The SaaS Adventure

“What does it take to build a billion-dollar SaaS enterprise-software company?” I hear this question a lot in my work as a tech investor, and it’s incredibly tough to answer. I bet mountain climbers feel the same way when they’re asked how they conquered a major summit. The answer is both incremental — you succeed by placing one foot in front of the other, of… Read More

The 'Ted 2' Super Bowl Trailer Stars Tom Brady

Days after releasing the first trailer for "Ted 2," Universal unveiled a Super Bowl spot for the forthcoming comedy sequel about a talking teddy bear. In it, Tom Brady is revealed as a possible sperm donor for Ted (don't ask), because Boston. Brady's role in the film was first announced by star Mark Wahlberg last year. "He plays himself, but he does an amazing job," Wahlberg said in an interview with ESPN's Bill Simmons. "Funny, funny moment." Watch the trailer spoil that funny moment below. Starring Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman and Seth MacFarlane as the voice of Ted, "Ted 2" is out on June 26.

The 'Furious 7' Super Bowl Trailer Is Better Than The Super Bowl

Two years ago, Universal debuted the trailer for "Fast & Furious 6" during the Super Bowl. This year's big game brings a new look at the franchise's seventh installment. It's as awesome as everyone should expect, especially that part with the car flying out of a building and into another building.



Here's the plot summary, via Universal.

Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of "Furious 7." James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favorites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black. They are joined by international action stars new to the franchise including Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey, Nathalie Emmanuel and Kurt Russell. Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel and Michael Fottrell return to produce the film written by Chris Morgan.

"Furious 7" is out on April 3, because summer movie season does not wait for Vin Diesel and friends. Watch the trailer below.

Milk Nanny Automatically Makes A Refreshing Bottle Of Formula For Baby

As a parent I understand that gadgets like the Milk Nanny will be forgotten – like the Diaper Genie and the no-pacifier rule – five months into the severe sleep-deprivation experiment that is parenthood. As a gadget freak, however, I do think it’s pretty cool. It’s a simple device. The system holds an amount of formula and water. When you need formula you simply press… Read More

"Let's Play Two"

The title of this piece is no less than a ringing church bell at Christmas, the explosiveness of a cannon firing on the 4th of July with the playing of the 1812 Overture, or the words of a "saint" scribed at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago---certainly to all to those in Chicago and its neighboring towns, cities and communities, but to all baseball fans nationwide. These three words epitomized the life and times of one Ernest Banks, "Mr. Cub " after his playing days concluded. They are, as well, but in microcosm to not how a baseball hall-of-famer and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient played the American past time, but to showcase what is more important in life than mere statistics in a reporter's notebook. Nothing that this writer can scribe here can duplicate what has already been written about the life and times of Ernie, or the words so eloquently said at his memorial service on the very day he would have turned 84 this past Saturday, except perhaps for one item.

Did you ever see how he gripped the piece of lumber that produced 512 home runs? You know, with his right elbow elevated, wrists gripping the bat so as to hold it all most vertically? Recall his right wrist above the left, each synchronized while rotating one over the other while his fingers squeezing but undulating in rhythmic fashion the handle before settling in to hit one over the fence. He was able to do this due to his amazing wrist strength and bat speed. It was such an amazing stance that as kids we tried to do the same thing but without success. No MLBer has ever replicated it either.

But what is equally true of baseball---for those of us who listened during the service to the likes of former Yankee manager, and Cardinal player, Joe Torre, Cubbies Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, and Lou Brock (a Cubbie too but traded away to the Cardinals), and seeing other Cubs in attendance like Glenn Beckert and Randy Hundley, even the great Henry Aaron, other baseball notables and dignitaries were in attendance---is that it shakes free our memories from days long gone by when we tried to emulate with whatever skills we had those who toiled at the Friendly Confines or at other major league parks. Of course, we remember our ball heroes as trim, fit and ready to play, not as we see them today, with graying or little hair, walking with assistance and, well, a bit paunchier, and hunched over than we liked to recall. Then again, aren't we all now of those eras? But they were still our heroes.

