Daisy, I'd look at the shows you watch regularly, work out where they come from and if Apple TV gets you them more cheaply than cable. Then factor in ad hoc viewing.

I have an older Apple TV, and I consider it a cool novelty, but iTunes is way down the list of how I acquire visual entertainment, and I have a TiVo for streaming stuff already.

Chinese Man Grows Horn On His Head

An elderly man in southern China has baffled medical experts after he began to grow a horn on his head. Huang Yuanfan, 84, says that the strange growth began as a small bump two years ago but just continued to grow.

“I tried picking at it and even filing it but nothing changed it. The horn just kept getting bigger,” he said.

Now the horn is almost three inches long and still growing.

“Doctors say they don’t know what caused it but if they try to take it off it will just come back. I try to hide it beneath a hat but if it gets much longer it will be sticking out the top,” he added.

I wonder if this will change anybody's mind about the supposed link between vaccinations and autism:

The diehards are saying it's part of the great "Big Pharm" conspiracy.

The diehards are saying it's part of the great "Big Pharm" conspiracy.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

Because vaccines are such a cash cow for the industry. @@.

Thanks for the input guys. Some research suggests that I may want to do a Roku or Sony box if we go that route.

An Apple TV doesn't make sense for me, as most of its functionality I already have in my Sony Blu Ray player. If I need to rent an iTunes movie I'll just hook my laptop to my TV....

Yay, JZ!

Calm ~ma, brenda.

I didn't make it into work today. They're going to start thinking I'm their imaginary friend. But I had only consumed ginger ale since Tuesday lunch, and my bathroom was a horror show, and I had left some laundry in the washer for a week and forgot about it (OMG, je regrette), and I just couldn't get my act together in time for my 8 a.m. ride to work.

I did, however, spend two hours dialed in to the staff meeting and taught one of the interns how to register for recyclemania over the phone. Also, toast eaten, bathroom cleaned, laundry re-done, sheets washed. It's better this way.

My boss just called, though, to say that my phone has been ringing off the hook, and I'd better check my voice mail. Urgh.

I'm planning on going with a Mac Mini in the living room as soon as we can save up for one - for us, I can't see how it makes sense to get an AppleTV (which can only stream paid iTunes content) over something that can stream iTunes plus the entire internet. Rather than waiting for a set-top box manufacturer to make all the content deals I'd want to fully replace cable, it makes more sense to me to shell out a little more up front and just plug a computer into the TV instead.

And you don't even have to shell out that much. I bought a Mac Mini to act as my TV and if I were to resell it today, I'd be lucky to get $300 for it despite it having had extremely light use. Ah....depreciation.