While Apple’s [AAPL] online store was offline for a few hours earlier today, as reported by various news outlets, and even some blogs, it seems that it has resumed online operations.

What Happened to the Quad-Core Mac Pro?

When I went to check on the online site myself, I certainly did see the new drop down lists allowing for Twitter and Facebook toss-ups, but when I visited the Mac Pro page, I noticed that the quad-core 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” based model was marked as unavailable.

Fortunately, several minutes later, with a page refresh, the model was available once again.

So… is this an example of super-real-time inventory control? Or just a fluke?

In case you were wondering if Amazon [AMZN] has been resting on the laurels of its successful Kindle re-imaginings, rest assured that they have been taking further steps in their server-based services offerings. Today, if you have logged into Amazon.com, you were greeted with something that looks a bit like this:

Jeff Bezos' announcement about the new cloud offerings

Yep, it’s true: Amazon has finally come through and exercised their cloud-based offering with an storage service that leverages their existing capabilities… And if that wasn’t enough, Amazon also has a nice, practical application for it, in the form of bridging to their online digital music storage locker for every customer.

(And even more, there’s an Android version of the cloud music player, just in case you’re just a retro kind of person…)

While it seems that many other companies have tried, and failed, in the hosted storage arena, it’s remarkable that Amazon has finally stepped in, to revive the concept with its own interpretation of it and expand upon it at the same time.

Well, maybe you’d like to know.

While I was toying with the idea of coughing up a nice summarization of the Things That Have Come Before, the folks at Engadget already have such a post.

Of course, this means that you have gripes about their content… you should let them know.

The situation concerning the open source projects previously maintained by Sun Microsystems has been slowly degenerating since the company’s acquisition by Oracle [ORCL], and it would be nice for a better understanding about what is still “what” after this past year of consolidation… especially when it comes to the vast array of Java-related projects.

If you remember Eduardo Pelegri-Llopart, you may recall his involvement with Sun and its various projects. He has a personal blog (he’s a fellow WordPresser!) and he has assembled a list of the open source projects and their current status that may be of interest to you, gentle readers.

It is anticipated that Verizon [VZ] will officially announce the availability of a CDMA-capable version of Apple’s [AAPL] iPhone device on their cellular network.

This is one of those stories that has been circulating for quite sometime, at this point. Various news outlets have reported that the network carrier issue has been the major obstacle for many consumers who otherwise would have purchased an iPhone years ago. Apparently, many consumers initially looking to acquire the iPhone in the US have gone elsewhere rather than deal with AT&T [T] as the wireless service provider.

It is expected that the launch date would be announced today, but it is not expected that the date would be today.

Later today, Apple [AAPL] will finally open its Mac App Store, which caters to electronic software distribution (ESD) for Mac software to the current install base of OS X updated Macs.

This is something that has been tantalizing software developers since the introduction of the “regular” App Store catering to the iOS devices. After all, since we’ve been treated to the little brother of OS X, why not just cut to the chase and offer the real deal?

And starting today, that’s what we’ll have.

Most likely, all of the usual suspects will appear initially, like several of Apple’s own applications that are highly amenable to ESD, like iLife and iWork apps, as well as the more pro-level apps like Aperture. But this also marks a milestone for independent studios that already leverage ESD as their primary means of delivery to their customers; the App Store is a unified way to manage licensing, updating, and re-delivery.

So, like you, we’re all waiting for the store to open… and the fun to begin!

Next stop: Windows apps to be delivered through a Windows versions of iTunes-like App Store.

Not to be outdone by other e-tailers and even brick-and-mortar retailers, Amazon.com [AMZN] has furthered its reach, since the “online” Black Friday deals and yesterday’s Cyber Monday sale… by adding yet more deals as the winter holiday sales season rages onward, toward the inevitable Christmas splurginess (yeah, not really a universally recognized term yet, but since it’s coined here: it means the act of generating excess or overwhelming abundance) of sales attempts.

Cyber Monday’s momentum is being carried forward by Cyber Week, which is Amazon’s extension of their Lightning sales offers until the end of this week.

And for the video gaming crowd, there are the Seventeen Days of Deals in Video Games, leading up to that unofficial shipping cutoff deadline date of December 16, 2010, when it will be ostensibly very difficult to guarantee a decent delivery on Christmas Day.

And these are in addition to the other promotions that Amazon regularly runs, like the Gold Box deals, for instance.

Good times, folks, good times… Just make sure your credit card is ready to roll!

Do you remember FeedBurner?

Uh-huh. That one.

Yep. Yeah, right.

Well, if you recall, gentle readers, Javamancy the Weblog had originally tried the FeedBurner service years ago, to try to encourage greater community involvement. However, after a few months, it became increasingly apparent that FeedBurner was just not an adequate solution for this site, so it was disconnected.

