Now I've read that Sparc's running Linux have REALLY fast ethernet
speeds -- very close to 100% of theoretical.

Where/what price can one pick up a used Sparc (or Alpha or RS/6000,)
these days?

You know, now that they've fixed piranha (cross your fingers,) RedHat
(or any distro that you want) can cluster (load balance, in this case)
many of your vital services....  Since they have source, it should be
easy to recompile for Sparc, Alpha, whatever.

Hey, has anyone seen this alternative piece of PC compatible Intel
hardware?  See http://www.saintsong.com.tw/it/english/prod/espresso.htm

Hmmm.  If the USB ethernet adapters are well supported in Linux --
hmmm....  If we could network via USB in Linux -- hmmm....  Ideas?  (MP3
player on steroids, clusters of machines w/ virtually no floor space,
portable lab equipment, wearable computers, in-the-field analysis, a
laptop replacement, voice recognition on-the-go, portable digital camera
on steroids...)

You get yourself a laptop bag w/ a small LCD strapped inside, a small
keyboard strapped inside, and this unit strapped to the bag, and you
could get a nice portable piece of equipment with the luxury of a small
detachable keyboard; you'd probably want to buy one w/ a "pink eraser,
though"  This actually sounds nicer than a laptop, for some situations,
since you could easily pull the keyboard out of the laptop bag, sit
back, and relax.