*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

@Ireland...thank you so much, my friend.

 

@gerry

Sorry things are not going to well for you, will cross my fingers for you and pray all turns out well

 

Well, gerry, we'll all be thinking about you and for the employment gods to look favorable in your direction. May you have all the luck in the world. Later, keep us posted, George

 

Thanks Arnie and George ... it's great to have you rooting (how do you spell that LOL) for me!!

 

good morning all,i is having a great breakfast this morning..



Honey-Banana Breakfast Shake

(This recipe yields 1 serving)

* 1 tablespoon clover or orange blosom honey
* 1 medium ripe banana
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
* 3 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until well mixed. More orange juice may be added for a thinner shake.


Have a great breakfast!!!


_____________________________________________________________________


Mocha Java Smoothie

(This recipe yields 1 serving)

* 1 cup vanilla soymilk
* 1 and 1/2 cup ice
* 1/3 cup tofu firm
* 3/4 cup bananas -- sliced/frozen
* 1/4 cup chocolate syrup
* 2 teaspoons instant coffee

In a blender, combine all ingredients. High speed until smooth.


Serve in a large iced glass.



_____________________________________________________________________
Power Drink

(This recipe yields 1 serving)
* 1 cup orange juice
* 3/4 cup pear - peeled and diced
* 1 banana - frozen
* 3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
* 2 Tablespoons wheat germ

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.

- ENJOY

 

Good morning Ireland and everyone: Ireland....your breakfast sure beats the hell out of my egg-McMuffin!

 

MPs in digital downloads warning
Creative MP3 players
Portable music players are proving enormously popular
Consumers should be told exactly what they can and cannot do with songs and films they buy online, says an influential group of MPs in the UK.

The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group looked at how copy protection systems restrict the way digital movies and music can be enjoyed.

Labels on digital content should spell out how easy it is to move from gadget to gadget, said the report.

It also called for an inquiry into the pricing schemes of online music stores.

Price point

A public inquiry organised by the MPs sought views on copy protection technologies, known as Digital Rights Management (DRM), from industry groups, consumers and media makers earlier this year.

DRM systems are becoming increasingly popular as the makers of music and movies, as well as operators of online stores, try to limit piracy of copyrighted works through home computers.

Boy in front of posters for Apple's iPod
Apple's iTunes store prompted huge growth in downloaded music
DRM systems can include special formats for media files or proprietary media players.

For instance, a DRM system may allow a CD to be played on a PC but would not let tracks from that album be copied so they can be listened to on a portable player such as an iPod.

The MPs' report made several recommendations and called on the Office of Fair Trading hasten the introduction of labelling regulations that would let people know what they can do with music and movies they buy online or offline.

This would ensure that it was "crystal clear" to consumers what freedom they have to use the content they are purchasing and what would happen if they do something outlawed by the protection system.

The same labelling systems would also spell out what happened in the event of a maker of DRM technology going bust, if a protection system became obsolete or if gadgets to play the content are replaced.

Lock and load

The report also called for the makers of DRM systems to be made aware of the consequences of using aggressive copy protection systems.

This recommendation was made because, as the report was being drawn up, information was emerging about the controversial copy protection system employed in the US by Sony BMG.

This system used virus-like techniques to hide itself and stop CDs being copied. The row over the software ended up in the US courts.

Firms employing DRM systems needed to be aware that using such systems in the UK would mean they "run a significant risk of being prosecuted for criminal actions".

The MPs called on the Department of Trade and Industry to look into the prices charged for the same digital content, such as music tracks, in different countries.

For instance some nations, such as the UK, pay significantly more for songs from Apple's iTunes store than customers in the US or mainland Europe.

"This is somewhat at odds with the notion of the 'single market'", noted the report.

Rental agreement

A spokesman for All Party Parliamentary Internet Group said he expected a response from makers of digital content and hoped that the report would inform wider government thinking about copy protection.

