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ATLANTA — Adrian Gonzalez sees no reason to praise any of the pitchers who are shutting down the Padres these days.

“It comes down to, it doesn’t matter who the pitcher is out there,” said Gonzalez, the best hitter on the team. “Could be a young guy or an inexperienced guy or a veteran guy. Doesn’t matter. We’re just not producing.

“As a team, we’re not doing it.”

Gonzalez was speaking after the team’s 16th defeat in the past 20 games, a 5-2 setback at Turner Field Wednesday night.

For the 16th time this season — or 47 percent of the contests — the Padres scored two runs or fewer.

It’s one thing for a Padres offense to go thirsty in April, when cooler weather tends to make Petco Park play as if it were the Deadball Era.

As for the pitching the Padres faced in April, manager Bud Black said he’s never seen better pitching for one month since he entered the majors in 1981.

But the Padres — poor at slugging, dismal at getting on base, prone to striking out and able to combine slow footspeed with bad baserunning — are still doing almost nothing of substance on offense.

Almost every night, they continue to put their starting pitcher on a tightrope. Wednesday night it was Randy Wolf who worked without a safety net, opposite a stout, athletic Braves offense that is averaging more than six runs per home game and has Mark Kotsay as its No. 8 hitter.

When Wolf put a 2-2 game into the home team’s hands by loading the bases with none out in the seventh, Black enlisted Joe Thatcher, he of the 6.75 ERA. Thatcher gave up a single, a sacrifice fly and two more singles.

Ballgame.

“It’s really hard,” Wolf (2-2) said of the team’s struggles. “It’s very difficult. I play the game because I want to win and obviously we’re not doing that. It’s very frustrating.”

If you want to dig really deep, you could chalk up Wednesday night’s striking talent disparity to Braves scouts who are so adept at finding amateurs and the Padres’ two-decades-long underachievement in that area.

From 1988 through 2006, the Padres were the only National League team that never got one 20-home run season from a homegrown player; in that same span, the Braves got 45 seasons of at least 20 homers from nine players.

This Braves lineup, loaded with homegrown producers such as Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur, is so deep that Kotsay was in the No. 8 hole with a .308 batting average. “That’s a good eight-hole baseball player,” Wolf said.

Kotsay, hitting a slider that Wolf said was a good pitch, singled with two outs to put the Braves ahead 2-1 in the second. The Padres’ Tadahito Iguchi tied it in the sixth, scoring on Kevin Kouzmanoff’s double play after leading off with a single, stealing second and reaching third on Gonzalez’s single. The Padres were done scoring, though.

So it was left to Padres pitchers to be perfect from there, and they fell short. Picking on Wolf’s first two pitches of the seventh, the Braves smacked a double and single, and Kotsay came back from 0-2 to earn a walk off Wolf’s 86th pitch.

Enter Thatcher, a left-handed sidewinder. Black would let him face four right-handers. The first, pinch-hitter Greg Norton, hit a go-ahead single off a 1-2 pitch. The Braves pulled away, and right-handers against Thatcher improved their average from .320 to .351.

Black had better luck demoting struggling Jim Edmonds one spot to the sixth hole, but even after Edmonds went 1-for-2 with a walk, Black lifted him for pinch-hitter Callix Crabbe.

Before the game, General Manager Kevin Towers declined comment when asked if the club is planning to release Edmonds. The Braves, meantime, are pleased with Kotsay, whom they acquired cheaply from Oakland last offseason, at a time when the Padres decided to get Edmonds instead.
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For all of his attempts to downplay expectations, Senator Barack Obama is heading into a weekend that will probably make him look like anything but the underdog. Democrats in four more states are scheduled to cast their ballots, and while they will not be the deciding factors in what remains a virtual dead heat between him and Hillary Clinton, the contests could give Obama an extra boost heading into next week’s important Potomac primaries of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. On a conference call with key Clinton donors on Thursday, the campaign’s senior strategist Mark Penn admitted as much; “I think we’ll have some bumps in the road, some difficult states in the next week or two.”

Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington State are holding contests Saturday and Maine Democrats will caucus on Sunday. There are 228 pledged delegates at stake this weekend, though all of the states will split delegates proportionally, so it’s unlikely that either candidate can gain too big an advantage. As it stands now, Obama leads Clinton with 853 pledged delegates to her 849, not including Superdelegates, according to Real Clear Politics.

The caucus format in Washington, Nebraska and Maine could help Obama, who has won six of the seven caucus states so far, thanks to his passionate, dedicated following and stronger grassroots organizations. “I think that it is fair to say that he should win the caucuses in Maine, Nebraska and Washington State on Saturday. For my own state of Louisiana, I would venture that Senator Obama should win here,” said Kevin Mulcahy, a political science professor at Louisiana State University, who himself plans on voting for Clinton.

