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Even if all Neil manages to do with Pono is to get Apple off their ass, he's won. What with the uptrend in smartphones and headphones in general, iTunes to hi-rez, and a little poke from Neil, I think the balance is beginning to shift. Strong headphone use and quieter cars reduce the need for so much dynamic compression. Increasing awareness of audio quality as a subject in the popular consciousness (regardless of how ill informed it is) will lead to companies bringing focus to, and market on the benefits of better fidelity. And, believe it or not, the strong and now decade deep body of information and experience on Head-Fi is indexed highly, and the consuming public at large is only a Google search away from better information than they've ever had before. Pono itself may or may not be great, but it's already having a lot of catalytic power for better audio.

I also got the Antek. I trust them more than sumr, the price is good, and there's no wait

Looks like Comcast's free upgrade of their Blast! plan level has kicked in here, nice bump from 50/mbit to 105/mbit:

To continue the cheap audio gear trend, sansa clip zip for $20 shipped at best buy. The clip on my clip+ broke after a few years of running, tossing it in luggage and general abuse, so I just picked one up. Available in black, blue, and red. http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=3029051&st=SanDisk%20-%20Sansa%20Clip%20Zip%204GB*%20MP3%20Player%20-%20&cp=1&lp=1&pid=1218373620544

Logitech UE 4000 headphones for $30 or so depending on color. "episiarch you moron, why is this even worth mentioning on Head-Case?" - Because this is the ONE headphone that I have succeeded in getting more than one coworker to upgrade to from whatever crappy POS junk headphone they were using before, that's why. IIRC I think I've converted about six people, and they're all really happy with it. And I have therefore raised the general musical enjoyment and headphone taste level of the office by some useful amount. "so you're saying it's actually good, or semi-good, or something?" - Yeah. It's a basic compact (but nonfolding) on-ear design, built to sell for around $100 I think, and IMO it's really enjoyable: a little warmly colored, not bassy/boomy, just a nicely voiced musicality. Runs fine unamped from portable sources. Mic and Apple-compatible volume & play/pause buttons on the cord. Cord is detachable and terminates to a mini at the headphone end, so one of the guys at work stuck a Bluetooth gizmo in the jack and now it's his wireless headphone. "so what's it good for?" - For getting people who won't spend the money for a proper Head-case headphone to buy something that isn't a complete embarrassment. Or if you or your kids need a basic but decent beater headphone. Or if you need a $30 miniplug cable with a mic and Apple vol/play/pause controls on it. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-982-000072-4000-Headphones-Discontinued/dp/B0094S360U

Admired the two baby hummingbirds in their nest in a tree outside our office.