Sure, we admit it; we've been burned a bit by Mac OS X updates in the recent past. For example, 10.3.5 broke some unsupported software we rely on to share our Treos' wireless 'net connections on our portables, meaning we've actually had to (gasp) pay for WiFi in a pinch. And 10.3.6 did something funky to AirPort Extreme on one of our PowerBooks, rendering its allegedly 11 Mbps connection to an original AirPort Base Station just slightly slower than a 9600 baud modem, leading to early-'90s flashbacks during which we couldn't get that damn Spin Doctors song out of our heads. But has any of that dampened our enthusiasm for new versions issuing forth from Apple? Well, um, yeah-- it really has. But that doesn't mean we don't go stabbing at the "Check Now" button in Software Update thirty times a day like any other red-blooded Mac user desperate for a fix.

And Apple's got what you need, baby; faithful viewer Kelranth was first to inform us that Mac OS X Update 10.3.7 has officially surfaced, packing 26 MB of "enhanced functionality and improved reliability" (say, didn't we get that last time?) into the incremental update from 10.3.6, while the Combined Update that works with any version of Panther weighs in at a zaftig 97 MB in size. So what do you get for the chunk of disk space you'll sacrifice to install it? Well, aside from the nifty numerical change in the "About This Mac" window-- and really, isn't that enough?-- Apple claims you'll also enjoy new graphics card drivers with better 3D support, the ability to save files with long file names to AFP-mounted volumes, "improved FireWire device compatibility" (as opposed to 10.3.6, which provided "drastically hosed FireWire device compatibility"), an updated Preview app, and the standard "improved compatibility for third party applications" and "previous standalone security updates."

Unfortunately, that's all you get, so the update reportedly falls far short of the features and enhancements originally rumored for inclusion. In particular, rumors that 10.3.7 would "melt off the pounds and keep them off" were evidently grossly exaggerated. Likewise, early reports from early adopters in the field indicate that 10.3.7 includes no facility to "repair bad credit," "stop the holiday blues with a revolutionary new drug-free method," or "increase personal length and girth by satisfying inches." Sheesh, who knew that Apple's developers would slack off this badly? On the plus side, however, according to comments over at MacNN, 10.3.7 finally appears to have fixed the DNS lookup "issue" that's plagued many users with "intermittent connectivity issues" since late September's security update hit the scene.

So could this be that increasingly rare thing, a Mac OS X update that fixes existing bugs without introducing major new ones? Well, yes and no. Because while we haven't yet spotted any consistent reports of bizarre and interesting new nastiness with 10.3.7, comments over at MacFixIt definitely imply that the update didn't fix the DNS issue for everyone-- and in some cases reportedly even made it much, much worse. And a couple of reports have already rolled in from viewers claiming that the "improved FireWire device compatibility" has made their drives fail to mount. But hey, it wouldn't be a Panther update if some people didn't get shafted, right?

So if you're planning to update, make sure to read all the directions, back up all your data, and proceed with caution. Sure, it sounds like a hassle, but just think of the benefits-- like the number 10.3.7 in "About This Mac." Ooooooo!

Simple coincidence, or evidence of spooky psychic phenomena? Just the other day we were thinking to ourselves, "gee, it sure seems like it's been a long time since Apple last issued a press release celebrating an iTunes Music Store sales milestone; surely they're due for one by now"; and what should happen mere days later? Bickety-bam, we get a press release celebrating an iTunes Music Store sales milestone. Clearly we have Real Powers™ and this is the part in the comic book where we would typically vow always to use them for good instead of evil... but, well, let's be honest, here: evil's more fun.

But enough about our nascent plans to enslave mankind by exploiting our apparent mastery of The Force; let's focus on that press release for a minute, because it's a good one. It seems that following the purchase of The Complete U2 by Ryan Alekman of nearby Belchertown, MA (yes, it's a real place-- we have a friend whose grandmother used to burp loudly every time they drove through it), iTMS sales have now crossed the 200 million mark. That strikes us as all kinds of impressive, given that the 150 millionth song was sold only two months ago. Break out the calculator and you'll see that, assuming zero net growth in iTMS sales from now on, Apple's selling at a frankly disgusting rate of 300 million songs per year. Yow. Remember the razzing the company took from the naysayer pundits when it missed its insanely ambitious first-year target of 100 million songs by a whopping 30 percent? Well, we're thinking that this more than makes up for that little shortfall.

