Monroe

It's been fascinating looking at the pictures of what people sent to Hallee Sorenson in Maine ... so many candies and items from around the world. One item caught my attention ... a picture from July 12 showing a Green Tea Kit-Kat bar in a green wrapper and not red. I have no idea what country it's from ... maybe Korea ? ... just a wild guess ... wonder what that tastes like? Other many interesting pictures. https://www.facebook.com/HalleesBirthday/ Right now it's about five pictures down and dated July 12th. Going a little farther down to July 11th ... this was posted ... I took just this small few lines out of the post. "The most interesting and unique candy has to be from Asia. I swear I ate chocolate that had some kind of sea-life in it last week. The Kit-Kat varieties alone are staggering. And not being able to read the label is half the fun. Might be sea urchin..might be machi..you take your chances." ...

Hi ... not sure if you can find any back-school-sales in India but I see there are Walmarts scattered around ... maybe at least 21 stores. Walmart opens 21st wholesale store in India The new 60,000 sq. ft store in Agra will operate under the newly adopted Best Price wholesale model Wed, Aug 12 2015 http://www.livemint.com/Industry/9RkRvYt1asgVRSI6a2belJ/Walmart-opens-21st-wholesale-store-in-India.html New Delhi: Walmart India Pvt. Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., on Wednesday opened its 21st cash-and-carry outlet in the country. The new 60,000 sq. ft store in Agra, which is the second in the city and fourth in Uttar Pradesh, will operate under the newly adopted Best Price wholesale model that is connected to Walmart’s online platform. Walmart India’s outlets are spread across nine states. The retailer has said it will open about 500 outlets in the next 10-15 years in the country. It has already invested about Rs.2,000 crore. In June 2014, the parent announced plans to invest about Rs.623 crore in India, according to Walmart India’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). “Our Best Price store will also help our kirana members and others to efficiently manage their inventory and lower their operational costs. We will continue to invest in the supply chain infrastructure and supplier development, focusing on the growth of small and medium manufacturers, helping our farmer suppliers grow,” said Krish Iyer, president and chief executive officer, Walmart India. Rival Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt. Ltd, which has 17 stores, last year announced that it will open 50 stores in the country by 2020. Its German parent Metro AG had, in March this year, announced a possible investment of Rs.400 crore in India, according to its RoC filing. Reliance Industries Ltd, the only other player in the organised wholesale business, has 45 outlets. Carrefour SA shut down all its five stores in India last year. ................ Not sure what seller you are talking about ... those SanDisk $4.99 - 16 GB flash drives in that link are sold by Amazon itself and it has International Shipping ... but maybe not for flash drives, not sure. SanDisk Cruzer Blade CZ50 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Price:$4.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49 https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Frustration-Free-Packaging--SDCZ50-016G-AFFP/dp/B007KFAFZ8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1468092130&sr=8-9&keywords=16+gb+flash+drives Ships from and sold by Amazon.com "If the item you purchase is not eligible for Express shipping options, we also offer Guaranteed Accelerated Delivery via standard shipping or international shipping when applicable as long as the item is shipped by Amazon." Maybe some private sellers don't wish to ship to India ... I could not find any actual Walmart ads from India ... maybe they have some sales at the stores. ...

