Reviews and More

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few months, I’m sure you’ve heard that Microsoft is coming out with a new operating system called Vista (scheduled for public release on January 30), plus an updated version of Office. I don’t know much about computers and software myself, so I have several questions about Vista and Office 2007. For example, what features do these products offer that I’m not already getting from XP or my older version of Office? How can I tell if I should switch to these newer versions? If I should switch, what’s the best way to do so?

I did some searching on the Internet today, and found a website that offers Vista & Office 2007 Preview Videos that might be worth checking out. The site is run by a man named Marc Liron, who happens to be a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional). Basically, that means he knows exactly what he’s doing! Plus, Marc has demonstrated an ability to share his expertise with others so they can derive as much benefit from these Microsoft products as possible.

Marc has a ton of videos on his site that explain all the features of Vista and Office 2007. They aren’t free, but they come bundled with ebooks and other products, so it sounds like I’d be getting a LOT of information.

If you’re interested in learning more about Windows Vista and Office 2007 before these products come out, you should visit Marc Liron’s site!

I just got done watching the season premiere of 24, which featured back-to-back episodes to get us started. Here are some quick impressions of what’s happening so far. Don’t read this if you’ve TiVoed the eps and are waiting to watch them at a later date!

I had seen a couple of Season Six trailers and promos, so I knew several things before heading into these first two eps. For example, I knew Jack would be handed over by the Chinese right away and that this season wouldn’t be some kind of “rescue mission” as a lot of fans speculated when Jack was hauled away on that ocean freighter at the end of last year. Second, I knew that Wayne Palmer would be President for this season. And I knew that we could expect some new cast additions in the form of Peter MacNicol, Regina King, and Eric Balfour (who is actually reprising his role of Milo from Season One).

So there weren’t too many surprises left for me in the first two episodes here. I remember how last season started out with a total “Holy sh*t” moment when David Palmer got shot in the throat near the beginning of the first episode. Then by the time Tony and Michelle’s car exploded, I was hooked.

This year, there hasn’t been that kind of moment yet. My attention hasn’t been grabbed because I feel like I’ve seen variations of these scenes before.

It looks like the season will center around CTU trying to stop a group of suicide bombers who are unleashing attacks all over the country. Of course, seasoned 24 viewers know that the first villain or the first plan CTU stumbles upon is not the main one; there’s always someone or something bigger in the works.

Facts that have emerged from these two episodes:

• Bill Buchanan and Karen Hayes went from taking a raincheck on breakfast to being married in 20 months flat.
• Jack got all kinds of beat up while in that Chinese prison. Scars all over his back, a burned hand…. yikes.
• New CTU director Nadia seems to be of Middle Eastern descent and spoke in Arabic(?) to that one terrorist. I’m just sayin’.
• After 5 years of saving the country, the President and CTU officials STILL doubt Jack when he goes to them with intel. What’s up with that? Don’t they know they should just buy everything that he says???

Somehow, I felt that these two episodes weren’t as exciting as they could’ve/should’ve been. I’m not completely drawn into this season yet, but there’s still plenty of time. Plus, I’ve heard that there’s a real jaw-dropper at the end of 6×04 so I can’t wait to see that tonight!!

My uncle is thinking about buying a vacation home in a nice area, which to him means either Florida or Arizona. He just wants to have a place to go to escape the Chicago winters, and maybe he could even make extra money from his vacation home by renting it out when he’s not using it.

Anyway, I’m trying to persuade him to go with Arizona so my husband and I will have a free place to stay when we attend Cubs and Sox spring training games there! I came across some beautiful properties listed by Cave Creek Real Estate and am going to have my uncle take a look. Hey, maybe he’ll even end up buying one!