An excerpt from the conversation I just had with my bank's robot, which I had to call in order to activate a new credit card. It's nice to know they put so much thought into protecting my personal information.

ROBOT: For your security, please key in the last four digits of your social security number: ME: XXXX ROBOT: Thank you. Now, please choose a secret PIN number for accessing your account information. Don't pick a number that would be easy for someone else to guess, such as your birthday or part of your social security number.

Over the last month, I've agonized over how to carry my 15" Powerbook. I'm anticipating having to do a fair amount of traveling over the next few years, so I wanted to get this right. I tried out three different bags and finally made a decision.

Timbuktu Commute
Classic-style messenger bag with integrated laptop sleeve and huge main pocket. Looks great, well-made. I really liked this bag and wanted to keep it. But the PB sits horizontally in it, which I didn't really like. Coupled with a single messenger strap, this results in a lot of extra motion on my back that I don't want to deal with when trying to catch a plane. Also not very practical for motor/biking. Returned to the Apple Store in San Francisco, no questions asked.

Timbuktu Detour
Stylish messenger/backpack hybrid. Way too small to be useful. Returned to ebags without a hitch.

Brenthaven Professional Backpack
Big expensive backpack with removable laptop sleeve custom-fit for the PB15. Sam has this one and recommended it, and for a serious travel bag I think this is the way to go. It's ugly but it sits really well on the back and is built like a tank. I just took it out on a trip and it felt solid and carried very well. Wish it had an external water bottle pocket, no complaints otherwise. Bought it from J&R through Amazon for $150, though that deal no longer seems to be available.

I'm finally starting to feel the love from my Powerbook. After the initial bumps, I'm really coming around on OS X. I've finally got emacs and the shell all set up the way I like, and the result really is the best of both worlds: a slick, responsive, intuitive UI running on top of an OS that actually makes sense when you pop the hood.

Stuff I particlarly love:

• The 'favorite location' dock that you can manage in any finder window and which gets duplicated in every open/save dialog. This really is just great - I almost never spen any time drilling down into my folders. I understand it is new in 10.3.3, but I can't believe no one thought of this sooner.
• Configuration, especially for wireless networking, is brain-dead simple. It's really amazing that Windows can't get this right.
• Tabbed browsing in Safari. It just feels a lot cleaner than having a dozen IE windows open as I often do.
• The configuration files are all XML. I don't know why, but that just makes me happy.
• NO MORE REGISTRY! I had forgotten how great it is to be able to move an application by simply, well, moving the application. No need for ridiculous reinstalling with Add/Remove control panel here.
• I guess Keychain is pretty handy, my previous rant notwithstanding. I still wish Keychain Access were a little more secure, but it's good enough for me.
• The keyboard on the PB is just great. I actually like the feel of it better than any desktop keyboard I've used. If only it were a little larger...
• The fit, finish, and design of the hardware is simply beautiful and elegant in a way that cannot be appreciated until one struggles with a Windows laptop (which I have recently done and about which I will write soon).

Stuff that still bums me out a little:

• It does run hot, especially if it's been doing something network or CPU intensive for a couple hours.
• Once heated, it is prone to the afforementioned warping, though this is proving to not really be a big deal.
• Bad Java support.
• The Yahoo Messenger client sucks. Hello, audio? I guess this isn't really Apple's fault.
• Battery life is pretty bad. About 2.5 hours no matter what I do. I bought a spare recently.

The more I use my Mac, though, the less important these things become. It really is just great.

I saw Garden State at the Bridge last night. Though it steals an entire playbook from Wes Anderson, the first hour is quite watchable and has some genuinely funny scenes. As Zach Braff emerges from a lifelong Prozac- and Zoloft-induced haze, he is surrounded by the same quirky characters and nodding displays of Americana that have delighted knowing hipster kids for more than a decade now.

But Braff's shaking off the drugs turns out to be a metaphor for him shaking off all that hipster irony, for trying to figure out what is really important in life. Unfortunately, this is also where I shook off any interest in the film. As it entered its second, 'earnest' half, I experienced so many "People don't talk that way"-moments that I wished Braff would get back on the drugs.

You can only pity poor Natalie "I like sand" Portman, who gets to add some real gems to her portfolio:

"I know it hurts. But it's life, and it's real. And sometimes it fucking hurts, but it's life, and it's pretty much all we've got."

However, my favorite had to be Braff's:

Braff: Have fun searching the infinite abyss. Boat guy: You too.

The accompanying symbolism is just as heavy-handed as the dialog. For example, the film goes way out of it's way to let you know that this infinite abyss is scheduled to be paved over for a shopping mall. See, it's like, he's digging down through the facade of modern suburban life to get at what's really real, you know? That's deep, man.

I know 4 out of 5 twenty-something disaffectoids recommend Garden State to moviegoers tying to wean themselves off irony. But please, this is not The Graduate for a new generation. It's not even as good as Lost in Translation (to which it is inexplicably compared). I'll give it an 'E' for effort, but Garden State simply underscores the fact that the post-irony school is still trying to figure out how to infuse the new earnestness with intelligence and subtlety.