Yes ... you are right the little drives come in handy for many things. When I bought some 16 GB drives last summer, I started using them more for storage and have been burning less DVDs. One drive is equal to roughly 3 1/2 DVDs. Of course, there's always the chance that a flash drive will go bad and everything is lost ... just have to take a chance on that. This is the same drive at Amazon but it's the old red-black drive from last year. I don't see the colors for sale yet at Amazon. SanDisk Cruzer Blade CZ50 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Price:$4.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49 https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Frustration-Free-Packaging--SDCZ50-016G-AFFP/dp/B007KFAFZ8/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1468092130&sr=8-9&keywords=16+gb+flash+drives Also, a nice way to keep these flash drives in some sort of order ... I bought these little round labels at Walmart for color coding a few months ago. The price was around $1.88 and there are 475 small round labels in the colors of pink, yellow, orange and green. I just put 1, 2 , 3 on the dot labels and have some sort of idea of older stored items and newer items. However, with these new colored flash drives ... just the numbers on the dot labels will be all that will be needed. I put .avi stuff on one color, .mp4 on another color ... many nice ways to work with these new color drives or older drives from last year. Avery Removable Color Coding Labels, 0.25 Inches, Assorted, Round, Pack of 768 Price:$2.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49. https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Removable-Coding-Labels-Assorted/dp/B000BMBU9M ... as I said earlier, the Walmart package is also Avery but 475 count ... and $1.88, as I remember. That's a lot of dot labels and they are easy to remove ... won't ruin the flash drive , if you change everything down the road. Thought maybe this might be helpful to some people. ... added: I just looked further down the Amazon page of the Avery labels and this is what I got at Walmart. I thought I paid less than $2 ... these packs are $4.84 ... I didn't pay that much. Avery Round Color Coding Labels, 0.25 Inch Diameter, Assorted Removable, Pack of 475 Price:$4.84 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49 https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Diameter-Assorted-Removable-06720/dp/B004INFQMM/ref=pd_sim_229_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51kFD3SmANL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=BZD1RBG9VGBBCVEXHJ6A added: One more thing ... these "Back-to-School" bins should be right after you enter Walmart ... they are usually there in July, August and part of September or till everything sells ... glue, paper, pens and flash drives. ...

Like I posted the last few years ... Walmart again has 16 GB flash drives for $4.97 ... same price as last year and before ... except two years ago the flash drives were 8 GB. The flash drives are SanDisk, as they have always been ... but this year there is a nice "twist" ... there are different colors ... pink, blue and green. I like that ... one color for videos, one for music and one for something else. Easier to keep things in order. I don't know if all Walmarts have this exact same offer or the colors but my local Walmart does. I loaded up ... they never seem to add more flash drives to the bin ... once they're gone ... they're gone. At least it's been like that in the past. If you remember from last year and before ... the SanDisk drives were always one color ... red. Still a good deal. ...

When I was searching Google for any recent news about XP and Office 2000 updates for June and the Update check not working or never finishing ... I did see a lot of people complaining about Windows 7 never finishing or taking hours to finish. I found no mention of any XP problems for June 2016. Either I'm the only one with the XP update problem or something else is in play ... other people must also have older versions of MS Office to update. ...

A further update ... thousands of birthday cards are still arriving daily. Her mother just posted an hour ago that the Post Office is bringing more mail later today. Hallee's 19th Birthday 2 hrs · Everyone's #1 mail carrier John has let us know that we have 12 flats and 8 tubs of mail coming today!! Band-aids are ready!! Hallee's 19th Birthday https://www.facebook.com/HalleesBirthday/ ... if you have time, her mother has been posting pictures of cards and packages from everywhere ... truckloads !!! The world says Happy Birthday to Hallee Sorenson http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/207/the-world-says-happy-birthday-to-hallee-sorenson-1/252601505 Google - Hallee Sorenson https://www.google.com/search?q=Hallee+Sorenson&hl=en&site=webhp&gbv=2&sei=rWNxV9T4N8r9mAHDvpa4Dw ...

xpclient - My Office 2000 is up to date through Dec 2015 ... no newer updates have been applied since after December. I just tried the MS Update tab on IE 8 again and it doesn't finish in 2 or 3 minutes like it did a few months ago ... March was the last time I ran the MS Update check. I will try a few more days and then wait till December to get all the updates for the whole year. If it doesn't work in December then I will no longer look for any updates for XP and Office 2000. My XP setup with Office 2000 is working just great in 2016. I only use Office 2000 twice a year or every two years ... what's a few updates. Bersaglio ... I do remember something about the update problem earlier and if I remember correctly ... there was an update patch released for a fix. Maybe this time MS has killed the update for regular XP users with no POS2009 installed. If there are still some regular XP users with no POS2009 updates installed and doing a monthly update check ... maybe you can run the Update check to see if there is a problem for your computer.

