Molina's pinch-hit 3-run HR helps the Giants to a comeback victory

just graffiti - Sport News

It might have been the slowest home run trot in major league history, but Bengie Molina meant no disrespect.

He simply couldn't go any faster.
Molina certainly quickened hearts on a chilly night at China Basin. Out of the lineup again because of a sore right quadriceps, he came off the bench and delivered a three-run home run in the eighth inning, sending the Giants to a sudden and significant 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.
Molina drilled an 0-2 slider from Chad Qualls high into the foggy air, and after a seemingly interminable wait, it settled into the first row of the left field bleachers.
A smallish crowd of 27,645 erupted and wouldn't stop chants of "Ben-gee" until Molina acknowledged them with a curtain call.
Worn down by a heavy workload over the weekend at Coors Field and miscast for two seasons in the cleanup spot, Molina's swing might have been his biggest in three years as a Giant.
"It's been a battle for me," said Molina, who wasn't sure if he'd be in the lineup today. "I've played more than usual. I haven't gotten many days off to refresh myself. But I feel good.
"I have a feeling I'll finish strong."
And what about those chants from the stands?
"Unbelievable," Molina said. "I haven't gotten that feeling the whole year. The fans, believe it or not, are a big part of this. I hope they understand that. They can pump you up big-time."
Or they can voice disapproval.

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They exercised that right when Justin Miller relieved Jonathan Sanchez to begin the eighth inning."Oh yeah, I can hear it," said Miller, who fueled Monday's crushing defeat at Coors Field in which he walked Rockies pitcher Adam Eaton with the bases loaded.
"I understand where they're coming from, but I'm ready to help this team. What's in the past is in the past."
Miller moved forward with a scoreless eighth to receive the victory. It was the wonder drug he needed after he failed to retire any of the last nine hitters he faced in Colorado.
"I woke up in my bed (Tuesday) saying, 'What the hell happened?'"‰" Miller said. "I felt like I fell off a third-story building. It was physically and mentally exhausting.
"But I knew what I was capable of. Those two games, it wasn't me."
Sanchez allowed a leadoff home run to Ryan Roberts but gave the Giants exactly what their weary bullpen needed. He pitched seven innings and his only two walks — one intentional — came during the Diamondbacks' two-run rally in the sixth inning.
With closer Brian Wilson unavailable after throwing 70 pitches over the previous two nights, Brandon Medders retired the final three hitters — against his former team, no less — to record his first career save.
Medders wasn't supposed to be Wilson's understudy, but Sergio Romo couldn't get loose in time. That's how suddenly Molina's shot changed the game.
Soft-tossing left-hander Doug Davis, a Northgate High product, dominated a lineup that lacked Molina and Pablo Sandoval, who had a respiratory ailment in addition to a bruised right calf.
But Edgar Renteria quietly began the winning rally with a two-out, seven-pitch walk in the eighth, and Randy Winn followed with a soft single. Qualls relieved Davis, and Giants manager Bruce Bochy didn't hesitate to replace Ryan Garko with Molina, who was 3-for-5 against the Diamondbacks closer.
Qualls threw three consecutive sliders. The third one stayed in Molina's happy zone.
The Giants took their team photo Wednesday afternoon. Then they took the field knowing that a victory would improve their playoff picture one way or the other.
As it turned out, the Los Angeles Dodgers won at Colorado, allowing the Giants to move within three games of the Rockies in the wild-card race.

GIANTS 4,
D'BACKS 3

tODAY:
Diamondbacks (Yusmeiro Petit 2-8) at Giants (Joe Martinez 3-1), 7:15 p.m.
TV: CSNBA. Radio: 680-AM

Nl wild-card race
W L GB
Rockies 72 55 --
GIANTS 69 58 3
Marlins 67 59 41 2
Braves 66 60 51 2
inside

Rohlinger gets chance to make better impression. Page 3

Baghdatis eliminated from Pilot Pen

just graffiti - Sport News


NEW HAVEN -- Marcos Baghdatis wanted to show his gratitude for receiving one of the four wild cards into the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament by contending for the men's singles title. Yet with the crowd behind him at the Stadium Court, it was apparent from the outset that Baghdatis didn't resemble the player that was once ranked eighth in the world.
Struggling with Frederico Gil's serve throughout, Baghdatis was unceremoniously eliminated in the opening round of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 loss. Gil, a native of Portugal who worked his way into the main draw through the qualifying round, will play 12th-seeded German Philipp Petzschner in the second round. Baghdatis, meanwhile, was left wondering what went wrong.
"It was just one of those days where you get on the court and you can't find your way," said the 24-year-old from Cyprus. "It's really frustrating and I'm real sorry for the tournament. They gave me a wild card and I acted like an idiot."
Baghdatis, who was ranked eighth on the ATP World Tour in August of 2006, has struggled to return to Top-10 form after sustaining a stress fracture in his right wrist and a back injury last year. Both players held serve through the first nine games, but Gil broke with Baghdatis serving at 4-5, to take the first set.
Recognized as possessing a strong serve and forehand, Baghdatis was a victim of Gil's powerful baseline game in the second set. Painting the lines with winners and setting up Baghdatis

