You've surely heard by now, but just in case you haven't and you're still foaming at the mouth over Microsoft shill Paul Thurrott's claim that Hewlett-Packard had succeeded in pushing Apple into supporting Redmond's "superior" (cough) Windows Media Audio (WMA) format in upcoming iPods, it's time to give those salivary glands a break. You must have lost a lot of foam, and the last thing you want is a severe foam deficiency. Enjoy a frosty mug of root beer and relax secure in the knowledge that Mr. Thurrott's facts apparently originate in the same alternate universe as his opinions.

Faithful viewer Rob Menke was the first to point out a WIRED article in which HP goes on the record to state quite clearly that Thurrott is off his meds, strung out on crack, and in need of immediate confinement because he's a danger to himself and others. Well, okay, not in so many words-- but HP spokesperson Muffi Ghadiali did clarify that his company is "not going to be supporting WMA for now," which is the same thing except with a certain amount of something we're told is called "tact," which we'll look up later if we get around to it. "We could have chosen another format," said Muffi, "but that would have created more confusion for our customers."

So apparently HP wants to support AAC over WMA, a fact which presumably has certain unnamed Microsoft-enamored pundits (Look! Tact!) crying into their Crazy Juice. Bravo for HP. But as incomprehensible as we find Thurrott's love affair with all things Gatesian, the guy does make a good point about logistical problems that will likely arise from HP's inconsistency in picking a format and sticking with it: since HP already sells devices that support WMA and not AAC, and the company has even pushed WMA-based music services in the past, it seems pretty likely that some HP customers are going to get miffed when they find that the songs they bought through that iTunes link on their Pavilion's desktop won't play on the iPaq handheld they bought from the very same company. Likewise, what about those folks who bought their songs at MusicMatch because of an HP endorsement who will eventually find that they can't use any of that music on their new bluePods, aka HP Digital Music Players?

Not that we care, mind you; as far as we're concerned, those folks bought Pavilions, they bought iPaqs, they bought songs from MusicMatch-- they should've known better, poor saps, and they can sleep in the crumb-filled beds of mediocrity they made for themselves. But Thurrott made a valid point and we figured we should toss him a bone, because he's probably having a pretty bad week, what with first being universally quoted as the sole source for a big news story and then being whacked repeatedly upside the head with the Discrediting Stick.

In the end, of course, this whole "WMA iPods" brouhaha turned out to be pretty much a non-event in the most dog-bites-man way possible: Paul Thurrott-- a guy whose most notable characteristic is that he honestly believes Windows to be the pinnacle of human achievement-- got something wrong. Oooo, pick your jaw up off the floor and alert the media. Er, more media.