I considered my jury service to be an essential part of being a citizen, like voting, a responsibility. I don't get paid to vote and don't think jury service should be paid either - though employers who do pay their worker when they serve on a jury are to be congratulated.

Bravo!

Yes, in fact I am using Fingerprint from Collobos Software on my 10.6.5 system and Airprint works fine for the test I've done so far from Safari. I have a Brother laser printer connected to an Airport Express to give my Mac and now my iPad wireless printing.

There's a similar situation occurring with MS patients and the research findings about CCSVI. It's a radical departure from the accepted theory about MS because it points at vascular problems in MS sufferers' veins that drain the brain. Chronic Cerbrospinal Vascular Insuffciency (CCSVI) can be treated with balloon venoplasty that is safe and relatively low cost or with stents. The issue at present is many neurologists and the MS Societies of US and Canada have resisted pushing funds to validating the hypothosis and doing trial to show the efficacy and safety. So patients are traveling to Poland, Bulgaria to get treated. Big Pharma is also threatened because MS drugs are a very very big money maker for Teva and others. Some nurologists are crying hoax and 'it can't be'. See http://csvi-ms.net/en for references to information about CCSVI.

I quit working full time and became a part time employee 10 years before I quit completely. I switched from paying a too high charge for the group insurance offered by my employer and my wife and I bought an individual policy from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. We had to go through medical underwriting which basically means they look at your medical history. If you and your wife and kids are healthy you should be able to get coverage. We got a non-cancelable catastrophic plan with high deductibles. The premiums have more than doubled in the 10 years we've had the coverage and went up 17% just this year alone. We are both in our 60s. Since getting coverage we have both had health issues arise and getting coverage now would be harder, if possible.

Someday Apple may have a MacBook in a similar physical package, but I don't view the iPad as a computer as we've seen them since the Apple II. I think it's a communications appliance with some elements that are found on traditional computers like the shared file folder for transferring files.

I'm committed to the Mac approach, with the addition of using LogMein for remote access and control. My father, now in his 80s, has used Macs that I have given him or bought with my siblings going back to System 7 days. He's on OS X now with a Mac mini. There is always some little thing that troubles him and I've found that by having LogMeIn running all the time allows me to connect to him from my OS X system and talk him through the solution or correct toolbar problems he has in Excel (the old PowerPC version) easily and quickly. No viruses, no antivirus software, few hardware issues in any of the five Macs he's had over the years. Usually it just works.

In Saint Louis county Missouri is the Museum of Transport with lots of trains, streetcars, autos. Kids love it. http://transportmuseumassociation.org/

Check out Organizers Database http://organizersdb.org/ . Windows only. Free.

For the past 10 years I have been doing computer support volunteer work for a state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit organization which has chapters in all states. I order, install, maintain software and hardware, train staff (about 30 people) throughout the state. Most states have a full time or at least part time person doing this work and at certain times of the year when big software updates have to be done could use volunteer assistance. Look up your state's locations at nature.org/ and give them a call.

I think it is significant and praise-worthy that the Chinese have reached this milestone and we can hope there are more in the future. Near-space is important to mankind to develop technology for future long distance missions to the planets and asteroids and for perhaps building power-sats for beamed power from orbit to earth and eventual elevators to reduce the cost of lifting mass from the surface to low orbit. We should encourage the Chinese and perhaps get them to join in the International Space Station project as well.