I have a cover-up for a tattoo about the same size as either of those of Mr. Morbidly Obese. It's just another coat of paint to the skin; not hard to hide at all.

On a brighter note, I agree with John that it will be an absolute motherfucking pleasure not to see his picture anymore.

The Sony TX/TZ series ultraportables used to tout 4-6 hours regularly ... at least they did when I was in retail. I would expect a netbook or UMPC to last at least that long.

My sweet spot is eight hours of mixed use. Integrated 3G cellular radio and/or WiFi would need to be tooled as best they can to sip juice instead of chug it like a keg stand. Screen would probably need to be OLED. Get some of that new-fangled static RAM that doesn't need power to save its state. The wishlist will just keep growing if I don't shut up.

I presume you've been searching Pricewatch for deals as well, no? I was configuring Core2Quad Q6700 systems with XP Pro, 4GB RAM, X-Fi sound card, 650W PSU and a modest (but older) video card for around $850, shipped. I put together a Core2Duo e8400 with similar guts but w/o a GPU for $733. The company was http://www.AscendTech.us

And here's a non-sequitur: I've been a Vista Ultimate 64-bit user for about two years now (a year in beta) and I've had very few issues -- as many as I had in XP. The problems that cropped up were due to outmoded driver models or wonky 32-bit support; and were respectively fixed with updating and setting compatibility mode(s).

As ACB pointed out, wouldn't App Store compatibility be a huge incentive not to design for such a hamstrung device? Why wouldn't users just install the standard Mac software and be done with it?

Also, subsidized notebooks will require some serious pillow talk from both carriers and manufacturers. 3G and EV-DO have been options in notebooks for years, and it only makes the damn thing more expensive. (I read somewhere that DoCoMo is experimenting with this on a netbook.)

There is the additional problem of users' perception of hardware stability and longevity. People normally expect a mobile phone to last through the entirety of their contract, and therefore justify the expense of buying that glossy iPhone. Given the "must upgrade now" and "fear malware and ignorance" mantras from every computer PR and marketing department, how many users expect their computer to last through the end of the week, much less the end of a two-year contract?

Does the leather padding mean it's ruggedized? Because I could use a new stadium cushion.

@ Itsumishi: In Winamp you can also press 'Q' to un-randomize the next song on your playlist. Another favorite shortcut is to hit 'J' (Jump to file) to search for a particular song and 'Q'ueue the results.

And I totally agree with you that Winamp nearly has all my other media players replaced. Unfortunately, video seems to be poorly interpreted by the program, resulting in a distorted, hissing, overdriven audio track. Can't figure out if it's a codec issue or just me.

Here's a silly question for BB Gadgeteers: Am I the only person in the world that doesn't create playlists? Instead, I play all my songs on random because I never really know what I'm in the mood for until I hear it. If I don't want to hear that particular tune, it's a lovely Next button.

Here is where I agree with you that esthetically pleasing software gets the better of me sometimes. It probably gets the better of all of us at one time or another. And here's a whopper of a disclosure: I don't personally use Media Center out of habit, because I use several different programs to reach the same ends.

I decided a long time ago that while some companies do certain things really, really well, no one company can create an application that does everything exceedingly well. Items like Plex and WMC have finally started to scratch the surface - and admittedly Plex offers some very pretty visuals - but nothing has deterred me from using Winamp for audio, WMP or MPC for video, etc.

I totally understand and appreciate the need for a one-stop shop for media munching. Currently I have no use for such a program, seeing as I don't own a TV (or TV tuner for that matter), and only have one desktop computer for consumption.

Have I made enough of an ass of myself? I'll shut up now.

There's a program that, of all companies, Microsoft made a few years ago. They've designed it to be functional first, pretty second; and I must say it is (mostly) a pleasure to use. It comes bundled with most versions of Vista, and even had its own XP flavor way back in 'aught-five.

Maybe you've heard of it: Windows Media Center?

Just about everyone with "digital home" software will have a clone. Nero has one, Roxio has one ... just Google "media center software" for a more comprehensive list.

The point I want to make, though, is all of these companies are trying to duplicate what Media Center already does incredibly well. That the program doesn't look as beautiful as something like Plex is secondary to functionality, in my opinion.

Joel, I love you. Another couple of minutes reviewing (or sleep) might have revealed to you that you missed inserting the word "wrong" in the first sentence.

Respectfully,
Pedantry, Inc.

The best part is how casually he pulls his hand up to block the sun at 100 mph.

You forgot the best part: it has a nummy VGA screen. Albeit 2.8 inches isn't nearly as sexy as 3.5 inches on the whyPhone.

I'm still waiting for the Xperia X1. That phone leaves little bits of drool down my chin.

I posit that City 17 from Half Life 2 has its share of thrills and chills. The wonderfully created Combine dystopia that Valve put together is probably a little too directed to go on this list (what do you mean, I can't crawl under the train/blow this door down/climb over this rubble; etc.), but I submit to you that the creepy atmosphere and stunning visuals more than make up for the city's shortcomings.

I suppose I will have to find a new flight-time hobby; looking suspiciously from one fellow passenger to the next will now get me flagged by a computer rather than the hot redhead three rows up.

the pedant in me says -"i.e.", +"e.g." i always get them mixed up.

Ouch, crystal leakage. Did you literally step on your bag?

Most stress cracks I've seen like that were caused by focused pressure, i.e. when consumers at Best Buy are trying to see the back of a laptop's lid and they end up bending the screen against the lockdown, beyond tolerance.

Does anyone else know if the screens used on the Kindle are exceptionally fragile, or do you chalk it up to "Joel's a klutz?"

"Today on the NewYou.com hour our guest is scientist, author - and until a recent press release, recluse - Doctor Joeseph Veriton. Thank you for coming on our show."

"I'm delighted to be here, thank you for having me."

"Doctor Veriton, how did you manage to encode an entire human genome into a single kilobyte?"

"The short answer is compression. The long answer is I didn't; the DNA did."

"Could you describe for us the theory behind it?"

"Sure. DNA has four ingredients, and those ingredients are mapped in a series in order to create the infamous double helix. What happens is: incredibly complex patterns begin to emerge, so complex that we can't see them -- but protein-based computers can, because they contain many if not all the same patterns, but in a different order. We don't encode the genome, we encode the patterns. The protein can 'unzip' the pattern, using itself as a sort of template."

"And what is your proof, doctor?"

With a nod, three more Doctors Veriton walked on, stage right.

This work by Michael W. Hyde is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

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