It isn't a surprise because, with the exception of bodybuilding, there is no more juiced-up sport than cycling. When Lance Armstrong first began to attract all the speculation that he was doping, Americans freaked out and said it was just another case of European anti-Americanism. The problem with that is that the casual American fans knew nothing about cycling, unlike the French, who were aware of just how deeply ingrained performance-enhancing drugs are in cycling culture.

I've always found it likely that Armstrong juiced because I find it likely that any particular rider juiced. EPO and other endurance drugs make such an immense difference that it is very difficult to compete at the highest level of the sport without it. Landis's test, in the context of cyclings drug culture, can't be easily dismissed as the product of anti-Americanism.

I think this was a great review. But "Night is the only today that's left" is a pretty awful line.

...end world hunger?

Jane was awful. It had this terrible affected "we're so witty" editorial voice that drove me crazy. And it had such a confused attitude towards feminine identity and feminism. Particularly galling was the tendency to talk shit about a particular woman celebrity, up until they ran a sycophantic profile on her; after that, the celeb would be transformed in the magazine's eyes into a "feminist icon."

I don't care-- like I personally am not angry about you posting this, or talking about downloading illegally-- but I am surprised you would admit to illegal file sharing on a public website. Aren't you a little scared of getting in trouble?

Never. It's the first rule of literary arts: once the author releases his or her work into the wilds, it doesn't belong to him or her anymore. James Joyce didn't have control, Virginia Woolf didn't have control, and no matter how much money or influence she has, neither does JK Rowling.

To put it simply, Windows has always had problems giving too many permissions and services by default, while Mac OS X is almost perfectly locked down by default. Unless you are using a Root account in OS X (which requires special actions, and is not available by default), it is very, very difficult to tamper with the system settings without the user knowing. In contrast, in XP the default account is Root (Administrator), so by default programs can be installed without permission or knowledge, services can be abused, etc. Hence, the malware explosion of the last few years.

Of course, some of us are adults, who have done a little work to educate ourselves about our operating system, and don't need an Apple-enforce nanny state looking out for us. Look, it is not hard, at all, to make a Windows PC completely secure. I am not a hacker by any means. But I have done the necessary work to know how to operate my computer safely and securely. The answer to 90% of the Mac snob complaints about Windows vulnerability or difficulty is, "don't be an idiot." If you aren't a moron, your PC doesn't have to be insecure or unstable.

Can you please not offer this guy anymore validation? There's already far too many assholes at every bar doing lame magic tricks and "negging girls out" already.

I don't care how many women this guy sleeps with or how much money he makes. The dude is a loser.

Okay that last bit really bothers me. Farhad, you're a smart guy. Are you really contending that you can't build a better, cheaper machine-- more powerful, more versatile, customized and endlessly upgradeable-- than that Imac? Come on. That's just flat wrong.

It's not that hard to learn to play guitar. It really, really isn't. And it's not so hard to learn to play things you want to play. Just abandon the public domain BS and start playing simple but good rock songs. I promise a player who's played for six months can play 90% of Nirvana's songs, most Beatles songs.... I mean, if GH inspires people to learn to play guitar, great. But the notion that playing GH helps you to learn guitar is bogus. They are almost entirely different things. You're talking about the difference between 6 buttons with one way to articulate them and maybe 126 frets and literally hundreds of ways to articulate them.

Do I need a special monitor to get hi-def on my computer?

that that chick is hotter than Garance Franke Rutka.

I know Farhad is talking about a software crack, but for those interested, this is worth a look:

http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com/

When you purchase a piece of property, it's yours to modify. Hacking your iPhone doesn't let you steal minutes, it doesn't let you use "forbidden" services, it doesn't defraud a company in any way. You still have to pay for minutes on whatever network you use. The analogy of shoplifting is just nonsensical. You've paid for the device you're using, and you pay for the service. There's no theft involved.

I really hate when people use things they've read or heard as gospel, and with a wave of their hand, dismiss what other people have experienced first hand, as Manjoo does here. Look, I don't know what their policy is, I don't know if it was an isolated incident or what. But I rented a copy of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" four or five years ago from Blockbuster, and the two leads did not make out, or do anything else homosexually-inclined. It got to the part where they gazed at each other meaningfully, and then they cut to the morning after. I don't know what insiders say, I don't know what the rumors are. But that happened to me, goddammit. Don't belittle your audience like that.

See, this is where the blind devotion to Apple just becomes nonsensical.