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Andy Roddick prevails in Memphis for 1st title of 2009

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Andy Roddick wants to clear up any misconceptions about why he’s not going to Dubai. It has nothing to do with his health, and he proved that Sunday on the court.

Roddick won his first title of 2009 and the 27th of his career, beating Czech Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5 in the finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

Complete results

Need the scores from any match played in today’s tournaments? Results

Only Roger Federer (57) and Rafael Nadal (32) have won more titles among active players. Roddick confirmed Friday that he wouldn’t defend his title at Dubai. he said he wasn’t happy about the denial of a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer by the United Arab Emirates for the women’s event this week.

But Roddick read a report that a hernia was his reason for withdrawing.

“There’s no other reason. obviously, I don’t have a hernia. I probably wouldn’t have played too well today. I would ask you guys to check but that might be inappropriate. I’m 100 percent healthy,” Roddick said.

Now Roddick plans to work on his conditioning with his week off and may arrive in Birmingham, Ala., a little early for Davis Cup first-round play with Switzerland.

“I love the tournament in Dubai. the actual event that’s put on, they do a great job with this. I know a lot of this was out of their hands, but it is what it is. You have a week off as opposed to traveling there,” Roddick said.

Being healthy is what Roddick worked so hard for during the offseason with new coach Larry Stefanki. he lost 15 pounds.

On Sunday, Roddick got a bit of revenge for losing to Stepanek in the semifinals in San Jose last week and improved to 5-1 all-time against the man trying to become the first Czech to win in Memphis since Ivan Lendl in 1991. he called it satisfying to win a tight match with lots of long rallies. Roddick won the key points by breaking Stepanek in the 12th game of each set.

“Obviously, he’s been playing his best tennis of his career probably this year and especially the past couple weeks. I knew what it was going to take, and I was able to get there,” Roddick said.

Roddick extended his streak of years with at least one title to nine, the longest current streak on tour, though Federer could match him with a victory this year.

“We have a long year ahead of us,” Roddick said. “We always do, but this is the best start I’ve had in a long time. Possibly ever, actually, if you just look at the first two months of the year.”

The world’s sixth-ranked player took home the $300,000 winner’s check and 500 ranking points for the ATP World Tour. he improved to 17-3 in match play this year. Of his 27 titles, 19 have come in North America. this is Roddick’s second at Memphis.

The American, with his fiancee, model Brooklyn Decker, cheering him on at courtside, was coming into the final off the longest match of the tournament. he needed two hours, 11 minutes to beat Lleyton Hewitt compared to the 57 minutes Stepanek breezed past qualifier Dudi Sela.

Stepanek came in enjoying the best start to a year in his career with two titles already to his credit and trying to win for the second straight week. he had won nine consecutive matches but started slowly.

Roddick broke him in the second game to go up 2-0. Stepanek trailed 3-1 when he broke Roddick and then held serve to even the first set at 3-3.

“I had no doubts I wouldn’t break him back,” Stepanek said. “I had a lot of chances today to break him and didn’t convert them. that was the biggest difference between the two of us.”

They appeared headed toward a tiebreaker when Stepanek trailed 30-40 and hit a forehand long to give Roddick the first set.

Tied at 4 in the second set, Stepanek had a chance to break Roddick at 15-40. the American fought back to force deuce, served up one of his eight aces with a 130 mph, before Stepanek hit a forehand wide after a long rally.

Stepanek kept the match entertaining, at one point using his head to knock a ball back to a ball girl and then hitting a ball over to a ball boy through his legs. After the match, Stepanek noticed he had been given the winner’s trophy and presented it to Roddick.

“Since he said I was the best player throughout those two weeks, I said, ‘OK, maybe I keep it maybe.’ But no. he deserved it,” Stepanek said.

When needing to hold serve to force a second-set tiebreaker, Stepanek won only one point off a forehand Roddick hit long up 0-40. Roddick then closed out the title with a forehand passing shot, celebrating by raising both arms in the air.

“It was huge. You go into a third, it’s a coin flip at best because he probably has a little bit of momentum going,” Roddick said. “I feel like when I’m playing well I do a good job of closing out. even the two games before I broke him, I played pretty good games and at least forced him to work a little bit.”

Andy Roddick prevails in Memphis for 1st title of 2009

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New Xbox 360 S Arcade Confirmed for $199. Kinect Bundles Are Also …

Last week at E3, Microsoft refreshed its Xbox 360 lineup by releasing the all new super quiet Xbox 360 S. this is basically a 250GB model with refreshed design; includes built-in WiFi-N, a dedicated port for Kinect (formerly Project Natal), and more. this is by far the sexiest Xbox to date! And now, Microsoft has confirmed a new SKU for Xbox 360 S, along with Kinect bundles which will have Kinect motion sensor included as part of the whole package.