In particular, he said, it would provide input for the ongoing Gowers report into intellectual property.

iPod user, AP
Consumers are bumping up against copy protection systems
Suw Charman, executive director of the Open Rights Group which campaigns on digital rights issues, said the organisation was pleased that the MPs had made a series of "sensible recommendations".

But, she added, the group could have gone further to combat the ways that copy protection systems impinge on rights to use copyrighted material protected by law.

For instance, she said, UK law allows people to make copies of parts of copyrighted works for the purposes of critiquing or reviewing them.

"That's an exemption thwarted by DRM systems," she said. "The technologies are extending beyond the law they are supposed to uphold."

Increasingly, said Ms Charman, consumers were bumping up against DRM technologies as they use digital media such as downloaded songs.

She said that DRM was less about protecting copyright and more about creating a system in which people rent rather than own the media they spend money on.

"We think people rightly feel that once they buy something, it stays bought," she said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5041684.stm

 

New corporate p2p effort

p2p news / p2pnet: Music companies are still looking for ways to cash in on digital music, says TheStreet.com.

Currently, their favourite marketing tool is a phony 'crime' created by their PR departments to allow them to try terrorize recalcitrant consumers into buying over-priced, lossy digital downloads from skimpy catalogues.

Now, "The firm behind the defunct Qtrax online file-swapping network has inked a licensing deal with Britain-based EMI Music Group PLC and aims to relaunch later this year as an ad-supported recording industry-friendly online music service," says the Associated Press.

The downloan rental application will, "work with and filter copyrighted content from existing peer-to-peer networks," says EMI.

As with similar rental 'services,' as soon as users stop paying, carefully compiled libraries will become useless.

"Qtrax was among several peer-to-peer file-sharing applications that emerged following the shutdown of Napster, the pioneer service that enabled millions to illegally copy songs stored in other music fans' computers," says AP. "Creator LTDnetwork Inc. stopped distributing Qtrax after a few months following its 2002 launch to avoid potential legal trouble."

The Street says EMI claims it's the first major music company to make its catalog available via what will be the "world's first advertising-supported, legal peer-to-peer music distribution service".

EMI is a member of the Big Four Organized Music cartel. It, and its fellows, Warner Music, Sony BMG and Vivendi Universal, charge between 60 and 85 cents wholesale for each compressed music track they sell to the handful of online corporate download stores which have been persuaded to carry them.

Under investigation in the US for alleged bribery and price fixing, the Big Four are behind US moves to eliminate MediaServices' AllofMP3.com, which prices its songs by size and offers downloads for cents instead of dollars, in competition to the likes of Apple's iTunes, which demand $1 and up for each file.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed, "although EMI, which is the first of the music majors to sign up, will share in both the advertising and song sales revenue," says Reuters.

"There's a lot of pent-up demand for advertisers to get onto peer-to-peer services, but up until now it's been illegal, and highly dangerous territory for them to wade into," the story has Allan Klepfisz, ceo of LTDnetwork's parent company Brilliant Technologies, saying.

Klepfisz says although there have been conversations with advertisers, no one has signed up just yet, "adding that the priority has been to nail down the four major music companies," Reutes continues. "We have advertisers tentatively on board, but until you launch it's a bit of theoretical thing," Klepfisz said.

According to Reuters, "Qtrax's free version will allow consumers to download songs in the .mpq format and play them for five times while offering them a click-to-buy option. Other music companies may allow more or fewer uses, Klepfisz said."

Qtrax will, of course, be loaded to the gills with DRM.

It'll have a "free" advertising-supported tier, "designed to work with and filter copyrighted content from existing peer-to-peer networks," says EMI. "The second tier is a premium subscription service which will require a monthly fee. The two-tiered business model is intended to attract a broad base of consumers to try out the service, and then graduate those consumers to purchase music permanently or subscribe.

