Thanks, Yardvaark. That is a good system for when you're home, and is merited if you have a big plant investment (whether in big plants or lots of small ones). And what a coincidence - I've actually been looking for something just like that to help catch someone stealing my newspaper quite regularly, but had only seen the more expensive version I've linked below. Maybe this one has a longer range, but with a 20' front yard, I don't need it :-) Currently I have a webcam set up which works for images but not for intercepting, should I wish to do so. Anyway, I have no quibble with the merit of the plant information in what you propose. But tied to addresses... shouldn't happen. It may, but it shouldn't. There are so many downsides. Imagine you buy a house with a huge whatever that is revered all over the world, and you want to remove it to do something else. The Occupy movement might come to your front yard! Drtygrl... there's an idea for my new screen name... "silver_lining" I've hated the one I have ever since Garden Web eliminated capital letters and it looks like I've put a #1 after my name, necessitating the correction of a signature :-) Someday I'll change it but the longer I stick with this one, the harder it gets! Karin L Here is a link that might be useful: a more expensive version

That's just one more reason why I carry my $$$ laptop in a worn out back pack Ditto. I sure didn't want a Targus or Porto or something else that screamed, "Laptop here!!" I also dumped the "mug me" white earbuds for my iPod in favor of some great-sounding but non-descript headphones. The iPod stays out of sight.

OJ, Canada might be different than Minnesota but here, the store does not get charged for a fraudulent purchase and I'm guessing that would be nationwide. Once the store gets an approval code for the card purchase (and the sale isn't normally complete until the approval these days) the purchase then goes through and the card company is now liable, not the retailer (except of course for the card fee). That's why I often took a card over a check. Challenging a charge these days is more difficult. Used to be people would get buyer's remorse on a custom purchase and try to challenge a charge. Doesn't work like that anymore which is good. Those charges go against the profits, much of which is the 20% or more interest that some fools pay. There was also a check approving company who would give a code and if the check bounced, they paid for it. That was rather expensive though so it's not real popular. And checks aren't real popular around here anymore anyway. I had my card stopped while I was out of town because of suspicious activity and got a call from them once asking if I had bought a computer from a large discount retailer who shall remain nameless (so some grouch won't go nutzo!) They replaced the card the first time. I wonder how much of the scam is coming from inside the card companies themselves. I can't believe that they do intense background checks on their phone support folks. Most of the time and in both of my cases there was no loss to anyone but me (for my inconvenience - fortunately I had cash to cover the hotel) since card purchases need to be approved up front now. In the old days of carbon impressions and sending them in to be processed there was quite a delay and more trouble for everyone involved.

Books? Ipads? Nah. The real way to save money is to make the kids buy slates. Or not even bother educating them at all! Kids know far more about computers and how to treat and use them than we do, and can teach us a thing or two. My three-year-old gdtr made a little video for me on my brand new tablet. Imagine my surprise and delight when, several days after she had gone home, I was learning to use my tablet and came across her sweet little video, her sweet voice singing a silly song, her beautiful face bouncing around on my screen. I have no idea how she did it; I was consulting my manual, reading step-by-step, trying to figure out how to make a video when she popped up! Maybe I will ask her how to post it here next time I see her, so you can see for yourselves. As a book lover, I am sad to think that books, of all things, are not permanent! But I do believe that computers are the future. Kids will have their school-pads AND their personal pads. And cell phones. And fuel-efficient vehices. And everything else, as things come along. We will still have our slates and buggy whips, our gas-guzzlers and short-sightedness. My great-grandmother, born in 1873, would have nothing to do with airplanes!