To make things more clear, Microsoft is going to release an “Arcade” package for Xbox 360 S – which is going to replace the existing Arcade model and will be introduced for US $199 this fall. apart from this, Microsoft is also going to release Kinect bundles (with Xbox 360 S), which will approx. cost $399 for the Elite version, $299 for the Arcade. [via Engadget]

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Kinect unveiled at Microsoft E3 preview

Kinect controller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360

Microsoft has finally unveiled the real name of its motion sensing video game device, previously known as Project Natal: Kinect.

Kinect, which plugs into the Xbox 360 console, uses a video camera and an infrared sensor to track the players’ actions and convert them into onscreen movement.

Microsoft showed clips from several Kinect games during a lavish pre-E3 2010 event at The University of California’s enormous Galen Center, including an athletics sim in which participants run and jump to compete in the hurdles, throw an imaginary javelin, and play football with kicking actions. There was also a yoga simulation, some white-water rafting, and a dancing tuition game, which gets users to perform a series of steps and moves in time with licensed pop tracks.

Several Kinect games will be closely compatible with social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, allowing users to send screenshots of themselves playing the games to friends and family members. Microsoft has so far delayed providing a retail price for the device, but has scheduled a release date for this autumn, and is expected to support the launch with a redesigned slimline version of the Xbox 360 console.

Kinect is an attempt to complete directly with the massively successful Nintendo Wii console, which has now sold around 70m units, 30m more than the Xbox 360. Wii technology allows players to control games by waving and shaking a special controller, but Kinect goes one step further, by removing the need for any sort of handheld input.

Once considered a transitory pursuit for teenage boys, gaming has now become a mainstream entertainment medium, with games like Wii Fit, Rock Band and Professor Layton and the Curious Village attracting a vast new family audience. so far, however, these so-called casual gamers have been put off by the Xbox, with its reliance on hardcore shooters like Gears of War and Halo. But Microsoft didn’t completely ignore its traditional audience at the event; perhaps the loudest cheer of the night erupted when a demo was shown of a Kinect-compatible Star Wars game, in which players will be able to flail their arms around in order to compete in lightsabre duels with Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers.

Kinect is likely to enjoy a multi-million pound marketing push in the run up to Christmas – but Microsoft is not alone in its desire to steal Nintendo’s audience. Sony is set to provide the PlayStation 3 console with its own motion controller, named PlayStation move. The wand-like device, which more closely resembles the Wii’s remote controller, is also due out in the autumn, putting it in direct competition with Kinect.

The Kinect announcement is also set to be only one of many video game revelations this week. Today sees the beginning of the E3 games exhibition at the LA Convention centre, an annual event in which all the major games industry companies show off their new releases to thousands of journalists, bloggers and game fans who’ve been able to blag their way into the trade-only bonanza. The big games are likely to be first-person shooters Halo: Reach and Killzone 3, historical assassination adventure Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and the intriguingly dark Disney title, Epic Mickey.

Some pundits, however, reckon the focus of the three-day exhibition could be another emerging technology: 3D visuals. Nintendo will be showing its new 3D capable handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS, while Sony is expected to have a selection of 3D-compatible PlayStation titles on show, including the long-awaited driving sim, Gran Turismo 5. this year, it’s perhaps not about what we’re going to play, it’s about HOW we’re going to play: by jumping about, or by putting on a pair of special glasses and revelling in three-dimensional graphics. One thing is clear, after the massive investment Sony and Microsoft have put into their respective consoles, neither is in a hurry to announce a new platform just yet.

The audience at the launch event was also treated to an astonishing performance by Cirque du Soleil, who used dance, lights and special effects to communicate Microsoft’s brand vision – a far cry from the usual recipe of awkward upper ranking execs lurking on stage while game demos play to deafening rock music. unfortunately, the impact of the event was slightly undermined when an Italian advert for the Xbox 360 was put online too early, revealing the new name for Natal hours before the official announcement. Although the ad was quickly withdrawn, news of the blunder spread across Twitter in a matter of minutes.

Kinect unveiled at Microsoft E3 preview

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Soren Gordhamer is the organizer of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference, which brings together staff from Google, Facebook, and Twitter with others to explore living wisely in our modern age. Mashable readers can use code ‘Mashable‘ for a discount when registering.

There have never been more things that call out for our attention: We have tweets to read, Facebook statuses to check, and now Google Buzz updates — not to mention text messages, e-mails, and cell phone calls. And the amount of data is growing each day. Recent reports estimate that the average American consumes 34 GB worth of content a day, including 100,000 words of information.

While this access to information has numerous benefits, learning to live and work skillfully amidst an active social media lifestyle is an art in itself — one that will be increasingly challenging in the years ahead.

When we do not manage our social media life, our attention (the essential element for any task) gets more and more divided, and we end up constantly busy, but not very effective. We find ourselves at the end of the day overwhelmed and fatigued, wondering, “Just what did I actually accomplish today?”

