Gimli

I have the opportunity to purchase a jailbroken iPhone 4. I have no interest in purchasing it unless I can get it back to "factory fresh" condition...if I sync the phone to iTunes, will I have the option to restore it, or will Apple freak out? If I can't restore it from iTunes, is there some other way to do it?

I just tried a few from a basil plant in my garden, and they were surprisingly yummy (I think. It's hard to figure out what was going on in my mouth from just a few seeds). A little googling reveals that people actually do use them for flavoring, and also for an interesting drink from Thailand similar to bubble tea.

Anyway, anybody know where I can buy some of these seeds in the USA? I want to do a little experimenting!

I recently found a Butler Creek Bull Packer stock at a gun shop (for those not familiar with it, it basically allows you to fold a 10/22 in half for convenient storage). I have to admit that I'm intrigued by the possibilities. Anyone have any experience with it? Does the rifle still maintain acceptable accuracy? Most importantly, the bullpacker is for the .920 barrel, and I have the standard profile barrel on my gun...anyone know where I can get a LIGHTWEIGHT bull barrel? Are there better options for getting a legal 10/22 as short as possible?

I have the opportunity to purchase a Buffet Crampon E11 clarinet for a good price. It appears to be in very good shape except for the crack...the crack is almost unnoticeable. Will the crack ruin the tone, or cause buzzing? How easy would it be to repair, and how much would it cost?

Thanks for your help!

We had a raccoon on our deck last night that wasn't acting very raccoony, I'm afraid. I noticed it after I let the dog out, and when I went to the dog back in the raccoon was near the door, just lying there. Fortunately, I don't think the dog had any contact with it, and her rabies vaccine is current. The raccoon was still there this morning, so my wife called animal control who took it away. They will let us know if the animal had rabies. In the meantime, do I need to worry about the rabies virus? What do I need to do to kill the little buggers?

Anyone remember which guns were part of the 1985 testing to replace the Colt .45 when the US Military switched over to the 9mm cartridge? I know that the Beretta 92FS and the Sig 226 both passed the tests, and Beretta won the contract due to a lower bid. I also know that S&W had an entry, but I can't remember if there were any others that were considered. Can anyone fill me in?

I've decided that I'm probably going to replace my ailing Sony SZ220 with a desktop and a netbook. Of course, Microsoft has limited netbook manufacturers from selling machines with more than one gig of RAM if they have XP installed (which, BTW, should tell you how badly Vista sucked).

I know there are a few netbooks that support 2GB on the motherboard; anyone know of one that will support more? Also, it would be really nice if the memory wasn't soldered in...

Any thoughts?

Here's the scoop: I regularly use Frontline on her, and it typically works VERY well. However, she recently has been scratching like mad. I was able to confirm that she has fleas...I saw a few on her stomach.

I'm not sure what happened with the last dose, but it obviously isn't working as well as it should. I'm reluctant to dose her again, as I don't want to subject her to too many chemicals...

Here are my options, as I see it:

1) Dose her again

2) Buy an over the counter topical medicine and use that in addition to the Frontline...

3) Watch my dog go crazy.

If the truth be told, I already bought some Sentry Natural Defense, but I'm still a little reluctant to combine medicines...

Any words of advice?

A number of years ago I bought barebone PCs from Monarch Computer and ABS. Monarch has apparently gone belly up, and ABS has apparently gone for the hardcore gaming crowd, as they are now out of my price range.

For the last several years I've been using a docked Sony Vaio SZ220 as my primary computer. I don't regret it, but my needs have changed and I have decided that I'm probably going to replace the laptop with a desktop, and buy a netbook for times when I need to be portable.

Bottom line is that I want to be able to custom build a desktop computer without the hassle of actually having to build it. I don't need anything fancy, just solid. Can anyone recommend a PC builder that does good work without having to spend a fortune?