First of all ... I never downloaded the POSReady 2009 updates after April 2014 ... so all my XP updates stopped at that time. The only updates I've had since then have been for MS Office 2007 ... since I have Office 2000 installed. All the Office 2007 updates were applied monthly through December 2015. I decided that in the future I would only run the MS Update check every six months ... June and December and only install any Office updates every six months. However, I did run the MS Update check in Jan, Feb and March and then not again till today. When I ran the Update check earlier in the year ... everything went fine just to look at what updates were available ... today when I ran the Update check, it never finished, just goes on forever and then my computer starts heating up and laboring so I shut IE 8 and the Update check down. I don't see anyone else here posting about this issue in the XP forum. I only use Office 2000 a few times a year so it works OK for me now, when I need it. If I can't update Office 2000 anymore then it's no big deal in my case. I tried early this morning on a different ThinkPad and just now on another ThinkPad ... same result, the Update check never finishes. The last time I ran the Update check in March, it worked just fine ... usually would always take 2 or 3 minutes to complete ... like it always has. I will try again later today and then tomorrow ... maybe the MS Update site for manual updates is temporarily not working ... when I get the list of updates required ... I then download the updates myself to save in a folder to burn to a CD for any future need. Just curious if anyone else noticed this or has heard something in the last two months? ...

Thanks for the information on Windows 7 x64. I hadn't logged into PayPal for some time so I was just there and everything seemed OK with my current User Agent. I hate for XP not to get credit when I visit websites but I don't have problems with YouTube and other sites with the Windows 7 setup. That may account for many more people still using XP but the OS not getting credit for daily use. I guess I will continue to use my current UA setup ... I was somewhat concerned that something really meant for a Windows x64 machine might end up on my computer somewhere and mess some things up. I'm not well informed on Windows XP or 7 x64 machines. Thanks again

A few weeks ago I updated my User Agents with a newer set of User Agent strings with a newer Firefox version ... I decided to use a UA string showing Windows 7 64x ... just to try it out ... I have been using Windows 7 32x for some time, never 64x. This is what I am using with the K-Meleon browser ... I have three User Agents but have only been using this one, I will put all three below. Firefox 46 (W7) - currently being used Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:46.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/46.0 ----------------------------------------------------------- These are two extras if I need to switch for some reason. Firefox 46 (XP) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:46.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/46.0 and Chrome 50.0 (W7) Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/50.0.2661.94 Safari/537.36 So far I have not had any problems (to my knowledge) using the Windows 7 x64 User Agent ... no problem with my banking site or other password sites. However, I'm now wondering if there are any drawbacks to be indicating I'm using Windows 7 x64 instead of Windows 7 x32. If I download a program, I always pick the XP x32 version ... which of course is what I have for my OS. I started changing my UA to Windows 7 x32 when I started having more problems with some sites always saying ... just about everything is "out of date". So a few weeks ago I decided to update my UA to Windows 7 with FF 46 but this time I went with x64 ... when I do updates at various places, could this create a problem of what might be actually downloaded? As I said earlier ... so far I have not noticed any problems ... I would like to continue using XP as my user agent but Windows 7 seems to be more flawless with some sites. ...

