Microsoft IE 7 Beta Released

Microsoft hasn't released a new version of Internet Explorer since 2001, allowing competitor Firefox to gain ground. Firefox now has about 10% of the market share compared to IE's 85% so they have a long way to go to catch up; however, I have been using Firefox now for the past year and really prefer it to IE.

Microsoft's new IE7 will feature enhanced security enhanced guards against malware and phishing. It also promises to be easier to navigate with a sleeker interface. Another new feature will be an icon that users can click on to automatically add RSS feeds to your favorites folder on the browser. Microsoft plans are to ship IE7 along with Vista, the upgrade to Windows XP, in the second half of this year.

I am downloading IE7 as I write this post and will try it out, but I have been very pleased with Firefox and do not plan on returning to IE. After I have tried the new IE for a while I will write a review here, so check back soon. I am interested to hear your opinion on IE vs. Firefox. Please leave a comment. If you would like to download IE7 Beta version, Click Here.

FDA Approves Inhaled Insulin

YES...this is really good news for diabetics. The FDA has approved Exubera, the first inhaled insulin treatment for diabetes. I for one, am very glad to hear about this. I am a diabetic and have been taking insulin shots for fifteen years. I take five injections per day and it has not been fun! I hate needles, and I will be happy to switch to Exubera.

How does Exubera work? It delivers insulin in dry form through an areosol spray to the lungs and from there it enters the blood stream.

Pfizer Inc. is the first manufacturer to put the new insulin on the market. Before too long, I'm sure you will see other brands competing with Exubera. This is the first new method of insulin delivery since 1920...now if we could just come up with a cure!

Richard Hatch may have to learn how to survive in prison

You may remember Richard Hatch as the "fat, naked guy" from the first "Survivor" series. He was always running around the island without any clothes on. Now Hatch is going to have to sharpen up his survival skills all over again. However, this time he may find it more difficult than anything he faced on the island in the original TV show "Survivor".

Hatch was convicted of tax evasion and other charges and faces up to 13-years in prison!Richard says that he believed the TV show was going to pay his taxes on the million dollars that he won. It seems that Hatch found out about some cheating that was going on during the show and he claims that the producers offered to pay his taxes if he would keep it quiet. He is also accused of using money for himself that was supposed to go to a charity he had set up.

I'm thinking that there just might be a guy named "Bubba" sitting in prison somewhere with a big old smile on his face anxiously awaiting the arrival of Richard!

Man's Best Friend

Here's a great story I read in the paper the other day and forgot all about it until I just saw it on The Ellen Show again today.

Steve Hoffman, a sheriff's deputy in Indiana, had just finished a traffic stop one night when he noticed a strange light coming from a cornfield. He walked towards the flickering light and saw two dogs. One was holding a flashlight in its mouth and the other was lying on top of an unconcious man to keep him warm!

Deputy Hoffman performed CPR on Bill Burns who was diabetic and had passed out in the cornfield while walking his dogs. The two dogs, Butch and Dusty are credited with saving their owner's life. Mr. Burns said that his dogs were not trained and had never picked up a flashlight before that night.

They were just being man's best friend!

Ending the Week with a Big Bang!

Okay, I'm happy it's Friday and the work week is over; however, it really ended with a BIG BANG! After the long, hour commute home from work I am one block away from home and I hear a BIG BANG! Then my tire starts making weird noises...thump, thump, thump! It's a flat tire, but since I'm only one block from home I continue on my way, knowing that's probably not too good for my rim, but I am so close!

I get home and check out the situation and sure enough, one of my tires is flatter than a pancake. The sad news is there is still a lot of good tread on the tire so I must have run something over.

Now you think it would be a simple thing to change a tire, but it's not shaping up that way for me. I pull out my spare and notice that although it looks brand new, it is very low on air...I hope it's okay.

After tearing the pickup truck apart looking for a jack, I discover that there is no jack in the truck! That can't be a good thing! I open up my wife's car to borrow her jack and notice that there is about 200 pounds of boxes, clothes, shoes, papers and assorted other "important stuff" in her trunk blocking my path to where the jack would be (that is if she even has a jack).

It's beginning to get dark outside and since I am not really feeling like moving all that junk out of the way to look for a jack, I decide to give it up till tomorrow morning. I don't have anyplace to go tonight anyway.

