In a four-game series against Detroit where nearly all the A's struggled, right fielder Milton Bradley showed an intense desire to will the team on his back - hitting for power and average, making circus catches in the outfield and playing through pain. The ANtics looks in at his performance and what this means for his future on the club...


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Also: Take the Poll: Was 2006 Bradley's Peak, or Can We Expect More?
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Listening to ''Brighton Beach'', by Télépopmusik (Play Count: 6)

Those who are the biggest supporters are often those who are the most tested. I launched into the iPod Revolution feet-first nearly five years ago, and have been a loyal customer, from the 5 GB first generation to the 20 GB second generation, and when that 20 GB iPod was foolishly left behind on a plane last year, I anted up to the 60 GB iPod Photo - then top of the line. Now, there's a very real chance that it too will become a device of the past, as in the present, it's stuck, and won't even reboot.

Unlike most of the iPod community, I use the iPod for much more than music. In fact, it serves as my remote backup device between my home and office computers. This enables me to work on projects regardless of location. But with it, I often become too reliant on the iPod, with the expectation it is failsafe, and neglect to backup. I learned this tragically last year when all my data was wiped out, and it was made incredibly difficult to rebuild.

This year, I've tried to do better. The last full backup I did of the device (files, not music) was September 18th, and if I think hard, there's very little I couldn't rebuild out of e-mail attachments to fill in the gaps if my iPod chooses not to wake up. Most of the files I build are later sent somewhere, so with some diligence, I could upload and download to get myself up to date.

But for now, I'm still frustrated. In preparation for putting together my weekly report for the office via PowerPoint, I plugged in the iPod to my home laptop (to get last week's and use that as a template). But I noticed it hadn't mounted on the desktop, and I unplugged it. Then, I noticed the iPod screen was effectively frozen (as it is now), saying 3:31 p.m. and the familiar "Do Not Disconnect" symbol. Holding the device up to my ear, I didn't hear the spinning of the hard drive, and pressing the menu and play/pause button for 10 seconds and more didn't reboot the device, as it is supposed to.

So - here we are - do we go to device number four, and use that as the excuse to get a "latest and greatest" video iPod, when all the rumors say the next one, the widescreen, is "just around the corner"? Do I instead take the opportunity to get a new laptop at work, and eliminate the iPod middleman? If I don't manage to wake up this little white rectangular box, we're going to end up spending money and time I don't have.

Listening to ''Sydney'', by Gabriel & Dresden (Play Count: 10)

Yahoo! and Google both went after YouTube, and Google won. But while many are discussing how Yahoo! could potentially respond, with rumors around a Facebook acquisition being widely discussed, some outliers are suggesting that Yahoo! itself could be in play, given a relatively-low market capitalization, and a wealth of content. Proposed potential suitors range from telecom carriers, including AT&T and Comcast, to the more wacky, including Exxon and Phillip Morris. Really... you could offer gas points or cigarettes for frequent searching, the author writes.

Google's deal for YouTube made sense, according to the New York Times, but would picking up Yahoo! make sense for a carrier like AT&T or Comcast? I can't help but be reminded of the Excite @Home debacle, which at the time of announcement, seemed like the perfect synergy.

It's also interesting to learn about a Google acquisition that didn't happen. According to a new book, Google offered north of $30 million for the social networking site, Friendster, but was turned down. Since then, Friendster has just been destroyed by MySpace, no doubt in part to having a weak technology infrastructure, the book says.

Taking an eye to the more embattled mega-companies, the San Jose Mercury News has a large, in-depth look at the HP pretexting crisis, its origin, and what it means for the once-respected Silicon Valley giant. (How Not to Fix a Leak), while the New York Times speculates that the much-delayed Windows Vista launch may be the end of the road for Windows. What, no blue screens in 2010? I think I'm going to cry.

Listening to ''Enemy'', by Gabriel & Dresden (Play Count: 13)

Last month, I was surprised to learn the Oakland A's ties to the sports fan tradition of the wave. Never a big fan of the practice, I've grown increasingly annoyed with it as fans start it at inappropriate times, or it gets in the way of those fans who are focused on the game. When I wrote a blog entry here and on Athletics Nation about it, it apparently garnered the awareness of reporter David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News. Writing a piece on the wave's official 25th anniversary, he contacted me to see if I could help him "have the totality of the anti-wave movement represented."

So, always eager to help, we did our part, and that story, now published, can be found both online and in the Sunday edition of the paper. While my entire reply could not be included, given its length, I was the only person who was a named opponent.

The quote was as follows:

"The wave is a travesty. Usually started by inattentive, inebriated fans who would struggle to tell you the current score, let alone the situation of the game, the wave violently distracts from the activity on the field.''

Fairly snooty, right? If you thought that was bad, you should have seen my rant where I also said it was better suited to LA and Anaheim Angels fans, or its ties to superstition. Any good fan will tell you the wave is simply bad luck.

The article can be found here:

It's 25, Was Begun By An SJSU Alum, and is Beloved, Or None of That
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15763750.htm

Listening to ''Precious (DJ Dan 4 A.M. Mix)'', by Depeche Mode (Play Count: 6)