@Blakey Rat "The Kin here is more like a Sidekick, that's who they're competing with."

The Microsoft Kin, is competing against the Sidekick, the company Microsoft already bought, and drove into the ground?

So what you are saying is Microsoft is building a phone to compete with themselves. At least they are finally competing with someone on even ground.

True enough, every time I get a little snicker out of the continued absence of Zunes and I kid about it with a non-geek, the answer I receive 90% of the time is "Whats a Zune?" That really does take the fun out of it. No schadenfreude to be had there.

Most non geeks I've spoken to have never even heard of a Zune. The only thing that seems to have failed worse for Microsoft than Zune, was Microsoft's marketing department.

Don't worry, we all wish Microsoft the best of luck with this, and I am sure it will be every bit the market leader that has made Zune a household word.

****This statement is sarcasm****

"Sarcasm tag provided by the League to aid the sarcasm impaired, you may be sarcasm impaired and not even know it"

I need to point out its Apple MOBILE devices have the lockdown, NOT the computers. And I don't have to worry about my computer being randomly shut down from defective validations. Or quirky unreliable activation keys that may, or may not work.

My Macbook Pro, is for more open in what I can run or do than any Windows 7 "6.1" windows machine, and I'm not drowned in media company "content control". They day that Apple tries that with the actual COMPUTERS is the day my MBP gets Linux.

.......and straight, and christian.

Do what I did. Stop giving them technical support.

I finally told my massive collection of free tech support scroungers that I won't do Windows anymore, ever. And that if they wanted my help with their computer problems I'd be happy to help them pick out a Mac OR put Ubuntu on their PCs. but never complain to me about Microsoft, or expect any Windows support. I refuse to clean up their MS messes anymore.

Its been fun, about half go Linux and half go Mac, I'm happy to help them find any non Windows solution. and so far, not a one has gone back.

OSX, I pay for it, it works. No problem. I buy the OS, I install it. I don't play "mother may I?" with a phone bank in Bangalore to turn my computer back on.

I had Leopard on a Dual core G4 500, took the hard drive out and dropped it in a G4 1.4 ghz, know what happened? It started, saw all the hardware and just kept going. Do that in a PC and see what happens. Constant activation issues is why I stopped using XP in the first place.

Microsoft, you pay for it, it fails, its the end users fault or the hardware manufacturer is to blame. It is NEVER the software, just ask them!

The difference between Mac and PC ownership is, Mac packs the pain of the purchase in the original buy, Microsoft just sleazes it on with all the "extras" you need later. I'd rather pay $1300 for a MacBook Pro that Ill have for the next four years, than $400 for an Acer that will fall apart and start jettisoning keys, trim, "even hard drives" at 13 months. I was given a one year old Acer recently from a fellow I converted to Linux who wanted a "cheap" computer, its on its second hard drive, the keyboard is disintegrating, and its had three power supplies. It was 13 months old. My old Macbook Pro is three years old, with its new owner, "my brother" where it will see ANOTHER three years of use. Other than some upgrades, the only thing I ever had to do with it was replace the keyboard.

When you go to a ballgame I bet you get the cheap seats.............

Ever hear of "States Rights?" This was about Lincoln's total disregard of states rights as defied by the US constitution. And it ended with the monstrous, and out of control Federal government we have now. Most people today don't even KNOW what states rights means, or that there ever was such a thing.

Sure you can, its held in with one plug and a couple of y head screws and it just lifts out. They finally made it all easy to replace. And everyone sells aftermarket batteries. Usually better than stock. But I always let Apple replace the first one free. Why not? I paid for it.

Leopard on a Dual core 500. I had to max the ram, and update the Video card a bit. "GeForce 4 from eBay" It was easy. Proof, and instructions below.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/3620701745_cb0753c18c_o.png

To install Leopard on an "unsupported" G4 clocked under 867 MHz:

1. Reboot your Mac and hold down the Cmd-Opt-O-F keys until you get a white screen with black text. This is the Open Firmware prompt.

2. Insert the Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD.

3. Type the following lines exactly as shown below into the Open Firmware prompt. Be mindful of capitalization, spaces, zeros, etc. If the command is properly typed and understood, Open Firmware will display "ok" at the end of each line after you hit "return". What these lines do is set the CPU speed reported by Open Firmware to OS X as an 867 MHz G4 processor system. They then continue the boot from the DVD drive.

For single CPUs, use the following three lines:


For dual CPUs, use the following five lines:

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0 d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@1 d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property boot cd:,\\:tbxi

4. Continue the install normally.

Not the end of the world.

No. Just no. My last MacBook Pro came with Tiger, and I installed install Snow Leopard from the $29 "Update" disk. The idea you have to have the $129 Tiger to Snow Leopard upgrade pack if you are running Tiger is simply wrong. That's old news. The only point of the $129 update pack was getting compatible iLife, a big bundle of things I personally don't use and saw no need to pay for. So for the people screaming that having to update is UNFAIR! If you have an Intel Mac, its $29. Not the end of the world. Whats that? six cups of coffee? A moderately priced dinner for two? And if you are running Power PC more than seven years old, its time to get a new computer. I wish half of you had fussed this badly when Microsoft made people throw out computers that were brand new and supposedly "Vista Capable" but weren't. I have a PPC "media machine" in my bedroom from 2003 running Leopard, and its just fine. How long is Apple supposed to keep supporting decade old hardware? If you are running anything less than a midrange G4 your machine is more a curio than a tool anyway. Where are the "OMG Windows Seven isn't supported on my PC from 2003" people? If any one had been arguing the lack of support for eight year old Microsoft kit, people would be laughing themselves sick.

A Trip to the doctor recently found that my blood work was great, except for a SERIOUS vitamin D shortage. Now I have to take 2000Mg of Vitamin D a day. Considering my free time consists of "World of Warcraft" this isn't too surprising. But I'm 45 years old. When I was a kid I had an actual life and a decent diet. If my vitamin D levels had been this low at 12, my bones would have been like soft cheese. How hard is it to force some vitamins into your kid? We were raised by a single parent, and somehow she still managed to make us take a multi-vitamin. I can't get over the fact that there are people who would never dream of missing an oil change on their car who can't see to it that their kid gets a vitamin supplement every day.

The first iPhone was $600, not $800. Why is any Apple device automatically inflated in price 1/4 in any given forum discussion? I know. I had one. And yes it was overpriced. I have a 3Gs now, and at $200 its a decent phone, I like it a lot. But I'm still not sure why I spent that much on the original one though. It wasn't status, it was just a great user experience. You picked it up and played with it and in ten minutes you wanted one yourself. These are the people the tablet will sell to. I have a Macbook Pro and I can't imagine a use for the tablet. But then again. I'm not the Billionaire CEO. I still buy Apple products. I just had to get over my urge to pay the "early adopter" tax. Some people never do, and the rest of us need to thank them. they drive the price down for the rest of us.

Having worn acrylics, that was my first thought. many hardcore nails types, type with the tips of their super re-enforced salon nails. That WILL not work. Here I see a lot of women with iPhones, not so many with salon nails.

Funny, I voted for Obama because of Palin. "and I voted for Regan and Dole" But Palin? You have got to be kidding. If you don't know what the VP's job description is, you probably shouldn't be running for office. As a non hetro-non christian, its not like I had much of a choice in the matter of who to vote for, it was Obama or stay home, even the Libertarians ran a nutjob............