Buzz. Thwack.

I know permission marketing is the away to go these days, and I'm sure I forgot to uncheck some "Let us spam you" box on my AT&T Wireless account, but this "personalized" message is just obnoxious [bolding mine]:

"Hi Christian,
There is a new beta site called buzz.com that I’d like to share with you and get your feedback.
Developed in collaboration between AT&T and an elite team of researchers at Northwestern University's InfoLab, buzz.com searches the blogosphere for the day’s hot topics, organizing them in 9 categories. However, what sets buzz apart from other Web aggregators is that it’s supported by unique artificial intelligence that can seed out the most engaging, emotional or compelling posts out there, putting the cream of the crop in one place.

Plus, the blog posts can be read by so-called “buzzcasters,” 3D avatar characters, using text-to-speech capabilities.
Buzz.com is still a developing beta, but user feedback is a key part of its ongoing evolution. That said, we encourage you to check it out and feel free to spread the word to your readers.

If we can provide any additional information about the site or answer any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Best,
Heather
For Buzz.com"

As for the actual buzz.com, I've always hated talking avatars. Buzz hasn't changed my opinion. Hand me the fly swatter.

Daddy, why do have the Mac browser on your PC?

My 9 year old son Jacob was visiting my office and I was letting him use my work computer.

As in this incarnation I'm coding LAMP(hp) and AJAX until I'm blue in the face I have the full compliment of browsers on my desktop.

Jacob saw the icon for Safari and asked the question in the title. I was stumped. I almost asked him "Yeah, and why has it been in Beta for months now?"

He might have said: "Eh, we're still waiting for the iPhone SDK, maybe they'll say it shipped then."

"Sure, good point, that's probably why Safari is on Windows - to get to more developers who'll write for the iPhone's Safari."

"But Dad, wouldn't they ship it on Linux too? After all, WebKit is pretty much cross platform, and isn't it the core of the KDE browser? And think of all those Web developers on Linux."

"Gee. Good point, although it's actually a branch of KHTML. And the WebKit site also hosts a version for Nokia's S60 platform. Plus, if they're doing this to get iPhone developers from the Windows world, does this mean the SDK will run on Windows too?"

"Dad, can I just go to DisneyChannel.com now, please."

"Uh, sure."

Well, to be honest the only follow up question he asked was "Will they put more Mac stuff on Windows?"

Well, will they? Is iLife relevant with so many RIAs coming on stream? So many questions, so many.