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Ooh. Seems today's permanent account sale will give folks 100 icons, not just 50. Murr. ^_^

Further to yesterday's Apple news, you can now view the keynote wherein said revelation was laid forth. (It begins with an update on the stores, then bits of Tigery goodness)

[caution: geek rambling ahead!]

Obviously, I'll join John Siracusa in lamenting the apparent passing of the PowerPC as a desktop processor (though it's assured of a vibrant life on many a console, being at the core of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Revolution, not to mention a large chunk of the far larger embedded market), given its comparative elegance, particularly on the SIMD front. Altivec was a positive joy to work with, and the overall architecture made it straightforward to balance out processor-specific aspects such as the number and capabilities of the integer units and vector sub-units, crafting the code for maximum utilisation of all. With 32 128-bit vector registers (alongside the 32 32-bit GPRs and 32 64-bit FPRs, all exposed architecturally) to play with, converting scalar code to work in a SIMD fashion was fun, not to mention fruitful - one core piece of code I converted sped up rescaling by around four times, thanks to being able to work on that much more data at a time.

On the other paw, it's difficult to question Intel's commitment to the desktop and laptop - ultimately, this ought to guarantee the hardware doesn't stagnate, as it's now done twice, in the G4 days with Motorola, and now with IBM's PPC970. (That said, the keynote made it clear there'll be more PPC goodness to come, probably including the dual core 970MP for the Xserve family, and likely another round of the desktops) And Yonah sounds like it could make for quite a good PowerBook offering, though I've read some WWDC scuttlebutt that developers shouldn't write with SSE3 in mind.. we'll just have to see what its SIMD, and 64-bit, abilities turn out to be.

[okay, it's safe again]

Yep, I suppose I'd have to agree - Boom Town was the weakest episode so far. Still enjoyable, but the central theme of mercy didn't gel, given the Slitheen had planned on destroying the planet, and had come very close to being successful. With a lack of sympathy on the onlooker's behalf, the firmament underlying the episode crumbled, at the cost of some worthy sentiments. Still, we did finally see some initial realisation of the recurring hints, seemingly seeded by the Doctor himself.. or maybe the Tardis? Check out the Bad Wolf disclaimer page, and highlight all the text..

On which note, I recently stumbled upon the BBC's Doctor Who "Fear Forecast" pages, such as this one, for The Empty Child, wherein they record blow-by-blow reactions to the episode as shown to an audience of four children, aged 4, 6, 8, and 12. (Gratifyingly, they rated it "5: Terrifying") Be sure to read the comments too, eg 'victoria stevens 10 - I loved it even though it scared me so much I had to put my largest toy dogs by both my sides when I went to bed.My friend Annie and I kept repeating Captain Jacks "exellent bottem" in American accents.Can not wait for next weeks as allways the case.', or 'Matt - Both my children (2) and (4) watch it. They both loved it. The youngest then proceeded to scratch at the bathroom door chanting "mummy, muumy let me in" in a funny voice while the wife was in the bath. Great episode.'
100... icons....???
oh... my... I wish I had the extra... I'd do it...
It's maybe just as well they don't offer a monthly payment plan.. ^_^ I know I'd love the extra iconage, and never having to be concerned about renewing the account, always having it in top form like that, would be rather spiffy.

Maybe I should've suggested something like that to them - so it wouldn't actually be a matter of extending credit, but just an agreement to pay for six years of LJ time within some set period. Fail to live up to it, and you'd just be left with that much paid time - complete the payments, and on receiving the total amount, your account would automagically transform into a permanently icon-endowed one.
That it may be... That would be spiffy. -_- Oh well, bills and real world must come first... *le sigh* Damn reality.

There's a quote coming to mind and I can't think of where it's from

"I reject your reality and substitute my own"

And it's something I've seen a lot.
Mmm, as cool as that might be, to pay for 6 years of LJ time, then automagically become a permanent account, that would ruin the spiffyness of the name "permanent account", methinks.
Mrf? I'm not quite following.. I was thinking in the context of a means of "easy payments", without getting LJ into the wild and woolly world of credit. So, if you bought $150 worth of LJ time within, say, three or six months, but only if you committed yourself when the accounts were on sale (but why aren't they always available anyway?).

Still, moot point anyway. ^_^;
Hey Porsupah - I was listening to "The Neon Bunny Experiment" and the first song in it is a version of Bright Eyes with some wild pitch bends and strange effects. I know I've heard this version before from some LJ link. Since you tend to be the link-master, do you have that link? I can't find it anymore.
Hee! It's a wonderful remix, ne? That's Osymyso's handiwork - "Fiver to Bigwig" - and the track can be found here.
Yup, that's it - yes, a nice remix - Thanks!