Author: Daniel Brusilovsky

VP, Technology at Golden State Warriors.

Sorry……

I haven’t been doing Apple Universe or updating my blog becuase my laptop(a Dell) crashed and I had to re-install Windows XP Pro 3 times already! Damn Windows and Microsoft! Hopefully 4th time is a charm! I lost all my data for Apple Universe, so it might tak a while before Episode #13 comes out. Sorry! Hang in there……please! Don’t stop commenting Apple Universe or my blog, thanks!

Microsoft eyes Yahoo! in proposed takeover

As many of you know, I have a podcast, Apple Universe, and i love Apple. Apple’s rival company, Microsft is planning something i am not very proud of.

Still smarting from the loss of online advertising firm DoubleClick to rival Google last month, Microsoft is now actively pursuing search giant Yahoo!, the New York Post is reporting.

 

The paper cited sources who say Microsoft, having already made an offer to acquire Yahoo! several months ago, is now urgently courting the web firm to re-enter formal negotiations. Yahoo!, which is valued at around $50 billion, is reported to have aggressively rejected the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant’s initial attempts to discuss a takeover. For its part, Microsoft is said to be more determined than ever to strike a deal after Google last month snatched DoubleClick for $3.1 billion from under its nose. “They’re getting tired of being left at the altar,” one banking source, who has recently had talks with Microsoft , told the Post. “They now seem more willing to extend themselves via a transaction to get into the game.” Moreover, the move by Microsoft is seen as a necessary offensive, given Google is developing Internet-based software that directly competes with Microsoft Office, among other things. Based on current estimates, a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! would up the combined companies’ share of the all-important search advertising market to 27 percent against Google’s 65 percent, said the Post. It would also narrow the gap in overall online ads with Google to just 13 percent. More importantly, the deal would create “the dominant force on the Internet” in terms of eyeballs, which directly translate into advertising dollars. Microsoft’s MSN currently caters to an older audience while Yahoo!’s entertainment coverage attracts a younger demographic. “Aside from cost savings, a deal would also create opportunities to use Yahoo! content on Microsoft devices, such as making music exclusively provided to Yahoo! Music available on Microsoft’s Xbox game console and Zune music player,” said the Post.

Lincecum likely to start Sunday

SAN FRANCISCO — One day after the Kentucky Derby, the Giants likely will turn loose their most heralded thoroughbred. Right-hander Tim Lincecum, who has overmatched the Pacific Coast League with Triple-A Fresno, is the probable starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park. Lincecum would replace Russ Ortiz, who went on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with right elbow neuritis.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy hedged only slightly when asked if Lincecum, 22, would make his Giants debut by filling Sunday’s vacancy.

“We’re expecting him to make that start,” Bochy said. “But, obviously, we have a roster move to make if that’s the case. So we’re still thinking about it.”

The Giants recalled infielder Kevin Frandsen from Fresno to take Ortiz’s spot on the active roster.

Expectations have surrounded Lincecum since last June, when the Giants made him their No. 1 selection (10th overall) in the First-Year Player Draft and paid him a $2.025 million bonus. But the sense of anticipation soared even more once the season began and Lincecum dominated opponents through each of his five starts. He’s 4-0 with an 0.29 ERA — that’s one earned run allowed in 31 innings — while allowing 12 hits and walking 11. He has struck out 46, including 14 in his most recent start last Sunday against Colorado Springs.

As impressive as Lincecum looked in that game, Frandsen said that his previous effort might have demonstrated his competitive maturity more accurately. Facing Tucson on April 23, Lincecum surrendered his only run of the season in the second inning when he issued a leadoff walk, hit the next batter and flung a wild pitch before allowing a sacrifice fly. But Lincecum recovered to throw 6 1/3 no-hit innings, missing a chance to complete a no-hitter in the seven-inning contest (it was part of a doubleheader) because he exhausted his pitch count.

“That made me feel like he was ready for something bigger because he doesn’t give in,” Frandsen said, comparing Lincecum’s stubbornness to Matt Cain’s. “It’s fun playing behind him. You want to see what’s gonna happen.”

Sunday’s game happens to be scheduled for a national telecast on ESPN. But Bochy, who managed Lincecum in Spring Training, believes that the University of Washington product can cope with the hype.

