San Francisco

Everybody stop -- hold the phone! Nnamdi Asomugha practiced on Friday, and for me, that's big news. I'm often extremely pessimistic regarding free agent signings and the like .. it's those undrafted free agents I'm crazy about. But with Asomugha, I think he's got a lot to offer and I personally believe he will be the best cornerback on the team next season. The Philadelphia Eagles used Asomugha wrong in so many ways. He's not a zone corner by any definition and if he can keep himself in shape, I expect him to do very well in man-to-man this season. I'm still excited for Chris Culliver going forward, but Asomugha has a couple good seasons left, I think. Anyway, we're just going to go with quick links today. I've been making an effort at adding more substance but I'm absolutely swamped tonight. Enjoy the links, folks. Goodwin agrees to pay cut to remain on team (Maiocco) Bridging logic gap on Grabtree, Harvin (Sando) Bill Barnwell on the state of the San Francisco 49ers (Grantland) Lockette, Jenkins, Patton will compete for Crabtree's spot (Maiocco) Nnamdi Asomugha -- Inside his first open OTA practice (Lynch) QB matters most, with or without Crabtree (Sando) Putting Michael Crabtree's 2012 production into perspective (Cohn) 49ers' Crabtree gets encouraging words from Broncos receiver (Press Democrat) 49ers' Reid Soaking it all in at Safety (NBA Bay Area) Harbaugh Looks for Young WRs to Emerge (49ers) From Candlestick to Levi's (CSN Bay Area)

Jim Harbaugh says new Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman "taught me everything." The San Francisco 49ers coach believes his mentor will prove to be a "grand slam hire" for the Bears. More...

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more. Anibal Sanchez's bid for his second career no-hitter fell just two outs short on Friday night. After retiring Jamey Carroll on a somewhat questionable strike three call to begin the ninth inning, Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer laced a 1-1 pitch right back up the middle for a clean single, which keeps Sanchez from joining Justin Verlander, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay as the only active pitchers with multiple no-hitters. At least temporarily. The way he's throwing this season, another bid is probably around the corner. ''It's not that I go to the mound and want to do something special, it's just that I want to go nine innings, go deeper, get a good command, get a good game,'' Sanchez said. ''When I come to the eighth inning, I think about it. But when I come to the ninth inning, it's really tough with those guys.'' Much like his Friday night start back on April 26 when he struck out 17 Atlanta Braves, Sanchez had everything working against Minnesota. That was especially true during a stretch from the second inning to the seventh inning where he retired 18 straight batters. He ended up going the distance for his fourth career one-hitter, striking out 12. The outing required 130 pitches, which is sure to make a few fans uneasy, but he's been no worse for the wear after throwing 122 in the April start. As for how Mauer felt about his latest history-breaking hit, which by the way is his third career ninth inning knock to break up a no-no attempt. ''He's nasty, and he had everything working tonight,'' Mauer said. ''Obviously, you know exactly what is happening, and you don't want to get no-hit. I'm just up there trying to put the bat on the ball. He threw me a really good cutter and I was just able to square it up.'' Rockies exorcise AT&T Park demons: Last weekend the Colorado Rockies snapped a ten-game overall losing streak to the San Francisco Giants by taking three out of four in a series at Coors Field. On Friday, they ended a nine-game skid at AT&T Park with an impressive 5-0 victory. Right-hander Tyler Chatwood did most of the work on the hill, tossing six scoreless. In a big return from the DL, Michael Cuddyer provided the offensive punch with a two-run first inning double and a solo homer in the sixth. Carlos Gonzalez also homered in the win as Colorado vaults to a first place tie in the NL West. Houston Homecoming: What a night for Houston native Chris Young as he returned home with his Oakland A's. Young came into the game hitting a dismal .168 on the season through 101 at-bats, but broke out for three hits, including a game-winning, three-run homer off Jose Veras in the top of the ninth. I believe there can only be one possible explanation for such an unexpectedly huge performance. ''Mom's cooking definitely has something to do with it for sure,'' said Young, who grew up in Houston and spent an off day Thursday with his family. ''Barbecue, just good old Texas southern barbeque. It always does the trick for me.'' I know that's right! MORE SCORES Orioles 10, Blue Jays 6: Baltimore's home barrage continues. They hit four more here, including Chris Davis' league-leading 16th. Yankees 9, Rays 4: The bigger story is Curtis Granderson's broken knuckle on his left pinkie. He'll be sidelined at least four weeks. Red Sox 8, Indians 1: John Lackey throws seven innings of two-hit ball. Braves 5, Mets 5 (susp.): Game will be resumed on Saturday. Reds 7, Cubs 4: Five-run fourth inning propels Cincinnati. Joey Votto and Ryan Hanigan each homered in the inning. Brewers 2, Pirates 1: Doesn't matter which direction these teams are going, Milwaukee owns the series at Miller Park. Angels 5, Royals 2: Mike Trout is hitting everything in sight and the other Angels are along for the ride. White Sox 4, Marlins 3 (11 inn.): Chicago overcomes latest blown call by Angel Herna

