Anyone have experience with one of these?  http://www.microsyncdigital.com/transmitter.cfm

 Well, the intended use is general. Shooting some action sports (skateboarding), portraits, still life's, ect. 

Studio flashes would be a little bulky for my use, and storage. 

But a budget of around $900 u.s. 

 Both would be awesome. 

I'm leaning more towards the manual side of things, just to have that much more control. but I'm not made of money either. 

In regards to post work:

Editing an image is simply another way of using the tools that you have. Before the advent of digital photography, photographers use to edit images in the dark room with various methods of dodge and burn. Image manipulation and editing has been around since photography, and there is simply no way to change it. Many professionals and some amateurs have exceptional skills when it comes to editing an image.

While I myself am not fond of editing images, I do more than not. To take away the option, let alone make the artist declare the editing, is absurd. I understand where you are coming from, but as a photographer, I use every tool I have available to me to make my images stand out.

Keeping photos natural, as in taking away post-work, is like telling people that they cannot remove objects from the frame in the shoot. That you are not allowed to manipulate the subject, that everything has to be as is. Keeping things ‘pure’ is left to the photographer to decide and should not be enforced upon the forum. While I agree that there should be a limit, many of the participants in the challenge understand what is acceptable and what is not.

In regards to the competition:

What is really at stake if someone does not win? I do not recall getting a single vote on my submission. What I learned from that is how to be a better photographer. Is the competition fair? I do think so. The rules are rather obvious to even the daftest of persons. It is a photographic challenge; hence the image should have minimal post work.

Personally, I do feel that you are giving too much of a burden to the forum. There is only so much that can be regulated and said. If you do have a problem, address the co-ordinator or moderator of the forum. While I agree the rules are simple, there is no need to complicate things. It is a matter of trust that people will do what is right. Your statement about there being a ‘post-work-fest’ for the next challenge simply implies that you are going to break those rules.

From what I understand, it is not so much an identifiable person, but someone who is secluded in privacy (I.E. at an ATM machine). For people who are in public, I believe they are open game. So, if there are no restrictions to you being there, then there seems to be no need for you to have permission to shoot.

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an abrasive tool of some sort, like a brush?

Agent who?

Its good to see you back.

I'm thinking paint of some sort.

is is a liquid or solid?

 I feel young...

My first experience with a PC was with windows 3.1 in grade school (I was 7?)
Then the school progressed, Win 98, 2000, and XP

But when I was 13 or so, I discovered an old Apple II in the science room

Eventually I grew into home made machines. Dad was a communications engineer for the army back in the day. So, all the computers have been home made for as long as I can remember, from random parts here and there. 

About 6 months or so, I got an MacBook Pro, and fell in love with it. 

To be perfectly honest, I dont care for the leaf. 
As was stated, it does not stand out enough to make a presence, but is there in enough scale to make an annoyance. It also looks rather unnatural with the texture of the tree in the background. 

PostWork:
-adjust colour balance
-duplicate layer and set to "Soft Light"
-blur "SL" layer to 30px
-Adjust levels
-Adjust curves

-save

The lady in the first one, that was very colorful. I really liked that.
And the shaving with the gas mask on, thats another idea of something similar to try....

Sweet, more photos for my idea morgue.

The milk in water thing was kinda cool.

 I like the high-pass, but at times it gives me chromatic-abrasion problems. 

I'm using a 1.5 on the filter, then despeckle, using photoshop 7.0 and CS. 

Anyone have anything better?

Unsharp mask gives a better look, in darker areas, but Its hard for me to control.