Delwyn Young homered Saturday night and is batting .346 when he's in the lineup. Brandon Moss hit safely in five of his past six games and is power threat against right-handed pitchers.
So when it came time to choose a starting right fielder Sunday against Kansas City Royals righty Zack Greinke, Pirates manager John Russell chose ... Eric Hinske.
"Put 'em in a hat, pull one out and see how it works," Russell said with a chuckle.
The decision-making process, of course, is not nearly as simple as that. It's difficult, too, considering the recent success by Young and Moss and the presence of Hinske and Steve Pearce.
"It's a nice problem to have," Russell said.
Before making his choice, Russell huddles in his office with hitting coach Don Long and bench coach Gary Varsho.
"We talk about what might be the best matchup that night," Russell said. "We look at the time between starts, matchups, gut feelings sometimes."
Last week, Moss made three straight starts in right after showing signs of life at the plate. To stay sharp, Young played Saturday.
"We really like the way Delwyn and Brandon are playing," Russell said. "Eric gives us veteran leadership, and he needs to play every once in a while as well."
Hinske went 0-for-4, but he contributed a nifty defensive play. In the seventh inning, Hinske dove to snag Mitch Maier's blooper in shallow right.
The odd man out is Pearce, a natural first baseman who was called up June 21 after Craig Monroe was designated for assignment.
"We put Steve in a tough spot by dropping him back into right field for just two games before he came up," general manager Neal Huntington said. "Young and Moss are better right fielders. Hinske could arguably be a better right fielder than Steve. So there may not be many at-bats for Steve."
Huntington said Russell has done a great job of mixing and matching right fielders. But Huntington would prefer that it didn't have to happen.
"We love for one of those guys to just go bananas for a month, never look back, take the job and keep it for the next 10 years," Huntington said. "But until that point, (Young and Moss) both deserve opportunities out there. They've both shown enough that intrigues us."
The Pirates are happy with the veteran leadership Eric Hinske has provided this season.


Read the full Story...

Michael Jackson Autopsy Photo - As days have passed since the death of the King of Pop, many people on the Internet are starting to look for a picture of Michael Jackson’s autopsy. This is mostly generated because of the “leaked autopsy report” that was in fact a hoax.

The fake report, which among other things stated that Michael Jackson was found with pills on the stomach, broken ribs, needle injuries and scarring from numerous surgeries, was called false by official sources.
If you happen to be one of the thousands of people scouring the internet in search of Michael Jackson’s autopsy photo, then you’re out of luck sicko. There isn’t one.
Since the “leak” of the fake autopsy results hit the internet, people have been clamoring to see a photo that disproves that the King of Pop was nearly bald. Sickos, he just died. Freaking vultures.
Read the full Story...

Wearing powder blue pants and a plaid fedora, 84-year-old Orval "Hoppy" Ray arrived fashionably late to a celebration in Picher, Oklahoma, a vacated mining town at the center of one of the nation's largest and most polluted toxic-waste sites.
Former residents, bought out by the government because their town was deemed so dangerous, gathered in Picher's elementary school to say farewell to a place where kids suffered lead poisoning, where homes built atop underground mines plunged into the Earth and where the local creek coughs up orange water, laced with heavy metals.

A toothpick dangling out of the corner of his chapped mouth, Ray greeted several old friends as if he were in any other small town in America.
"Hello there, Hoppy! How the hell are ya?" one called out.
Gray mountains of toxic gravel loomed behind the school, just out of sight, as Hoppy hobbled past a bundle of balloons and through the front doors, cane in hand. He tipped his hat as he entered.
"Looks like a good crowd," he said. "Everybody seems to be havin' a good time. That's the main thing."
In a town this tragic and for a person as stubborn as Hoppy, that's a big statement.
As his abandoned town fades to dust, Hoppy has gone into the business of memories. He wants to remind townspeople, and the world, that a person's home should always be loved -- no matter how toxic. The death toll from a chain-reaction accident on an Oklahoma turnpike this weekend has risen to 10.Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Mo., said Sunday that 35-year-old Shelby Hayes of Frisco, Texas, had died. She had been in critical condition with head, internal and external injuries after Friday's crash.Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., said Sunday that the condition of 12-year-old Andrea Reyes, of Phoenix, Ariz., was upgraded from critical to serious Read the full Story...

