"So the standard advice has always been to buy your Mac with the standard memory configuration, and then purchase memory from a dealer such as Crucial or OWC or Newegg and then install it yourself. My assumption has always been that Apple could get away with such pricing because many Mac users just aren’t comfortable installing RAM chips by hand (even with machines where the memory slots are easily accessible) and are therefore willing to pay a premium price to have it installed by Apple.

"But it ends up that Apple’s RAM pricing for the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros is extremely competitive. There’s only one upgrade configuration — going from the standard 2 GB to 4 — and for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro, Apple is charging $150. This same upgrade costs $142 from Crucial, $135 from OWC, and $160 (!) from Newegg. Factor in shipping and it’s pretty much even." Surprising. VERY surprising.

TRUE.

"While it is impossible to predict with certainty any person's future health, time of death, or degree of disability, the evidence at hand clearly says John McCain is in relatively poor health and Barack Obama is in excellent health. All politics aside, no one could conclude otherwise. To McCain’s credit he appears to be holding up well during this grueling campaign, but his current appearances do not negate the medical facts.

"Additionally, although it is impossible to accurately merge all the figures that predict mortality—38% (actuarial figures), 27% (cardiac risk), and 44% (melanoma mortality)—it would not be unreasonable to guess that McCain’s chances of dying within the two terms of Presidential office far exceed a coin toss. Add to this the risk of him becoming disabled to the point of non-performance, then who among well-informed voters would bet their stock portfolio or their subprime-mortgaged home that, if elected, McCain will still be our President come 2017?"