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with his blistering first serve, Gil won the match in 1 hour, 22 minutes. "I'm so disappointed now, there's no excuse for today," said Baghdatis, who is currently ranked 109 in the world. "It's very frustrating that I wasn't able to come back or fight back in this match."
Always a popular player, Baghdatis' best performance at a Grand Slam occurred when he advanced to the finals of the 2006 Australian Open where he lost to Roger Federer. He is remembered as being the last opponent that American Andre Agassi defeated in his career, a victory that came at the U.S. Open.
There will be no trip to The National Tennis Center next week for Baghdatis. He opted to not to play in the U.S. Open several weeks ago, a decision he hopes will help him get his health back.
"Right now, I'm going to go home, practice and work hard to come back," he said. "I have no pain right now, which is important. I'm just going to try my best to forget this match."
It was a good day at the Connecticut Tennis Center for Americans Kevin Kim and Robert Kendrick. The unseeded Kim, who is ranked No. 100 on the ATP World Tour, registered a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in first round action at the Grandstand.
Kim, whose highest ranking was when he reached No. 63 in 2005, has a stern challenge ahead of him in the second round. He will face seventh-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia, who is currently the world's 30th ranked player.
Unseeded Kendrick, meanwhile, upended qualifier Frederik Nielsen of Denmark, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in the second match of the day at the Stadium court. The 29-year-old from Fresno, Calif., has the unenviable task of playing top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the second round. Ranked No. 8 in the ATP World Tour, Davydenko has garnered 16 singles titles.
Italian Potito Starace needed three sets to get past German Misha Zverev (6-3, 2-6, 6-3), as did German Bjorn Phau against fellow countryman Benjamin Becker, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Also winning their first round matches were Italian Simone Bolelli, who vanquished Christophe Bochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who downed Andrey Golubev from Russia, 6-3, 6-4 and Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, a 6-2, 6-2 winner against Yen-Hsun Lu (Chinese Taipei).

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Asus Intros Limited Edition ROG MARS GPU: Twin GTX 285, 4GB RAM

Asus is no stranger to producing mighty NVIDIA-based GPUs, but the ROG MARS is something special. This limited edition card was first previewed a few months back, but most folks figured it was simply a proof of concept rather than a near-final card reader for shipment. Thankfully for those with fat wallets and an insatiable appetite for high frame rates, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) MARS custom-built graphics card is on its way to retail shelves, though we get the feeling it won't be there for long.

In fact, Asus tells us that the card will only be sold in North America on a "first come, first served basis," with the exact time and place of availability to be revealed on Asus' official Twitter page. As for specs, the card utilizes twin GeForce GTX 285 GPUs, a whopping 4GB of onboard RAM and the world's first 1024-bit memory bandwidth. Reportedly, the card is nearly 23% more powerful than a standard GTX 295, and it also boasts an improved thermal design with a 65% boost in heatpipe coverage and a 20% heat dissipation rate.

If you're sold, you best be one of 1000 to get in line. Yep--Asus is only crafting 1000 of these, each of which will be individually numbered and feature a 648MHz engine clock, 1476MHz shader clock, 1 VGA output, 2 DVI outputs, an HDMI output and a healthy dose of bragging rights.

Apple Workaround for iTunes HD content displaying white screen using Apple TV

Edited by Joe Aimonetti

Some people are reporting issues while trying to play HD content purchased from the iTunes Store on their Apple TVs. Although in many cases similar to this, the easiest suspect is the content itself. MacFixIt user Mark Lilienthal has discovered that the Apple TV has restrictions regarding how it's setup and how it displays HD content:


UPDATE: If you are experiencing this issue (with HD content or otherwise), try these steps from a recently modified Apple KB Article:

1. With your television still on, restart the Apple TV by disconnecting the power cable from the back of the Apple TV.

2. Wait thirty seconds, then reconnect the power cable to the Apple TV.

Note: If you've got any components connected to your Apple TV via HDMI, such as an audio receiver and or a TV, make sure that they are turned on while restarting the Apple TV.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

"I purchased Quantum of Solace HD version from the iTunes store. To my disappointment, when I attempted to play the movie through my Apple TV, the result was a blank white screen with no audio."

Possible fixes
The issues do not appear to be related to a certain file from the iTunes Store.
Mr. Lilienthal goes on to write that a variety of resets, reauthorizations, and restarts did nothing to solve his issues. However, he did find this work-around:

"There is a solution, albeit only a partial one. Apple TV is able to play HD movie content from a Shared Library but not from a Connected Library or Synchronized Library."

