Ever wonder what happened to Kyle McDonald, the artist who had the Secret Service sicced on him last year for installing spy cam software on computers in New York City Apple Stores that took pictures of unsuspecting Apple customers? He's written a long, fascinating account of his ordeal for Wired. Turns out it all ended for the best.

Starting today, Apple Store managers will have to undergo euphemistically-titled "union awareness" training, to learn about attempts by employees to unionize. It's safe to say Apple doesn't want unions getting in the way of their creepily efficient customer service.

New York City already has four huge Apple stores, which are doing fine keeping the city's residents stocked with overpriced pieces of metal. But that's not good enough for Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz. He's begging Steve Jobs for an Apple Store.

Let us put a tin-foil protective case around our iPhone 4 for a second. A tipster has sketched the eerie outline of a massive Apple campaign of deception: Are Apple stores creepy fantasy lands, stuffed with paid extras?

Remember that dizzying, quarter-mile-high glass observation deck that opened on the 103rd story of Chicago's Sears Tower recently? Well, the New York Times now has an interesting article about the science of making the damn thing work without killing anyone.

OK, that's it. Apple Stores are officially the new Starbucks. They're everywhere. Rumors have a new store opening in Brooklyn and a megastore opening on 34th Street in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Apple is opening a superstore in my hometown of Boston to go with the eight already in Massachusetts. There are new stores planned for San Francisco, Zurich, Chicago, Maui, Berlin, Taiwan, another in Manhattan near NYU, two in Paris, at least three in Japan, several in Canada, a few in Australia, some in South Africa, Hong Kong and Munich. At least they're decent to look at. I shudder to think what Zune kiosks, probably appearing soon at your local megamall, will look like. (Image by sarahbaker)