But just because Obama has momentum — beating the expectations game on Super Tuesday and continuing to lead Clinton in the money race — doesn’t mean Clinton, a New York senator and former First Lady, isn’t putting up a fight in the weekend’s races. Clinton, who still leads in most national polls, is campaigning vigorously in Washington Friday and in Maine Saturday, while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has headed to Louisiana.

“We are in fierce competition and we have many more rounds to fight,” Obama told reporters in Chicago this week. “It’s only a month since Iowa. We see how quickly things can change. We have had more twists and turns than anyone could’ve imagined.” Added David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, “These are going to be tough contests. Washington, Nebraska and Louisiana will all be competitive contests, they clearly are going to invest quite a bit of time in Maine. That said, we like our chances to add to our delegate lead.”

In Louisiana, where Obama spoke before a crowd of 5,000 on Thursday, more than 40% of registered Democrats are African American, a constituency Obama has consistently won by large margins. Nebraska’s caucuses are likely to be similar to those held Tuesday in North Dakota and Kansas — Republican-leaning states with small but dedicated Democratic bases that have gone for Obama. Obama also rallied a crowd of 10,000 in Omaha on Thursday, while the only attention the state is seeing from a Clinton was a visit at the same time by first daughter Chelsea. And in Washington State it’s the wine-drinking upscale crowd that Obama appeals to, said Lance LeLoup, a Washington State University political science professor. “Washington has a lot of affluent, highly educated liberal voters, a demographic that has tilted toward Obama over Clinton in recent weeks,” LeLoup said. “He is also energizing voters, and there is little doubt that there will be record turnout Saturday.”

Clinton, who this week acknowledged that she loaned her campaign $5 million of her personal money, is investing relatively substantial resources in Washington. It is one of the few states where she’s running television ads, and she spent both Thursday and Friday campaigning in Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane. Her husband was originally scheduled to visit the state, but at the last minute the campaign sent Hillary Clinton herself, dispatching the former President to Louisiana instead. Clinton has the support of much of the political establishment in the state: both of Washington’s senators, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, have endorsed her. But Governor Christine Gregoire came out Friday for Obama in a surprising, potentially crucial endorsement.

“If Clinton has a hope in the state it will be that women really seem to be digging in to support her — it has become something of a feminist cause in a state that has a traditionally had a very strong female political presence, especially in the Democratic Party,” said Cornell Clayton, another Washington State University political science professor. “There is also a large Hispanic population in the middle of the state where there is agriculture. But this group has never been politically mobilized in the way Hispanic voters have in the Southwest [who helped Clinton win California], so it would be a real development if they came out in large numbers for Clinton.”

Clinton also has the backing of the establishment in Maine: Governor John Baldacci endorsed her in December. And she won both of Maine’s neighboring New England states, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. “Right now Senator Clinton has an advantage up in Maine but we’re going to win some delegates up there,” Plouffe told reporters Thursday on another conference call. Obama, who spurned a Clinton offer to hold a joint forum there this weekend, plans to visit the state Saturday and has had staff on the ground and ads running there for weeks.

The two candidates have been in a flat-out sprint since December. The fierce struggle for the first four contests left them tied, and Super Tuesday — a blizzard of 22 states voting at once — was an expensive and exhausting hurdle that did little to determine a victor. Now the race is settling down to a kind of waltz, two states here, three contests there, in the run-up to the next crucial showdown on March 4, when the delegate-rich states of Ohio and Texas hold their primaries. Clinton is banking on those two states, with their large Latino or blue-collar populations, to more than make up for any losses in the next couple of weeks. But the way things have been going so far, neither campaign can reasonably count on coming out of any state with a sizable lead.

The original version of this article contained a quote by Kevin Mulcahy, a political science professor at Louisiana State University, that “Almost all of the states that Senator Obama won on Tsunami Tuesday were caucus states.” In fact, Obama won seven primary states and six caucus states on February 5.
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Using 3D cameras in order to let humans control interfaces by simply moving about is old hat, but for those sick and tired of being strapped to a mouse / keyboard in Second Life, take a glance at this. Hands Free 3D is a prototypical system that gives addicts members of the virtual realm the ability to walk, jump, fly and interact by simply gesturing in front of a PC-connected camera designed by 3DV Systems. Currently, it doesn’t seem like this solution is on the fast track to release or anything, but we have a sneaking suspicion they aren’t demoing this stuff for kicks and giggles. Peek the video right after the break.
source:engadget

