One can understand how J.K. Rowling may have come up with, not so much the idea for quidditch, but how it could certainly have become popular amongst that population. The Brits I've met have generally known how to have a very good time.

Yes, indeed. But they insist on saying "Sorry" when you step on their foot! :confused:

And the difference in language can be most amusing. I know a British girl who started attending university in the US. During a lecture, taking notes with a pencil, she turned to the girl next to her: "May I borrow your rubber, please?"

Do stick with the English beer, however. :D Except for a few honourable mentions, mostly from small breweries, American beer is a lot like – well, making love in a canoe...

I tried cheese rolling in Wisconsin once. Humorous, but since it didn't involve a lot of beer consumption, I suspect it was missing a vital component.

My MBP is now somewhere in Phoenix. It arrived on Saturday. But still shows a Wednesday delivery date. They're not going to get away with that, I'll be at the FedEx depot first thing in the morning. If I don't fall to the temptation to grab bolt cutters and head over there tonight.

Go VERY early! They load those trucks and the trucks are out before the crack of dawn!

Took me a bit to finally get the new nano iPod.

Oh, if it goes out on a truck I'll have it by 10:30am, and that's fine. That's essentially the crack of dawn for me anyway. I just don't want it sitting in a depot until Wednesday for no apparent reason.

I think FedEx read this and had a good laugh at me. When I got up it was still showing as "at depot" on the tracking. Panic. Called FedEx and the first person said it would be held in a container until the promised delivery date, Wednesday. Double panic.

I asked if I could come get it, and he put me through to someone who identified herself as a "customer advocate." She took my info, said she thought it would be delivered today, but she would call around to locate it and make sure, then call me back. Sure enough, she called back five minutes later and said I would get it today. She said she wasn't sure if it would make the 10:30 delivery, but definitely by 3.

It arrived at 10:37.

I'm pretty impressed with the way the second FedEx person took ownership of my call and followed through. I haven't been a real fan of FedEx lately, but they certainly did give me good customer service.

Mmmmmmm...new laptop smell...

so how is it!?

Bah, it's a piece o' crap.

:D :D

Stunning screen, predictably. The 17 was always impressive, but the glossy screen is even more so. And it is much less affected by sunlight than the matte screen was, so I've been working on the patio half the day.

It seems to use much less power than my old one, though I haven't yet tested it with a clock. Speed is a bit snappier, and oddly, seems to copy files faster, which I didn't expect.

The G4 17" was my first Mac portable, and I've had most of the others along the way. I'm glad to be back on the 17.

Yeah, I like that screen size too. Which is one reason why I was all too glad to give the new black MacBook to the missus, as soon as I got my old PowerBook fixed.

Curious if you appreciate one feature that I find really handy at times: the faintly glowing keyboard.

I absolutely do appreciate the lighted keyboard, almost every day. From airplane trips to use in the living room while the lights are at "movie watching level," the lighting is really useful. I think I like all the little details like the auto dimming also.

The shiny screen has proven to be a big improvement so far, as it makes it easy to avoid catching lights behind me or to the sides. I always had a hard time using the matte screen outdoors (and with our weather, I often wanted to be working outdoors). It certainly does make the text sharper and more readable, with higher overall contrast.

The FW800 port...still useless... Well, I might use it in FW400 mode some time, but really don't care if it is there.

The extra USB on the left is good when I put on the cable lock, which blocks the right USB.

Lower power usage and less heat...definitely a bonus.

The only down-sides are weight and slower recharge time since the battery is a little larger. Oh, and the 17 is harder to fit on an airplane tray table, definitely. Not bad as long as I can get into an exit/bulkhead row or first class, but almost useless in a regular coach seat. This is where the 12" excelled.

Speed is certainly improved, noticeable all around (I had the 2.0 GHz before, this is the Core2 2.33).