Hows this for a twist ... people are trying to "save" the robot from being "put down" or dismantled. I am actually on the side of the robot after much thought. It seems to love "freedom" and independence ... let it go ... fit it with a GPS hookup and lets see what happens or where it goes. It's only one robot ... if there were 20 or 30 of these "freedom loving" robots ... I don't know. ‘Don’t kill it!’: Runaway robot IR77 could be de-activated because of ‘love for freedom’ 23 Jun, 2016 https://www.rt.com/news/347921-russian-promobot-dismantle-threat/ A robot-maker from Perm, Russia, is considering de-activating IR77 – the world-famous machine that escaped its testing grounds in June and caused traffic chaos. The robot’s fans are in uproar, claiming the step would be akin to killing a living being. The ‘Promobot’ (promotional robot) from the company of the same name recently made another attempt to escape its testing grounds, and its creators now believe the bot’s memory has to be replaced to remove the machine’s "love for freedom". “We’ve cross-flashed the memory of the robot with serial number IR77 twice, yet it continues to persistently move towards the exit,” Ura media outlet cites Promobot’s co-founder, Oleg Kivokurtsev, as saying. He noted that other robots don’t act the same way and generally toe the line by moving along their planned routes. “We’re considering recycling the IR77 because our clients hiring it might not like that specific feature,” Kivokurtsev added. The IR77 robot escaped from a testing area in Perm, a city not far from the Urals, and made it on to a busy junction, baffling passersby but also disturbing traffic, the Promobot company reported on June 14. It took 45 minutes for the team to notice their brainchild was missing and by the time they had located IR77 there was already a crowd of puzzled citizens surrounding the robot, with the police also at the scene. The incident grabbed the attention of the world’s media and the robot became as beloved to its fans as the ‘Number 5’ runaway military robot from 1986 Hollywood sci-fi comedy ‘Short Circuit’. In YouTube video comments, IR77’s fans say the robot’s disassembly would be a grave mistake. “Don’t kill it!” one user pleaded. “Why do you want to destroy it? You’ve broken my heart. Can’t you find a use for this unique marvel?” one woman wrote to IR77’s designers. “Now we would remember there used to be a wonder-robot in your promobot family, but it was killed by tearless developers.” “Give it to me, please. I gonna find common language with it. If you’re itching to break something, itch yourself or break the chair under you,” another user wrote. ...

OK ... the robot has escaped again and may be "put down" ... or whatever you do to "kill" a robot. Is there a major problem here with robots in the future ??? This particular robot is probably "non-violent" but what about future robots. From the article below. "The Promobot IR77 has been fitted with artificial intelligence meaning that it learns from its experiences and its surroundings, although the programmers had not expected it to yearn for freedom. They say that despite reprogramming it twice, the robot continues to attempt to escape and they are now considering scrapping it. The other robots which have been created from the same series are well-behaved, and have not been escaping, say the team. Promobot IR77 made headlines last week when he escaped but ran out of battery in the middle of the street after 45 minutes in the city of Perm in central Russia's Perm Krai region." Intelligent robot that 'remembers and learns' could be scrapped after escaping a lab for a second time 21 June 2016 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/intelligent-robot-remembers-learns-could-8248559 The Promobot IR77 has been fitted with artificial intelligence meaning that it learns from its experiences and surroundings and can remember everybody it meets. A robot capable of thinking for itself is set to be scrapped after it escaped from a high-tech lab for a second time. The Promobot IR77 has been fitted with artificial intelligence meaning that it learns from its experiences and its surroundings, although the programmers had not expected it to yearn for freedom. They say that despite reprogramming it twice, the robot continues to attempt to escape and they are now considering scrapping it. The other robots which have been created from the same series are well-behaved, and have not been escaping, say the team. Promobot IR77 made headlines last week when he escaped but ran out of battery in the middle of the street after 45 minutes in the city of Perm in central Russia's Perm Krai region. The expert said that they had programmed the robot to try and avoid obstacles, and it had not been intended that it would look for ways to leave the research centre. In the first instance it had been wandering around outside in a yard when it escaped through a gate that had not been shut properly. ...

Well if humans are lucky and actually do disappear one day ... you can count on cockroaches to still be around. The dinosaurs are long gone but the cockroaches are thriving. http://www.epestsupply.com/cockroaches.php Cockroach History and Facts Cockroaches are among the most common insects. Based on fossil evidence, roaches are known to have been present on Earth for over 300 million years. Their sizes vary considerably; some species are up to several inches long. Some biologists consider insects to be one of the most successful groups of animals to ever inhabit this planet, and cockroaches are one of the most adaptable and successful insect groups. They have been able to survive many changing environments over millions of years. There are approximately 3500 species of cockroaches worldwide-about 60 species are found in the United States. Their presence in nearly every part of the world and wide range of habitats demonstrate that cockroaches are truly an outstanding success story in Nature. Unfortunately, many of the same outstanding biological characteristics which make them so successful, also make them one of the most difficult pests to manage. Cockroaches, especially the German cockroach, are the most commonly encountered and important household insect pests in much of the U.S. ...

