I had the opportunity to watch game four in the heart of the city with some of my girlfriends. Before the ‘giant’ game, the whole city was buzzing with people in Giants paraphernalia cheering, “Let’s go Giants!”, lines were forming outside of bars and cars and busses were driving with Giants flags waving in the air. The energy and hype was enigmatic.

The ladies and I watched the game on the big screen through all ten innings in a bar that was filled with people, shoulder to shoulder. Every time there was an out, a homerun or a strike, the crowd lit up and fists were thrown in the air while music blasted through the bar speakers. But the city really took on another energy when the last pitch was thrown in the 10th inning, to make the third out for Detroit with San Francisco winning 4-3. Bottles of champagne were opened, people were dancing and singing to, “We are the Champions,” and the streets were filled with people cheering and cars honking to celebrate the Giants win! It was an incredible place to be to witness such a love for the sport of baseball and the San Francisco Giants.

-First comes the press release, a proclamation of unmitigated awesomeness. If it’s not the first alarm clock dock for your iPhone, it’s clearly the best.

-With a little luck, the blogs pick up the release and lust after or laugh at it, and coverage begets coverage, with attention generally petering out after a few days.

-Then, unless something big happens, like it reaches funding in record time or record amounts, the project’s subsequent press releases are ignored. It’s on its own. Money rolls in or it doesn’t. What had been hailed as a game-changing design achievement by the top-tier of gadget outlets can easily vanish, unfunded, its death as unheralded as its arrival was trumpeted.

Let’s try something new. With Last Pitch, we’ll look at projects that aren’t runaway funding successes, and that deserve a second look before the clock runs down.

Thus, the Jorno pocketable bluetooth keyboard. I don’t want to put this thing in my pocket. I don’t know who does, really—drastically ill-informed first-time war correspondents? But having researched and written an entire story recently on my iPhone, while traveling on Greyhound (don’t judge), I suddenly understood why anyone would want some sort of compact, just-in-case bluetooth keyboard.

To that end, the Jorno looks to be excellent. It folds out to a locked position, and though it’s impossibly to verify that it won’t crumple into your lap, the fact that it won a design innovations award at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show is at least one vote of confidence. It comes with a detachable cradle that doesn’t provide power or data transfer—it’s a kickstand, essentially—but that will support a smartphones or tablet in portrait or landscape modes. It uses Bluetooth to connect with just about any platform, including Android, iOS, Mac and Windows. Its battery supposedly runs for a month, and at $99, it costs as much as portable Bluetooth keyboards normally do.

So what’s the problem? Although pledges have spiked over the past few days, from less than half the $100,000 funding goal to a current total of $82,733, this seems like a Kickstarter slam-dunk. It’s smartphone-related, it’s geek-friendly, it’s at least as appealing as its competitors, and it fills the crowd-funding-as-pre-order niche. With 3 days to reel in just over $17,ooo in additional pledges, the pressure is inexplicably on. I asked the Jorno team for a final pitch, and here’s what they provided.

Jorno is the folding Bluetooth keyboard that fits in your pocket.  It’s is a beautiful, iconic design that addresses a problem that needs to be solved: typing into your touch-screen mobile device.

With Jorno, you can type efficiently and accurately into your phone or tablet whenever, wherever.  Jorno allows the user to finally unlock the promise of productivity on-the-go.  Jorno’s award-winning design features a detachable cradle, bluetooth connectivity, compact size, and keys that feel natural for touch typing.

Jorno lets you go mobile and get productive.

Personally, I’d drop the emphasis on pocketability—I still can’t work out who wants that feature…business travelers competing for the biggest, most unsightly bulge at the conference?—and push it as a best-in-class go-anywhere Bluetooth keyboard, whose ultra-compact, five-fold design makes it a perfect fit for any bag. Great for pockets, just not the ones adjacent to your body.

The Jorno is available in various colors for a $99 pledge (it will presumably retail for $119), and, in an apparent bid to push it over the top, the device makers have expanded an early-bird, $79 pledge level, which gets you the keyboard in black.

If this project is funded, expect models to arrive in April, and a review here.

Update: The Jorno squeaked across the finish line, with $104,609.

We know that AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander is going to start Game 1 in Yankee Stadium, and after him, it will likely be Doug Fister and Max Scherzer. Verlander is easily the best pitcher in baseball at the moment, as he finished the year with a 24-9 record and a 2.40 ERA. Fister was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half, going 8-3 with a 2.47 ERA. Scherzer was also solid in the second half, compiling a 4.09 ERA.

Source:
http://pokerman.posterous.com/alds-schedule-2011-full-schedule-for-tigers-v