gandle, today is so steamy--(99, with the high saturation point), have had to work in shade, pulling over-hanging weeds and stalks from beds bordering long brick walkways--scooping up cool, finely-wormed dirt along brick edging of beds and tossing it back in the side and center beds. Strange how cool that dirt is and how my sweat is dripping all over it.. Huge worms scither-scather back down between the bricks, the rest I toss up in beds with all their good dirt for them to play in. While I was working, I was thinking about your tree and the music that was playing that day. What a treat---something that will stay with you and you can revisit as you like. You were so lucky to be part of that beautiful scene. Don's song really brings your experience more into view for the rest of us. He's so good at that---bringing the bunch of us out of our sometmes mundane, everyday reality--- I'm sure all of us appreciate it when it happens! While I was scooting along in the dirt sweating and forgetting I was a human--- (it's so fun to let go like that) the song that came to mind was Neil Young's 'Harvest Moon'--- don't ask me why---I think it's the WAY Neil Young sings it, that makes it so unforgettable. Maybe you and Leone would dance to this song under the Yellowood tree in the moonlight.... ****** Come a little bit closer Hear what I have to say Just like children sleepin' We could dream this night away. But there's a full moon risin' Let's go dancin' in the light We know where the music's playin' Let's go out and feel the night. Because I'm still in love with you I want to see you dance again Because I'm still in love with you On this harvest moon. When we were strangers I watched you from afar When we were lovers I loved you with all my heart. But now it's gettin' late And the moon is climbin' high I want to celebrate See it shinin' in your eye. Because I'm still in love with you I want to see you dance again Because I'm still in love with you On this harvest moon.

try this site it's called Picasso: http://picasa.google.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: photo software

Sorry, I've been away a bit. To take your comments in order, Kudzu: Well, I'm glad to know it isn't something MS is doing, but there is really no way someone could have gotten access to my computer, unless they came in as a burglar and left no other signs. We have very few guests, and the layout of the house makes it impossible for anyone to enter the computer room without our knowing it. I'm beginning to lean more and more to your second suggestion, that the files came along with something else I downloaded. I did download a video on YouTube a few days ago, and now a search on the site doesn't bring it up anymore, which is strange. DA: I did click to see when some of the files were created. Several were from 2005 and 2006. Do those dates refer to the time they were "created" on my computer (though I do not think I had bought this computer yet in 2005--too lazy to go hunting for the receipt tonight), or to their original creation on someone else's? If it is when they got onto my computer and I just hadn't checked the All Users folder for such things, I am still left with the puzzle of why some got into my personal regular music folder. However, I usually access My Music through the Start menu, but I had gone through My PC>C:\, etc., when I came across this problem. Can it be that the files were there all along, as Gndms suggested, and I just never happened to notice them? (In that case, I will owe everyone an apology for taking your time, and also feel like the boy who cried wolf--though unintentionally!) So long as nothing sinister is going on, I will be content. RavenCajun: I ran scans as you suggested and all seems well there. However, yesterday I checked the History section of MSE and found this: But it wouldn't have anything to do with the strange files, would it? I am wondering how it "exploits" the computer and whether or not it did any exploiting of mine before it was detected and removed. This is the first time MSE has found anything "severe." Up till now, it has always been just cookies. Didn't find any suspicious log-on activity. RUBotted found nothing, too, but thanks for telling me about it; I have Bookmarked the site for future reference. When I checked the administrative tools and event viewer, there was a great long list of events listed as warnings, dating back to April of 2006, which I am assuming was when I bought the PC. All those "warnings" are scary. Can you tell me what they mean? Should I be doing something about them? Thank you all so much for helping me. Just as a final touch for my peace of mind, I am going to run Kaspersky's scan now.

Echo in a vocal recording is the sound equivalent of what restaurant kitchens try to do with butter, salt and sugar - to use enough to positively influence perceptions but not too much to have an adverse effect. It's easy and cheap. With the right amount, many people perceive the end result and think it's better than it is. Because of what has been added. There's software called Auto-Tune that's widely used in commercial recordings to correct off pitch singing, even if slightly so. I don't know whether it's present or not in the processing of this track but the echo treatment is usually present when it is.