"In the ad-supported, free tier, users will be able to search the network for specific tracks, and those tracks registered with Qtrax will be made available for download in Qtrax’s proprietary “.mpq” file format. Users will then be able to play the downloaded .mpq file in full-fidelity sound quality for a pre-defined number of times. Each time a consumer plays a track, the Qtrax player will also offer fans click-to-buy purchase options, as well as the opportunity to upgrade to a premium subscription service for a flat monthly fee.

"The premium subscription service tier uses Microsoft’s Janus DRM technology, which allows consumers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to music in the Qtrax network. Subscribers will also have the ability to transfer content to Windows Media enabled portable devices for as long as the subscription stays active."

Digg this story.

Also See:
TheStreet.com - EMI's Digital Decision , June 6, 2006
Associated Press - Defunct file-sharing network to relaunch, June 4, 2006
EMI - EMI Music becomes the first major music company to make its catalog available to Qtrax, June 5, 2006
cents instead of dollars - AllofMP3.com under attack, May 27, 2006
Reuters - New ad-supported P2P music service signs up EMI, June 5, 2006

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
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Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

NOTE: p2pnet is being sued by Sharman Networks and Nikki Hemming, ceo of p2p application Kazaa. "The suit is a little odd, since P2PNet.net is a champion of peer-to-peer file-sharing, which is the same business that Kazaa is in," says The Globe & Mail. If you'd like to help p2pnet, or find out more, please go here.
=====================

(Tuesday 6th June 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/8976

 

Help kill SIRA

p2p news / p2pnet: IPac says the US Congress goes into summer recess Friday, "but not before considering the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA). Never heard of SIRA?

"That’s the way Big Copyright and their lackey’s want it, and it's bad news for you."

SIRA, "fundamentally redefines copyright and fair use in the digital world," says IPac.

"It would require all incidental copies of music to be licensed separately from the originating copy. Even copies of songs that are cached in your computer's memory or buffered over a network would need yet another license. Once again, Big Copyright is looking for a way to double-dip into your wallet, extracting payment for the same content at multiple levels."

As things stand, "incidental" copies don't need to be licensed, says IPac, a non-partisan group created to preserve individual freedom through balanced information policy.

Incidentals re made by doing other things, "like listening to your MP3 library or plugging into a Net radio station," says the organization.

"If you paid for the MP3 and the radio station is up-to-date with its bookkeeping, nobody should have to pay again, right? Not if SIRA becomes law. Out of the blue, copyright holders would have created an entire new market to charge for - and sue over. Good for them. Bad for us."

You have a unique chance to kill this legislation, declares IPac, adding, "If we can stall SIRA now it would effectively kill it for the reminder of the year, giving us more time to prepare an offensive.

"Please call the Members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and voice your opposition to this legislation."

Head over to the IPac site for a list of names and phone numbers.

(Thanks, Carpefile)

Digg this story.

Also See:
IPac - The worst bill you’ve never heard of, June 5, 2006
http://p2pnet.net/story/8977


The worst bill you’ve never heard of

This will be a busy week in the House -- Congress goes into summer recess Friday, but not before considering the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA). Never heard of SIRA? That’s the way Big Copyright and their lackey’s want it, and it's bad news for you.

Simply put, SIRA fundamentally redefines copyright and fair use in the digital world. It would require all incidental copies of music to be licensed separately from the originating copy. Even copies of songs that are cached in your computer's memory or buffered over a network would need yet another license. Once again, Big Copyright is looking for a way to double-dip into your wallet, extracting payment for the same content at multiple levels.

Today, so-called "incidental" copies don't need to be licensed; they're made in the process of doing *other* things, like listening to your MP3 library or plugging into a Net radio station. If you paid for the MP3 and the radio station is up-to-date with its bookkeeping, nobody should have to pay again, right? Not if SIRA becomes law. Out of the blue, copyright holders would have created an entire new market to charge for -- and sue over. Good for them. Bad for us.

Don't let Big Copyright legalize double dipping. Fight SIRA today.

