There's nothing more assured from a MacWorld Expo keynote than AAPL stock volatility. We took the bet last week that the rumors around Apple were true - that Steve Jobs could surprise us all and set the stock higher. We also bet that ahead of CES, TiVo, still undervalued, would pull of some tricks to elicit interest in their stock. So we overweighted the portfolio in a big way.

Thank goodness we were right. We're not wealthy by any means, but we cleared about $2k from 5 days of trades in the two, and that was more than enough to treat ourselves to the new $299 AppleTV and new Airport Extreme wireless base station, sporting 802.11n connectivity. The AppleTV will be a welcome addition to our new setup, including new DVD players and plasma screen, as we catch up with Silicon Valley expectations. The new Airport should get our wireless a bit more regular, faster and reach further. And as far as I'm concerned, they were free, and we have more than $1,500 in profits left over, to point somewhere else.

Listening to ''It's My Turn'', by Pete Tong (Play Count: 3)

Today should have been an historic day in baseball, with the elections of Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn to the storied halls of Cooperstown, after both set marks for consistent greatness through the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, issues with steroid allegations against other players, and general snobbishness of untalented sports writer hacks combined to snub a myriad of other elite players who may never make the Hall of Fame.

While most of the pre-vote hype was around whether or not disgraced former Oakland A and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire would be elected, somewhat forgotten were the stories of decades gone by - the dominant closing from Rich "Goose" Gossage, the batting heroics of Dale Murphy and Jim Rice, and top-notch career of Bert Blyleven, to name a few. Where anywhere from 5-10 players on the ballot warranted election, instead, we got two. Where we should have unanimity, we instead got holdouts who embarrassed the sport by, for who knows what reason, leaving Gwynn and Ripken off the ballot.

I'm not calling for a more democratic fan-based voting system. It's bad enough they have input into the All-Star game itself. But the idea that to gain Hall of Fame entry is anything approaching heroics is gone. Instead, we know that its a crapshoot set off by a myriad of ink-stained, yellowed wretches who couldn't run to first without clutching their left side and pulling up lame.

Were I to have voted, and turned in a ballot, I would have been much more liberal, not just issuing a vote for Ripken and Gwynn, but also Gossage, Rice, Blyleven, McGwire, Murphy, Dave Parker and Lee Smith.

As more storied players approach future ballots, I hope baseball writers come to their senses and recognize elite dominance of a sport. Unanimity should be a certainty with stolen base champ Rickey Henderson, and hurlers Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux, to name a few. But my belief in the system is badly shaken.

Listening to ''Jakata'', by Andrew K. presents Junk Science (Play Count: 4)

There was once a time where the advent of Steve Jobs walking on the stage for Apple would be enough to surpass anything else I had going on that day. I'd come in to work late, or watch the event, via QuickTime, on top of other windows during the workday. While I remain very curious, it's less of an obsession (some might disagree), and more of an obligation. I'm more hopeful that whatever is announced tomorrow does more for Apple's stock than anything else. We're long AAPL again, and any hint of "buy on the rumors, sell on the news" would knock our portfolio down a few pegs.

Everybody and their dog has predictions for MacWorld. Some will be right, and others... not so much. Theories have ranged from a new cellular phone to a TiVo and Netflix killer, wide-screen HDTVs for the living room, new iMac designs, faster Mac Pros, upgraded MacBook Pros, a new wide-screen iPod, next generation Airport wireless, the introduction of OS X 10.5 (a.k.a. Leopard), new revisions of the iLife and iWork software suites, improved .Mac features, and integrated virtualization. Did I miss anything? Even with that long list, probably.

Regardless of what Steve Jobs announces tomorrow, you'll have one part of the population ecstatic over the smallest things, and in contrast, another extreme, deathly frustrated they didn't get exactly what they wanted. Some updates will be a surprise, others, boringly repetitive. But it's all in good fun, and all in good business. Every good marketer who gets the opportunity to speak in public should watch Jobs perform. He's excellent on stage, and he might not be up there for too much longer, as eventually, someone else will have to lead Apple. But until then, he's firmly in charge, and tomorrow, we'll hopefully be watching.

Apple hates me. They want to bankrupt me and my family. That's all I can figure after finding I've been targeted with their latest digital box set featuring Depeche Mode, the band I grew up listening to in the 1990s, the band I've seen in concert twice, and the band which currently occupies the #1 position in my iTunes history, both on Last.fm and MusicMobs.

Due to the fact I've purchased Depeche Mode songs from the iTunes Music Store over the last three years on more than one occasion, I received a special e-mail inviting me to know about their exclusive digital box set, The Complete Depeche Mode.

This is no ordinary box set. Apple says it has 644 tracks, including "over 60 remixes, live recordings, and other rarities you can't get anywhere else"... all for the low, low price of $169.99. How could I resist, when it's so easy to hit the magic button that says "Buy Album"? Just one click, and my little hard drive is sure to fill up with gigabyte after gigabyte of old Depeche Mode songs that I no doubt already have - or had on cassette tapes before they were mercifully antiquated.

It's like offering heroin to an addict who's just left the rehab clinic. They know they shouldn't, they know they don't need it, but wouldn't it sure feel good? So far, we're not buying. But I haven't yet deleted the e-mail, and maybe I'll find a good reason to hit "Buy Now". After all, how can I be happy with the mere 148 songs and 13.5 hours of Depeche Mode I already have in my iTunes when I could quintuple it immediately?

Darn Apple. Why didn't they offer me the Bee Gees or something?