After Google [GOOG] acquired the RSS feed service, there were a lot of questions as to how Google would integrate the service with their other offerings. Finally, Google has recently updated the service, to bring it up-to-date and to align it with its other statistics collection tools. Of course, a lot has changed over the years, and it is questionable whether there is any value to be achieved by re-enabling FeedBurner, for sites that are not already using it.

Apple’s [AAPL] lockstep dance with AT&T [T] as its exclusive 3G service provider may be ending, with Verizon [VZ] showing up to the dance hall seemingly first.

So what’s a mobile data services consumer going to do?

Rumors, Lies, and Damn Lies

Like many of you, we’re certainly curious about the outcome next year for the still-as-of-yet-not-finalized-and-publicized Verizon version of Apple’s  iPhone product, which has been heavily rumored to be shipping early 2011. Certainly, this indicates that this coming winter holiday season represents the last time that AT&T will be able to fully capitalize on its exclusivity deal with Apple for the iPhone product.

But, there’s another portable IT device that has really captured the hearts and imaginations of the computing public: Apple’s iPad. Initially seen as just a “toy” or a trivial curiosity by many of the so-called industry pundits as well as Apple’s perceived competitors, the iPad is now identified as a serious contender as both a mainstream consumer and business mobile device. Even in certain industry segments, like medical and legal specialties, the iPad has made significant inroads in adoption and acceptance, given its form factor and feature set.

But, like the iPhone before it, the iPad has been locked into a 3G wireless net by AT&T. However, unlike the iPhone, the iPad also has Wi-Fi versions that has proven wildly popular, and given a lot of people’s avoidance of the AT&T network and the increasing ubiquity of Wi-Fi coverage by various vendors and free coverage areas sponsored by various organizations, it is this variant of the iPad that may prove to be the best option for the majority of interested parties.

Verizon: Enter, Stage Left

So, many of you have heard about the recent Verizon offering for the iPad, and that the iPad would be sold starting on October 28, 2010. But you may be wondering why Apple bothered to squeeze CDMA-style 3G into the iPad but not the iPhone, at least not as its first device with Verizon.

Answer: Apple didn’t.

Instead, Verizon is offering one of its MiFi pocket routers with any of the different capacity Wi-Fi iPads (with a service plan to boot, ‘natch).

Of course, this means that if you are interested in adding a “take-it-with-you” Wi-Fi capability to your iPad, you probably can just get a MiFi router and service plan from Verizon. The question is, of course, whether it makes sense for Verizon to bother subsidizing the cost of the iPad in order to sell more plans and MiFi routers… Business-wise, to garner a significant mind- and user-share of current and future iPad users, the solution to be to merely give the iPads away for $0.00, once some sort of multi-year commitment for the MiFi data plan was established, or even bundle it with an existing smartphone plan.

AT&T: Enter, Stage Right

Not to be outdone, AT&T has announced that it will also start selling iPads in their stores on October 28, 2010. But since Apple has already been offering both the Wi-Fi only and the 3G+Wi-Fi versions of the iPad online and via its retail stores, there does not appear to be any significant improvements in service. So, unlike the Verizon offering, the AT&T offering does not offer the consumer any way to share a Wi-Fi connection with other devices, despite the cost of the service plans available.

Conclusion: The Management Perspective

This is one of those developing stories that may have an unexpected twist, in a matter of days or even weeks. Since the iPad is a Wi-Fi capable device, any service provider or alternative offering a compelling mobile Wi-Fi hotspot feature at an outrageously reasonable price point would easily become the darling of mobile digital consumers. Since the market, domestically and worldwide, is in such critical demand for a reasonable data service plan to match the iPad and the upcoming lineup of its potential competitors, this is an area where the service provider that re-scales data transfer pricing down to a realistic, affordable level and initiates the customer conversion to its network will be the winner.

Hmm? Mmm… Brains…

Just when you thought game publishers were just stuck to the usual oh-we-just-need-to-ship-DLC-for-the-latest-title-in-the-series mode, Valve has launched The Sacrifice DLC that wraps up the outcome of the original first four survivors from L4D. It appears that, rather than merely tacking on yet another DLC to L4D2, Valve has released the DLC for both the first and second games in the series, thus allowing fans of either or both the opportunity to choose which way they prefer to experience the action.

Of course, if you as an avid L4D player choose to go with the L4D2 version of the DLC, you will get to experience the fun of the original cast of characters with the updated weapons from L4D2. So choose wisely, Patient Gamers.

N.B.

And yes, contrary to popular belief, the Xbox LIVE service already has The Sacrifice DLC ready for purchase (560 MS points) and download now.