One of this writer's dearest and longest friends, Mike Feinstein of Arlington Hts., Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), sent me some photos last week that he took of Wrigley Field, the statue of Ernie temporarily parked at Daley Plaza in downtown and the Presbyterian church on Michigan Av. where fans paid their last respects. Scores of others probably did the same thing, including traveling from afar to give Ernie a last good-bye. Among Mike's photos was one with Ernie's Wrigley Field, hall-of-fame flag hanging not on its usual flag-pole during the season, but above the scoreboard at half-mast; other of his photos were of Ernie joining former Cubs' greats Hundley, Jenkins, and Williams at Wrigley in recent years. Somehow, seeing those photos triggered my memory of our little league days over 55 years ago, when I played as a youngster for a team called Gillette Music and Mike for Erickson's. I think I caught one game (being a lefty, that was highly unusual but does anyone remember Dale Long doing the same thing, I think while with the Pirates, later traded to the Cubs)? Mike was on first, thought he could steal on me and by the time my throw arrived at second, he had scampered, maybe, half way to second. There remains within this writer a treasure trove of similar fond, humorous and delightful memories.

Then, after my playing days in high school, summer leagues, and in the Big Ten were long gone, my wife surprised me with a week's worth of ball in one of Hundley's original Cubs camps in the mid-1980s. Our son Jason, about 7 at the time, came with us for a week in the sun in Scottsdale, Arizona. Our "opponents" were members of the '69 Cubs. What a thrill! And, yes, we have an Ernie story to tell, just like so many others who have told theirs in recent days. Jason, who later became a standout catcher for the Eagles of Emory University in Atlanta [daughter Lauren became a blue-ribbon Equestrian herself], asked Ernie to toss a couple and he obliged unhesitatingly. Imagine yourself that young tossing a baseball with one of the great human beings to ever have played the sport of baseball wanting to play catch with you?

Then there was the following summer when I played in Wrigley Field before about 20,000 fans before the start of a regular Cubs game against Atlanta. It was part of a shortened summer version of the Arizona experience where I pitched an inning but played my typical first base in two others. I think I batted twice, but one time up was agains St. Louis' Bob Gibson, yes, the firebrand, hall-of-famer. He was coaching for the Braves at the time and Hundley got him to throw an inning, an inning when I came to bat. Even as a coach, Gibson still threw heat, at least most of the pitches he smoked past me. He did let up on one (my "mercy" pitch) and I drilled it to the ivy off the left field wall for a triple.

In more recent times, my wife and I travel to Florida to a lovely and active place called The Villages, about an hour's drive north of Orlando. Among its many activities is 12 in. slow-pitch softball with about 3,000 men and women playing the game. I was fortunate to be "drafted" this year onto one of the top teams, called the Bruins, managed by player Terry Dolasinski. I am what is called a "newbie". In the baseball world, it is being a "rookie" [go see Burt Lancaster's role in the "The Natural" and you will understand the meaning of being a "rook"]. However, two items take me back to Banks.

One, Terry asked me what number I wanted, and I said, what else, 14. That was a number I used for many of my baseball years, and one even my son used to have. The other is Terry himself. He is one of the best hitters in 12 in. ball I have seen (and for anyone who hasn't played 12 in. slow pitch at a competitive level, it isn't easy to be consistently hitting with authority; take my word for it). I recently inquired that he must have come from many years of playing baseball given his strength and hand-eye coordination with the bat. He surprised me by saying that in growing up in the Gary and Hammond (Indiana) communities, circumstances prevented him from developing the requisite skills or the opportunity to play. Even starting his "career" in the Villages' program, he had to work himself up to the top level. But it is his quiet but fair-minded sprit, competitiveness, and determination to do what he can to succeed and to support his teammates to do the same thing that reminded me of the qualities Ernie must have possessed with whom he interacted on and off the field.