The House is going into recess for the summer at the end of this week, so you have a unique opportunity to kill this legislation. If we can stall SIRA now it would effectively kill it for the reminder of the year, giving us more time to prepare an offensive.

Please call the Members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and voice your opposition to this legislation.

Republicans:

Honorable Lamar S. Smith
2184 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4236

Honorable Henry J. Hyde
2110 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4561

Honorable Elton Gallegly
2427 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0523
(202) 225-5811

Honorable Bob Goodlatte
2240 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5431

Honorable William L. Jenkins
1207 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6356

Honorable Spencer Bachus
442 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202 225-4921

Hon. Robert Inglis
330 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6030

Honorable Ric Keller
419 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2176

Hon. Darrell Issa
211 Cannon House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable Chris Cannon
2436 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-7751

Honorable Mike Pence
426 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3021

Honorable J. Randy Forbes
307 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6365

Democrats:

Honorable Howard L. Berman
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4695

Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126

Honorable Rick Boucher
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3861

Honorable Zoe Lofgren
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3072

Honorable Maxine Waters
2344 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2201

Honorable Martin T. Meehan
2229 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3411

Honorable Robert Wexler
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3001

Honorable Anthony Weiner
1122 Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-6616

Honorable Adam Schiff
326 Cannon House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4176

Honorable Linda T. Sanchez
1007 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6676

posted by Jake at 2:50 PM 22 comments
22 Comments:
http://ipaction.org/blog/2006/06/worst-bill-youve-never-heard-of.html

 

RIAA's Rosen on student lawsuits

p2p news / p2pnet: Hilary Rosen, the woman who once ran the Big Four Organized Music cartel's RIAA, says she believes the RIAA lawsuits against students have, "outlived most of their usefulness". It's also time for another look at DRM, she says.

Now long gone from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), these days she is, among other things, a contributor to The Huffington Post, which gives her the freedom, "to write about anything". Rosen says she likes the comments and, "one comment keeps coming back so much from my posts (no matter the subject!) that I thought I'd correct the record."

She says she's regularly accuse of suing college students and other "innocents" as chairman [sic] and ceo of the "Recording Indsutry [sic] Assciation [sic] of America."

BUT, "The lawsuits against individuals initiated by the RIAA was [sic] started after I left," she declares.

"When I was there, our litigation focus was on those who were bulding [sic] commercial businesses on the backs of the creative community without their agreement or participation."

In her The Huffington Post post, Rosen goes on, "I don't honestly know what I would have done about the individual lawsuits had I stayed. I certainly participated in multiple planning and debate sessions about them. There were good arguments on both sides and the staff at the RIAA are thoughtful, good people who work hard to protect their constituency. Thankfully my plan to leave was firmly in place and I didn't have to make that tough call or take the heat for the one that was made.

"I am sure there are lots of other things that I've done that people have opinions about. But most successful executives I know have made controversial decisions and have been second-guessed and scrutinized both favorable and unfavorably. It comes with the priviledge [sic] of the work and that's ok. I can also assure you that I don't intend to start using this site as a review of the RIAA or my work there but I certainly can't stop others from doing so."

As well as sharing a concern about the usefulness, or otherwise, of the lawsuits, Risen thinks the labels, "need to work harder to implemnt [sic] a strategy that legitimizes more p2p sites and expands the download and subscription pool by working harder with the tech community to get devices and music services to work better together. That is how their business will expand most quickly.

"The iPod is still too small a part of the overall potential of the market and its propietary [sic] DRM just bugs me. Speaking of DRM, it is time to rethink that strategy as well......... At some point, I will write more comprehensively about those years and these issues....then again, maybe not."

If she's not too sure about the efficacy of lawsuits against students, what about children (the "innocents" mentioned above?)?

She doesn't go into detail.

Digg this story.

