Ron first:

<<  What's more, I'd like to offer a bounty for the first person to
deliver
proof of who's behind this teriffic show of faith -- a free 3000 "Always
Online" hat to whoever comes up with the answer to this benign dilemma.
>>

And Deny:

<< I just blew back in town this morning, 1:00 AM to find a similar
package.
 5 pins in bubble wrap in a blank envelope with only MPE forever stamped
on
it.  The stamp was from San Jose.  >>

Obviously, what we have here is the start of... a... massive...
C O N S P I R A CY    T H E O R Y  !!!

...  We wait with bated breath to see if the deep, dark mystery
surrounding this extraordinary chain of events will be unraveled
before the end of HP World...   And to see if I can make it to
one of the booths before the pins are all gone...

Ken Sletten