Rosenthal's Latest: Ken says the Cubs could be attractive to Jon Lester, who knows Theo Epstein from their days at the Red Sox. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs don't go after a big name free agent during the off season. It will depend on whether Epstein thinks the young Cubs now have a shot at the playoffs. A more likely scenario is that they wait until the trade deadline next season and if the kids prove ready, they become buyers. #
A Cub Fan at Busch Stadium. (photos) - Cubby-Blue.#
I am having a lot of fun watching the Cubs right now. They've been winning pretty consistently since the All Star break, which is when they began calling up their young and talented prospects. It's smart to be getting them experience now while there is no real pressure to win games, it should pay dividends next season. The refrain, "wait until next year" means more now than ever before for Cub fans.#
Small Town, Big Sound. Friday night lights is not just about high school football, it's also about high school marching bands. Good luck to all the marching bands stepping off for the season tonight! #
In my opinion, the perfect scenario for publishing on the Internet is one writing tool like Fargo that enables me to designate where I want what I write published. For example, if I want a sentence sent to Twitter, I select it, click a button and that sentence is sent to Twitter. If I want paragraphs of text to go to Facebook, Google+, Wordpress, or anywhere else, select it, click buttons and they are sent to the designated destinations. By default, whatever I write is also published to my blog.#
A key to this switchboard like publishing tool is that once I specify where else I want my writing published, the software remembers to send it any edits automatically. The tool does need to provide an indication of where the writing is published. #
I think that because it is an outliner, Fargo is the best app for being the switchboard I envision because you can easily use it to associate multiple sentences or paragraphs. Of course, a key item for success is a standard, well defined read/write API that each of these content silos supported, another item that would help this along is a consistent (perhaps external) authentication API. #
We had a four hour power outage last night and I discovered that the backup sump pump in our house is not working. Fortunately, the power came on before the pit filled up. Now to find out why the backup pump failed.#
Royal Caribbean Announces 40K Windows Tablets If you are on a cruise, do you really want to be productive?#
Motorola reported to launch Skip 2.0, a Bluetooth key fob I got the Skip 1 with my Moto X but never use it because I just don't find it very convenient. The trusted devices feature, which apparently the new Skip uses, makes more sense.#
Sports Beat: "I wonder when, or if, Americans will begin to yearn for an American male to win the U.S. Open?"#
I am surprised that there is no obvious way to tell Google Now that I want to see U.S. Open Tennis scores.#
Microsoft cuts prices of Surface 2 in possible sign of new models this fall You can buy a 32 GB Surface 2 for $349. Keep in mind this device runs Windows 8.1 RT and therefore does not run "full" or "legacy" Windows apps. Computerworld speculates that the drop in price is to clear inventory for a new model to be announced later this month. The timing is right for holiday sales.#
Active Listening on Nexus 7. I've discovered that Active Listening is working on my Nexus 7 when it is off, so long as it is plugged in.#
Scot McKnight: "Instead of asking “What” is authoritative?, maybe we need to ask “Who” is authoritative? Scripture is authoritative in that it mediates the authority of God in Christ through the Spirit. Our authority then is God."#
Pushbullet Update Introduces Universal Copy and Paste Across Devices.#
The Cubs/Giants game was called in the bottom half of the fifth inning due to rain. It was a complete game, so could not be suspended. The Giants aren't happy because that's the rule and the Wrigley Field grounds crew's difficulty in getting the tarp on the field contributed to the problem.#
Cubby Blue: "One minute I'm enjoying a Cubs game and without warning they switched it to the Sox and Hawk Harrelson's excruciating voice and miserable point of view. If there's a rules change to be made, it should be that any time a Cub game is rained out, whatever station is playing the game should immediately put on a Steven Seagal movie."#
James Bond plays GoldenEye: Watch Pierce Brosnan play Goldeneye on N64.#
18 Free SQL Server 2014, Azure and BI virtual labs.#
3 Barriers Hijacking Church's Ability to Love Our "Enemies".#
Meet the Detroit activist who stars in Apple's new iPad ad.#
Little Facebook Editor. I think the ability to cross post items from this blog to Facebook will be useful. #
