a) Yes, I have an iPhone 4.
b) Yes, I can recreate the signal drop issue (although I can't get it to drop to zero).
c) No, I don't consider it to be a fatal flaw.

To expand:
a) I bought one on launch day after reserving it back on June 15th. Not much else to say there.

b) By palming the phone in my left hand, I can get the signal bars to drop from five bars to three bars. I've also performed speed tests to compare 3G speeds when held differently. Here are those results (using the Speedtest.net app):

Held in Right Hand: 4.14Mbps down, 1.38Mbps up, 396ms ping
Held in Left Hand: 3.16Mbps down, 0.49Mbps up, 1208ms ping

So yes, palming the phone in the left hand has a measurable impact on signal quality.

c) I didn't bother doing this test until I'd actually heard this was an issue, because I simply didn't notice it. The first thing I did with my iPhone when I had it out of the box and was still in the Apple Store was put it in a bumper case.

When I'd heard there was an issue, I asked my girlfriend if she'd had any issues, but she also didn't notice it. Her phone isn't in a case, but she holds her phone in her right hand.

/*It must also vary from person to person, as she can only get my phone to drop down to four bars instead of three. I think it's because my palms tend to sweat.*/

Once it was isolated to the bottom left corner on the MacRumors forum, I took my phone out of the case, palmed it, thought "huh, interesting", ran speed tests, then put my case back on and went on about my business.

So yeah, the issue is a non-issue if you are right handed, or if you are going to put your iPhone 4 in a case.

Now, I realize that that isn't going to be good enough for most people here on slashdot. Apple is putting form over function, it's unreasonable to expect people to hold their phone differently, etc, etc, etc. Fair points all around.

But I honestly am not bothered by it. I was planning on buying a case anyway, and even if I weren't, the vast majority of calls I make or take are done with the included headset (meaning I'm not touching the phone at all). Plus, the phone is still a noticeable step up in speed, battery life, screen quality, and reception (even despite the "fatally flawed" antenna) over the iPhone 3G it replaced.

YMMV and all, but I think this issue is being blown out of proportion. It's a flaw, but it's not a dealbreaker. It's at worst a minor annoyance on what is, to me, still the best smartphone on the market for what I want/need in a phone (sorry Android, you've come a long way since the G1, and I dig the Evo's giant screen, but iOS4 is still better polished and the App Store still has more quality apps). All of that last paragraph is IMHO, of course, and is worth only the requisite $0.02. Not a cent more or less.

To counter anecdote with anecdote -

I read for about an hour or two before bed on my iPad nightly, which is about how long I would spend reading dead-tree books before my iPad (if not a bit longer, since I can read in the dark and not disturb my sleeping girlfriend). I'm not the biggest reader, I know, but I think I read enough to be able to comment on the experience.

I have noticed NO headache, eye fatigue, etc. from reading on an electronic screen. Maybe I'm the lucky one, or maybe it's because I already spend many hours a day in front of a screen at work that my eyes are used to it, but I don't find it detrimental to my eyes or health to read on a computer screen instead of some dead-tree or e- paper.

And for what it's worth, you can adjust the font size of the text and change the font itself to suit your eyes. I tend to like it slightly smaller to fit as much text on the screen at once, but a lot of people bump the size for their bad eyes.

ATI's Radeon HD4770 would be this card's analogue (mainstream DX10 hardware around $100) - widely available at around $110 on Newegg, and according to this review:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,699611/Geforce-GT-240-Nvidias-fastest-DirectX-101-graphics-card-reviewed/Reviews/

Handily beats this GT240 across the board. I'd say it's worth more than the extra $10.

Moreover, I think it's a shame this is so far the only review I've found comparing the GT240 to the HD4770. The above review pits it against the HD5750 and HD5770, which are in a completely different league, being DX11 hardware.

Do you know how Kirk rigged the test in the original universe? He reprogrammed the test so that the Klingons were scared the very name of "The Captain Kirk" and complied out of fear. I don't know if I consider that subtle or not (though it's surely more egotistical), but it definitely didn't just "give him enough of an edge." After all, if you're cheating, you're doing it to make it easy for yourself. :)

I'm really good at Guitar Hero - not the best, but the best of my circle of friends. Beat every song on expert on Guitar Hero III except "Through the Fire and Flames" and the Devil battle.

I also have eight years of guitar playing (mostly original compositions in a few indie rock and punk bands) and six years of violin/fiddle from when I was younger (classical ensembles and quartets).

Interestingly, I think that I use what I learned from violin playing more when I play GH. That's because you know what I realized GH really is?

Sight reading.

It's vertical sight reading instead of horizontal, but still the same thing (and better in some ways, since you don't have to flip your own pages). Being able to see a line coming and mentally prepare my fingers for the actions they're about to perform is exclusively what I did on violin (not so much on guitar).

You're right about the big difference between guitar and guitar-hero, of course - five buttons does not equate to six strings and 22 frets as far as movements your hands make. However, Guitar Hero is great for teaching two things that definitely come in handy for work - coordination of two hands (one strumming, one making movements on the fretboard), and proper timing (because I'm sure you're annoyed as I am when you're trying to jam with a guitarist that has no rhythm).

For people who are just learning the instrument and may be interested in reading tab or musical score, the sight reading aspect of GH is valuable as well.

The learning curve is definitely steep (as with all instruments), but I have personally witnessed two people pick up real guitar because of how much fun they have with GH. Seems that they're sticking with it, too.

Yes, but Activision's cable has only one MIDI connector, and I'm rather sure it's MIDI OUT. There's no reason for them to make it MIDI-IN, since it's meant only to send MIDI data to the drumset. No reason for data to go the other way.

And the M-Audio iControl GarageBand controller actually does have a MIDI port - it's MIDI in. Not a very heavily advertised feature, but it is there.

How so?

For most intents and purposes, there are three kinds of MIDI jacks - MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, and MIDI THROUGH. MIDI IN receives a MIDI signal, MIDI OUT sends a MIDI signal, and MIDI THROUGH just passes MIDI from the MIDI IN straight through and doesn't touch it (for chaining MIDI devices together).

From how I read it, the OP wanted to hook a MIDI device (like a MIDI keyboard) as an input device to his computer - this is what most people want out of a USB-to-MIDI cable. This would require that the cable he/she use be MIDI IN on the computer side and be MIDI OUT on the keyboard side.

The cable Activision is sending out would not be able to be used for this purpose. It is MIDI OUT on the computer side, since the drumkit is MIDI IN.

Also, yay me! I remembered line breaks this time!

I haven't gotten my USB-to-MIDI cable from Activision yet (just put my RMA in today), but I was able to tune my drumkit with my USB MIDI keyboard (An EDIROL PCR-80). Here's the thing - I had to hook the drumkit to the MIDI OUT port, not the MIDI IN (I know this for sure, because I originally tried using my M-Audio iControl with only a MIDI IN port, and it didn't work). What does this mean? That cable Activision is sending out is MIDI OUT, not MIDI IN. So if you were planning on using this free cable to hook a MIDI keyboard to your computer as an input device, it won't work. MIDI signal goes OUT of the cable, not IN. If you still want mine when I get it though, let me know :) Also, I cranked the sensitivity on my red pad up as high as it would go, and though it's significantly better (and I can actually play comfortably without smashing the living #@$% out of my plastic kit), it's still not as sensitive as the rest of my kit. Dunno if I want to exchange it or not (Target is perpetually out of stock for the Wii version).