Oh, sure, you noticed the lack of new episodes since Christmas Eve and thought your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff was taking some much-needed time off for the holidays. Or you just thought we were slacking-- same difference. In either case, you were wrong. In reality, we were recuperating from the embolisms we suffered because of Hiawatha Bray's latest pro-Apple column in the Boston Globe. Yes, Mr. Bray continues his recent hiatus from Apple-bashing, but with his latest foray into Mac-friendliness, he's gone way over the line.

See, in all of Bray's recent articles lauding some Apple technology (he loves AirPort and FireWire, for example), while we were shocked to find anything positive at all, we were protected from any real psychological trauma by the fact that any compliments were tempered by a slew of insults. For every compliment about AirPort's convenience, there was a dig about the iBook's excessive size and weight, etc. But this time around, we simply weren't prepared for what is, in essence, a completely positive review of the iMac DV Special Edition. That's right; Bray liked everything about it and gushes enthusiasm in every sentence. Needless to say, such unchecked Apple-positivism from Hiawatha "The iMac Will Be A Dismal Flop" Bray damn near put us in the hospital. In fact, it was only Bray's occasional digs at the previous iMac model's shortcomings that kept us off of life support. Some of you might consider Bray's column a Christmas miracle, but it was almost our last gasp.

Now, lots of you wrote in to point out the article, which isn't too surprising. But several of you independently surmised that Bray had been eliminated and replaced by an Apple-engineered alien hybrid clone. Can we just say how proud we are that you're all starting to catch on? Two years ago, nobody would have made that assumption without us mentioning it first. Unfortunately, in this case, you're wrong; we have it on good authority that Bray is the real McCoy. His new Apple-friendly tone is truly the result of some excellent products issuing forth from Cupertino these days. (Well, that and the mind-altering chemicals that undercover Apple operatives have been slipping into his coffee every day.)