Report: Detroit and Michigan among best for tech.#
Chris Sacca: "We elected President Obama because he was bold and willing to speak up. We knew we needed change. We rejected the status quo. So when we all stop our work midday to watch him take to the podium, we are hopeful. We want him to be genuine and unfiltered. We don’t want sanitized, approved, safe language."#
Joerg Rieger: "Has it ever occurred to you that many debates about the authority of the Bible might be barking up the wrong tree?" I am still looking for the quote in the Gospel where Jesus essentially says to his disciples, "take a memo." #
Don Pardo, SNL announcer for four decades, dies aged 96. Do we remember voices longer than faces? I couldn't pick out Don Pardo from a crowd of men, but I bet I would at least be able to pick out the voice of the Saturday Night Live intro guy, not to mention the Price Is Right guy. Good voices are probably not as appreciated as during the radio era, but I think they endure. #
Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should. "Technological advances, and perhaps more importantly the low cost of those advances, enable much more to be done today than ever before, but all too often we see things being done simply because we can."#
The Wikipedia article on the Insurrection Act includes this: "The [PCA] expresses one of the clearest political traditions in Anglo-American history: that using military power to enforce the civilian law is harmful to both civilian and military interests. The authors of the [PCA] drew upon a melancholy history of military rule for evidence that even the best intentioned use of the Armed Forces to govern the civil population may lead to unfortunate consequences."#
When the police start looking and behaving like the military when does that cross the line of becoming the military? In other words, when does militarization of law enforcement begin to stomp on the principles behind the Posse Comitatus Act?#
The Posse Comitatus Act makes it illegal to deploy the U.S. military in the United States, and the Insurrection Act governs how the President can deploy troops to put down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion. #
The Navy Department Library on the Posse Comitatus Act: "It reflects an American tradition that bridles at military involvement in civilian affairs."#
The Enforcement Acts gave the federal government the ability to enforce the 14th and 15th amendments.#
Motorola Plans September 4 Chicago Launch for Moto 360, Possibly More.#
Dave Winer: "The meaning we can take from all death is that the time to love is when we're living."#
Customize Your River4 Home Page to Send Links to Instapaper.#
I am back online after five days away to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my bride in Chicago. We had a great time! #
Because you know, your blessings might not come from the right God.#
Samsung Gear Solo announcement expected next month. Do you want to talk to a watch? Wearables need better and new use cases, not existing use cases that work well with other devices. #
Dave Winer is raising a question about Google putting higher weight in their search ranks for sites that use HTTPS over those that do not use it, as reported by the BBC (amongst other sites). #
Does the content that I write need to be encrypted between the server it resides on and a reader's browser? Perhaps not. However, what I do think may be valuable is a form of authentication that confirms that the content on that server is mine. SSL's purpose is to not only encrypt data as it is transmitted but to also confirm the authenticity of the web site that a browser is communicating with, and I see that authentication as valuable in a digital world where we get our information.#
For example, USA Today is a web site where many people get their news. How hard would it be for some entity to hijack USA Today's domain, provide an exact copy of the web site, and publish inaccurate information? If I go to a web site for news or information, I would like to be confident about what I am reading.#
The problem we have with SSL right now is that it relies on the idea of trusted third parties to provide and endorse certificates, and we have seen instances where the third parties are hacked and that puts the authentication process at risk. I don't know what it is, but I think we do need a better security and authentication model on the Internet that is controlled by users and not corporations or governments. #
P.S. As I think more about it, one person who I would watch for improvements to Internet security and is not tied to a large corporation or government is Steve Gibson. His work on SQRL is an example. #
Transformers actor Mark Wahlberg 'to star in The Six Million Dollar Man film Please don't screw this up!#