Below are four lessons in staying sane and focused amidst an active social media lifestyle.

1. know the External Reflects the Internal

“The biggest (and hardest) lesson I’ve learned in life is that the external world is just a reflection of the world within.” — Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos

One of the essential questions for those of us who live active social media lives is, “Where should I put my attention? How much of my attention should I give to Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, YouTube, or another site?”

However, while the amount of our attention that we give to social media is important, so is the quality of that attention. It is hard to give our full attention to anything when internally we are feeling overwhelmed and unfocused. Our internal state gets mirrored in the external world, so even though we may spend a lot of time on social media sites, it may not be spent productively.

Taking time to settle your mind when you notice yourself off balance or overwhelmed — whether it is through a walk, a visit to the gym, or whatever works for you — can shift the state of your internal world such that you have a greater chance of making your time on social media more effective.

Lesson: Balance the internal before taking action in the external.

2. do One thing at a Time

“When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer — often double the time or more — to get the jobs done than if they were done sequentially.” — David E. Meyer, director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan

I know this may sound counter-intuitive, but give it a try. whatever you are doing, put all your attention on that. this means resisting the tendency to multi-task. In fact, a recent study at Stanford found that the more people multi-task, the worse they become at it.

Yes, that’s right — the more you do it, the worse at it you get. the illusion, of course, is that the busier we are, and the more we “do,” the more we accomplish. the research, curiously, paints a different picture.

Instead of checking Twitter or Facebook while also talking on your cell, finish one first, then do the next.

Lesson: put all your attention on whatever you are doing at any given moment.

3. Invite instead of Force

“Do or do not. there is no try.” — Yoda

The idea that the harder we try, the more we will get done, and the happier we will be is a myth. Of course, some effort is needed in any endeavor, but the real question is, “what kind of effort are we putting forth?” We have all likely met people who work like mad at their endeavors, including social media, yet consistently get very few results.

Some time ago I interviewed George Mumford, the sports psychologist who helped Chicago Bulls players during the Michael Jordan era get “in the zone” (he later also helped Los Angeles Lakers players). He said that the first thing he often tells players is that “if they try to get in the zone, they can’t.” instead, it involves an open alert attention, and the same applies to our social media lives.

Trying too hard, whether it is to make a basketball shot, gather more followers on Twitter, or increase sales of a product, creates tension that impedes our work. We cannot force these things, but we can invite them through a balanced, steady effort.

Lesson: Engage with a focused and open attention that invites instead of forces.

4. know where Your Attention is most Needed

“When players practice what is known as mindfulness — paying attention to what’s actually happening — not only do they play better and win more, they also become more attuned to each other.” — Phil Jackson, who has won a record 10 NBA Championships as a coach

How many times have you been talking with someone, and the person’s cell phone rings, and without even knowing who it was or if it was important, the person immediately vacated your conversation to take the call? It was not even a choice. He or she was attentive to you for one second, and then poof! the person was mentally gone the next.

Of course, there are times to take calls and respond via text while with a friend, but if we are not careful in the age of social media, our attention can get bounced around like a ping pong ball, from this call, to that text message, to that tweet, such that by the end of the day we are exhausted. Mindfulness, or attention to the present moment, is lost. We spent our day “chasing,” letting others determine our focus, not choosing for ourselves where to put our attention and attending to the tasks most important to us.

Lesson: Ask yourself where your attention is most needed and direct it there.

Conclusion

In the coming years, the amount information at our disposal is only likely to increase. When Google recently launched Google Buzz, their team addressed the challenges of this information era, saying, “we want to present some tools and techniques to help you manage your attention better.” While this is partly a technological problem, it is also an internal and life balance problem.

The challenge of our time is to live connected and use all the great social media available to us, while at the same time harness and direct our attention where it is most needed at any given time. After all, where we decide to put our attention is, essentially, how we choose to spend our life.

Please let us know in the comments: how do you stay balanced and focused amidst an active social media lifestyle?

More social media resources from Mashable:

- 5 Levels of Effective Communication in the Social Media Age
– Zen and the Art of Twitter: 4 Tips for Productive Tweeting
– The Tao of Tweeting
– 5 Tips for Building Lasting Online Friendships
– 4 Steps for Effective Online Networking

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeer.

[Image Credit: Allan Reyes]

Reviews: Facebook, Google Buzz, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: advice, buzz, facebook, google buzz, List, Lists, productivity, social media, social networking, texting, twitter

Technology Alerts: Mashable: Latest 25 News Updates – including …

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Andy Roddick prevails in Memphis for 1st title of 2009

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New Xbox 360 S Arcade Confirmed for $199. Kinect Bundles Are Also …

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Kinect unveiled at Microsoft E3 preview

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Xbox 360 Announcing “Lips”

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