It is a really long weekend here in United States, and what that means is a lot of time to read this weekend. I certainly plan to do that. Here is a short list of my recommendations for the weekend. The story of an eye witness: Jack London, a San Francisco writer, wrote about the 1906 earthquake that almost destroyed the city by the bay. This is amazing writing from an amazing writer whose words make that tragedy come alive, a century later. Rajat Gupta’s lust for zeros: He had the world on a string and then he made bad choices. His worst was picking to fraternize with the wrong kind of guy and he is now paying the price for it. He was indicted in the largest insider trading case in U.S. history. What a fall for a guy who once ran McKinsey & Company. 1977: my own year of living dangerously: My friend Martin Varsavsky goes back in time, to a city he loved and grew up in — Buenos Aires — and tells his story. I have never known Martin like this. Amazing story. Gentrification in Buffalo: Cities and communities are people. And that is why we can reinvent, remix and thrive in them. Can you redesign the razor? Some gentlemen want to know and are talking about it. Counter-terrorisim and the legacy of Philip K. Dick. The New Yorker writer reflects on his piece, Too Much Information, from 2002. It is pretty amazing and far-sighted piece considering it was written over a decade ago. How Facebook and Brooklyn killed America’s obsession with cars. The headline says it all.

This week we got our first look at Google Glass, as well as experienced one half of a new era in gaming when we got up close and personal with the new Xbox One Kinect as well as the gamepad for Microsoft's new console. Google Glass reviewOnly at Google IO in techy-savvy San Francisco could a Google Glass wearer walk the streets relatively unnoticed. A limited number of these new wearable computing devices have been among the public for months now, and they generally elicit double takes and curious stares. Just like a normal pair of glasses, Google Glass needs just a bit of adjustment to be worn properly. It mainly comes down to the nose pads, which make sure that Glass' titanium band runs slightly above the eye line, like a sunshade or visor.Microsoft Xbox One Kinect reviewFor the thousands around the world who watched Microsoft's Xbox One reveal event over the Internet and on their Xbox 360 consoles earlier this week, it was about an hour filled with some fresh information on the company's forthcoming console, though it also left them with a lot of questions. So what about Kinect? The first thing to note is that the resolution has also been radically improved. You not only get a 1080p color camera that enables high-quality Skype video chats, but it's a 3D scanning device that is strong enough to discern buttons and folds on a shirt, as well as whether you're moving your fingers, if you're facing the sensor or not, and even your facial expression.Microsoft Xbox One Gamepad reviewFollowing a full day of presentations, interviews, tours, tech demos and teases of the Xbox One's game-changing potential, the powers that be at Microsoft finally let us get our mitts on the new hardware's controller. While our time with the gamepad doesn't allow us to tear up the blacktop inForza 5 or command a SEAL Team canine in Call of Duty: Ghosts, it does provide a peek at a few of the 40-plus improvements that have been made over its predecessor. Before diving into six separate demos tailored to show off the controller's enhanced rumble tech, Microsoft senior product marketing manager, Navin Kumar, states "precision, comfort, and making gaming more realistic than ever" were the driving forces behind designing the new gamepad.Canon PowerShot SX280 HS reviewThe Canon PowerShot SX280 HS - or Canon SX280 for short - replaces the Canon SX260. There are actually two versions of the same camera, the other being the Canon SX270 which features pretty much all of the same specifications, but lacks the inbuilt Wi-Fi and GPS of its slightly more expensive sibling. A 12.1 million pixel high-sensitivity (HS) CMOS sensor is joined by the headline feature of a 20x optical zoom lens. Starting at an equivalent (in 35mm terms) of 25mm, the Canon SX280's lens is capable of reaching a fairly impressive 500mm.This week's other reviewsDesktopsVibox Power FX reviewWired2Fire Diablo Phantom reviewDinoPC Titanosaurus Rex reviewSoundbarOrbitsound M9 Soundbar reviewMobile phonesHuawei Ascend G510 reviewComputingCAT B15 reviewPatriot Aero 1TB Wireless Mobile Drive reviewTabletsNook HD+ reviewHisense Sero 7 review