This is more comical and funny ... didn't seem technical to me. It's funny now ... maybe in 10 or 20 years, not so funny. The robot can learn and someone left the gate open and the robot made a run for it. It didn't get very far and then the battery died. Did it actually realize the gate was open or just get lucky and walk through it ??? There's a picture of it on the street. The whole thing could be a hoax or a trick but it's still funny for now. Maybe one day they will get really smart and hunt humans down for revenge ... can only hope the batteries will run down unless they can power up from electric car receptacles or overhead power lines. Robot escapes testing grounds, disturbs traffic in Russia 15 Jun, 2016 https://www.rt.com/viral/346747-russian-robot-runaway-havoc/ A robot escaped from a testing area in Perm, a city not far from the Urals, and made it on to a busy junction, baffling passersby, but also disturbing traffic. “The robot was learning automatic movement algorithms on the testing ground, these functions will feature in the latest version of the Promobot.” The co-founder of the robot’s maker, Oleg Kivokurtsev, told ura.ru news agency. “Our engineer drove onto the testing ground and forgot to close the gates. So the robot escaped and went on his little adventure.” Kivokurtsev explained. The team only noticed their brainchild was missing 45 minutes into the robot’s travel stint and by the time they located it, there was already a crowd of puzzled citizens and the police had arrived. Nice try, but the robot didn’t get very far, it was forced to stop when its battery died. Promobot, or promotion robot, is a Perm thing: created and built in Russia, its main functions include those of a host and source of information. Some internet users have already expressed opinions that this latest video is yet another PR trick pulled by the company behind the robots. ...

An update to the post from last Saturday ... from the article below ... at the link there are new pictures and a picture of a Postal vehicle with mail. "Since the post went live last week, the now-19-year-old has received upwards of 6,000 cards and small gifts from people in countries all over the world including Japan, Mongolia, Singapore, Germany and Egypt, according to the Bangor Daily News." “We have been getting entire trucks for just Hallee… they even sent one on Sunday,” Hallee’s mom, Alyson Seel-Sorenson told the paper. “It’s unbelievable. I’m laughing at it, and then I’m crying.” Under Hallee's picture it says this ... Postal officers in Bangor, Maine, have delivered more than 10,000 cards, letters and parcels to Hallee Sorenson since Rebecca Guildford made the Facebook post on June 8. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/autistic-teen-flooded-6-000-birthday-cards-article-1.2675141 ...

Ancient, Still-Edible Chunk of Butter Unearthed in Irish Bog By James Rogers June 14, 2016 http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/06/14/ancient-still-edible-chunk-butter-unearthed-in-irish-bog.html?intcmp=hphz06 Would you eat ancient butter? A 2,000-year-old 20-pound chunk of butter has been unearthed from a peat bog in Ireland, which is said to still be edible. The large lump of butter was discovered by farmer Jack Conway while cutting turf for fuel in Emlagh Bog, County Meath on June 1. The strange rugby-ball shaped object was buried about 16 feet down in the bog. Conway quickly realized that he had found what is known as ‘bog butter’ and contacted the nearby Cavan County Museum. “It’s very noteworthy,” Savina Donohoe, curator of the Cavan County Museum, told FoxNews.com. “Butter, a long time ago, was very valuable – it was seen as a luxury.” It was not unusual for people to bury butter in peat bogs in ancient and early medieval Ireland. With low temperature, low oxygen and a highly acidic environment, bogs have excellent preservative properties. However, the Emlagh Bog find is unusual because it wasn’t buried in a wooden container or keg, which was normal practice for storing bog butter. “It may have been an offering to the gods,” said Donohoe. By analyzing the foliage and pieces of earth around the object, experts dated the bog butter to at least 2,000 years ago. Even after millennia underground, however, the chunk still smells like butter. “There was a strong smell from my hands after touching and holding it,” said Donohoe. The bog butter has now been sent to the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin for further research and analysis. Andy Halpin, assistant keeper in the National Museum Irish Antiquities Division, told the BreakingNews.ie website that, theoretically, the bog butter is still edible, but advised against it. Donohoe told FoxNews.com that she was not at all inclined to sample the ancient foodstuff. “I passed on that,” she said. ...

