Well, I've had 10.5 installed for about 24 hours now, and so far, it’s not really worth the money. In day-to-day use (as a developer), none of the new features has yet to significantly impact my life. Sure, windows look a little different, and settings have been rearranged, but so far I don’t feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth. For reference, I chose to “Upgrade” my system, rather than “Archive & Install.”
A few things are better. The variety of user interface styles has been reduced, and brushed metal is gone, replaced by a nicer-looking gradient (the Menu Bar looks a bit too much like a title bar, and I thought something was wrong with it until I realized it was transparent, and I was seeing the stars in the default desktop image through it).
Xcode has at least one improvement: it shows error messages in the editor window, directly underneath the offending line. It also complains a lot more about implicit conversions from double to float, but I can fix that.
One thing I’m not sure I like is that many standard icons have changed. Some have changed dramatically, like the System Preferences icon (it now looks like the iPhone’s Settings icon), and others have just been modified. These kinds of changes leave insecure users (like my parents) feeling disoriented, and I think they’re generally a bad idea.
One big fix: Apple Mail no longer seems to break long URIs! It has taken three or four major releases (an unacceptable delay to fix a minor, but very annoying, bug), but non-Mail clients can finally use long URIs sent by Mail without having to hand-edit them (Mail used to break them in a way that destroyed the URI for non-Mail clients).
Hardware Growler still works. My ARM development tool chain still seems to work. The Keyspan USA-19HS USB-to-serial adapter still seems to work. The FTDI USB-to-serial IC on the Sparkfun EM406 SiRF III Evaluation Board still works. ZTerm still works!
In the next post, I’ll talk about my experiences with Time Machine, the AirPort Extreme Base Station and ZFS.

A recent story about the U.K. possibly allowing cell phone use on airplanes quotes someone saying, "It would drive me absolutely mad if the person next to me was using his phone."
Now, some people speak more loudly when they're on the phone than when they're talking to someone next to them. Those people need to learn to quiet down.
Putting that aside, the only reason to be annoyed by a cell phone conversation is because you can't eavesdrop on the whole thing. You only get half of it. You know what? Tough shit. You're not a part of the conversation. Why don't you concentrate on your own business?
As far as the safety concerns with cell phones, I'm unconvinced. I'm both a pilot and an electrical engineer. I'd be surprised if a cell phone caused any real interference with flight-critical systems. Certainly everyone's heard the DSSS noise leak into amplified audio channels, and that could conceivably make its way into the pilots’ comm radios, but I doubt it would actually prevent communication. In any case, it should be generally allowed, and each pilot should decide on a case-by-case basis when to prohibit their use.
If ON Air's system really can allow cell phones to work without interference with aircraft systems, then by all means, allow it!
Don't forget, without special help, most cell phones won't work at typical flight altitudes.

Yesterday I took the first step toward buying a townhouse: I wrote a check for nearly $17,000. This check reserves my specific townhouse unit. On Monday I go in and sign the sales contract, a 25 mm-thick document. I’m very nervous about the whole thing.

After help my my good friend on the iTunes team, we determined that my account was still registered as a corporate account, rather than an individual account (iPhone only works with individual accounts). This was the result of me being a customer for more than 10 years.
I called AT&T back, and the CSA very quickly took some action to somehow finalize the conversion of my account from business to individual. Apparently, this final step had not been taken by the previous CSA. As soon as she did that, I was able to activate my phone, and my number ported within the hour (probably faster; I didn’t check it until an hour later).
Thanks to everyone (especially Mike W.!) who helped set this mess straight.
So far, I'm blown away by the phone, but there are some peculiarities. First and foremost, I wish all list views could have entries deleted by gesturing, rather than having to enter edit mode. Perhaps Apple will refine this sort of thing soon.
More to come, I’m sure…

Feh. I’m sitting here with my beautiful new iPhone, trying to go through the activation process. iTunes keeps reporting to me how sorry it is that AT&T has determined that my current account cannot be used with the iPhone. It provided me a number to call, or offered me the option of creating a new account, which is really not what I want to do. I’m sitting on hold with a very kind Canadian customer service agent for AT&T.
Apparently I am on a promotional rate plan that is incompatible with the notion that all existing Cingular/AT&T customers can upgrade to iPhone. Okay, fine, after several attempts, he was able to switch me to a non-promotional plan.
Then, it turns out, my account is a business account. This is very strange. I’ve never asked for a business account. I’ve had my Cingular (the new AT&T) service since it was called Pacific Bell Mobile Services. Not once have I ever been told I had a business account. I’ve always used the “personal” account avenues when contacting Cingular (personal account contact numbers, the personal account link on the web page, etc.)
So, the poor Canadian CSA is waiting on hold with the AT&T business account division to convert my business account into a personal account, which should then allow me to activate my iPhone. Apparently the benefit of having a business account is that only a poorly staffed call center can handle your specific issues.
Sigh.