NCAA grants top sports colleges autonomy from student-athlete rules. This doesn't seem right, if the the NCAA is going to relax rules it ought to be across the board to all colleges and not just the rich ones. My guess is that there is going to be some negative reaction. #
Thirty years ago the Cubs swept a doubleheader with the Mets that put them in the driver's seat of the NL East.#
This is what a Tigers lineup looks like without Miggy, and this is the result of Miggy not in the line up. #
Construction at 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roads in Farmington Hills / West Bloomfield has begun. Construction avoidance mode engaged!#
Android L Material Design features explained in tutorial video.#
Google's latest acquisition is part messaging app, part personal assistant. Sounds like Emu has some neat features that could be added to Hangouts and/or Google Now. The app is going to be pulled from the iTunes App Store.#
Ex-Apple employee Sam Sung I wouldn't buy the business card, but I do find that Apple had an employee with that name amusing.#
River4 v0.94 has been released. Now I need to figure out how to update an app on Heroku.#
The Baez era began with a bang with a tenth inning home run.#
I need to explore the include feature of River 4.#
Speak: On Stories and World-Changing – first day walking.#
Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads - The Atlantic. The school in my home town has gone all in on iPads. I think at the end of the day good teachers can make use of the tools they have access to, however, I do think keyboards are needed for productivity, and that along with their price is where Chromebooks excel. If I were in charge of technology at a school, I would much rather use Chromebooks than iPads from a support perspective.#
Joe Nathan is not the only closer to not do as well as expected this year. The A's signed Jim Johnson, who had been pretty successful for the Orioles, during the off season but ended up DFA'ing him. Now it appears the Tigers are going to sign Jim Johnson to a minor league contract. Wouldn't it be interesting if Johnson turned it around and ended up in the pen for a series against the A's?#
Nokia Lumia 635 Review. Who uses a media player these days?#
Easy to spot Cub Fans today. They're all smiling. I am starting to think Cub fans are setting Beaz up for failure. It is nearly impossible for him to live up to expectations.#
Google Chrome for Android is dropping LastPass auto-fill support Basically, Google is breaking Lastpass for Android.#
Mourning for a Judaism Being Murdered by Israel.#
The murky path forward for Chromebooks. James Kendrick wonders how Chromebook manufacturers will continue the momentum of increased sales, and says there needs to be a "killer app" for Chrome OS. For me the "killer app" is simplicity and low maintenance. Yes, you can buy a Windows 8 notebook at about the same price as a Chromebook, but do you want to continue to be tied to patch Tuesday? Another killer feature may be performance. My Acer 720C performs faster than any comparable Windows 8 device that I have tried.#
Detroit: the SpaghettiOs capital of America.#
Chicago Cubs call up Javier Baez - ESPN Chicago. After much speculation all season, it sounds like we will finally get to see Baez play on the MLB team. I am looking forward to seeing him play next Tuesday.#
Peet's Coffee & Tea closing most of its Michigan locations.#
I am devastated by the news that the Peet's Coffee & Tea near me is closing. Worse, most of their stores in Michigan are closing. The company had bought locations previously owned by Caribou but did no advertising. The remaining coffee stores in the area are Starbucks and Bigbee. #
It's a weekend of firsts. New pitcher with the Tigers, new pastor at the church. #
BTW, the pastor is shorter. #
Back in November Google released what we called the Google Experience Launcher for the Nexus 5, and you had to follow a workaround to install it on other devices. The Google Now Launcher is now officially available from Google Play.#
They Call Us the "Nones," But We're So Much More. Can you follow someone even if the person doing the following doesn't know the person they are following? If we believe that God is "all in all" as Paul would say, then how is God not involved in this person's life, even if they don't now it or acknowledge it? #
Take a look at HP's luxury smartwatch.#
Wild deadline day sends shock waves throughout baseball.#
Detroit Tigers option reliever Ian Krol to Triple-A Toledo, bring back left-hander Patrick McCoy.#
Sports Beat: "Dombrowski has done all that he can to help the Tigers succeed in the playoffs, now it is on the players to perform."#
10 questions about the Detroit Tigers following their trade for David Price.#