We've heard it many times in the past, and from many different sources, but at this point our minds are pretty much made up: it's just about time to say sayonara to the Cube. That's a shame, of course, because Steve's eight-inch Mac in search of a market is so many things to so many people. Sleek? Yes. Gorgeous? That it is. A marvel of engineering and design? Absolutely. A sales disaster of Hindenburg-like proportions? Well, that might be stretching it a little, but generally speaking, that's not far off.

For what it's worth, the little birds tweeting around the AtAT compound told us months ago that Apple had completely ceased production of the Cube and was simply selling the scads of unsold models still left in the channel. Once those are gone, say those birdies, the Cube will vanish from Apple's product line so quickly that Fred Anderson will have to wonder if it was all a bad dream. Hopefully Apple won't take a completely revisionist attitude and try to pretend that the Cube never existed, as Redmond rightly tried to do with Microsoft Bob; after all, the Cube was an excellent Mac which won many awards, and Apple has nothing to be embarrassed about (other than some fairly pathetic sales figures).

For those of you who still haven't come to terms with the Cube's imminent demise, The Register summarizes the spate of recent reports that "Cubes are in very short supply pending the machine's removal from Apple's product line." That aligns pretty well with reports we've been receiving from the field-- that Cube supplies are finally drying up, and all available intelligence indicates that Apple isn't planning on restocking the shelves. While we pride ourselves on staying open-minded about the possibility of last-minute miracles of the Steve-ular sort, despite the fact that the Cube is Steve's own pride and joy, we think he's matured enough as a CEO to do what needs to be done.

So, two things: first, an early but fond farewell for a Mac more suited to a museum pedestal than a store shelf; and second, a reminder to Mac fans everywhere that if you want a Cube, don't wait too much longer, or you'll be out of luck. And remember, when (if?) it passes on, the Cube will still be with us, as Apple incorporates elements of its unique design into other products. (You have seen the new iBook, right?)

Holy yikes, we've hit the big time! Sure, it was an honor to be chosen as a member of the elite MacAddict Network (now recently deceased). Yes, we were overwhelmed when Apple's iReview bestowed upon us a glowing five-star rating (before also vanishing into the ether; hmmm, do we sense a pattern?). But we are truly undeserving of this latest triumph, a nod from the veritable pinnacle of Macdom: a mention and link by none other than the Naked Mole Rat himself. "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"

Indeed, when faithful viewer Tim Kirk first pointed out that the Rat had emerged from hibernation, he didn't tell us that the late MacWEEK's erstwhile utensil had picked up on the recent swirling controversy surrounding Apple and its uneasy relationship with the Church of Satan-- or that the latest NMR Report singled us out as a "worthy media organ" (we won't ask which organ) and graciously linked to our scene about the fracas. Little did we know that a goofy piece of filler material that we dredged up for a slow news day would propel us to international superstardom. Incidentally, now that every vaguely Mac-related news outlet has leapt upon this story despite the fact that the tussle ended months ago (even Reuters picked up on the sordid tale on Saturday), we'd like to reiterate that we first heard tell of the situation on the Mac EvangeList. Credit where credit's due, and all that.

So now that we've won the adoration and worship of our peers, what are we going to do now? We're going to Disney World! But just to show you that we haven't forgotten the little people who made us what we are today, before we leave we'll fill you in on the Rat's latest scuttlebutt-- which is all about Puma, the long-awaited update to Mac OS X that the numerically inclined are casually referring to as version 10.1. As all you "early adopters" are painfully aware (seeing as your cumulative time spent staring at a spinning rainbow cursor can now be measured in months), Mac OS X's single biggest issue is perceived performance; spending a week using Mac OS X and then booting back into Mac OS 9.1 is not unlike swallowing a box of No-Doz and then strapping oneself to the top of the Bullet Train.

Well, the good news is that development of Puma continues apace; according to the Rat, current builds are "still slower than Mac OS 9.1," but they're loads faster than 10.0.3 at basic tasks such as resizing windows, launching apps, etc. Check out this improvement: copying a thousand files in icon view reportedly takes a mere 50 seconds under Puma, down from five minutes under 10.0.3. Ah, progress! (And never mind that the same task only takes ten seconds under Mac OS 9.1. Spoilsport.) Here's hoping that Puma surfaces in time for Mac OS X's big "coming out party" at Macworld Expo next month-- and that it's zippy enough to impress the masses. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to pack...

Looking to take over the world using somewhat less-than-ethical means? Well, when shaping public opinion is key to your success, your own media outlet is an awfully convenient thing to have around. (Just ask William Randolph Hearst the next time you happen to be at a seance.) That's why we got more than a little nervous a few years back when Microsoft climbed into bed with NBC to form-- what else?-- MSNBC.

Now, to its credit, while the technical side of MSNBC's web site makes little attempt to hide who's pulling the strings ("MSNBC is optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player"; surprise, surprise), any pro-Redmond slant in MSNBC's actual news stories over the years has typically been subtle-- or, at least, subtle enough to keep the public from mobbing its headquarters and burning it to the ground. But as faithful viewer Johnny Asbury points out, MSNBC may be getting sloppy in its old age: according to The Register, the news channel was "caught doctoring copy originating from the Wall Street Journal to make it more favourable to... Microsoft." Well, it's about freakin' time; for any Microsoft offshoot not to get caught doing something unethical is downright unnerving. At least now we can sleep at night.

Allegedly the original WSJ story included "a harsh analysis" of the recent escalation of Microsoft's holy war against the open source movement, and, in order to prove that the company itself was dependent upon open source software, stated the following: "Microsoft said that since last summer, Hotmail has been running on both Windows 2000 and the Solaris operating system from Sun Microsystems Inc." MSNBC reportedly edited that down to "Microsoft said Hotmail has been running on Windows since last summer"-- which, while technically true, just slightly sorta kinda changes the whole point of the sentence. (MSNBC eventually changed it back after being called on it.)

Honest mistake? Well, that's up to you to decide. As for us, we're increasingly certain that if Apple ever really wants to capture more than 5% of the installed desktop OS base, Steve's going to have to launch his own news outlet and start distorting reality for the other 95% of the world. Perhaps a partnership with CBS to produce MacBS. Er... maybe not.