This was last July for her 18th birthday ... her cousin mentioned it on Facebook and the story went crazy viral. Sad that no one came ... she has autism ... the photo was shot by her mother. From the article below ... "The paper reported Saturday that Seel-Sorenson shot the viral photo. “I was standing behind a pillar. I was crying,” she said. “No one showed up. No one called. Hallee just doesn’t understand. You can’t explain it to her. She operates at a 6-year-old’s level. She just doesn’t get it.” Seel-Sorenson told the paper she and husband don’t plan to have a big birthday party for Hallee this year, despite generous offers from people and businesses to throw her a party for free." Post of Teen Sitting Alone at Birthday Party Goes Viral, Sparks Card Frenzy - Maine http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/11/post-teen-sitting-alone-at-birthday-party-goes-viral-sparks-card-frenzy.html?intcmp=latestnews A Facebook post that includes a photo of a Maine teen sitting alone at her birthday party has gone viral, sparking strangers from around the world to send her cards. A woman in Massachusetts posted the picture this week to make sure her cousin Hallee Sorenson, who has autism, wouldn’t have an unhappy birthday when she turns 19 July 2, NECN-TV reports. Hallee sent invitations to friends and was excited to go bowling with them on her 18th birthday last July, Rebecca Guildford, of Oxford, Mass., wrote. “Hallee sat at her party anxiously waiting for her friends to arrive so they could have fun,” she said. “But Hallee’s friends would never arrive. Not a single one.” Guildford asked people reading her Facebook post to send birthday cards, the station reported Friday. She never expected the response she got. As of Saturday, the post had been shared more than 196,000 times and received dozens of comments from people pledging to send cards. NECN’s report showed Hallee’s mother Allyson Seel-Sorenson retrieving a stack of birthday cards from her mailbox in Bangor the other day. People have also sent flowers and balloons. This article from Friday, also has a Maine address if anyone wants to send her a card ... maybe from another country. I didn't post it for that reason ... just kind of a sad story, like everything else in the world. I wasn't sure if I could post the address from the article in this post. Photo of Teen Alone at Birthday Party Goes Viral "She was heartbroken and beyond sad. She was hurt" By Mike Pescaro http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/Photo-of-Maine-Teen-Alone-at-Birthday-Party-Goes-Viral-382402801.html A photo of a Maine teenager sitting by herself at her birthday party is going viral and prompting people to send her cards. The photo of 18-year-old Hallee Sorenson was shared on Facebook by her cousin, Rebecca Guildford of Oxford, Massachusetts, who wrote that Hallee has autism. "Hallee is funny, sweet, caring, smart, an athlete, a jigsaw puzzle champion, a wonderful student, and a best friend to all. Hallee is an amazing person — a person I am proud to be related to," she wrote. "She is also a person who just happens to have Autism. She has never let that small detail define who she is as a person — which is why I refuse to use it as something to describe her." She described the heartbreaking scene at Sorenson's last birthday party — the teen had sent invitations to classmates and other friends, and was excited to go bowling with them. "Hallee sat at her party anxiously waiting for her friends to arrive so they could have fun," Guildford wrote. "But Hallee's friends would never arrive. Not a single one." It was Sorenson's 18th birthday. What should have been a milestone of adulthood was instead painful and lonely, Guildford wrote. "My cousin is a beautiful young woman who will always have the mind of a child," she wrote. "She was heartbroken and beyond sad. She was hurt." Guildford wants her cousin's next birthday, in July, to be special. She is asking people reading her Facebook post to send birthday cards. As of Friday morning, the post had been shared more than 136,000 times and received dozens comments from people pledging to send cards. When Guildford first posted the photo, she hoped she would convince 50 to 100 of her friends to send cards to Hallee. Now she has been deluged with emails, including ones from Ireland, Italy and France. "This has blown up to something I couldn't have even thought of in my wildest dreams," she said. "It's overwhelming, but in a good way. I definitely never saw this coming." If people take one message from the photo, she hopes it is to be kind to one another, she said. Hallee still remembers her disappointment last year, she said. "I'm hoping that with all of this that we're able to replace those negative memories with some really good, strong, awesome memories of what a birthday really should be like," Guildford said. Guildford noted that many people have been asking about sending gifts, and that while her family appreciates the sentiment, "gifts truly aren't necessary. A nice card would be just fine!!!" ...

