Crews Say Ariz. Fire a 'Caged-Up Coyote'

Officials said the blaze threatening this scenic community was 15 percent contained Friday morning, and full containment was predicted by June 28.

Firefighters were prepared to protect the roughly 460 homes and businesses in nearby Oak Creek Canyon that were evacuated after the fire began Sunday with a transient's campfire, but the danger of wind from thunderstorms was in the forecast.

"That's a red flag. That's a watch-out situation," said Mike Dondero, deputy incident commander for the fire. "It could hit and blow stuff all over the place."

Nora Walker-Yeager, who was allowed to return to her Oak Creek Canyon home Thursday to pick up belongings, grabbed her wedding book, her husband's wedding ring and her engagement ring.

"If it burns, we've got the things that are most important to us," Walker-Yeager said.

The flowers you had on your wedding day, the food at the reception, the DJ, the location, the dresses, none of that will matter when you house may burn down.

We've got the things that are most important to us... her wedding book. That is why you hire the best photographer that money can buy!

the Thing?

Dell has a brand spanking new XPS M2010, from here on out call the Thing, and PC Magazine has a review. Too save you some time, PC Mag likes the "Beautiful 20.1-inch widescreen. Excellent sound quality. Impressive design and engineering. Versatile RF remote." But, PC Mag hates "18 pounds of hardware. Extremely pricey. External tuner costs extra." Cisco Cheng's quick review reads "Every once in a while I get a notebook that blows me away with its visionary concept and bold design. Grand in every sense of the word, the Dell XPS M2010 ($4,675 direct) is just such a system. On first inspection, the big machine resembles a full-fledged desktop, yet it closes gracefully and can be carried like a huge clamshell notebook (with a handle). The one caveat: It's too pricey for most mere mortals."

So, it's a full-fledged desktop/huge clamshell notebook… hence why I call it Thing. ;) A $4,675 Thing. Whoa! Expensive eh? So lets see some stats from the PC Mag review.

Type: Gaming, Media
Operating System: MS Windows XP Media Center
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo T2600
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
RAM: 2048 MB
Hard Drive Capacity: 200 GB
Primary Optical Drive: DVD+R DL
Wireless: 802.11a/g
Screen Size: 20.1 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
System Weight: 18.1 lbs

Then I remembered Apple has an all in one computer… the iMac. It's such a better value too! I'll price it online at the Apple Store just to be sure. And to be fair I'll make it as expensive as I can. I picked the 20" iMac, because it is going up against the Thing after all. Here are some comparative stats.

Type: Everything
Operating System: Mac OS X
Processor Name: 2GHz Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
RAM: 2048 MB
Hard Drive Capacity: 500 GB
Primary Optical Drive: SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)
Wireless: Airport Extreme (802.11a/g) + Bluetooth 2.0
Screen Size: 20-inch widescreen LCD
Screen Size Type: widescreen
System Weight: 18.1 lbs

All that comes to $2731.00. Wow I can get almost two iMacs for the price of the Thing!

Let's do some +'s and –'s! We'll start with the Thing because I like to save the best for last ;)

Thing +'s:
++Processor Speed is .16 faster than the iMac
++The screen is .1 inches bigger than the iMac
++Weight is less than the iMac by 1.9 pounds
++The Thing has a handle

Thing -'s
--Operating System: MS Windows XP Media Center
--Viruses
--Adware
--Spyware
--Malware
--No webcam
--Per PC Mag "It's too pricey for most mere mortals"

iMac +'s
++Operating System: Mac OS X
++No viruses
++No adware
++No spyware
++No Malware
++iLife
++iTunes
++iPhoto
++iMovie
++iDVD
++iWeb
++Garage Band
++iSight built in
++It just works
++Boot Camp… the iMac can run windows too… what else can the Thing run?

iMac –'s
--No handle
--Unwanted workout when moving from point A to point B
--The excuse "I've got to update my virus definitions and scan for spyware" to get away from the family isn't valid anymore
--You keep thinking someone stole yours when you see an iMac on TV

...had $2304 left over ($4675 – 2371 =$2304) after getting the iMac, so picked up an extra 13-inch Black MacBook ($1499) and a 60GB iPod ($399) leaving you with $46 burring a hole in your pocket, which got you in trouble with your wife (the burnt hole, not the MacBook and iPod)

So why not get a Mac?

"just a few clicks away"

ROTFLMBO! Wow is the next version of Windows doing to be horid or what?! Lets see if I can get deleting a alais in OS X up to 7 steps!
1)Click alais
2)Press Command key
3)While holding command key down press backspace. That puts the alais into the trash bin. Now we have to empty that.
4)Press Command key
5)While holding command key down, press and hold shift key.
6)While holding command key & shift key down, press backspace. That emptys the trash bin.

I guess I couldn't get up to 7 steps. But I can go faster!

1)Click the alais
2)Press the Command key and backspace at the same time. This puts the alais in the trash bin.
3)Press the Command key, shift key and backspace at the same time. This emptys the trash bin.

Faster? Yes. Can I go faster still? Lets see!
1)Drag the alais to the trash bin.
2)Press the Command key, shift key and backspace at the same time. This emptys the trash bin.

Wow, that a bit faster than Vista Beta 2 or whatever version Microsoft has out there for us to play with.

You may need to click the image on the left to see what all the fun is about ;)