Also See:
The Huffington Post - For the Record, for What It's Worth, June 4, 2006

p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
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Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

NOTE: p2pnet is being sued by Sharman Networks and Nikki Hemming, ceo of p2p application Kazaa. "The suit is a little odd, since P2PNet.net is a champion of peer-to-peer file-sharing, which is the same business that Kazaa is in," says The Globe & Mail. If you'd like to help p2pnet, or find out more, please go here.

(Tuesday 6th June 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/8979

 

KORORAA XGL LIVE CD..........Run the fabulous Kororaa XGL 3d desktop on your computer. Here's a video demo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM6HXoa0Lgk

This is a live Linux CD, and will boot from your hd, no matter what OS you run. From the site: "I've tried about 100 different distro's over the past 2 years and can honestly say I've never seen anything on a PC as spectacular as Kororaa XGL... It makes the hairs on my neck stand up. It's that good. I'm like a kid who's found the keys to the local sweet shop, I just can't leave it alone... nearly fell out my seat the first time I spun the desktop" Minimum recommended configuration is system with 384MB RAM, Pentium3 with nVidia Geforce video card. This livecd requires a CPU with SSE instruction support, and >256Mb RAM. (i.e. P3 or later, if Celeron then need coppermine core. AMD users probably need Athlon XP CPUs, but run "cat /proc/cpuinfo |grep sse" to check anyway). .....(free).....GO THERE!
http://kororaa.org/static.php?page=static060318-181203

 

thanks to arstechnica for this news info

Will "fair use" be fundamentally redefined this week?

6/6/2006 10:54:37 AM, by Nate Anderson

Are Congress and the music publishing business trying to pull a fast one on US consumers? As usual, it depends on who you ask. The new Section 115 Reform Act (SIRA) of 2006 is scheduled for markup tomorrow, and the EFF is sounding the alarm. "Why the rush?" they ask. "Because otherwise someone might notice that the bill represents an unholy alliance between the major music service providers (AOL, Yahoo, Apple, Real Networks, etc.) and [the] music publishing industry. If the bill passes, they win, but fair use loses."

Yikes! That sounds pretty bad, but before we sound the red alert, let's take a closer look at the bill in question. It's worth pointing out that Cary Sherman, head of the RIAA, appeared before the House Committee on the Judiciary a few weeks back to express his organization's opposition to the new bill, which seeks to make the licensing of online music simpler. If the RIAA opposes it, surely the law can't be all bad?

The law would amend Section 115 of title 17, United States Code—the section that covers "compulsory licenses." Generally, a copyright means that the owner literally has the right to control how copies of a given work are produced and sold. The US copyright law contains several exceptions to this right, including both fair use and compulsory licenses. Under certain circumstances, rights holders are required to grant a license for reproduction to another party on the condition that royalty payments are made. Such compulsory licenses have existed in the US for a century, and a new one was introduced with the DMCA that allowed webcasters and Internet radio stations to stream music.

The new SIRA law is an attempt to update the compulsory licensing scheme to clear up uncertainties in the way that some music download and streaming services operate, and to make it easier for them to get licenses to operate. The bill has little to do with consumers at all. A quick glance over the Congressional testimony at last month's hearing on the bill shows that the matter is largely of interest to the various businesses involved in music publication and sales, and testimony concentrates mainly on how the bill would affect the licensing and control of music among industry players.

So why is the EFF up in arms? They're concerned about two provisions, both of which appear in the first few paragraphs of the bill. First up is the fact that the bill describes the compulsory license as covering "incidental reproductions made in the normal course of engaging in activities described in subparagraph (A), including cached, network and RAM buffer productions." This section seems designed to prevent frivolous lawsuits by music publishers against various download services who need to generate incidental copies of the music in the course of doing business. In this sense, it seems a harmless (even helpful) provision, but the EFF worries that it establishes a dangerous precedent: such "incidental reproductions" are enshrined in law as items that are capable of being licensed. The worry is that down the road, music publishers might seek to charge consumers extra money for incidental copies that may litter their computers. This seems unlikely in practice (though not beyond the realm of possibility), but it does represent something new and potentially problematic. The EFF says,

This is dangerous language that creates a dangerous precedent. When courts look at how copyright should apply to new digital technologies, they often have few judicial precedents for guidance and thus they turn to the Copyright Act itself for clues about how Congress views similar issues. Incidental copies made in the course of otherwise lawful activities should be treated either as outside the scope of a copyright holder's rights or as a fair use (even the Copyright Office agrees on the fair use point). But you can be sure that the copyright industries will use SIRA as a precedent to the contrary in future fights.

