News.com calls the rumors it is propagating news.

The hot rumor is that Apple is set to announce a switch from IBM to Intel microprocessors. There are some claiming to also know the timing which purportedly would involve the first round of the switch coming in mid-2006.

If the rumors are true it could be big news. When the Mac mini came out I outlined a killer way Apple could proceed to a few people I know. The plan goes something like this. Come out with the mini and get people to switch. Then, prior to the release of the new Microsoft Longhorn operating system, announce x86 compatibility. If the roll-out of Longhorn goes as well as some other versions of Microsoft's operating system there will be plenty of frustrated users looking for an alternative.

It looks as though the decision about when to cash out my StorageTek stock has been made for me. As a veteran of StorageTek and Electronic Data Systems I'm not sure what to make of the deal. It seems to make a lot of sense in as the two companies have very integrated offerings in the open systems world. The two companies have significant campuses that sit across from each other along the Boulder Turnpike in Colorado. Both also have an existing relationship with Texas based EDS for some of their support and comarketing agreements.

For the past several years it has appeared that StorageTek was trying to slim down and make the company an attractive takeover target. Though results have appeared to be good it seems many of the gains came from down-sizing and cutbacks instead of organic growth. In a press release announcing Sun's reselling the StorageTek StreamLine SL8500 tape library last June Bob Koecheler, StorageTek's vice president for golbal partners and alliances said:

Be careful what you wish for.

I had my first flight here at Fort Campbell last night. I arrived at the hangar at 1400. We did some flight planning and studying until about 1600. The Instructor Pilot and I did a pre-flight from 1600 until 1700. We spent an additional hour planning the flight and discussing what we hoped to accomplished. I then flew from 1800 until 0200 with just a short break to re-fuel and have a snack.

Whew! I was exhausted. Having not flown, I devoted an extraordinary amount of mental focus to the flight and it wore me out. Fortunately, I flew pretty well. I flew day, night, and with night vision goggles. I performed emergency procedures, traffic patterns, and got a general orientation to the area. The Instructor Pilot was generally respectful and nice to me and taught me some good techniques.

I spoke with the lead IP after the flight. He said that they are determined to get me up to speed as quickly as possible. In his words, they are going to fly me "until my eyes bleed."

The moral? Be careful what you wish for.