Oh sure, the iHome iP99 is certainly a welcome addition to the fray, but the first iPhone-compatible clock radio it isn’t. Nevertheless, this device claims to be able to play back tunes on your handset without that sanity-killing interference that’s so common on most iPod stereo systems. While blasting out tunes, users can still expect to receive calls while it’s charging, and if you’re currently rolling sans an iPhone, it’ll also play nice with all docking iPod models. Per usual, there’s an AM / FM tuner, auxiliary input, a variety of wake modes, dual alarm settings, backlit buttons and a remote control for switching tracks / controlling volume from afar. Of course, by the time this thing lands in June for $149.99, we could be testing to see if it works with an all new iPhone.

source:engadget

See those people? As much as NEC would like to think so, that’s not you. If it were you’d be ass-deep in nag about your inattentive dismissal of “quality time” while suffering dire warnings about barefoot-borne diseases. Or maybe that’s just us. Regardless, NEC hopes that the launch of its 4-component Lui (Life with Ubiquitous Integration) system — ¥379,890/$3,705 Blu-ray packing PC server (Lui SX), ¥89,880/$877 10.6-inch laptop (Lui RN), ¥49,980/$487 4.1-inch handheld (Lui RP), and ¥300,000/$2,926 Desktop (Valuestar R Lui) — will somehow create harmony in your household. Besides the marketing hype, we’re really just talking about Windows Home Premium SP1 here and a bunch of DTCP-IP DRM and DLNA compliant devices. In fact, the so called “laptop” and handheld units lack any traditional OS at all — they can only be used to receive streaming content off your home server. Even then, some streaming is restricted inside and outside the home thanks to the DRM lockdown. Do we really need one or even two more devices in the home just for media?
source:engadget

Inspired by Ben Stein’s “How To Ruin Your Life“, here’s my top 10 about how to ruin your health
10. Place your screen low: You heard me right, place it low. To think this has anything to do with your neck pain is juvenile. Placing your screen low will support many doctors and chiropractors for many years to come, and don’t we all want to help the economy in tough times?

9. Do not stretch: Your neck/back pain has nothing to do with stretching. It is genetic!

8. Eat junk food: The faster you cook it the better. Who cares if it nutritional or not?

 7. Eat in front of your computer, fast!: This one is pretty simple. Eat in front of the computer as it will take time away from searching for domains and optimizing your portfolio. Make sure to eat fast and not waste more then 60 seconds on a meal. Your body, unlike the rest of the world, will deal with it somehow.

6. Do not drink liquids often: Again, drinking liquids is for the weak. So you went 15 hours without drinking water, so what? Remember, you are a superhero!

5. Sit sloppy: Sitting straight in front of the computer is not something you want to do. When others say to you that you need to sit straight, they don’t understand you are special, they don’t understand your special DNA structure is unlike any other, they forget you are superior to all mankind.

4. Do not exercise, ever!: Unlike the rest of the world, YOU do not need to exercise. You work with your head and moving your eyes around the screen and the mouse cursor is more exercise then your body will ever need. Did I mention your future wife or current wife only cares about the money you make and not about physical attractiveness? Avoid at all costs!

3. Click more, faster: Repetitive Strain Injury cannot and will not affect YOU. You are superior to all mankind, your DNA is of a superhero.

2. Three hours of sleep is more then enough for you: Forget about anyone who says you need eight hours. Any minute more then three hours shows how weak you are. You are strong, you can handle three hours without trying. If anything, sleep two hours a day. No, it won’t affect your health, matter of fact, it will make your fingers stronger as you type domains more frequently.

1. Remember, anything that affects others’ health can never affect yours. If anything, it will make you stronger. You are SPECIAL.

Source: Posted on The Conceptualist by Sahar Sahid — Reprinted with permission — March 24, 2008

The FBI has been using fake hyperlinks that purportedly link to illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them reports Declan McCullagh on CNet.
“Undercover FBI agents used this hyperlink-enticement technique, which directed Internet users to a clandestine government server, to stage armed raids of homes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada last year. The supposed video files actually were gibberish and contained no illegal images.”

The FBI uses the IP addresses of the internet users, obtaining these via “administrative subpoenas to the relevant Internet service provider to learn the identity of the person whose name was on the account–and then obtained search warrants for dawn raids.”