The other item of concern is the fact that the compulsory license outlined in the bill would not apply to any digital or Internet radio stations that "authorize, enable, cause, or induce the making of reproductions of musical works by or for end users that are accessible by such end users for future listening, unless a valid license has otherwise been obtained by such service for such activity." The worry here is that this would eventually be used to prevent all home recording from digital radio stations.

Whatever you think about the proposed legislation, it's clear that these issues are debatable ones (as opposed to obviously one-sided power grabs). Indemnifying online download services from worthless licensing disputes over "incidental copies" seems like a good idea. Similarly, many consumers believe that it is fair to create at least some limits on home recording of digital streams, which are capable of being ripped, tagged, and stored automatically (importantly different from recording analog radio, unless you have a radioSHARK). Does this really make the proposal the "worst bill you've never heard of"? On the other hand, the EFF is right to worry about the future uses to which such rule changes might be put. Their rhetoric in this case is shrill; have they gone too far, or is the apocalyptic warning needed?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060606-6994.html

 

Well, we just got an inquiry from Harrisburg that gave us all a good belly laugh in these trying times and warranted a good bacon and pancake breakfast when I've not been much in the mood. The department of labor and industry wants me and my buddies here to tell them exactly how many migrant mushroom growers we have in Philly. LMFAO!!!!

 

Big Music OKs copying in UK

p2p news / p2pnet: Guess what?

The members of the Big Four Organized Music gang have decided Britishers who buy CDs can copy them without fear of being threatened with prosecution by the cartel's BPI --- as long as the copies are for personal use.

"Currently anyone transferring music to portable devices breaks copyright laws," says the BBC, but the BPI's Peter Jamieson now says consumers will only be penalised if they copy songs for other people, according to the BBC.

The story doesn't say how the BPI would determine who might, or might not, be making 'illegal copies for friends who, the specious reasoning goes, would otherwise have bought the tunes from one or more of the Big Four, and/or their associated companies.

"We believe that we now need to make a clear and public distinction between copying for your own use and copying for dissemination to third parties," the story has Jamieson saying.

Digg this story.

Also See:
BBC - UK music fans can copy own tracks, June 6, 2006

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Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php

NOTE: p2pnet is being sued by Sharman Networks and Nikki Hemming, ceo of p2p application Kazaa. "The suit is a little odd, since P2PNet.net is a champion of peer-to-peer file-sharing, which is the same business that Kazaa is in," says The Globe & Mail. If you'd like to help p2pnet, or find out more, please go here.

(Wednesday 7th June 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/8994

 

@ddp: rather hard to tell my friend: in the former, it's the migrant worker who's illegal and in the latter, it's the produce lol!

 

Good morning all! I'm having extra strong coffee this morning but I'm having it iced as I just had a rather long hike. Perhaps I should have done without it this morning as the nerves are already in overdrive. Keep your fingers crossed for me ... say a prayer for me....or whatever. I find out this morning if my fifteen years with the organization is about to end and I find myself in the unemployment lines. We've been ordered to sit by our phones after 8:00 this morning and wait to see which of us gets the axe. One waits by the phone dreading every ring; one listens to the phones around you wondering which of your frinds phones' ring...a lot of us will be gone as they must make five million dollars in cuts. This will be the longest three hours or so I've ever had. Again, keep your fingers crossed for me guys!!

 

Cheers to you gerry............and good luck today

 

Thanks Arnie!! (so far, lol)

 

Fingers crossed, good luck gerry.