“They’re all TV games now,” Bochy said. “If it is Timmy, that’s not going to come into play with what he does. This is a tough kid. He handled himself well in the spring. If it turns out he makes that start, he’ll be fine.”

Having experienced a small measure of fuss as a native of nearby San Jose when he made his Giants debut last season, Frandsen can identify with what Lincecum will encounter. But, Frandsen said, “If he does what he normally does, which I honestly think he’ll do, San Francisco is going to be in for a treat.”

Barry Bonds is Unstopable

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The countdown is on. Barry Bonds is closing in on Hank Aaron in a hurry.

Bonds hit his 740th home run Sunday, connecting for the second consecutive game and helping Matt Cain earn his first win of the season in the San Francisco Giants’ 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“It’s awesome for him to be swinging it like he’s swinging it,” Cain said.

Cain wasn’t bad himself.

The right-hander pitched a three-hitter for his third career complete game and first since a one-hitter last May 21 at Oakland. He struck out four and walked four in a game that lasted just 1 hour, 56 minutes. It was the fastest nine-inning game in the major leagues since Arizona beat St. Louis 3-0 in 1 hour, 54 minutes on Sept. 9 last season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Matt Cain

Bonds moved within 15 homers of Aaron’s record. With two outs in the fourth inning, he sent the first pitch from Yusmeiro Petit (0-1) into the seats in the right-field arcade for his sixth homer of the season.

“He doesn’t have anything bothering him,” Giants second baseman Ray Durham said. “The sky’s the limit.”

The 42-year-old Bonds walked out to left field in the top of the fifth to a loud standing ovation, tipping his cap as he made his way to his spot. Fans bowed over the left-field fence.

Petit, called up from Triple-A Tucson before the game to make his second major league start, became the 438th pitcher to give up a homer to Bonds.

“He changes your club, your lineup, including the opposing pitcher seeing Barry out there,” first-year San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “I can’t say enough about what he’s done for us the last few days. It’s pretty remarkable what he’s doing at his age. … Since coming over here, it amazes me what he does. It tells you how much better he is than any of the rest of us.”

Bonds flied out and struck out looking in his other two at-bats, but his home run and Pedro Feliz’s shot leading off the third led the Giants to their season-best fifth straight victory.

Bonds hit his 739th homer in the second inning of Saturday’s 1-0 victory to help Barry Zito win at home for the first time with the Giants. This marked the first time Bonds homered in back-to-back games since Sept. 22-23 last year at Milwaukee. Bonds had homers in three in a row from Sept. 2-4, the first two at Chicago and the third in Cincinnati.

Cain (1-1) allowed a leadoff single by Eric Byrnes to start the game, but that was it until Byrnes and Alberto Callaspo each singled with none out in the ninth. Orlando Hudson grounded into a double play to bring in the Diamondbacks’ lone run. Cain, who had thrown 101 pitches at that point, then received a visit on the mound from pitching coach Dave Righetti and stayed in the game.

After walking Chad Tracy, Cain retired Tony Clark on a game-ending grounder. Durham made a great stop on the play. If the ball had gone by him, Cain would have been lifted.

“His fastball has life to it,” Byrnes said. “It has a giddy-up at the end. He’s a different type of guy than Zito. He throws fastballs that register in the low 90s, and they appear a lot faster than that.”

Cain bounced back after a no-decision at Colorado on Sunday, when he pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed only two hits.

“There’s nothing more respectful (than) for him to put the confidence in me to complete the ninth,” Cain said about Bochy. “It was great to be able to be back out there.”

Cain, who led all NL rookies with 13 wins last season, pitched well enough to win in his first three starts. He gave up only three hits in his previous two outings — and one run in 14 innings.

Arizona’s season-long skid reached four games with the club’s sixth defeat in seven games. The Diamondbacks went 1-for-20 during the series with runners in scoring position. They hope getting Randy Johnson back to make his season debut Tuesday against San Diego might help get the team out of its funk.

“We knew in our division pitching was the way it was going to be,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We knew pitching would be the dominant force in the division, and so far it has been. We feel good about Randy going Tuesday.”

Aside from the two homers, Petit was pretty good. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter, allowing four hits in seven innings.

San Francisco’s Rich Aurilia had his career-high tying 14-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 day.

Omar Vizquel was robbed of a hit on Byrnes’ diving catch in left-center in the sixth. Vizquel received his 11th Gold Glove before the game, two days before the shortstop turns 40.