Hmm.

Fry's doesn't seem to have their $250 Windows boxen on sale today, but they do have $450 laptops. Of course, at that price they're probably junk (my experiences with off-brand laptops have not been happy ones), and it's still $200 more than I was planning to spend. It would probably have trouble running Linux, too -- laptop displays are notoriously weird. The Cygwin X server would mitigate that problem, of course.

... OK, I wasn't looking hard enough. It's on the back page of their Friday flier; twice as fast a CPU as the laptop, and I know it runs Linux. Pretty easy two-stage install: use Xandros to resize the NTFS partition, then blow it away and replace with DeMuDi or Etch. (Sigh! I was thinking of getting a flash recorder with that money...)

I've always wanted one of these...

MAKE:Blog provides a link to this description of a secret door in the form of a bookcase. The latch, appropriately, is operated by a Sherlock Holmes book. It leads to a broom closet, but I can think of a couple of places in my house where I need a few more shelves...

Black helicopters

Spotted in The Register.