Another possible fix is relayed by Apple Support Discussions user Blaine D.:

"I'm not sure if this is what other people are running into. If you are getting the white screen on a purchased movie check to make sure that the account on the Apple TV matches the account you purchase the movie with. It seems to have worked for me."

Resources
Read the Apple Support Discussions thread regarding HD movies playing with a white screen.

Experiencing problems? Have feedback? Let us know!

PLANNING INCOME AND EXPENSE EVERY MONTH

By: Safir Senduk

From IndoExchange.com

In my previous article, I said that there are several things to help your finance every month :

1. Plan your income and expense every month
   
2. Do the plan strictly
   
3. Have reserves fund
   
4. Take some insurances

This article will discuss point 1 and 2.

1. Plan your income and expense every month
   Starting right now, plan when you will get your salary, how much its amount, and when you will spend your money, what the posts and how much the amount of expenses. The plan called Budget.
   In example, you will receive this much on your salary on 27th, then from that amount you will use this much for this expense, that amount for that expense, and so on. So, if you make a budget first, you will detect on the first place whether there will be deficit or not in the middle of the month. If yes, you can revise the budget to avoid deficit.
   Composing budget is very easy. If you have already known the amount of average income and expense every month, you could also predict how much income and expense for the next coming months.
   
   
   Budget function
   Many people feels uncomfortable to draw up and have budget. They think budget is the same with restrain their shopping desire.
   NO. The function of a budget is to inform if your expense surpass your income or not. If yes, you ocan revise the budget so deficit can be avoided.
   But, if you do not have budget, you will be difficult to know if your family expense has surpassed the income. So, if there is deficit at the end of the month, you just realize it at that time, after all has happened.
   
   
   IMPORTANT
   Include saving in your budget. Usually people save their money later, after their money was spent. So, sometimes they cannot save their money because all of their money was spent for shopping.
   Thereby, it would be better if saving is not included later but earlier. Therefore, when you draw up a budget, insert saving as one of the posts that you must do earlier, at least after you repay your loan.
   
   
   
   
2. Do the plan strictly.
   A plan is useless if it is not done. In here, plan of income and expense as much as Rp250,000, if you strictly obey and want to do according the budget, at the end of the month the discrepancy between income and expense of your family will be certainly figured out, namely Rp250,000.
   Thereby, it would be easier to make another plan froward, because you have already known that every end of the month you surely have discrepancy of Rp250,000, which can be used for another purpose.
   However, sometimes people, although have already made up a simple budget, is still unable to meet their budget. If he, i.e. allocated Rp500,000 per month for shopping, the figure could expand to Rp750,000.
   This can be prevented with a harder system, namely 'envelope system'. If you have already drawn up a budget, you should allocate the amount right away according to each post. Each post is represented by one envelope. If the money in the envelope is empty, you don't have to try opening the other envelopes, because you have already known that budget for the related post has touched its limit. Envelope system is a little complicated, but perhaps it is the sacrifice that you should doso that you will not experience deficit. The most important, your expense now is more controllable.
   

A SECRET OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

By: Safir Senduk

From IndoExchange.com

A huge earning is usually considered for measuring the wealth of someone. However, why do so many people with huge income frequently end up running out of money in the middle or at the end of the month? What is the problem?

If you have a job now, do you remember the first one you ever had? Usually, the first experience on work is the most unforgettable experience.

Let's take an example. Anto was still living with his family until he got a job at the age of 23, as a clerk in a trading company. At that time, he had just graduated. Although he had to go through a probationary period, Anto was so excited when he knew that he would get his first salary. His salary was Rp 600,000, which he would receive on the 27th.

We can guess what he would want to do: he wanted to treat his family. He wanted to express his gratitude for getting a salary for the first time in his life, and he also wanted to show them that he was independent now.

Let's see: he received the salary on the 27th. On the 29th he took his family out for a meal in an all-you-can-eat restaurant, so each of them could satisfy their appetite. The pre-tax cost for one person was Rp 22,000, and after tax was Rp 24,200 per person. All of his family members were 7, consisting of his father, mother, one big brother and 3 annoying younger brothers. All was 6, plus Anto made it 7. It means that he had to pay the dinner bill of Rp 169,400. Which means, only 2 days after he received his salary, he had already spent 28% out of his salary for that month. So, he had only Rp 430,600 left for the rest of the month.

"No problem", thought Anto. "It's my own family that I treated, not other people. Besides, it's not every day I do that. Once a month is enough." Days went by. One week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks. "Hmm…that stuff in the mall looks pretty good. There is a very interesting looking shirt. Okay, it costs Rp 28,000. There's also this nice pair of trousers to wear for work. Very cheap, costs only Rp 65,000. It won't hurt to look stylish at the office". He then started buying things. "Okay", Anto thought, "one shirt and a pair of pants for this month. The rest of my salary would be used for transportation and food until the end of the month" .

