Rule number one of successful television production: give the rabble what it wants. We've received a staggering volume of mail from viewers demanding that the "Little Buddy" mystery be added to the AtAT script, many of whom have already concluded that our failure to pounce upon such suitable soap fodder so far is damning proof of our own involvement in the cover-up. The sad, dull reality of the situation, however, is simply that with limited airtime for each episode, the original "Little Buddy" controversy just didn't make the cut. The fact that Mac OS 9 makes unannounced connections to an Apple server named after the Skipper's pet name for Gilligan just didn't seem all that sinister when Mac OS Rumors first posted the story. (You also have to take into account the AtAT staff's fundamental impatience for All Things Gilligan. Come on-- if it was a three hour tour, why'd they pack all those clothes?)

Anyway, things got a little more interesting when some puzzled Mac OS 9 users asked Apple what, exactly, was up with their Macs automatically contacting littlebuddy.apple.com and were told that Apple doesn't have a server called "littlebuddy.apple.com"-- despite the fact that anyone with a web browser and an Internet connection can see that the server exists. In fact, Netcraft even reports that it's a Solaris box running Netscape Enterprise. Sure, it returns a "Server Error," but the server is live, it is accessible, and it is being hit by Mac OS 9 for some reason. Given Apple's denial that the machine exists at all, we can understand why people who fall on the right side of the Paranoia Bell Curve might suspect some kind of stupendous privacy violation.

Moreover, following a tip from faithful viewer Robert Fernando (which he presumably culled from Mac OS Rumors's latest update on the story), we tried loading up http://littlebuddy.apple.com/help/ and had to wonder at the curious result: "So far, there is no index for this book..." That's... not very helpful. On the other hand, viewing the page's source code is rather interesting, since it reveals that the page was composed on a (gasp!) Windows NT system by a mysterious figure known as "Sanborn Hodgkins." MOSR didn't follow that tantalizing lead to the next logical level, so we figured we'd don our stylin' deerstalker caps and see where else that distinctive name showed up on the 'net. Guess what? Sanborn's listed as the Developmental Editor in the credits to Apple's own Inside Macintosh: Networking. (There's also a book called Excel : A Power User's Guide by a J. Sanborn Hodgkins, who may or may not be the same guy.)

So what does all this mean? Well, not a lot when taken on its own merits, we admit. Thank heaven somebody scrounged up some more info that pretty much puts the issue to rest. Given that littlebuddy has pages called EarthlinkTest.html, MacBuddyTest.html, and maintenance.html, it seems clear that the server is used as part of Mac OS 9's automatic EarthLink signup system. Further evidence surfaced when one dogged individual dissected Mac OS 9's "Setup Internet Support" extension and found a URL that connects to the littlebuddy server. So that's all there is-- nothing more sinister than a mechanism to sign up for EarthLink Internet service.

But if you're the type who enjoys paranoia, don't fret-- there are still plenty of strange factors to sustain your conspiracy theory. For one thing, why would this be part of an ISP sign-up, given that an existing Internet connection is required to get to littlebuddy in the first place? For another, why is a member of Apple's networking team using Windows NT (and possibly writing books about Excel)? And why, pray tell, is Apple denying that littlebuddy.apple.com even exists in the first place? Oh, sure, there are rational answers to all three questions... but there are also plenty of ways to spin a web of deception, betrayal, and world domination that would make Mulder weep-- especially given EarthLink's ties to Scientology and Germany's take on that group. Have fun!

Hey, remember the hubbub over how Apple chose to omit the power key from its new Pro Keyboard? How much do you want to bet that whoever made that decision is having second thoughts about that move? Because a keyboard-mounted power key would be awfully handy in the unlikely event that, say, the power buttons on a slew of Power Mac G4 systems started to fail... as, indeed, seems to be the case. The halls at One Infinite Loop are probably ringing with a chorus of Homer-like "D'oh!"s right about now.

As faithful viewer Ryan Kester pointed out, a ZDNet article covers the "Power-Switch Glitch" which threatens to be the latest in an increasingly long line of Apple quality "issues." Without reaching back too far, we'll briefly mention the last two well-known problems with the Cube: overly-visible mold lines and a faulty touch-sensitive switch that would start up and shut down the system at random times. Well, this time it's the full-size Power Mac's turn to suffer from power switch woes. Reportedly a "defective panel" behind the switch is "burning out" on some G4s in the field, in each case leaving behind 1) the "smell of burning circuitry, 2) a power switch that no longer works, and 3) one seriously peeved G4 owner. In some cases the failure is even accompanied by a puff of smoke, which is just about the last thing anyone wants to see coming out of his or her Mac. (We'd put it near the top of the list, just under "visible flames" and "that fog that turns people inside out.")

Apple states that the problem is "extremely isolated and extremely rare," but nonetheless has redesigned the failing panel-- though the replacement won't be available until next month at the earliest. In the meantime, irony of ironies: as a workaround, Apple's support staff recommends getting hold of an older, non-Pro USB keyboard that includes a power key. Hmmm... maybe a minor redesign of the Pro Keyboard as well wouldn't be a bad idea, while they're at it...

Heads up, everyone; it's been over two months since our last mention of the long-rumored and exquisitely vaporous Apple PDA, so we figure we're due for an update. When we saw an article at Go2Mac titled "Apple PDA Rumors Persist," our hearts soared with joy-- not because we still entertain any real hopes that Apple will ever make good on its promise to replace the ill-fated Newton with a Mac OS-based handheld (even we aren't that irrationally optimistic), but rather because we love a good rumor with legs. The Apple PDA one ranks right up there on the longevity scale with the Disney-Apple buyout and the Mac OS on Intel.

Unfortunately, the Go2Mac story's title is a bit of a misnomer. Rather than contributing more fuel for the fire, the author simply notes that people still whisper about an Apple-branded PDA, and then goes on to state that the odds of such a device appearing any time in the foreseeable future are slim to none. Other than including a nifty blurred photo of something that could be an Apple handheld (but isn't), it's more of a debunking than a jolly ride down the speculation superhighway. Well, we're here to remedy that situation. Yes, Christmas comes early this year; we, the AtAT staff, are going to give you all the single biggest reason why an Apple PDA is just around the corner: we stopped waiting for one.

See, while Katie (AtAT's resident fact-checker and Goddess of Minutiae) has been happily using a Palm V for almost a year now, Yours Truly got bitten by the Newton bug many years ago and was infected with a predisposition toward intuitive notepad-like operation and real handwriting recognition. As such, I've been holding off on a Palm purchase in hopes that Apple would finally release a co-branded Palm device with the Newton's excellent handwriting input method grafted on. However, I finally decided to bite the Graffiti bullet and recently ordered a Handspring Visor Prism, which ought to arrive any day now. Which means, of course, that as soon as the return period lapses and I'm stuck with the Prism, Apple's going to release a kick-butt handheld that's everything I dreamed for and more. So get ready, because if anything can make Apple release a new handheld, this will.