But it don’t sing and dance, and it don’t walk.You can debate who the winner of the next-gen console war will be as long as you like. But speculation is speculation is speculation. Tangible, here-and-now financial numbers are worth more to me than any amount of conjecture about the outcome of this high-stakes card game.

A bird in the hand, as they say.

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So you want to listen to your iPod on your computer at work. But you can’t install iTunes on an office machine. Or you don’t want to authorize another computer to access your iPod library. All you want to do is play music directly from the iPod, bypassing iTunes entirely.Here’s how you do it:

Pod Player from iPodsoft.

With an incredibly small file size and quick installation, Pod Player is ready to use just seconds after you’ve downloaded it. The interface is clean and intuitive. Everything you need is neatly packaged into this free software gem.

For your zero dollars, you’ll also get some clever iPod hacks and management tools. Pod Player even allows you to extract songs to your hard drive - preserving the ID3 info.

The guys at iPodsoft have a healthy library of useful, practical apps. Get Pod Player, then check out their other equally-intelligent offerings.

And don’t forget to donate.

According to MSNBC, a $100 deposit on your PS3 pre-order will get you the solid satisfaction of knowing you could receive one of the overpriced consoles when they are eventually released.

For that kind of security, I’d gladly hand over a Franklin.

Ha ha! No, actually I wouldn’t. Read here:

NEW YORK - GameStop and EB Games stores are going to start accepting pre-orders for Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console on Tuesday, according to their Web sites.

Due to “extremely limited supply,” the stores expect their allocations of what is perhaps the holiday’s season’s most eagerly anticipated gadget to run out in minutes.

A $100 deposit is required for each order, but even that won’t guarantee that a PlayStation 3 will be available when the console goes on sale on Nov. 17, according to the notices, because the stores have no control over production and shipping issues.