h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*settles onto couch for an afternoon snooze*

*picks up a newspaper and begins to read. He notices that a lot of people are asleep inside* I suppose it's a good time for an afternoon nap.

Lil, according to my New Zealand newspaper it is going to rain in Florida yesterday which of course is actually today for some people and tomorrow for others.

*Profers umbrella just in case*

*bounds in, looking rather chipper*

'Kay. l've a technical question for you lot. More like a poll, actually. The parental unit is tentatively offering to spring for a laptop for yours (internet-addicted) truly. Ostensibly for school use, but we all know how that goes.
So. Do l wheedle for an iBook or go the traditional PC route? l've only owned PCs before...but they're so cold and impersonal and you just know that, were they your wife, they'd be frigid. A headache every night.
And the iMacs are so gosh-darned cute.
So which way do l go?

PCs are so 1990s....

Well, you -do- live on that New Zealand cutting edge...what's trendy here has probably already gone on to passe and from thence into retro-chic, in your timezone.

*walks in slowly, looking tired*
Long day.
And seeing you here, Looney, makes it 13 hours longer.
*puts bottled spring water on for green tea*

I tried to read every post in a rather elderly forum, and failed. Time passed and I didn't notice. An then I was taken out by lightning.

I don't know anything about Apple computers, I only know about the partisan ferocity of their owners. I think PC owners have a better sense of humour. They have to.

*bops self in head*

Oh, hey, Lil, l forgot; l'd a question for you. Want a water filter for the tap, for your green tea, so you needn't bother with bottled? l've one of those sorts that affixes to the faucet and takes out the various nasty things that separate tap water from spring. lt won't affix to my tap, because l have some sort of obscure faucet-nozzle, but l bet that it would to the cafe sink.
*reads aloud from product literature*
Removes: lead, chlorine, cryptosporidia, giardia, arsenic, asbestos, Atrazine, Lindane, 2,4D....

Good God.

Why am l not dead yet?

As the human body is made up of 90% water then presumably the rest is bones and lead, chlorine, cryptosporidia, giardia, arsenic, asbestos, Atrazine, Lindane, 2,4D, writes a man on the cutting-edge of narcissism

*shakes her head*
But it doesn't put IN the things that make it possible to distinguish the water of one spring from another.

Have you ever tasted Welsh water? Most delicious water I've ever had. Naturally soft. Not distilled, or mock-distilled, as by filter.

*makes tea, proffers cup to Looneytunes*

Huh.

Mind if l try some tea?

Good morning everyone!
*looks at watch and realises that it's almost 10 pm*
Where DID the day go?

Redbeard's Brew, please?
*catches up on the backlog*

Congrats on the entries, Ioreth! I noticed the fact that you were a front pager today, but didnt' get around to commenting.

Lil, Mac users ferocious? I'll have you know that I'm a Mac user who is also happy to use PCs...
...as ballast.

Odradek... welcome back, by the way..., I'd say that it depends on 1) what you want to use it for and 2) what you're used to and like. If you're going to use if for creative applications (particularly desktop publishing and graphic design), I recommend the iBook, if you'll use it for technical and business applications, go with the PC. But that's just a generalization... these days you can do most anything on either platform, so what you like to use is important. The reason I mention desktop publishing is because most printers, even though they support both, tend to breathe a sigh of relief when you bring in your work done on a Mac.

Accepts cup of tea made using sparkling, bubbly, NZ artesion well water from Lil. Cheers

Hi Løøny!

Sorry I missed you as I walked in. Too much sensory input!

Talking about water and being a caring sharing sort of guy some of you may enjoy reading my mail from the Napier City Council.

TO THE OCCUPIER
Water Mains Cleaning
During the following week the Napier City Council Utilities Division will be carrying out the Mains Cleaning Programme in your area.
This will cause some disruption to the water supply during the week, but we will endeavour to keep this to a minimum. Supply will not be affected before 9:00am each day and no cleaning will be carded out on Mondays. Water may be available while work is in progress, but it is likely to become discoloured. Therefore, you are advised to minimise your water use during the actual period when cleaning is being carrried out, and in particular, avoid using hot water, automatic washing machines, dishwashers etc.
In some circumstances discoloured water may discharge from your taps the first time they are used after cleaning has been completed for the day. This is normal and can be overcome by running the water for a short time until it clears. If discoloured water persists then please contact the Council on the numbers listed below.
If you have any queries regarding any of the above, please contact Dean Hammond at the Utilities Division of the Council, telephone 835-7579 extension 5815 between 7:30ain and 4:30pm. For assistance with problems after hours, please telephone 835-7579.
For more information on the specific areas to be affected each day, please listen to either Classic Hits 89 FM, 96 ZM, Newstalk ZB or 190 Easy Listening radio stations between 7:00am and 8:30am Tuesday to Friday.
Yours faithfully W McWatt WORKS ASSET MANAGER
pp Dean Hammond WATER SUPPLY AND MECHANICAL SERVICES FOREMAN

And moving right back on topic, I am reliably informed that one of the favourite drinks on the Microsoft campus is Tangerine Talking Rain which I imagine would drive most sane people to eat an Apple

Nothing like some good old-fashioned colorful water!

*shuffles back in, muttering disgruntled curses about her lSP under her breath*

Hiya, Redbeard.
lf l want it mainly for playing around on the lnternet, for music, and just general use, ought l go with the Mac, then?
And yes, Loony, l want a tangerine one. Tangerine! ls that so wrong?

Sometimes my tap water turns tangerine...this can be unnerving if you're not expecting it, and happen to be having a bath at the time. But what is unpleasant in water shade is more than aesthetically pleasing in CPUs.

I wonder how much Tangarine Talking Rain has been up close to the pearly Gates

*thinks: so that's why he 'borrowed' the bottle on his way to the forum yesterday* Sounds dubious, Looney. Is the quality of Napier city water generally good?

*pours green tea for Odradek and a RBB for Redbeard*

I don't believe I've seen you for a couple of days, Redbeard -- just missed over the weekend. And of course, I was myself absent for much of Saturday... Fortunately, that rift resolved itself after Odradek got back.

I have a new addition to my art gallery (A304354), incidentally -- some "antique" digital art.

After the success of the colorful little Macs, watch Gates pressure the PC companies into producing duplicate laptops, in precisely the same shade, but with a Windows operating system, and refer to the color as, like, kumquat or tangelo or something.

Hey, haven't they started producing those, already, as a matter of fact?