Can’t believe Jake would go to all the trouble of going to see Jillian to tell her about Wes’ girlfriend and Jillian would believe Wes anyway. No, baby, I don’t have a girlfriend. I have an ex-girlfriend who’s a good friend.
Tonight on “The Bachelorette,” we have hometown visits and the return of Jake and Ed. Woo hoo!
Reid, Philadelphia
Reid is up first. His parents have a beautiful house in a Philly suburb. Reid has Rhonda, Larry, Brett and Chad (parents and two brothers). They immediately start talking about the family realty business and Jillian’s design background.
Rhonda takes Jillian off for some one-on-one time. Jill asks Rhonda if she’s Reid’s type and Rhoda says, “I think you’re adorable.” Heh heh. Wway to skirt that question, mom. The brothers talk to her about committment and how Reid hasn’t met the right person yet.

Tonight on "The Bachelorette," Wes can add another episode to his publicity and we lose one of the good ones.
Chris calls our remaining guys the "Elite Eight." I think he means "the Magnificent Seven and one guitar-strumming douchebag." This week there are two solo dates and one group date. 5 roses will be given out and those guys get to take Jillian to their hometowns.
They are leaving Whistler and taking the Rocky Mountain... something. I missed it. Rocky Mountain Oysters? No, I'm pretty sure those are cow balls. It's a train, though. That's the gist.
Just for the record, 5 minutes into the episode, I think Jillian needs to ditch Wes, Tanner P and Michael and keep Jake, Reid, Robby, Kiptyn and Jesse. That is my prediction/hope.By the way, while Jillian says good-bye to Robby, the other 7 guys press their faces up against the train windows like a bunch of little match girls. Geez, guys. Michael cries about Robby's departure because he didn't get to say good-bye. I'll say it again... I think Michael wishes he was in the Canadian wilderness with Robby.
Read the full Story...

With Alex having posted only yesterday concerning the TomTom PND iPhone Application long comes news that its not only TomTom who are looking for a slice of the pie when it comes to utilising the new iPhone OS 3.0 for Apple’s iPhone 3G and newly announced iPhone 3G S as Navigon have also confirmed that they are developing an iPhone application of their own known as MobileNavigator.
Billed as offering turn-by-turn navigation functionality, the Navigon MobileNavigator iPhone app also sports a host of functions you’d expect on Navigon’s full blown PND’’s such as Reality View Pro, Real Roadsign Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant, Day & Night Mode as well as pre-loaded POI whilst also hooking up with your contact list (hence directing you accordingly).
Navigon’s Official Press Release:

NAVIGON takes off first: MobileNavigator now also leads the way on the iPhone already in June
To turn the iPhone 3G and the forthcoming iPhone 3G S into an innovative navigator, you only need two “ingredients”: the new Apple OS 3.0 operating system and the MobileNavigator from NAVIGON. By June iPhone users will be able to turn their phones into a handy, convenient navigation device with the professional software from NAVIGON for the first time.
Lunch break. Time to eat and a chance to send private emails, make phone calls and to relax listening to songs from your own playlist. Now and again checking the status of online bidding, and taking a funny photo of a colleague. One thing is for sure, there’s hardly another smartphone on the market that makes multitasking so much fun as the iPhone. And soon users will be able to have themselves navigated from the office to the new Italian restaurant in town. All that’s needed is an iPhone running on the new Apple OS 3.0 operating system - and the MobileNavigator from NAVIGON.
Before the end of this month iPhone users will be able to kit out their smartphones with the professional navigation software from App Stores across the globe. “With the new OS 3.0 operating system, Apple has made the use of navigation software on the iPhone possible, and NAVIGON has quickly managed to adapt the MobileNavigator software to the new firmware. The iPhone can now be transformed into a versatile, fully functional navigator”, quotes Egon Minar, CEO of NAVIGON AG.
Alternative in the App Store
When equipped with the MobileNavigator software, the iPhone 3G (with Apple OS 3.0 operating system) and the iPhone 3G S guide their users safely to their destination - with updated map material and intelligent navigation.

