be at 10.0.1.1.

2. Then plug your Xbox 360 into your Mac, open up Sharing in Preferences. Turn on internet sharing, and share your Airport's internet connection with ethernet.

3. On the Xbox, flip to your network settings (under system settings), and enter the IP address you got from the terminal freaky deaky earlier but + 1, like 192.168.2.2 to my original 192.168.2.1. Subnet should be 255.255.255.0, and then set your gateway as the ifconfig number, 192.168.2.1. Under DNS (back one screen, then down), put in your router's actual address for both. Test your Xbox Live connection. Your NAT might suck, but you can get on Xbox Live.

Hack Your Router
This method is the least straightforward, and requires a little bit of work on your part. Essentially, you're buying a second router (a cheap one, for about $40) and installing custom software on it that turns it into a giant wireless antenna that's hooked up to your Xbox 360.

There are tons of Linux custom firmwares for routers nowadays, with DD-WRT and Tomato being the most popular. Tomato is a bit more user friendly, but it works with far fewer routers than DD-WRT. DD-WRT works with dozens of different routers (click for the list).

Whichever firmware you go with, the method for putting on your router will vary from device to device, with Buffalo routers being a notorious pain in the ass. Tomato includes instructions with the firmware download—but here are some of the details, and Lifehacker's complete guide to installing and using Tomato.

DD-WRT is my preferred firmware. Here are the detailed install instructions, but with most Linksys routers, you can just drill into the router settings from the web address (192.168.1.1) and upload the DD-WRT firmware, directly, making it pretty easy. But some routers require different, exceptionally specific install methods. So check out the list before you run out to Best Buy or Circuit City.

My preferred router for this because of its tininess and cheapness (under $40), was the Buffalo G-125, which required you to flash it over TFTP backdoor the DD-WRT firmware onto it during a brief window of time, like Luke dropping those bombs into the Death Star's vent shaft. It's a pain in the ass, but everything else about the Buffalo routers make it worth it. Unfortunately, you can't buy it in the States until the next month or so, so your cheapest bet is is Linksys's $40ish WRT54G, which unfortunately, has different install methods depending on the revision. The DD-WRT wiki is very good, so you shouldn't run into problems following it.

Once you get either firmware installed, you're going to set your hacked router up as a wireless client.

1. You're going to need to go into the hacked router's settings. Set the hacked router to client mode.

2. These numbers are going to vary slightly based on your router, but you need to assign it an IP address—if your main router's IP address is 192.168.0.1, set your hacked router at 192.168.0.2 or 192.168.0.101 (a number that's in your main router's DHCP server range). Then make the gateway and DNS the same IP address as your main router.

3. When it reboots you're gonna have to re-login to whatever IP address your hacked router is. Do that, go back in, and give the hacked router the same SSID (name) as your main router (Linksys, gizrox, whatever you have it named). You can also configure wireless security at this point, though for me, it's always been kind of flaky, WEP in particular, so you might have to play around to see what works.

4. To test, try to get online using the hacked router as your internet connection, with all of your computer's IP settings left on automatic. If it works, plug the hacked router into your Xbox. If not, check out the DD-WRT wiki for more halpz.

4. On your Xbox, you can leave everything set to automatic—the hacked router does all the work.

The hacked router method might take the longest, but at least you won't have a useless dongle when the Xbox 720 comes out, you'll have a full-featured router, and it's cheaper than the official dongle. Plus you'll have a feeling of accomplishment that will carry over to gaming, so you should kill a lot more people in Call of Duty.