I can't divulge internal traffic numbers, but I assure you that a flame war doesn't really do it. What spikes traffic is writing about sex and porn and celebrities and whatever folks are Googling for on a specific day (all of which I do often, so I'm not saying I'm above the fray). Mac-PC flame wars get a few readers, but not as many as you'd think, and there are many more reliable ways to get readers.

Sure, but you're comparing consistency within a company (Apple) to inconsistency across an entire platform (PCs). Specifc PC brands have been consistent with their pointer style -- IBM/Lenovo has been using the pointing stick for at least a decade across their full range.

I know you're busy work, but it'd be nice if you could provide some examples.

1)

http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/03/18/true_enough_excerpt_2/

But many fans of Apple often seem to want more. They care little for honest opinion. They want to pick up the paper and see in it a reflection of their own nearly religious zeal for the thing they love. They don't want a review. They want a hagiography.

2)

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/28/unlock_iphone/

"If you care about your rights, don't buy an iPhone"

3)

http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/03/27/safari_windows/index.html

"A rocky Windows trek for Apple's Safari browser"

4) http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/03/04/apple_library/index.html

"considering all those restrictions, what's the selling-point, again, of Apple TV? Just wondering."

5)

http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/01/15/macworld/index.html

Indeed, let me note again that Apple's rental plan, while a feat of movie-business dealmaking, is still a bit lame. It's that 24-hour limit that gets me. Every DVD rental shop in the world lets me rent older titles for more than one day, and the most successful DVD rental company, Netflix, imposes no limits on any movies at all.

I understand you can't read the blog all the time -- you're using a Windows machine, so it's mainly down.*

(*That's a joke, by the way. Did you see my post about how my main machines are XPs? Likely not.)

Where's that implication?

Or are you just criticizing it on what you've heard?

@Mr. Jones, re a movie version: "The Matrix."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influences_and_interpretations_of_The_Matrix

for the correction re lenses. Fixing....

No, not good: "At the time it was caught, O'Shea said it would make calamari rings the size of tractor tires if cut up — but they would taste like ammonia, a compound found in the animals' flesh."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNrXD-aFDkco1HdoBQ0KaO5CenngD90BFE7O0

Sorry, I'm not sure I made that clear; it sounds like you think I was committing violent felonies. No! See, none of these things happen at all, unless you consider one's imagination some domain of physical reality.

The violent felonies in question are graphical representations *produced by a computer*! Yes, I know, tech has come a long way, but I kid you not. The incarcerated people you're speaking of -- they're incarcerated in real life. And Gov. Davis -- another real-life phenomenon. Grand Theft Auto: Something completely different.

Sorry for the misunderstanding!

Especially for refraining from the snark, always appreciated. $5, 20 percent. Fixed.

Right, you break into my house, that's stealing. I don't see how that applies to file trading. In fact, it doesn't.

They say they went from 9.4 to 23.2 -- not a typo (they say the same thing in their video report). That's actually more than 200 percent. I added that in the story. Thanks for noticing.

Fixed.

Sorry, looks like you confused this tech with magnets on a fuel line. That's not what this is. Can you say why you think this -- rather than the magnets thing -- is a scam? It'd be great if you can cite something. Thanks much.

Do you really think no one is allowed to criticize lead-painted toys? Where have you been living this last year? You think people haven't criticized GTA? Seriously, that's what you believe? Have you ever heard about Hillary Clinton? Joe Lieberman? Tipper Gore? The various parents councils, family councils, concerned women, etc. across the US -- groups who hate GTA as much as they love George W. Bush? More and more, your argument seems based simply on making stuff up. Your case is more fantastical than much of what goes on in the game.

...when fans do it. It's fake self-deprecation, meant to have it both ways: Hey world, give me some points for acknowledging I'm addicted. I'm with you in spirit, but I just can't help myself.

That's even lamer.

You asked: "Which act here are we defending, the act of signing up with a false identity or the act of signing up with a false identity to harass someone?"

Neither. I'm defending the act of breaking the terms of service -- that's what she's charged with doing. That's the bad precedent: breaking the terms of service -- whatever the terms say -- makes you a criminal.

Yes, it's a civil contract -- you sign a contract with MySpace, you violate it, you owe something (restitution, banned from MySpace, whatever the contract states) to MySpace. Breaking a contract with MySpace shouldn't land you in jail -- that would give overly-broad contracts extreme power. I could write a contract on Machinist that says that clicking on the site requires you to never say a mean word about me. (In fact, there are TOS that prevent you from using the service to disparage the company that provides it.) Violate that and you land in jail.