So last night I decided it was time to go ahead and order a Powerbook.

I'll need the functionality of a portable computer by the end of October, and my credit card's monthly deadline just passed, so I'll have to pay for the thing at the same time whether I buy it now or later, so I ordered it at around 10:30 last night from outpost.com (which had a pretty nice deal on the 'book plus a hunk of extra RAM).

It showed up at 11:15 this morning.

What a country!

O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling: I tend to pay a lot of attention to presidential races, so bear with me.

Quayle quits, quietly:

• Quayle quits GOP presidential race [CNN]
  The former vice president did not endorse Bush, or any other Republican candidate, but said he would support whoever the party chose to nominate. "I want to see the Republicans recapture the White House," he said.

Bradley gets the TIME cover story:

• The art of being Bradley [TIME]
  "The American people have a right to be skeptical, but I have a right to try to change that skepticism."

McCain gets started:

• McCain formally kicks off campaign [CNN]
  "It is because I owe America more than she has ever owed me that I am a candidate for president to the United States."

Links I'd have something nice to say about if I had the will/time/energy:

• The Digital Age is changing all the old rules by Dan Gillmor [SJ Merc]
  [P]eople on both sides of the [encryption] debate have tended to use mushy language that implies the nonexistent possibility of compromise. ... In order for you to have security in your own messages, bad people also will have some level of security as they plan and conceal bad acts. ... We can't have this one both ways. So the next time you hear someone talk about preserving a "balance" between privacy and the needs of law enforcement, you'll be listening to someone who's either misinformed or lying.
  
  
• Salon Letters to the Editor (about the Elvis Costello article) [Salon]
  Bill Wyman's piece on Elvis Costello is typical of the treatment Costello has received from rock critics over the past 10 years; once the electric guitar and the snide putdown ceased to be the focus of his work, their adoration turned to ridicule. ... The prevailing critical wisdom that rock 'n' roll must be loud, simple and angry has consistently discouraged the kind of stylistic experimentation that would keep rock alive as an art form. Wasn't rock 'n' roll about freedom once? It has now become the most conservative music there is, and that's why Elvis Costello has outgrown it.
  
  Wyman actually lodges a complaint that is essentially hypocritical -- that Costello dared to change, to realize that the punk era, like the '60s, is dead and gone. His attitudes, ideas and music changed, and, contrary to Wyman's assertions, that was always reflected honestly in his work.
  
  
• The post-Y2K agenda [PCWeek]
  Establish a Windows 2000 game plan. Every company is going to have to deal with Windows 2000 in some way, even if it's just to prove it's not needed.

Still rather swamped, sorry. There's plenty I'd love to write about, but never enough time. Plus, I now have a new toy tool to acclimate myself to, so there go some more hours over the next few days...

You may find some entertainment value in my archives.