The first thing we want to address on our return from our unscheduled hiatus is a growing conspiracy theory among AtAT viewers about Macintosh-oriented rumors sites. Several of you found it "noteworthy" that the two largest rumors sites-- Mac OS Rumors and MacNN Reality-- are both currently missing in action, and that AtAT has been static throughout roughly the same time period. For instance, faithful viewers Scott Pennington, Eric Gold, and others independently note that all three shows are off the air due to self-described "personal reasons," which admittedly qualifies as "suspicious circumstances."

While we can't speak for either Rumors or Reality, rest assured that AtAT's recent broadcast irregularity was due to nothing more insidious than an energetic three-year-old and a teething four-month-old baby, neither of whom are on Microsoft's payroll. At least, we assume that's the case, since the three-year-old in question commands more exuberance than subtlety and by now would have traded in everything she owns for Mulan-branded replacements if she were truly on the take. The baby, on the other hand, while generally seeming to be a guileless little fellow, occasionally gets this look on his face like he knows exactly what's going on and it's pretty funny that all these adults are falling for the act. Or maybe it's just gas. Hard to say. But to the best of our knowledge, AtAT's most recent hiatus was an entirely voluntary one, taken in order to run around in the grass playing tag and to get spit up on and various other activities associated with having fun with small children. And we've returned safely to AtAT headquarters (despite a nasty snarl with Northwest Airlines, who displayed such gross incompetence and lack of attention to detail that we simply can't feel safe flying with them ever again) and are back in the saddle, as it were.

Now, just because our hiatus was seemingly legit, that doesn't mean that Rumors and Reality's "personal matters" didn't originate from a vast outside conspiracy. Longtime viewers will recall the persistent campaign of ninja attacks that brought down several prominent Mac news and rumors sites last year, under the guise of "server difficulties," "DNS problems," etc. We admit that the recent "radio silence" looks a bit suspicious, so we're wondering-- what momentous back-room deal went down in Cupertino over the course of the past week or so which was so secret that it might necessitate the silencing of the two best rumors sites on the 'net? And will we ever get to find out?