While you were busy watching Vladimir Guerrero take home the Home Run Derby crown two nights ago (not to mention the All-Star game last night), you may not have been aware that AT&T Park was feeding uber-clean energy back into the grid serving PG&E's customers throughout northern and central California. Sure enough, the home of the San Francisco Giants is now also home to 590 Sharp solar panels located in three separate areas of the stadium, which combine to generate some 120-kilowatts of electricity. The size of the entire array is reportedly "equivalent to approximately 40 residential solar systems," and while this system won't conjure up as much power as the CIS Solar Tower, it will certainly make good use of the ballpark during the off-season.

[Via EETimes image courtesy of MatrixCS]

Those looking for a little more interaction at Safeco Field this season need only bring their DS Lite and a few extra bucks. This season, Nintendo is trialing the Nintendo Fan Network at the home of the Seattle Mariners, which enables onlookers to "order food and drinks, watch the live television feed of the game, access stats and scores, and play trivia from the comfort of their seat." The quietly introduced pilot program has brought several kiosks to the park, which uploads a program to the DS Lite and enables the WiFi-equipped handheld to take part in the bonus festivities. Eventually, the Big N hopes to expand the system into other stadiums, but for now, Mariners fans can get in on the action for $5 per game, or $30 for ten games.

[Image courtesy of Flickr]

While some broadcasters are actually utilizing the Slingbox and appreciating its benefits, leave it to Major League Baseball to further alienate its dwindling fanbase. After cable customers were just barely able to get back in on the Extra Innings love, it appears that Sling Media is still being blacklisted in the eyes of MLB, as a recent interview with Michael Mellis, Senior VP and general counsel of MLB Advanced Media's offices reinforced the friction between the two. Most recently, Mellis and friends seem to be mulling a lawsuit against Sling, as he claims that the Slingbox "allows viewers to circumvent geographical boundaries written into broadcast rights deals," and moreover, had no shame in admitting that profiteering was at the forefront of their minds by suggesting that "if the league can't protect the rights it sells, that doesn't bode well for future contracts when it wants to resell the rights at higher margins." Reportedly, the CEA has indeed come to Sling's side by proclaiming that this case is a "classic instance of copyright owners trying to suppress innovation purely because it empowers consumers." Of course, we hope you don't let Mellis' words get you too riled up -- after all, he also stated that "there's no guarantee that Slingbox would be around next year as it's just a startup." Let the snickering commence.

[Via CNET]

After alienating fans with long strikes and doped-up players, you'd think that Major League Baseball would be wise to make moves towards recapturing its lost fan base; instead, recent comments by an executive from MLB's media division indicate that baseball may be intending to further sour relations with its customers by cracking down on the placeshifting of televised games. Speaking at this year's Digital Media Summit in LA, MLB Advanced Media executive VP George Kliavkoff went toe-to-toe with fellow panel member and Sling Media marketing VP Rich Buchanan, arguing that Slingbox customers are "violating the scope of their [cable and satellite] user agreements" when they rebroadcast content out of their home market. The whole issue seems rather silly to us, as baseball is essentially complaining that you're somehow screwing a local affiliate by watching an out-of-market game when you're traveling to its city, even though the sport as a whole is still benefiting from your viewership and the vast number of placeshifters probably ensure that no net eyeballs are actually lost. Note to MLB: Cricket is starting to look more and more attractive every day.