Tonight, right before I began my workout, I started new kernels compiling on all my machines—version 2.4.24 to be specific. If you haven't heard already, there is a local root vulnerability in 2.4.23 that is fixed in this version. I had upgraded to 2.4.23 not too long ago due to the previous security issue and it gave me problems with NewsMonster. Specifically, I got tons of DNS errors, causing failures fetching many of the RSS feeds I subscribe to.
I'm extremely happy to report that I don't see that problem in 2.4.24. So now I'm pimpin with a new, shiny kernel. And I can't put my finger on it but it seems faster on my laptop. But anyway.