Not to mention, of course, that assuming zero growth is somewhat absurd, in light of the fact that iTMS sales have been accelerating at an alarming rate from the very beginning. Faithful viewer Scott Naness is still tracking the average number of songs sold per day between each reported milestone, and we've already seen it climb from 100K to 275K to 340K to 403K to 480K to 581K-- and if you think that's a whole lotta K's, hold onto your A, because in the past two months Apple's average number of songs sold per day skyrocketed to 806,452. (Note that this is still far short of the "million songs per day" that professional Dorkus Malorkus Scott Blum said he thought he could sell when he launched the calamitously ill-fated iTMS competitor formerly known as BuyMusic.com. Man, that guy just keeps looking dumber and dumber.)

Rather than plot the data and force a curve-fit to estimate when the iTMS will reach the million-songs-a-day mark or officially cross into McDonalds territory and put up the "OVER 1 BILLION SOLD" sign, we thought we'd go the math-free route and instead mention that this time, Apple has a secondary motive for its press release: in addition to just gloating shamelessly (not that there's anything wrong with that), it also reminds people that bright green iTunes prepaid cards make terrific holiday gifts, and emailable and printable iTunes gift certificates make "the perfect last minute stocking stuffer." There's nothing like making more money while crowing about being "number one by far," is there?

'Tis the season to wreck houses, fa la la la la, la la la crash. Remember way back in June when we mentioned that Steve Jobs had been trying to take a bulldozer to a mansion on his Woodside property because said mansion was allegedly "a dump"? He ran into some opposition, you may recall, from local historical societies, who acknowledged the dumpiness of the mansion, but insisted that all such dumpitude had accumulated on Steve's watch. They moved to block the demolition of the building on the grounds that, since it was "an authentic example of the Mission Revival style of architecture" and had been designed by famous architect George Washington Smith, it was a dump of significant historical significance and should therefore be preserved.

Well, you all know the speed of bureaucracy, so apparently not much has happened between then and now, short of Steve Jobs having taken out ads offering the house for free to anyone willing to come cart it away. Evidently no one has taken him up on the offer (what do you suppose FedEx charges to overnight a mansion?), because faithful viewer Josh Lockie pointed us toward a CNET article in which it's revealed that Steve has finally gotten the official go-ahead to swing the wrecking ball... or toss the dynamite, or fire up his otherworldly heat vision, or turn big and green and smash with his mighty fists-- however it is he plans to reduce the mansion to its component particles, thus clearing the site for whatever he wants to build in its place. (We're picturing a fifty-foot golden statue of himself cradling a G4 Cube.)

Yes, the Woodside Town Council finally voted 4-to-3 to deny the appeal by the preservationists-- and we're a little confused as to why the vote was that close, or indeed why the council allowed the appeal in the first place, since reportedly the main reason Woodside cited for turning down the appeal was that there are "no historic preservation ordinances on its books." Given that no law would apparently have given the council any authority to grant the appeal on the grounds for which it was filed, we almost wish that Steve had lost, because the resulting lawsuit would probably have been a humdinger.

So is it clobberin' time yet? Well, not quite; reportedly Steve still can't blow up his own mansion until he's been given a permit, which, for undisclosed reasons (maybe the guy who prints them out just takes really long lunches), won't happen for another six months. In the meantime, he's required to continue advertising in "historic-preservation magazines and publications" just in case there's anyone out there willing to foot the bill to have the mansion moved elsewhere. How about it, folks? Anyone out there with a love of architecture, a big, empty lot of land, an overwhelming desire to own any building in which Steve Jobs once resided (no matter how much he now refers to it as a "dump" and an "abomination"), and way more money than sense?