It looks like the process is different though. Plants Text Message Farmers When Thirsty Accent Engineering, Inc., of Lubbock, Tex., developed the SmartCropTM automated drought monitoring system based on a patent held by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). They are offering it for sale in time for this growing season. Battery-operated infrared thermometers placed in irrigated fields monitor leaf temperatures and relay that information to a computerized base station. A cell phone modem can be hooked up to the base station to download data to a personal computer. This modem can also send text messages to a farmer's cell phone. ARS plant physiologist James Mahan at the ARS Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research Unit in Lubbock is one of the original theorists of the idea behind SmartCropTM. Each plant species has a fairly narrow range of internal temperatures it prefers for best growth. When leaf temperature goes above the upper limit or threshold of that range for too long, the plant needs water, as much for cooling down as to quench its thirst. In the Texas High Plains area, for example, Mahan found that cotton begins to suffer from drought if cotton plant leaves stay above 82 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 6-1/2 hours. Farmers can choose the time-temperature threshold at which they would like to receive an alert, and adjust it at any time.

>>>> "All of the various computer sellers (Apple especially) would like you to think that the value of the system you are purchasing reflects not only the hardware but the pre-installed software as well. It is a fallacy to fall into this trap. You're much better off considering each "ifree and pre-installed" software title a liability in so much as you will have to take time and trouble to get the #&$^� off your system." Bought or started up an OEM/MSWin Pc lately? Boot up a new Dell sometimes and just take a quick look at what comes that you didn't ask for..... Otherwise, having run PC's (Win DOS-XP-SP2/Linux/the Open & Free BSD's) and Macs (MacOS5(?) thru the sons OSX.4) and being a committed (maybe commitable?) Linux user who likes to play with FreeBSD and has a nice new copy of Solaris X86 to play with.............. Well, were someone ask me should they get a MacOS machine or a WinPC or a Linux box...AND ESPECIALLY if the person asking is primarily interested in "consumer/personal" type IT ie: browsing, email, music, photo's, email, schoolwork I would have to say get the Mac....Nothing simpler easier or more "user friendly" As for total system quality and value..... We still have a IIe, a Performa 5200, an original IMac with OS9 and OSX, a red IMac, and a white IMac, all of which still work. All of them. And the son has that G4 PowerBook that I (and the S.o. too) lust over. Though my limited personal experience with APPL tech support is quite limited, I have none but positive exepiences with them, but know others who have a less than stellar opinion of the same....BUT the online help via forums, FAQs and tutorials and etc. that's available to/for MAC users is IMNSHO, second to none, it's at least as good and useful as for Linux. I have a 32 pound i386 Compaq "portable" too, It sill works, but is no longer useful for much more than anchoring a small canoe in a stiil body of water. The Performa5200 (only reason we bought it was because we were getting it almost for free) running OS7.5 is still my very favorite mchine, that 32mb of RAm and that ("newly installed" LOL) 56K modem just don't seem as fast and robust as they used too....... Damn, I must be getting old..... Next I want a Cell Processor based PS3 machine (Anybody wanna sell me one real cheap?) to turn into my own personal Linux based super-computer, unless/until C.P. motherboards and processors start becoming commercially available at a somewhat resonable cost. HAGD..........I headed out to check out the rose bushes and take the dogs off in the woods over an hour ago, but haven't left yet. I am going now though, gotta beat that rain you know.....

"So how does one text? I would love to learn - anyone want to post the instructions?" Basically, you just bring up the menu, then choose "Message." Choose "Text" for the type. Depending on your model phone, you "address" the message by pulling from a "recently used" list, or you can type in the phone number, or you can bring up your list of phonebook/contact names and choose from the list. Then you put the cursor into the area where you enter the text and type out your message. If you have a phone with a "QWERTY" keyboard, you type it just as you would on a typewriter or computer keyboard. If you have a phone where you use the "number keypad," you have to press the "2" key three times before you'd get a "c" or the "3" key twice to get an "e," and so on. Usually pressing the "star" key brings up a selection of things like a period, comma, hyphen, question mark, etc. When you're done entering the text, you push the appropriate key/button to "Send."

Sometimes you can find these on ebay. I remember one of my students got an international edition of our text really cheap on ebay. It was the same book only soft cover. I am flexible with what edition they have for that one.