The package includes well-known functions such as Reality View Pro, Real Roadsign Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant, Day & Night Mode, amongst others, as well as the option of displaying POIs along the route. With this range of functions, Mobile Navigator stands out from its competition on the market - also by the fact that the typical user functions of the iPhone have been implemented seamlessly in order to make navigation using the iPhone and NAVIGON software even more enjoyable. If you turn the iPhone 90 degrees, then the display switches automatically from portrait to landscape view. As well as this automatic display adjustment, and the intelligent address entry, there is also the option of navigating directly to an address from saved contacts. If navigation is interrupted by a telephone call then navigation is resumed automatically after the call has ended.
“This allows iPhone users to navigate wherever they are, whenever they want - conveniently and while on the move,” states Egon Minar.
Within this month MobileNavigator will be available in the international AppStore where iPhone users can choose between various options. One option is the LITE Version available for free, with no active route guidance, but with map material and the possibility to display POIs (points of interest) in the vicinity. Another option is the full version, which navigates users quickly and reliably to their destination.
The prices for the full version will be released by the AppStore at the launch.
Not what you were looking for? Please scroll down for other, carefully selected items we think may interest you. Alternatively you can catch up with our last 30 days of postings, and get the low-down on all the latest tech and gadget news quickly and conveniently via a single page, courtesy of our QuikBrowsr.
Read the full Story...

Panasonic plans on claiming the “world’s lightest” title with the announcement of their latest HDC-TM10 and HDC-SD10 camcorders that only weight half a pound. Featuring the Panasonic’s VIERA Link technology that allows for Full-HD video content viewing, both the HDC-TM10 and HDC-SD10 camcorders offer 16x optical zoom and use Advanced Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S) technology that helps minimize shakes at high zoom levels.
Virtually the same, the real difference between the two camcorders is that the HDC-SD10 will store your memories on a SD/SDHC style="font-family:georgia;">memory card, while the HDC-TM10 first has to fill 8GB of internal memory before using the card option.As for the other specs, they both feature touchscreen and handy function buttons for intuitive usage, built in light and flash for when you’re shooting in the dark and a 1.9-sec Quick Power-On to make sure you won’t miss on anything.
The camcorders are going to ship starting in the US from September with a MSRP of $599.95 for the HDC-TM10 model, wile the HDC-SD10 will cost you $549.95.
Read the full Story...

Recently released, the new Averatec D1200 is another all-in-one PC designed for quick installation, ease of use and leading-edge performance. But unlike its predecessors the D1200 has been announced with a 25.5-inch full 1080p High-Definition LCD display and will boast a 2.5 GHz Intel Dual Core E5200 processor, 4GB of DDR2 RAM and a 320GB 7,200 rpm hard drive.
Averatec D1200 has an Intel G4500HD graphic chipset to deliver full HD video quality, comes with 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity, a 2 megapixel web camera, a DVD burner, Gigabit Ethernet and a wireless keyboard and mouse. And as you expected there are 2 USB ports, DVI out, SPDIF audio port and a TV Antenna for the built-in TV tuner.

Running on Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit complete with media center functionality and priced at $999, the new Averatec D1200 all-in-one PC is a powerful solution that costs an affordable price.
Read the full Story...

Following the WWDC 2009 keynote where we got official details about the new iPhone 3GS and the new OS 3.0, TomTom have just unveiled their turn-by-turn navigation application that will bring 2D/3D maps, voice-guided directions and Points Of Interest (POIs) directly to your iPhone.
Along with the surprisingly sleek software app that brings navigation to your iPhone, TomTom will also include an accompanying car kit that features a speaker and microphone for hands-free calls, supports both orientations and works as a charger that supplies power. However knowing that mapping and navigation software are usually expensive, the big question about TomTom’s iPhone app is how much will it cost as we can’t imagine this being cheap.
For now all we know is that the TomTom app is expected to be available this summer.
Read the full Story...

A traditional workspace with a modern twist, the new StudioDesk has been designed for laptop users looking for a clutter-free working environment. Crafted by BlueLounge with clean and simple shapes, the desk features a sliding top surface that uncovers a large hidden compartment where you can completely conceal all your wires, iPhones, cameras and other peripherals that take up space.
It will cost you a good $599 but keep in mind that the new StudioDesk comes with a removable faux leather mat to cover the sliding portion of the desktop, has solid mahogany legs and white laminate surfaces and storage spaces.
A timeless design that comes in a comfy knock down condition and can be easily assembled, the desk looks perfect for both home and office use. Is it worth it to keep clutter away? We’ll let you decide …
[BlueLounge via OhGizmo]
Not what you were looking for? Please scroll down for other, carefully selected items we think may interest you. Alternatively you can catch up with our last 30 days of postings, and get the low-down on all the latest tech and gadget news quickly and conveniently via a single page, courtesy of our QuikBrowsr.
Read the full Story...