J Larsen

What? G4s are still awesome. Sell it to me then! I think he was upset about the immenent price drop, which had actually already happened. I was unaware of that. Thanks, Jim. The price drop would seem to indicate that they really are going to market G5s as their main desktop line. Seems risky to me, especially given that there is no laptop on the horizon. I guess with a falling 2% market share, they figure they have little to lose.

Cali, on second thought you *might* not have anything to be upset about. I'm starting to think that the G5s are so expensive that they'll market them as a high-performance line and leave the G4s alone. As I indicated before, the G4 laptops are not likely to come down in price, as for the foreseeable future a G5 laptop is not feasable (if it were an easy problem to solve, Sun would have made sleek laptops a long time ago). Also, the vast majority of computer users don't need 64 bit processors. 64 bit chips have been around for a long time. If PC manufacturers thought that there was a commercial market for them, they would have started selling them by now. It may be that the G4 line gets merged with the iMac line into one low-end "home user" line, and the G5s become the "professional" line. But that's just wild speculation on my part.

They will. It usually takes Apple two or three months after a new line comes out to "find a way" to make the older lines about 25% less expensive. The G4 will definately be staying around for a long time, as the G5s will run far too hot to make a marketably small G5 laptop. Workstation laptops tend to be bulky like those old portable electric typewriters.

I just checked on apple.com, and it turns out that these guys are nearly $9,700 fully loaded. The 8GB of ram accounts for $3,750 of that, and the top-of-the-line graphics processor tacks on about $300 more. The $9700 also includes the cost of a 23 inch monitor, which is another $2000. The least expensive monitor you can buy from Apple is the 17 inch model for $700. If you don't already have a monitor, the lowest price you can get on the dual processor model is $3700. I find the prices a little depressing. I guess it was naive of me, but I was hoping that the 8GB dual-processor model would be available for $5000 to $6000. $3000 computer + $3750 RAM + $2000 monitor = $8750 = way more than I'm willing to pay for a Mac.

I don't know about this. It's going to take at the least a year for that cut to heal before Klitschko can take a chance of anyone beating on it. And Lewis is going to turn 38 this Sept. The earliest I can see that cut healing is 9-10 months if Klitschko is a very quick healer. Otherwise it is a good year before he can even start sparring again. I'm sure that played in to his displeasure at having the fight stopped. A year is a long time to have to think about that "loss".

Agree on all counts. Interleague play is stupid. I'm flying out to see some games at Pac Bell in August. They didn't open it up until I'd moved away from SF. I don't think I'll miss the Stick.

They're a bit of a frustrating team at the moment. In past years they've been a team that was "just one solid player away". Now they're a team that's three solid players away. They need a clutch hitter in the lineup, they need a innings-eater in the rotation (the inability of four of their starters to ever go past the sixth is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem) and they need a high-quality arm in the bullpen. Of course, a lot of tems would be good if they could have all three f those things.

I'm not too knowledgable about boxing, but my girlfriend is a big fan. When the fight was called she screamed "Those %&$#ing crooks" about three times. She watches a lot of boxing and she thought it was a terrible call and even went so far as to say she thought the doctor was slipped some cash. So, as bad as it may look to some of us who don't follow the sport closely, it seems that it might not been that bad of a cut as far as boxing goes.

Some dude on a SF Giants board I check from time to time keeps insisting that they're called "trollers" and that a "troll" is a post meant to upset and bait one into an argument. When anyone refers to a so-called "troller" as a "troll", he gets very upset and snippity. I guess he's just a troll.

The screenplay I linked above must have been one WB decided to pass on - why else would it be on the net? Let's hope my theory is correct. I highly doubt that the duo that brought us "The Mask of Zorro" could do justice to Sandman. Just one thing confuses me: I would assume that WB owns the copyright on any script that it commissions. Does it not seem strange that these guys would be able to post their script on their website? I'm convinced that the script is legit. The website looks 100% legit and it too elaborate to be a hoax (not to mention that the real writers would have had it shut down by now if it were a hoax). Plus the existance of a Sandscript by these two guys is confirmed by the site to which Mny posted a link.

I take back the "highly questionable authenticity" bit. I was skeptical at first, as a Google link took me directly to the script and it looked like something anyone could have posted to the web. Now that I've looked around on their homepage, it looks legit.

