One thing you said you'd show me was how to turn off Ping. Time ran out on us, and we didn't get to that. This morning I typed "disabling Ping from iTunes" into Google and following the steps outlined in one of the postings I found a pretty short, easy to follow set of instructions. However when I went thru the steps given, I found that "Ping" was off (or at least the button was in the off position.) When I go to play music, the Ping button still appears next to selected song. Does this mean that it's working, or merely just there if I should want it? I'd like to get rid of the little devil completely........
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Yes, it bothers me as well. You are correct that turning off Ping doesn’t actually take away the button. Apple hasn’t thrown in the towel on Ping yet but I think it’s only a matter of time. In the mean time here’s a clear way to kill that silly button. It requires using terminal but it’s not too hard. Just follow the steps exactly and it should be fine.

How To Get Rid Of The Ping Drop-Down Menu In iTunes