Nicole Apelian, Beau Rasmussen’s stepmother, along with volunteers and other family and friends will continue the search Saturday for the man who disappeared from Ocean Beach after Bay to Breakers last weekend. Photo: Tom Prete / Ocean Beach Bulletin Family and friends of Beau Rasmussen are asking for help from the public Saturday as they continue their search for the 27-year-old man who disappeared from Ocean Beach after the Bay to Breakers race. Starting at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, volunteers will gather at St. Gabriel School’s Bedford Hall in the Sunset District to organize for a search seeking the Emeryville man or clues about what happened to him after last Sunday’s race. Rasmussen told friends that he would meet them on Ocean Beach, but never showed up. His passport and other belongings were found on the beach after Bay to Breakers, and some of his friends have said they think he may have gone swimming in the ocean. Rasmussen didn’t show up for work the following day, but his stepmother, Nicole Apelian, said Rasmussen has always been punctual. Beau Rasmussen as he was dressed for Bay to Breakers. Photo via Help Find Beau Rasmussen Facebook page. Apelian told the Ocean Beach Bulletin earlier this week that anyone with photos or video from the Bay to Breakers could send them to Find.BeauR@gmail.com. In addition, searchers say that anyone with information about Beau’s disappearance can call the Emeryville Police Department at (510) 596-3700. A Facebook page dedicated to the search for Rasmussen has been set up at https://www.facebook.com/FindBeauRasmussen, and donations to help pay for search costs can be made through Paypal. St. Gabriel School is on 41st Avenue near the corner of Ulloa Street. Tweet This Post

Michael Cuddyer hit a home run and a two-run double after coming off the disabled list, Tyler Chatwood beat San Francisco for the second time in seven days and the Colorado Rockies blanked the Giants 5-0 on Friday night.

Less than a week ago, Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio and Giants left-hander Barry Zito squared off at Coors Field. Now, they'll face each other again, this time on Saturday at AT&T Park.

The Dodgers had four runners reach base on Friday, their second worst output of the season, trailing only the two runners against San Francisco on Apr. 2.

by W. Eric Martin • ICv2 has posted a list of the "Top ten tabletop game Kickstarters", including stats on each for the number of backers and the dollar amount per backer. Kingdom Death: Monster, for example, took in more than $370 per backer, while Reaper Miniatures' Dark Heaven: Bones took in "only" $193 per backer, but more than made up that difference by having 17,744 backers compared to KD:M's total of 5,410.On his blog, Matt Forbeck explores why those projects were able to take in what they did, and the short answer is one that people would likely be able to determine on their own: All ten games feature plastic miniatures. More specifically, says Forbeck, "It has to do with the economies of scale of plastic miniatures." In more detail:Casting metal miniatures is a labor-intensive process that involves pouring molten metal into a spin-casting machine that distributes the metal into hollow cavities cut into a vulcanized rubber mold. The molds wear out after a while, and you have to make new ones. The metal's a little pricey, but the rubber's cheap, so it’s a great way to make miniatures if you're making a few thousand or less.However, if you can sell more than that many miniatures, you should make your figures in plastic instead, as the molds for these last virtually forever and the figures only cost pennies apiece. The trouble is that the injection molds for plastic figures are cut from steel, a process that costs thousands of dollars per figure rather than dozens. A small company can't afford to make hundreds of these molds at once, at least not without a huge cash influx.And that's where Kickstarter comes in. If you can get your backers to pledge enough money to cover your steel molds, then you can give them lots of figures for their money. Better yet, if you bust through your initial funding goals, you can set stretch goals for new figures and toss them into the mix for either little cost (as low-cost add-on options) or bundle them in for free.• U.S. publisher WizKids Games is holding a six-month-long "organized play event" for its HeroClix miniatures game line Star Trek: Attack Wing titled "The Dominion War". Here's a description of the setting and why players might want to participate:In "The Dominion War", the Alpha Quadrant is in a time of struggle and chaos. The Jem'Hadar and the Breen Confederacy have established a presence for themselves in the Alpha Quadrant, and with the help of their recent allies, the Cardassian Union, they plan to conquer everything in their path. This engagement proves to be the most devastating ever fought in the Alpha Quadrant.In the Organized Play program, stores carrying Star Trek: Attack Wing will host tournaments for players to challenge each other for dominance of the Alpha Quadrant. Players will collect a participation prize each month as well as compete for a new playable ship that will be offered only via the Organized Play events. The player with the best record over the six-month event will be bestowed the title of Fleet Admiral and awarded a special grand prize at the end of the program.As noted in a May 19, 2013 BGGN post, WizKids Games plans to debut Star Trek: Attack Wing and its first eight expansion packs at Gen Con 2013 in August, holding tournaments at the time so that players can compete on fresh, unbroken ground.• Designer/publisher David Sirlin will be hosting a tournament of his own at the Fantasy Strike Expo, a convention run by his own Sirlin Games near San Francisco that will be held June 7-9, 2013. Sirlin notes that in addition to holding tournaments for Yomi, Puzzle Strike, and Flash Duel (along with the video games Street Fighter HD Remix and Puzzle Fighter HD Remix, he'll hold demo games with the beta versions of his upcoming games Pandante ("a panda-themed gambling game based on lying") and Codex: Card-Time Strategy. Says Sirlin, "I've been working on Codex off and on for over ten years now and polishing its current form for about 2.5 years. It's my (non-c