Leopard Release Watch: We have a date!

At last, Apple Inc. has finally made it official: Mac OS X 10.5, code-named "Leopard," will be on sale next Friday, Oct. 26th, at 6:00 PM Eastern. They've even put up a countdown clock on their website's homepage. And about friggin' time, too; this thing has already been delayed several months, thanks to the debut of the iPhone back in July. Not to mention the fact that El Jobso has been hyping its new features for over a year now. $129 per copy for single users, and (naturally) no upgrade pricing for existing owners. This is the sort of thing that saying in my icon came about from.

A new book about the man behind Charlie Brown

CNN.com reports here on today's release of Schulz and Peanuts, a new biography by David Michaelis written with the cooperation of the family of Charles M. Schulz, the creator of what many today, in and out of the field, regard as the seminal modern comic strip. His children and widow apparently came to regret their participation when they found out Michaelis' portrayal of the cartoonist, who died seven years ago, would be a "warts and all" depiction of the man's failings and neuroses as well as his genius and triumphs.

I plan to read it myself, as Peanuts was my favorite strip from early childhood and the one whose characters most strongly resonated with me, particularly Linus van Pelt and Charlie Brown. Your thoughts on the book, the strip or whatever your favorite comic strip is are welcome.

Junior gives the Dalai Lama props...and the Chinese a finger in the eye

Reuters reports here on Junior Bush's receiving the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the world's Buddhists and de facto leader-in-exile of the Tibetan government, at the White House just prior to the aged guru receiving a Congressional medal tonight. Gods forbid I should ever have something nice to say about this lawbreaker and warmonger, but even I have to give Bush his due for being willing to risk the wrath of the Communist leaders of the People's Republic of China by recognizing the man they see—perhaps rightly—as the chief threat to their hegemony over Tibet, which they invaded and conquered in the 1950s. Earlier this year, Emory University awarded him the title of Presidential Distinguished Professor, and he visits here once a year to teach and meet with students.

One might observe that the Chinese Communist junta have no one but themselves to blame for the DL's popularity with Western heads of state, and the willingness of same to receive him as their peer, which so enrages them. Had they not spent the past few decades oppressing his countrymen and trying to silence him, it would likely be far less so. Of course, one might also question the wisdom of angering the only other country left in the world even vaguely resembling a nuclear-armed superpower, not to mention our chief trading partner.