The next morning I borrow my wife's car and go to the auto parts store hoping to purchase a jack...the guy tells me they don't sell jacks, nobody uses them anymore. I ask him how do you change a tire then. He replies, most people don't get flat tires now adays. I go to another store and find a jack for $14.95 and buy it. I also run by the gas station and put some air in my spare.

When I get home with my new jack I discover that it doesn't lift the truck up high enough to change the tire! Now I am really getting mad! I swallow my pride and go to my neighbors house and ask if he has a jack I can borrow and my problem is solved. He had a nice heavy duty jack and we made short work of changing the tire. (Thank God for good neighboors!)

Now I've got a spare on the truck that has been plugged before so I figure I had better go buy a new tire and keep the plugged one for a spare. So I'm off to the tire shop to purchase a new tire. Then I'm going to come back home, relax, and enjoy my weekend.

Thanks for listening.

24 - The Best Show On TV Is Back

WOW...what a premiere for the 5th season of 24. Two nights and four-hours of 24! 17-million viewers tuned in on Sunday night to make this the most-watched two episodes ever for 24.

If you have never seen this show, you are missing out on the best action-packed show of all time! It really doesn't even matter if you saw the first four seasons or not, you can jump right in and follow along with no problem. (By the way the first four seasons are available on DVD. You can purchase just one season or all four at Amazon.com)

I don't want to spoil the show if you happened to have recorded it and not watched it yet, so I won't go into any details here. If you want to see a recap of the show check out Fox TV's Website . (That's where the above photo is from.)

In my opinion, there are several things that makes this show such a success; the first being the unique, real-time storytelling method. Secondly, the non-stop action is full of plot twists and surprises which keep viewers on the edge of their seats! I don't know where Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) gets his energy from; he barely solves one crises and another is upon him!

Please leave a comment and if you know of any great 24 websites let me know. You know where you can find me on Monday nights.

Mystickal Incense & More

If you are not a member of Blog Explosion, you need to sign up now. The "rent my blog" feature which allows members to rent space on their blog in return for credits or buy space on another member's blog is just one of the many GREAT FEATURES at Blog Explosion.

Speaking of GREAT, you must visit my tenant of the week, Stephanie Davies. Her blog, Mystickal Incense & More, is very nicely done. (To visit her blog, click on the screen shot in the right hand margin of this page.)

It is both a personal and business blog, but it's not an in-your-face, pushy sales blog. Mostly it's a personal diary with an occasional mention of the products which Stephanie hand-makes; things like incense, candles, and bath & body products. She has a link to take you to her sales website Mystickal Incense & More.

When you visit Stepanie's blog, be sure to leave a comment and tell her that Mike sent you from Ramblings and Rhetoric.

When is a Motorcycle not a Motorcycle?

Riddle me this -- When is a motorcycle not a motorcycle? Would you believe when Arnold Schwarzenegger is driving it?

California's Governor crashed his motorcycle into a car that was backing out of a driveway and had to get 15 stitches above his lip. His son was riding in the sidecar but was not injured.

It turns out that Arnold did not have a motorcycle license. Did the Governor get a ticket? NOT! The Los Angeles Police Department did not issue a citation because they didn't see the accident happen. The DMV and California Highway Patrol said that since his Harley had a sidecar attached to it, a motorcycle license was not required.

Is this another case of celebrities getting away with breaking the law? Even if you buy the sidecar making the motorcycle not a motorcycle story what about all the other times Arnold was driving his Harley-Davidson without the sidecar? He has been driving illegally for years! Governors and Movie Stars should have to obey the law just like us commonfolk do!

Arnold broke six ribs and spent four days in the hospital in 2001 from another motorcyle crash. Hey Arnie, maybe your "Terminator" days are over!

Your comments are welcome.

NASA Needs You

If you ever had dreams of working for NASA, here's your big chance. NASA is looking for Internet volunteers to study stardust. OK...the pay really sucks, it's a volunteer job; but you could get to name the particals of stardust that you discover!

Here is a link that explains the Stardust Project. Basically, NASA has captured some stardust particles from a comet and will be returning them to earth for study - that's were you come in. If this were twenty years ago NASA would have hired an army of people to peer through microscopes and study the particles, but now that we have the Internet they plan on using a web-based microscope and volunteers. You will have to pass a test in order to qualify for this opportunity for your fifteen minutes of fame! You will be searching for carrot-shaped trails that have been left in the submicroscobic dust particles. Sound like fun?

