Oh, thank sweet Steve above; what with AppleInsider not having dished any dirt since December, the Naked Mole Rat being two months into an apparent hibernation, Mac OS Rumors missing in action for the past two weeks, and SpyMac being... well... SpyMac, we were getting so starved for juice that we were about to take a shovel to our own craniums rather than live another rumorless day. After all, true rumor hounds can't subsist on Think Secret alone.

So from our own sweaty-palmed perspective, Mac OS Rumors's return to the airwaves today comes just in the nick of time-- and the grand-daddy of all rumors sites is clearly making up for lost time by toting a bagful of whispers about Apple's next "Digital Hub" device. No, it's not an iCam, according to MOSR; while Apple allegedly is working on one of those, it's not going to be released until next year, because in its current state it's "not sufficiently superior to offerings from dedicated camera makers." Remember, when the iPod emerged last year with its teensy form factor, roomy storage capacity, blazingly fast transfer speeds, elegant interface, and no-brainer iTunes integration, it fairly managed to make the existing MP3 players on the market look like somebody's idea of a cruel joke. Apparently Apple wants the same sort of reaction when it releases the iCam.

Instead, MOSR insists that we can next look forward to-- and the old "Columbus" rumor veterans are just going to love this-- an Apple "set-top box." Yup, come the holidays, MOSR claims that we're all going to be clamoring for Apple's answer to TiVo on steroids. In addition to being a hard-disk-based TV recording system, Apple's as-yet-unnamed device would also include a SuperDrive for burning DVDs of recorded material, as well as for playing regular audio and MP3 CDs. Rumored extras in the pipeline for the first or future iterations of the product (which we think we're going to refer to as "iCletus," just for the sake of nomenclatural convenience) include AirPort support, file-server capabilities, Gigabit Ethernet, 800 Mbps FireWire, and "the ability to skip over advertisements while recording television shows." Hey, even if it can only skip the Dell commercials, we'll buy two.

Normally, we'd be pretty skeptical of this phoenix-like rebirth of the classic Apple set-top box rumors, but at this point we're so starved for this sort of content, we're ready to believe just about anything. Memo to Xtrem: that means now would be a good time to re-form and announce a quad-processor 2 GHz G5 "XtremlyXtremMac" with an enclosure shaped like a giant Squeeze Barrel™ of Plochman's mustard. Seriously, we welcome you.

"Hey, AtAT," you ask, "how come you still haven't tackled the juicy topic of Gateway's upcoming flat-panel iMac rip-off?" Well, Timmy (if that is indeed your real name), it's like this: there just really isn't that much to go on, yet. See, when faithful viewer Dave Nagler posted a link to a CNET article in the fabulous new AtAT Forums (last one to register is a distant relative of Steve Ballmer!) a few days ago, most people who glanced at the story were so understandably distracted by the included picture of one seriously hideous computer that they missed a few important details.

It's like this: while the article mentions certain "sources familiar with the product" who claim that the "fourth-generation Profile" is due this summer and plans to go head-to-head with the iMac in the consumer-targeted, LCD-based all-in-one arena, most folks were too absorbed by the car-crash visual nightmare to read much deeper-- or, indeed, to notice the picture's caption. That scary-looking chunk of Cow Computer offending your aesthetic sensibilities is the Profile 3, which Gateway has actually been selling for a while, now; heck, we told you about it a year and a half ago. So we can't slam the "new" Profile's looks, because we haven't seen it yet... and devoting an entire scene to slamming the old one's looks would put us about eighteen months behind the curve, which would drop our Coolness Quotient from its current "Fonzie" levels to hovering just north of "Potsy" territory.

There's also the fact that said CNET article contains a major factual error, which makes it a little tough for us to take the subject matter seriously: "Gateway, however, did beat Apple to the punch with the first all-in-one computer to feature a flat panel." Oh, izzat so? Then what would you call the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (aside from insanely overpriced)? That sure looks like an LCD-based all-in-one to us, assuming you don't count the subwoofer, and it came out over two years before Gateway's first Profile limped onto the market. "Why must you turn my office into a house of lies?"

Anyway, we'll take on the Profile 4 when it rears its probably-ugly head this summer. So far, we're not too concerned, as far as iMac competition goes; despite the alleged inclusion of USB 2.0 and one model with a 17-inch display (features that we wouldn't be too surprised to see come to the iMac in a revision at some point), the early rumors about Gateway's coming "iMac-killer" don't exactly have us shaking in our boots. As for looks, well, need we remind you that this is the company who designed the Gateway Astro? 'Nuff said.

Way back in January, faithful viewer jeffNOTjon alerted us to the fact that a certain very famous brand of candy was about to undergo a radical change, and that Mac users could turn the situation to their advantage if they were organized and crafty. However, at the time, no action could yet be taken, so, instead of spreading the word to the short-memoried rabble (that's you) who would surely forget all about it long before the fateful time came upon us, we resolved to sit on the story until such time as massive action by the Mac community at large could be mobilized to change the world of confectionery for the better. And then, of course, we forgot all about it, and the "time for action" has been ticking away since last week.

But that's okay, see, because faithful viewer Woody Hanscom was kind enough to remind us before the entire window of opportunity had closed. Here's the sitch: Mars, Incorporated is looking to introduce a new color of M&M's, and they're holding a global vote to determine what the new hue will be. The three choices in the Global Color Vote are pink, purple, and... don't tell us you don't see this coming... aqua. That's right; if "Awesome Aqua" wins the vote, then Mac OS X's controversial but spiffy-looking graphical interface will gain further worldwide notoriety as one of the colors that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

If you want to make a difference, visit the Aqua Campaign Headquarters to "shower your town with Aqua flyers and buttons," "Aqua-fy you [sic] desktop with wallpaper and icons," send an "Aqua e-Card" to potential voters, and even download "the Official Global Color Vote Screensaver." If you're not the political activist type, at least make sure you cast your vote at the site; the ballots are open until May 31st, and the winning color will be announced on June 19th. In August the new hue will be "available in all flavors of M&M's through the end of the year, when the company will decide whether to include it permanently." Remember, kidlings: a vote for Aqua is a vote for the Future of the Macintosh. This is clearly vitally important... we're just not entirely sure how, yet.