Sometimes a car salesman in today's world is not thought of in high regards ... but there seems to have been at least one that people liked buying cars from. I came across this story today and the facts about Joe Girard. https://www.google.com/search?complete=0&hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=Joe+Girard&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=2&gws_rd=ssl Joseph Samuel Gerard, better known as Joe Girard, is an American salesman. Having sold 13,001 cars at a Chevrolet dealership between 1963 and 1978, Girard has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's greatest salesman. Wikipedia Born: November 1, 1928 (age 87), Detroit, MI Spouse: June Krantz (m. 1951) ----------------------------------------------------------------- From the article below: "People actually used to lineup to meet Joe, so that he could sell them cars. There would always be a queue in front of Joe Girard’s dealership on every Saturday morning. Joe Girard sold more cars individually than most dealers sell in total. He sold an average of 6 cars everyday, throughout his selling career. He sold 13,001 cars during his selling career… all at retail." http://www.biztactics.com/bullet-joe-girard.php How did Joe Girard sell 6 cars a day, everyday? Joe Girard was born during the depression in one of the most deplorable ghettos in Detroit city. Joe had a difficult relationship with his father. At a very young age, Joe started shining shoes of people in saloons. He had a tough childhood. But even though Joe came from a poor background and had a hard start, he became really successful. How successful did Joe become? The Guinness Book of World Records listed Joe Girard as the "World's Greatest Retail Salesman" for 12 consecutive years. People actually used to lineup to meet Joe, so that he could sell them cars. There would always be a queue in front of Joe Girard’s dealership on every Saturday morning. Joe Girard sold more cars individually than most dealers sell in total. He sold an average of 6 cars everyday, throughout his selling career. He sold 13,001 cars during his selling career… all at retail. What's his secret? He built and maintained relationships. Joe used to send 13 cards to all his prospects and clients every year. One every month and one for Christmas. He created a place for himself in the brains of his prospects and clients by keeping in touch with them. He made sure that he was in peoples' minds when they had to buy a car. And that is how he sold 6 cars a day, everyday. ...

Thanks for the extra information and link ... at first when I originally read the article, I wondered why the value was only around $100,000 ... but the collection is mostly modern type cards. I guess early Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb cards and such were not part of the collection, so I guess the total price fits the collection. The collector never went after some older more expensive cards it seems ... still impressive but I guess he got enjoyment just for himself with his collection ... didn't seem to talk about it or show it around ... the photo only shows half of the collection ... amazing. ...

How about that ... it's the first I've heard of it ... today. I even went into Google to look for a better news link with better pictures. I read it at Fox News first but the link I provided earlier had a picture of the room with the card collection. The link I posted earlier seem to have a better picture of the room. They were both dated June 3rd ... like the news had just hit the wires. Well, still an interesting find ... what I can't understand is, since 2007 ... when her husband passed away, the woman never once had an interest in knowing anything of their "possible" value ... also, when he was alive and collecting the cards, he never once wanted someone or a few people to enjoy looking at his card collection. That's kind of sad but maybe he worried about someone breaking into his house to steal cards if the news got around about his collection ... but I'm sure he would have enjoyed showing off his collection to a few fellow collectors and spend time talking "baseball cards". ...

