I just uploaded a few photos from our trip to NYC during Thanksgiving. I didn't use the bulk uploader and I got alot of errors for photos not loading. What I noticed different is if I uploaded to a generic album, ie PJFarm and then wanted to move them all to a new album specific to what the pictures pertain to, it use to open a window which would allow me to either move to another existing album or create a new one. I noticed it didn't allow me that option of creating a new album this time. I had to create the new album and then move all the photos. A two step process instead of just 1 step. Maybe I missed something? I also have ad blocker for Firefox but there is an ad streaming when you upload. Can't figure out yet how to turn off the volume yet. Julia

I hope Paul can clarify what he meant on number 3... I didn't get that either. Before I respond to the other point, let me say that I agree with Ken's primary response to HVX in hostas and testing - it doesn't make much sense to test an inexpensive hosta with a strip that costs almost $6. If it looks virused, it probably is... toss it. But the latest info - that the virus can persist in the soil for 18 months and we don't know how much longer - that opens up a new possible reason for wanting to test. I think if I have to remove a plant, I'll probably replace it with something non-hosta and avoid the issue altogether - but I can see someone wanting to know for sure if they are dealing with HVX out of concern for the soil in that section of their garden. Many folks are dealing with limited space. I think the false positive question is important, because I think people are pretty OK with disposing of diseased plants, but the idea that the strips might tell them to throw away healthy plants might motivate people to not test - after all, if you can't trust the test, why bother? So as the false positives... like Ken, I'm more skeptical than most... but the science of the strips suggests false positive are almost impossible IF the testing strip is correctly used. Two facts support that. First, the results of the strips match extremely well with Elisa testing. (from wikipedia..."Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), also known as an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), is a biochemical technique used mainly in immunology to detect the presence of an antibody or an antigen in a sample.") The strips were designed to be the field equivalent of the typical Elisa test done in a laboratory - though in a lab, they are likely to do a whole panel of antibodies, not just a specific one. They use antibodies in a similar way to the Elisa testing. Short of an electron microscope, this is the standard set for testing for virus. In fact, it is the standard screening tool for human diseases like HIV and West Nile. In both kinds of testing, false NEGATIVES will occur (plant testing healthy even though it has the virus.) This is most likely due to the plant not having built up enough "viral load" to show up in testing. I don't know how long a period this can be... my impression is that the virus spreads throughout the plant fairly rapidly... but I believe Dr. Lockhart has had the experience of testing a plant negative and then having it test positive later... so not many false negatives, but there will apparently be some. Second, the antibodies on the test strip are quite specific to HVX. Agdia markets a line of strips, each designed to test for one specific virus. Once the chemicals mix with the plant juices and mark the virus, that is, for all practical purposes, the only thing that can make those antibodies react to give a positive reading. The "positive" band on the strip is designed to react ONLY with HVX. The rep says they've tried - and they can't get false positives unless they do something mechanically wrong. Certainly, nothing is perfect... and the science of HVX is changing as we acquire knowledge... and I wouldn't assume that a negative test guarantees my plant doesn't have HVX... but I think if I got a positive test, I would approach it as a sure thing and destroy the plant. This sales rep was a pretty interesting kid. He seemed to be more interested in the science than the sales. He didn't hand out any literature... I had to take it myself. He talked about his visits to the ports of entry where the European import plants are checked... and his work with the inspectors to get them away from just checking samples from each shipment to checking shipments by cultivar - the inspectors didn't realize that the way hostas are harvested and processes, the infection is more likely to be spread among the plants in one cultivar than being spread in the shipping container among the plants. Easy enough error to make - our usual model for virus spread is person-to-person... Anyway, all he wanted to talk about was the virus and what we know so far and the science of the strips - I had to ask him about the pricing...

It might help to know that what appears to be vibrant Media is actually "gardenweb.us.intellitxt.com" - so if you're going to block something - block that. If you can block an entire domain, use "*.us.intellitxt.com" or "*.intellitxt.com" and never seen green underlines again. As a tip that should work for apple users, you can influence the behavior of some sites even without ad blockers. If one were to add an entry for ip address 127.0.0.1 and the server name gardenweb.us.intellitxt.com, your computer would look for a script file for vibrant media on itself and, shockingly, not be able to find it. Bye bye green underlines. There is an article linked below. Here is a link that might be useful: Support article for os x users

carolb, and that was Highlights? I am left to think that maybe they were outsourcing it to a third party or some such. The number of complaints to the BBB was surprising. Such a long time reputation to sully with such bad customer service! I may just continue to look for another subscription box for him, instead. I bought a couple of Highlights puzzle books at Barnes n Nobel. I really dont want to buy kids books online They grow past them so quickly and they are so available and so cheap on the resell market. Where my daugher lives there is a second hand book store that has tons of books for almost a pittance. A few months ago I did go in and buy a box full of books and mailed them .Of course, mailing them upped the price of the books but it was still a mere pittance as compared to had they been bought new. and, the second hand store has some older books that are just different from a lot of the modern stuff. Many of them you know were given as gifts and never used or appreciated. They are, essentially, still new. The kids were disappointed to recieve a box and find it full of books . It may as well have been a box of socks . But, when I got there to visit I got them interacting with some of them and one particular book turned out to be a deightful surprise. But. left to their own, it is all ipad. I really dont think that as many kids are as enchanted with books as many adults try to believe that they are. For all the warm fuzzy notions of kids reading books, the reality is the Ipad is a bigger draw. Yes, I know that some kids fit that "voracious reader" status. My daughter was a big reader but her brother, not so much. Of three grands, only one really reads much. He has lots of interests, is in advanced classes at school, does well, but doesnt find much use for books. His life is on the computer screen. The other two are both younger and dont have much of any interest in the printed page, or TV, for that matter .None of my three really watch TV anymore, unless it is streaming. The ipad generation, they are. I hate trying to figure out what will delight and surprise anyone .It is exhausting. I will have all three of my young grands this holdiay season and it may be a once in a life time thing. I feel such pressure to go the extra mile this year, and, frankly I am tired and exhausted with it already. Trying to find a balance with my conflicting thoughts about it all . I swear that this is the very last year for any gifting . This may be the last year for many things. The world seems to be coming apart and I am getting old. I hate the Shopping Season . I would rather visit and do things on a normal day in February, or July than on the holidays. Too much pure hype for me. It is all just make believe that any day is different from another . i believe it is referred to as a "collective effervescence", when we share the fantasty in a collective manner. Blech! Ok I'm done.