Calvin / wetfeet I totally agree about the differences in picture use between an eBay vendor and an academic lecture. I was merely pointing to the similarities in that some people do not put credit where it is due. It has been the subject among various coffee-pot conversations around here for a few weeks on and off. I just think it is a good idea to talk about it since right-clicking and saving is soooo easy - and everyone does it. In regads to orchids, particulrly mericlones, we expect the flower to be exactly like the one in the photo...If you haven't flowered your stock and are using somone else's pictures, then you may be misleading, intentionally or not. Calvin: don't you find science and bench research analogous to orchid culture? As far as "change one variable at a time to see if blooming can be initiated"? My boss wants to put me in charge of cell culture since my "green thumb" might be useful in getting some stuborn cells to thrive. I think it is so funny that people with a mind for science also grow houseplants and, in my case, have a reef aquarium. Several physicians and scientists here want me to start a orchid-club at the medical center..the only problem is while we are playing with our plants - who will take care of patients and perform research?

Hello members, interesting stuff to read! I myself bought from this seller, and as we all know you can retrieve all our former actions on ebay.... so there is our record of buying things. Nice prices on ebay for very special clivias and other plants, in my case, too - and this seller did not only take pictures from the Internet, but also has people to bid for him (maybe himself?) pushing bids higher and higher - always the same people, ebay members, but either without any performance or with only a few articles bought, of course from him. They bade and bade, pushing my high offer higher and higher, until a special point was reached (they outbid me), and then took back their former offers in a few seconds. So I wonder if my bulbs will turn out true-to-picture, or will be frauds - I have informed ebay about his strange "connections" who never got a single point, and they promised me to have an eye on that, but nothing happened. Now this seller has no items to sell at all, but the question stays if we were all betrayed....

I just received one from Stonebridge Life Ins. Co. regarding "Epsilon's breach" in security. However, the email I received asks for no reply. Seems just to be a notification of the Epsilon problem. It reads as follows: "Epsilon Email Issue We were recently informed by Epsilon, a marketing vendor used by Stonebridge Life Insurance Company and its affiliates to send emails, that an unauthorized third party gained access to email files of a number of Epsilon�fs clients, including our email lists. For your security, you are receiving this notice from us because Stonebridge Life Insurance Company or its affiliates has sent you information via email in the past using Epsilon as our vendor. What information was accessed? Your email address and first name has been accessed. No other personal information regarding you was accessed. How does this impact you? In all likelihood, this will not impact you. However, we recommend that you continue to be cautious of unwanted emails, emails that contain links with potential viruses or emails prompting you to provide personal or financial information. We urge you to be cautious when opening links or attachments from unknown third parties. What is Epsilon doing about this? Epsilon has notified us that they have identified the cause of the breach and have taken the necessary steps to prevent additional data access. Epsilon has reported this incident to the appropriate authorities for investigation. We sincerely regret any concern or inconvenience this may have caused you. Your privacy and the security of your information is a top priority for us. Sincerely, Stonebridge Life Insurance Company and its Affiliates 2700 West Plano Parkway �� Plano, Texas 75075-8200" The above email from Stonebridge made it past my McAfee and personal IP spam filters. I assume it was able to do so as there was no real phishing contained therein? I really didn't think much about opening the email since I receive both personal and business emails through my email address. I think I have been lulled into a false sense of security, relying on McAfee and my IP spam filter to catch spam. Our IP spam filter is so diligent/effective that I have to review the daily reports with a fine tooth comb as emails that I do want to receive have gotten caught up in the IP spam filter. That said, I am fairly certain that I haven't communicated with Stonebridge Life Insurance for any reason, either through the business or personally. Thanks so much for posting this information!

Thanks, sushipup. I have a neighbor who is keen on this stuff. I have or used to have lots of: Liberty dimes -- no idea where they are. Life's calamities and so on Buffalo nickels -- in the 1960s I kept them with a boyfriend who --- well, my bad. Lost to me now. He was a really fine fellow. Wheat pennies, gray or lead (Pb) pennies Silver dollars - just two, one marred. I wish the gov would mint a few more. It will probably take me five hour or more to look through the coins. I may find a liberty dime or 6 wheat pennies. If I found and sold them, I bet I'd be lucky to net a dollar (paper(. Isnt it amazing what we accumulate and how quickly just three decades or more zip past? Would many of us to do things differently or all over again in a completely different way? I would if I had the benefit of hindsight and maturity at a very young age sure why not? (I am voice typing so excuse the goofs). Darkening skies and it's only a little after 1 PM. I am in the Northeast and this unstable tropical weather because of the aberrant jetstream is very hard to cope with after two months. I need to have a few yard sales, clean things out, part with the items, paint the house, do yardwork, go to a few flea markets, visit friends, but in this every day soggy tropical unstable weather with a chance of lightning I am not getting a lot done. How about you guys? Does this weather seems just too crazy and annoying? I saw today that they are having floods in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. So sad that people are having their lives in their homes in jeopardy. And in California, it is just heartache to see people so distraught and losing their homes and livelihoods. It is like a stab to my heart.