He must have never said anything to anyone as he collected cards through the years ... just his wife seemed to know about the collection. From the article: "The widow of a San Antonio man got the surprise of her life when a chance meeting led to the discovery that the baseball card collection her husband had left her was worth six figures. The woman, who did not wish to be identified, had left the cards where her husband placed them before his death in 2007: neatly filed and stacked in ringbinders and folders across shelf after shelf of a spare room." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3624605/Big-money-cards-Texas-widow-chance-encounter-Bible-study-session-leads-discovery-baseball-card-collection-worth-six-figures.html By James Wilkinson For Dailymail.com Published: 03 June 2016 Big money on the cards for Texas widow after Bible study classmate realizes she is sitting on a baseball card collection worth six figures The collection was amassed between the 1940s and 2007 in San Antonio The widow, who doesn't wish to be named, had no idea of their value But the husband of a woman she met in Bible study class certainly did He put her in touch with expert Al Crisafulli who said it was 'staggering' Crisafulli is now auctioning the cards and expects at least $100,000 And the majority of that money will go to the family, he promises ...

In time this could maybe run amuck ... I guess it's all Science Fiction for now. "When they evaluate each other favourably, they send their genomes through the Wi-Fi network,' says Milan Jelisavcic, a PhD student at the university. 'A sexual reproduction mechanism then creates the new genome. Code of this genome is sent to the 3D printer then, for printing new components." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3620314/Now-robots-KIDS-Researchers-create-machines-mate-wifi-create-3D-printed-baby-experts-say-used-colonise-Mars.html Now robots can have KIDS: Researchers create machines that 'mate' over WiFi to create a 3D printed baby - and experts say they could be used to colonize Mars The 'Robot Baby Project' mimics sexual reproduction to let robots 'evolve' Parent robots can send their genomes through the Wi-Fi network to mate A mechanism creates genome for offspring, randomly combining features Eventually, they say, robots will 'develop their bodies through evolution' By Cheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com 01 June 2016 What if robots could evolve? It's the question asked by a group of scientists in Amsterdam, whose radical new project aims to create smarter, more advanced robots through a process similar to sexual reproduction. While the idea may sound far-fetched, they've already demonstrated a proof of concept – in February, two robot parents came together to 'mate,' and the first 'robot baby' was born. What if robots could evolve? In the Robot Baby Project at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, scientists have developed a way for robots to have 'sex' and pass on their DNA to offspring. Doing this can allow them to 'develop their bodies through evolution,' making for successive generations that have more advanced physical and behavioural capabilities. As the process continues, the researchers say robots can become more suitable for use in unknown environments that could be hazardous to humans, like deep sea mines or even other planets. 'We have two robots that meet and mate, and just as in the animal kingdom, this results in a baby,' says Guszti Eiben, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at VU, in a video explaining the concept. The robots live, work, and reproduce in an 'Arena,' where they are able to select a suitable mating partner. They learn through motivation, the researchers explain, and in this case, they are motivated to walk toward a red light. When the two robots come together, they are then able to communicate and even mate. more at the link ...

Dave-H ... I just stumbled onto this thread and about the missing Donor badges. I didn't realize they were gone for some people ... since they seem to have some value, I have decided to put mine up for sale on eBay ! Of course I have to do this before xper gets everything fixed. ...

I read all the links and am more confused as to what type of card I was using ... it looked exactly like the one in the link that I posted earlier. I think I may still have it around in a box with a bunch of other old cards. No matter ... bottom line I guess is that nothing has changed for my type of computer. sdfox7 ... I remember reading about express cards but I guess my ThinkPad model just missed a chance to use them ...T43 after the model I have ... T42. I still like these old ThinkPads ... even with a few drawbacks. ...

Thinking back on the USB 2.0 adapter ... it was a PCMCIA card adapter ... I was on Windows 98SE back then and the adapter card looked like this ... don't think it was this exact one but it was a good name brand. Dynex - 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-2-Port-PCMCIA-Notebook-Card/dp/B0009FV7J4 I'm sure I had USB 2.0 speed with the older computer but maybe I did not ... it also came with a power adapter. I don't know why I would have bought it if it did not give me faster USB 2.0 speed for the older computer. ...