Alas, we fear the worst of the storm has passed, with nary a single disembowelment to be seen. The way that Apple and IDG World Expo have been behaving lately, we felt sure there'd be bloodshed by now-- but apparently our best hopes for extreme and brutal violence have been dashed by that consarned new-fangled invention called the "telephone." Had today's bicoastal conference call instead been a good ol'-fashioned face-to-face meeting, we bet there'd have been some good ol'-fashioned fist-to-face action, too. We feel cheated.

As for the outcome, well, there are no surprises so far; faithful viewer Q notes that, as reported in a CNET article, IDG has backed way the hell off of its weekend threat to ban Apple from the San Francisco show unless the company also dragged its hinder cross-country and put in appearances in New York and Boston, dadgum it. An IDG statement now indicates that, yes, Apple and Steve are welcome at January's San Francisco show. Meaning, of course, that Charlie Greco predictably punked out on his tough-guy threat, possibly because he heard that Steve's been working out, can bench two-twenty, and has his own private jet to fly across the country for the sole purpose of twisting Charlie into a human pretzel with a whole new concept of pain.

How about Apple's participation in the East Coast shindig? Well, it's still up in the air-- both sides have "agreed to hold ongoing discussions about Apple's role" in the New York and then Boston shows, which isn't a heckuva lot of progress as far as IDG is concerned. Then again, while it's no "East Coast East Coast Rah Rah Rah," it's still presumably a good sight better than Apple's prior "We wouldn't set foot in Boston even if you blackmailed us with compromising video footage depicting questionable activities with farm animals" stance.

Mind you, this hubbub ain't over yet, bub; what with negotiations continuing over whether or not Apple will bother to show up to New York and/or Boston, there's still a chance that some day a bunch of representatives from both sides will meet up close and personal and mayhem will ensue. Picture an Apple staffer clubbing a hapless IDG rep about the head and shoulders with said rep's own raggedly severed arm and you've got the gist of the sort of Sweeps Month stuff we're looking for. We can but hope.