Improvements

Okay, I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who thinks this, but after actually being forced to work with the new MSOffice 2007, I've come to the conclusion that it's crap.  It's like they regressed to something that might have been cool in Photoshop or Pagemaker or another application 10 years ago, but ruined the usability for ANY previous users of Office 2003.  Word has BIG changes to page numbering, numbered lists and a host of other tools.  Powerpoint has big changes to the way you tweak images and layouts.  The biggest problems I've found in Excel are in the chart functions.  And these are just the changes that I've found so far.  All of tools have been relocated such that you can't find them, even if they haven't been completely eliminated.  Oh, and guess what?  You can't customize the toolbars anymore.

Microsoft, this is your bread and butter.  Do you really think that people are going to spend the time and effort to learn something that is completely different, or are they going to choose options that are visually and functionally similar to your previous products. 

Even though I had already made the decision at home, OpenOffice is it for me from this point forward.  I'll even find a way

economy

with all the subprime and assorted other economic messes going on, I have to wonder if the ludicrous housing prices across the country will start to plummet soon.  if that does happen, I wonder what other kinds of disasters we'll face when people realize they're locked into a loan for a house previously worth $750,000 and now barely over $200k.  It's my understanding that that's the price range for houses in California that would be an average middle-class dwelling in my neck of the woods, and basically it has the same buyer target over there.  Can any middle-class person really afford to lose $500k?

Idiotic word of the day

"Coopetition", assumed to be a blend of "cooperation" and "competition" which are diametrically opposed to each other.

Used to describe the Microsoft rivalry with Sony

will it make word of the year for 2008? I, for one, sure hope not.

Marketing strategies

Well, the other day I saw for the first time a gas station actually selling E85 fuel. It was priced at $2.31.xx/gallon, which was $.20 cheaper than regular unleaded gasoline. But I wonder how many people realize that, at those prices, they're actually paying more for their fuel with this stuff?

Ethanol has about 75% of the energy content of gasoline (depending on the source you use; mine is the EPA), so a blended mix of 15/85 gas/ethanol has about 78% of the energy content of gasoline. If this translates directly into 78% of the fuel economy, then users will be paying roughly 8% MORE for fuel in the form of E85.

Is it really worth it? No, but all of the global warming freaks are making the public think it is. I'm starting to wonder if oil companies are behind global warming in a totally different way....

Are we wandering away?

I'm becoming increasingly concerned that the Christians, as a whole, are becoming more and more Deist in their beliefs, and it concerns me. I know many people who would gladly rationalize away events in their lives saying the the Lord can do anything He wants, and that no correlation exists between the events in our lives and our pursuit of Him. He can do anything He wants, but because of His nature, He must also do everything He says He will. This includes working in our lives, leading us, guiding us to places He wants us to be. This includes answering prayers (as long as they're not in direct opposition to His will), especially when we pray incessantly for something. This includes caring for us here and now, and comforting us when the enemy opposes us. This includes giving us wisdom (abundantly) about the why's and how's of directions we're taking or plans He has for us.

But the first step in all of this is believing that He will do all of that. Jesus could not work in towns because of their unbelief. And I believe that God's work in our lives depends on the extent to which we believe and trust that He will is actively working in them, and doing so for our good.

So, I'll end this with a few questions. I've read one blog recently where the author stated outright his belief that we're all on our own.How many of you out there believe that God is "hands off" in our times? How many of you believe that? And why? And if you were showed that the Bible says contrary, would you believe it?

clarification....

I currently have two blogs. This one is, and has always been, intended to be pretty much free-form; a place to postulate or vent about the vast array of mind-boggling things (whether good or bad) that I run across in my wanderings. My other one (http://aliens-and-strangers.blogspot.com/index.html) is intended to be focused pretty much only on theology and other matters of faith. Please visit it for more thought-provoking discussions in these areas...

No regrets

Something is being lost in today's churches. One of my cousins made a statement once that she "tried not to regret anything" that she ever did, because at least she could learn something from it.

But the problem is....we're supposed to regret things. We're flawed creatures, and will be until the Lord returns. And when we sin, the attitude of a person with a godly heart will be to repent. Regret is interchangeable with remorse (and, coincidentally, with sorrow), which is required for true repentance.

Now, I've heard the "don't regret anything" story before, but never from anyone who professed to be a Christian. And since that statement was made, I've heard it from other "Christian" sources, as well.

So, my question is: who's teaching this philosophy (even "new theology") in our churches, and why?

I guess the short answer is that its genesis lies in people bringing that idea in from the world, and never abandoning it in light of the truth found in the Bible. After all, people have been doing that to Christianity for nearly two thousand years.

I just hope this one doesn't stick around like some others have....