What am I looking forward to most about coming home to North Carolina? Besides seeing friends/family/etc? That would be warm summer nights. I just love going outside my house (in NC) and just enjoying being outside as the sun sets. Here, it has been cold and cloudy. 60s during the day is nice, but when the sun goes down, I just don't want to go outside. But yeah, I can't wait for some good ole' Southern Weather.

Well, a lot of people know how big of a Google fan I am, so I thought I would let you guys in on the newest addition to the Google Docs & Spreadsheet applications. Yes, Google will soon be adding a presentations section which will be comparable to MS PowerPoint. That's about all the details I'm privy to. I figured this would be a good time to examine products designed for home productivity and compare/contrast some of the different solutions out there.

I would like to briefly mention the three main types of office software out there. One is Microsoft Office. The second is Open Office. The third is Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Here's what you need to know. Google provides a good, free alternative to MS Office. While you will lose some functionality, you will gain mobility. Google also allows you to collaborate on documents more easily than Office. So here's the bottom line. Because Google Apps relies on internet access, I would recommend Google Apps for people who are always in range of a broadband connection and don't want to pay for Office software.

MS Office gives you tons of features than are necessarily essential but can be both convenient and time saving. For example, being able to publish blog posts from inside Word. How about being to use Word to automatically insert bibliographies and switch between bibliography formats like MLA, Chicago, etc and automatically update references throughout the paper. The features are cool and timesaving but not essential. If you have the money, Office 07 is certainly worth a try. The competition between Google and OpenOffice has certainly made MS step up its game.

OpenOffice certainly has its strong points as well. OpenOffice offers less functionality that MS Office. However, you don't need internet access to work on documents like with Google Applications. Here's my take on OpenOffice. If you only occasionally use Office type applications and have reliable internet access—stick with Google Apps. If you use Office applications extensively or have spotty internet access and can't fork out the cash for MS Office, OpenOffice is the direction you should take.

Yep, the blog has gone green. Green is probably my favorite color so I picked something that would reflect my amazingly cool sense of style. Anyway, I really like how it looks. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Oh yeah, check out the "Best of the Best" blog posts there to my right. There are some good blog tid-bits and fun memories for all.

And be sure to read my provocative opinions on Sociology and Race, located below.

Obviously, college is all about higher learning. Grade school is two parts common sense and one part busy work. While you learn a few interesting tid-bits, you are not mentally challenged in the same way that college does. I'm in a sociology class, which makes some interesting points and is all about observing and understanding social behavior. Don't get me wrong, this is a great science to study, but sometimes the "liberal" tint the book takes frustrates me. I think my general skepticism stems in part because my teacher wrote the textbook I use. In my case, sociology is just like dessert—one serving is good, but two servings of the same thing is just a little too much to digest.

Anyway, because I write on a blog that only my family reads, I can splash my opinion liberally wherever I desire. So I will. Here is a statistic from my book that I think is ludicrous.

Since I enjoy destroying credibility, I copied this table directly from my book (minus the "Totals" row). I saw this figure and thought something didn't add up. I added the percentages and found that by following the advice of this table, you can have more than a 100% guarantee of not being divorced.

So, if I marry a Mormon girl at age 25 who has not suffered through her parents' divorce and I work as a successful software engineer making $75,000 annually (of course no children until at least 9 months after marriage) then I have a 119% chance of staying married to her. I will hold my teacher/textbook to that promise.

Anyway, on the topic of race, I have been reading the chapter on race. Here are several concessions I have.

1. Race is not biologically based, human DNA is more similar than different (with regards to social boundaries)
   
2. Non-whites (in the US) have suffered tremendous injustices since the founding of the US and before.
   
3. Racism still exists today on both a culturally conscious and subconscious level
   

Now, in my book/class, there is a plethora of statistics showing racial prejudice/discrimination in today's society. There are stats showing the average and infinitely higher (as the book says) quality of living among whites versus non-whites. The way the book makes it sound, blacks are cultural victims. Because of their race, they have been doomed to receive jacked-up mortgage rates versus whites and to live in higher average poverty than whites. The tone suggests that being white provides a social bonus, while being black/non-white is a large obstacle to any social/monetary success. Granted, I see the point, that racism is still a problem in today's society. But I realized that I am not going to get a better job because I'm white. I mean for crying out loud, if I could get some social bonus because of my race, why would I go to college and get a degree?

The book paints blacks as victims (keep in mind I speak to the majority who are not the rare victims of circumstance) and whites and instigators. Sure blacks and non-whites may have more obstacles to overcome than a white person, but they are not powerless victims (as the book depicts them). I believe each of us has power to control our lives. I could drop out of college right now and find a mediocre job and live a mediocre life. I could change majors, work harder, work less, get married, etc, etc, etc. My point is that we choose what we become. We each have obstacles in our lives. Some we place there. Other obstacles are placed there by others. Whatever the case, if we choose to be victims of circumstance, we are only victims of our own fear and laziness. It is infinitely easier to blame circumstance when the real challenge is choice. College is difficult. I have to constantly choose difficult tasks. I choose to write a paper due next week. I choose to wake up early (7:45am) to get to classes on time. I choose to study when it would be easier to say I have a hard 16 credit hour schedule plus working part time and can't study.

Instead of focusing of victimizations of certain ethnicities, we should focus on improvement. If someone is dissatisfied with their current position, try to change it. It may be harder for some than for others, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. There are a few people who truly are victims, but they still have choices and chances for self improvement. If we do nothing to change our own position yet complain about it, then we are much more to blame than ANY external factor.

If anyone has actually read to this point, I applaud you. I'm sure I ramble more than most. But for you, oh faithful reader, I have an overreaching point that connects my proverbial dots. I don't want to major in sociology. Whoops, sorry for the letdown. Anyway, before I wrap up, here is a link to an uplifting post from one of my fellow bloggers and friends from high school. He makes some valid points and shows an example of someone who believes in choice and changing your circumstance—not letting your circumstances change you.