What happened? On the 24th of the next month, just three days before his second-month payday, he had only Rp 50,000 left.

Anto started thinking. Okay...., such was because he spent most of his money to treat his family. Also this was his first time working. Within the coming months, his finance would be better.

The second month, he got his salary again. Still in the same amount. No raise yet. The difference was no more treating the family. Days and weeks went by. A few days before his third salary, he only had Rp 75,000 left.

Three months passed by, he was finally accepted as permanent employee. He got a Rp 150,000 raise to Rp 750,000. "Not bad", Anto thought. This meant that I would be able to "breath" and save a little. But strangely, a few days before even one month period ended, his still had only little money left. The sixth month, the seventh month, the eight month, although he got a raise, but he still ran out of money and could not put any into savings.

As a matter of fact, Anto is not the only one, whose income is under Rp 1m, with this problem. Even people with millions per month income still have trouble saving money.

What is really happening? Many people think that by getting a raise, they will not run out of money in the middle of the month and they can save for sure. Every month they hope that they will get a raise the next months. But after they really get a raise, they still run out of money.

It is clear that the solution here lies not on how big your income is. The amount of your income does not guarantee that you will not run out of money in the middle of the month. The size of your income does not guarantee that you will be able to save. The key here is not how much money you make, but how you manage your income so that it can be stretched in a one-month period.

There is no fixed way on the right method to manage your finance. However, based from experiences, there are several things that can help you manage your finance well each month:

1. Plan your income and outcome every month.
   
2. Carry out the plan strictly.
   
3. Have reserved fund.
   
4. Join insurance plan.
   

In the next number, we will discuss each of the approaches.

Best Washing Machines

just graffiti - IT News 

Advice in purchasing your washing machine
a buying guide so you can narrow down your search.

Do you want the top washing machine or dryer for your house? Let us show you how to choose the top model to suit your needs.

It can feel like a maze - with so many washers out here it can be difficult to make your choice.

When it comes to doing laundry obviously you want the best washing machine you can get - this makes life that little bit easier! Choose wisely - because a bad one will have the opposite effect!!

The most important thing is to make a choice based on your individual needs. If you have a low budget and don’t wash very much – just a cheap cleaning machine should fit the bill.

Take your time and do a little homework:

There are questions you need to ask about the washer

Above we gave you general questions to consider. Now when you are looking at a potential washer there are specific questions which are useful to ask about the washer.

These questions will help you choose really which one is right for your budget and lifestyle.

What is my space available? take any space concerns into consideration. If you have a small house that has limited room available for your washer, then you are going to need something that can realistically fit within the small amount of space you have available. In some cases, a washer and dryer combination may even be a great idea if you really want to conserve on space.

How does the washer load? You can purchase either front loading or top loading machine. You’ll want to get the best washer which works for you. Compare the advantages and disadvantages between front loaders and top loaders. What is the loading capacity? The load capacity is the dry weight of clothes. If you live alone and don’t have a huge amount of laundry to do, then you can go with a smaller capacity. However, if you have a large family with several children, you’ll want to go with a larger capacity of at least 6 kg or more. Washing a larger load will also be more economical. The following guide lines will help you determine what size is the best washing machine for you.

Single person Less than 4.9 Kg
Couple without children 5 kg - 5.4 kg
Family with 2 children 5.5 kg - 5.9 kg
Family with 3-4 children 6 kg and more

How does the washer spin? The spinning of the clothes washer is going to be important to how quickly the laundry will end up drying. The higher the speed of your motor, the more efficient the spinning will be. Also consider the type of spinning for your machine so it will dry the clothes as much as possible before using the tumble drier or hanging on the line. If you don’t have a drier then you will want to be looking at spins of above 1000rpm to make sure the clothes are reasonably dry.

What programs does the washer have? There are anti wrinkle programs, delicate programs, delayed starts, short wash cycles, and even automatic programs for you to choose from when considering various washing machines.

Is it noisy? An important question to ask…..if the machine is going to be placed where you like to hang out then a quiet one is essential. If the machine is somewhere away from people like in the shed or garage then the noise level won’t be such a concern.

How fast is it ? A fast machine is very convenient as long as the whites are white.

What is the water and energy efficiency ? Efficient washers can actually save you pennies. This is useful for people washing regularly.

The Base ? Washing machines are heavy and can vibrate a lot. You need to consider the base of the washer and where you will place it. You don’t want your house to be rockin and rollin ! Choosing the correct mode at the right price can often mean a trade of between features. Remember the most important thing is to find the best washing machine that fits your current need.