Here's a link (of HIGHLY questionable authenticity) to a Sandman movie script supposedly commissioned by Warner Brothers: http://www.wordplayer.com/archives/SANDMAN.cover.html

If two guys want to pummel each other for a hefty check, or even just for kicks, far be it from me to stop them. BTW, I'm pretty sure boxing gloves are only designed to protect the knuckles of the puncher (if you connect with more than just your first two knuckles wothout gloves you're likely to break knuckles). I don't think they soften the blow for the guy on the receiving end to any significant extent.

k-hd, I don't understand the graphics you posted. What is on the x and y axes? Is this some sort of Fourier spectrum, or are we simply looking at volume level vs. time? If it's the later, I'm not sure what the graphics prove. I'm not trying to come across as confrontational, I'm just honestly confused.

!!! We'll have to agree to disagree on that one!

I've been re-discovering The Band lately. I liked them when I was very young, and I am finding that I still really like their albums. I might have to pick up some of the remasters. I just got a King Oliver cd in the mail. It's my first exposure to his music. I'm not in a big rush to get a lot more, but I really like having this disc in my collection. I also finally heard a Stefon Harris-led date (Black Action Figures). I really expected to like it, and I really didn't. I found it a little too easy on the ears for my tastes - not "smooth" per se, but a little on the bland side. I also just picked up "Mysterious Traveler". So far (I've only listened to it twice) I like it about 10000000000 times more than Heavy Weather, but it's still not really my favorite thing in the world (10000000000 times a very small number is still pretty small). I do, however, have a feeling that this album might grow on me, and when I have that feeling I'm usually right.

Doesn't it seem that a Sandman movie would be feasible and, if done properly, fairly succesful?

I try to avoid piling on, but I have to say this movie looks like it's going to be about as good as The Phantom.

If your kids show no drive, you really should show concern. Simply smiling and patting them on the back would be poor parenting, IMO.

I actually relate to what Mny has been saying and I'm a little surprised by the reactions he's elicited. My chosen field is extremely competitive, as is Mny's. My colleagues and I are always competing for the same (very finite) funding, access to the same data, the same positions, etc. It was the same story in my brief stint as a financial consultant (which was done SOLEY for the VERY serious need of $$$s.) I'd much rather be a "driver A", but if I am, in fact, a "driver B" I could probably learn to live with it (although I'd fighting like hell to get at least one win).

Then I think this is probably as good a choice as any. Get a Nokia phone, and you might be able to sell it when you're finished with it. Hell, maybe you can even find it at a large electronics store with a 30-day return policy! (Make sure you deactivate the phone with your service provider before you get rid of it, though!)

Are you looking for a no-contract phone because you only want to use it for a short period of time, or are you going to continue using it after you get back from vacation? If you're planning to use it long-term, TracFone is very expensive. I get 600 anytime minutes plus 5400 evening/weekend minutes for about what they charge for 200 minutes. If you only want to use it for a couple weeks, this type of service makes sense. With the larger companies you can normally get no-contract service, but then you don't get subsidized phones and you don't get as good of rates. BTW, if you do go with TracFone, get a Nokia phone rather than Motorola. Motorola is thought of as a better brand, but the people I know who own Motorola phones are generally unhappy with them. Evidently they don't get great reception and the batteries don't have very long lifespans compared to other brands.

With Macs running UNIX now (the main reason I've stuck with them), who's going to buy Sun workstations after these come out? Sure, if you buy the fully loaded model you'll be spending about $5000, but Sun Ultra Creators are about ten times that for similar performace to what I expect from these new Macs based on the specs. EDIT: I've just been informed that Sun Workstations have already come down in price dramatically. Evidently you can get a very good workstation for $15,000 now. I remember my Ultra Creator 15 that was ordered for a project I was working on in 1999 costing around $40,000.

I was trying to wait for MRAM to come out before upgrading my laptop, but as that keeps getting pushed back I will probably pick one of these up sometime next year. The PowerBook I bought in early 2000 (the firewire model) is increasingly limiting for me. As mentioned above, it's not wise to buy one of these too soon after their release. The early releases of Apple hardware are almost invariably problematic. The earliest G4s were not as fast or reliable as the final G3s.

I find a lot of his music to be a little "light" for my tastes. I sort of like Bug Music, but that's his throwback New Orleans jazz album, so if you're looking for something modern it doesn't quite fit the bill. One album I recommend avoiding is "A Fine Line". I don't know how others feel about this album, but it sounds a little too close to smooth jazz for my tastes.