To read all of Declan’s article including how the FBI has been ensnaring child porn users, some of the cases involved and issues around unlawful entrapment and Wi-Fi spoofing, see www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9899151-38.html.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: Time is running out to make the Internet your business and put your name forward to join the global leadership volunteers who help the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers coordinate the polices and process that shape the future of the Internet. “If you want to be a part of ICANN’s exciting work on bringing the languages of the world to domain names, and creating more choice for consumers by allowing for the creation of new Internet extensions beyond the ones currently available like .net or .org, now is the time to let the us know,” said Hagen Hultzsch, Chair of the Nominating Committee (NomCom). “ICANN’s global team of Internet leaders is working on some of the biggest changes to the Internet since it was created – and this is the chance to help make that happen.”
The Nominating Committee is independent of ICANN and is tasked with searching the world for experienced individuals to fill key positions on ICANN’s Board and its Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. The following positions are being filled this year:

* 2 Board Directors
* 1 GNSO Council member
* 1 ccNSO Council member
* 2 ALAC members (who will represent Europe and North American regions)

“The ICANN leadership team is a dedicated group of volunteers from across the world who have helped shape the Internet used by more than a billion people globally. The coordination work done by ICANN has provided a foundation for businesses across the globe—and fostered operations that rely on the Domain Name System’s ability to connect them to customers and business partners,” said Hultzsch. “We’re looking for volunteers to join this team and work alongside people who come from in the technical field, who are leading policy experts, and even individuals who helped create the very foundations of the Internet.”

The deadline to submit Statements of Interest is 15 April 2008 23:59 UTC.

“Beyond its responsibilities for keeping the Internet secure, stable, and interoperable, ICANN’s mission is to grow and evolve its global multi-stakeholder decision-making process, so it is the individuals who make up the wider Internet community who direct and decide the Internet’s future,” Hultzsch added.

There have been 42 Statements of Interest received so far:

* 40 from men
* 2 from women
* 12 from Europe
* 8 from Asia/Australia/Pacific
* 5 from Latin America/Caribbean
* 12 from North America
* 6 from Africa
* Some candidates count toward more than one ICANN region.

Of the candidates, 34 have declared a willingness to serve on the ICANN Board, 23 have stated they would serve on the GNSO Council, 20 have declared a willingness to serve on the ccNSO Council, and 13 have offered to serve on the ALAC. Some candidates have asked to be considered for more than one position.

ICANN covers travel expenses related with ICANN duties. Information on applying is available at http://nomcom.icann.org/. The 2008 Nominating Committee does not anticipate extending the nomination period as it has done in previous years.

About ICANN:

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet’s operation, so ICANN’s global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet’s ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org .

Media Contacts:

Jason Keenan
Media Adviser, ICANN
Ph: +1 310 382 4004
E: jason.keenan@icann.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson@edelman.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Source: ICANN Announcement - March 20, 2008

The battle over Register.cc between Register.com and DomainIt.com has been decided… in DomainIt.com’s favor, according to Ron Jackson’s The Lowdown post. DomainIt founder Paul Goldstone said, “Based on the history, facts, and evidence we felt confident that the panel would rule in our favor and we’re very pleased with their decision. While we were obviously interested in preserving our own domain name, we were also concerned with the precedence a negative decision in this case could have had for other generic domain name holders. We were surprised by the dispute to begin with, but we now hope to move forward in the friendly-competitive relationship that registrars generally have with each other. Such a relationship is rare in many industries, but has become a standard in the domain business and that’s something we wish to preserve.”
To read more, click here.

Source : DNJournal – With Ron Jackson’s Permission – March 20, 2008

Munich, Germany–March 17, 2008 –From March 17 to May 25 owners of German-speaking .INFO-Websites can apply for the .INFO-Award that will award 18.000 Euro in prize money later this year. The Award is created by global domain name registry Afilias in media-cooperation with INTERNET WORLD Business and addresses .INFO domain owners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
A panel of judges will create a shortlist of final contenders based on the criteria of “presentation of content”, “functionality of the website”, “design”, “usability” and “originality”. The shortlist of the top ten best sites will be published at www.info-award.info on April 28. From April 28 until May 25, interested Internet users can also vote for their favorite site. These scores will be combined with scores from a select panel of judges.
The panel of judges is composed of five experts of the online sector: Philipp Grabensee, Chairman of the Afilias Board of Directors; Dominik Grollmann, chief editor of INTERNET WORLD Business; Tania Leuschner, Head Of Content Operations Marketing live! of Vodafone D2 GmbH; Christian Paavo Spieker, CEO of One Advertising AG; and Richard Wein, CEO of nic.at.
The .INFO-Award rewards professionally created Web sites from Germany, Austria and Switzerland that provide the best user-value. Prizes for the awards are allocated as: 10.000 Euro for the winner, 5.000 Euro for second place, and 3.000 Euro for third place. All winners will be announced by online business newspaper “INTERNET WORLD Business” in June 2008.

For more details see www.info-award.info (German speaking only).

Source: Afilias Press Release Submission to DomainNews.com - March 18th, 2008