(Photo from NASA website)

NBC's The Book of Daniel

NBC has a new TV show that started Friday, Jan. 6th, called "The Book of Daniel". It is a pretty controversial series about a pill-popping, unconventional priest with a very messed up, dysfunctional family! Daniel is not only able to see Jesus but he also talks with Him and asks him for advise about all kinds of situations.

There are more sub-plots and story lines going on then you can keep up with. The series strikes a nerve of Christians because of the way it mockingly portrays Jesus as a wimpy character. Christ is shown to give flippant answers to Daniel's questions about serious moral issues.

The show has everything from drug abuse, homosexuality, and premarital sex, to stealing money from the church. A snapshot of the world we live in today? Perhaps.

I don't doubt that there are priests who have problems nor do I pretend to be unaware of the plethora of moral issues we have going on all around us. However, I do take offense to the way that Christ is depicted in this show. What would Jesus do if he were here now? I'm sure He wouldn't say things like, "He's a kid, let him be a kid", when asked about a teenager's sexual escapades!

I would like to hear what you think about the show. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts. My opinion is...NBC should cancel this show, although I'm sure they are getting tons of publicity from the controversy and therfore will let it air for a while. However, they did introduce this as a "limited series"!

A Handy Tool to Help with Your Diet

NO...it's not the bathroom scale. Look at the top of the page.

Many of us have made New Year's resolutions to eat healthier and lose weight. Here's a handy little tool at the top of the page to help you with this. Just select a category and type in the food you want to find the nutritional value for.

Here's an example. If you select bannana you will find everything you ever wanted to know about a banana. In a raw banana there is 200 calories, 1 gram of fat and 28 grams of sugar. The website will tell you what's good about a banana and what is bad for you. You can look up raw bananas, banana pudding, banana baby food, dehydrated bananas and just about any other kind of banana you are looking for! It is an amazing website and a useful tool for helping you select the right foods to keep your New Year's Resolution. I am going to keep the tool bar at the top of this page, so come back anytime and check out your favorite foods.

Good luck with your diet.

Tag - You're It

I have been blogging since Sept. 2005, and this is the first time that I have ever been tagged. I don't know if I should be honored or mad (because I really don't have time for this). But I will play along. Thanks a lot to Eric, Blogging Boss for tagging me!

I was tagged on my Bed & Breakfast Experiences blog; however, I really want to keep all the posts on that blog on subject, so I will post the tag here on this blog.

Four jobs you've had in your life:

Restaurant Manager
Bartender
Warehouse Supervisor
Taxi Driver

Four movies you would watch over and over

Somewhere in Time
Bravehart
Pirates of the Carribean
The Godfather (all four movies)

Four places you have lived

North Caolina
California
Connecticut
At Sea (on board an Aircraft Carrier - The Bon Homme Richard)

Four TV shows you love to watch

24
Lost
Desperate Houswives
ER

Four places you have been on vacation

Blowing Rock, NC
Myrtle Beach, SC
Disney World in FL
Ashville, NC

Four websites you visit daily

Google
BlogExplosion
USA Today
Reuters

Four of your favorite foods

Ice Cream
Scallops
Lobster
Steak

Four places you would rather be right now

On Vacation
Hawaii
Greece
In bed sleeping (it's 3:00 am)

Four bloggers you are tagging

LUKA - http://www.incogblogo.net/
ANO - http://all-night.org/
NAMELESS - http://blogs.forumer.com/anonymous/
MOMMC - http://dr1.com/blogs/?u=MommC

First Tenant of the New Year

First Tenant of the New Year

Over at Blog Explosion, we can rent space to other bloggers in return for credits. This is a good way to gain exposure to your blog and pick up some new readers. If you haven't yet checked out Blog Explosion, you need to go there right now; it's a GREAT community for bloggers.

Speaking of GREAT -- you need to visit my current tenant, Peter Porcupine. Just click on the screenshot of his blog in the right hand margin and check it out for yourself. Peter says of himself,"I STAND FIRM FOR TRUE CONSERVATIVE PHILOSOPHY, AND AGAINST RAPSCALLIONS OF ALL POLITICAL STRIPES."

Peter Porcupine is an awesome blog, it's one of the blogs that I read all the time. While you are there leave him a comment and tell him that you were sent there from Ramblings and Rhetoric.