OK, I know that Apple and AT&T are very different companies, but still the irony of AT&T suing because a smug commerical skewers the lesser performance of an Apple product is delicious, isn't that right P.C.?

I've always hated the insufferable Mac v. P.C. commercials, and I have a similar distaste for the Verizon one. Talk about what your product does, not what the other doesn't.

In high school, the rumors don't spread so fast, and once you leave for college, they're gone for good.

Have a look at a current Google News search for Verizon iPhone. Currently there are around fifty stories, all from the past few days, pumping the rumor that Apple will ink a deal with a wireless carrier other than AT & T.  Many cite "unnamed sources," which is journalism for "aonymous leakers."

But did the anonymous leakers exist?  Did any of these journalists actually speak to any source at Apple or Verizon?  Or were they just repeating the same rumor, sparked by the appearance of a story from September 2008 in a February 2009 RSS feed?

Correction 11:56 a.m. PST: We messed up. The 9 to 5 Mac blog we cited below is in fact from September 2008, so it turns out this is an old rumor. Because it showed up in our RSS feed Saturday, we, like a number of other publications, took it as a recent post and went from there. Apologies for the confusion.

To its credit, CNet has acknowledged the goof (and it's a serious one, because the date is stamped right under the headline of the old blogpost which started the rumor), but many haven't.  There are still recent stories floating around citing a five month old rumor, and those "unnamed sources" predicting the imminent arrival of the Verizon iPhone.  Of course it's anyone's guess as to whether a source, named or unnamed, was actually interviewed.

More's the pity.  I'd consider buying an iPhone, but I won't deal with AT&T.

My thoughts, that is.  Orwell was a brave man, equipped to to speak the truth with eloquence, which is rarer than profound.

First, the best television commercial of all time ran on Super Bowl sunday, and it ran only once:

Commercials are often entertaining, but almost never rise to great art.  This one did.  It was directed by Ridley Scott, just after he completed Blade Runner.

Second, for years I have been driving by a small summer camp for children somewhere in the vicinity of Charlotte North Carolina.  I did it again today.  Its name has always bothered me, but the memory banks never quite engaged.  This morning, they did.  The place is named "Joycamp."

I wonder how much business that name has cost them.  Probably not much.

And he's right. Last night, after ignoring Itunes' recent barrage of requests to update itself (no I don't have time for an automatic shutdown – go away), I clicked yes. I'm a pubbie because I didn't read what I was updating. I just clicked yes, as I have dozens of times before. I trusted Apple, when as a Windows user I know full well that I should trust no one.

So now I have free Safari. Courtesy of Itunes' automatic update.

Only I didn't want free Safari. If I'd wanted free Safari (and I might have tried it – I'd heard good things about it on Mac), I'd have made the tiny effort required to find it and download it. I didn't want to receive it in this "always trust content from Gator Corporation" malware fashion. As matters stand, I'm quite happy with Firefox.

And now I no longer have Safari. And I never will.