Days fly by in our lives. But it is the memories such as were evoked in thousands like Mike and me upon the passing of Mr. Cub and those gathering to celebrate and honor him at the memorial service that are the salve making our later days even richer and more rewarding.

Rest in peace no. 14, and...Let's Play Two.

Superb owl Sunday will be a total hoot

With the big day finally here, excitement has reached a fever pitch. This Superb Owl Sunday is looking to be one of the largest on record

For one day a year, the world comes together and celebrates these fluffy, magnificent creatures in owl their glory

See also: Laughing owl will brighten the darkest of days

Even if they're nocturnal and all asleep, we're sure they'll feel the appreciation. Read more...

More about Pics, Lists, Super Bowl, and Watercooler

'Me And Earl And The Dying Girl' Sweeps Sundance Awards

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Sundance breakout "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," a quirky, heartfelt story about a pair of high school film lovers who befriend a girl with cancer, won both the U.S. dramatic audience award and the grand jury prize at the 31st Sundance Film Festival awards, announced Saturday.

Thomas Mann, R.J. Cyler, and Olivia Cooke lead the cast of the idiosyncratic tearjerker from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, who dedicated the audience award to all the filmmakers and artists in his hometown of Laredo, Texas. Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, and Molly Shannon also star. "My love goes out to the entire cast and crew," said Gomez-Rejon. "This movie was about processing loss but really to celebrate a beautiful life and a beautiful man, which is my amazing father ... to celebrate his life through humor."

"The Wolfpack," Crystal Moselle's documentary about six movie-loving teenage boys isolated from society picked up the grand jury prize for best documentary.

"I stalked these kids on the street one day and here I am," said Moselle.

Comedian Tig Notaro, whose documentary "Tig" premiered at the Festival, hosted the ceremony. She also told the audience that she used to volunteer at the Festival in the mid-'90s.

The 31st Sundance Film Festival wraps on Sunday.

Other winners Saturday:

— U.S. drama, grand jury prize: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

— U.S. drama, audience award: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

— U.S. drama, directing: "The Witch," Robert Eggers

— U.S. drama, special jury award for cinematography: "Diary of a Teenage Girl," Brandon Trost

— U.S. drama, special jury award for collaborative vision: "Advantageous"

— U.S. drama, special jury award for editing: "Dope," Lee Haugen

— U.S. drama, special jury award for musical score:

— U.S. drama, special jury award for breakthrough talent:

— U.S. documentary, grand jury prize: "The Wolfpack"

— U.S. documentary, audience award: "Meru"

— U.S. documentary, directing: "Cartel Land," Matthew Heineman

— U.S. documentary, special jury award for social impact: "3 1/2 Minutes"

— U.S. documentary, special jury award for verite filmmaking: "Western"

— U.S. documentary, special jury award for cinematography: "Cartel Land," Matthew Heineman, Matt Porwoll

— U.S. documentary, special jury award for breakout first feature: "(T)error"

— Alfred P. Sloan feature film prize: "The Stanford Prison Experiment"

— Waldo Salt screenwriting award: "The Stanford Prison Experiment," Tim Talbott

— World cinema drama, grand jury prize: "Slow West"

— World cinema drama, audience award: "Umrika"

— World cinema drama, directing: "The Summer of Sangaile," Alante Kavaite

— World cinema drama, special jury award for cinematography: "Partisan," Germain McMicking

— World cinema drama, special jury award for acting: "The Second Mother," Regina Case and Camila Mardila

— World cinema drama, special jury award for acting: "Glassland," Jack Reynor

— World cinema documentary, grand jury prize: "The Russian Woodpecker"

— World cinema documentary, audience award: "Dark Horse"

— World cinema documentary, directing: "Dreamcatcher," Kim Longinotto

— World cinema documentary, special jury award for unparalleled access: "The Chinese Mayor"

— World cinema documentary, special jury award for impact: "Pervert Park"

— World cinema documentary, special jury award for editing: "How to Change the World," Jim Scott

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ldbahr

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Online:

www.sundance.org/festival