Terra Extraneus

Liberty Elementary School in Keller, Texas, used a graphic of the new Liberty nickel on the cover of its yearbook this year. But to make sure they didn’t offend atheists, they deleted the words “In God We Trust” from the graphic. Then, to make sure they didn’t offend believers, they included an “In God We Trust” sticker with each book for those who wanted to add our nation’s motto back onto the coin.

Ironically, the motto was deleted from the yearbook cover because its use “might create an issue,” the superintendent said. Keller is a suburb of Fort Worth. Here’s the Star-Telegram’s report.

Here’s some interesting info from the Department of the Treasury on the “In God We Trust” motto, which has been used on U.S. coins and currency since the Civil War days. A century later, the U.S. Congress voted in 1956 to make “In God We Trust” the official national motto of the United States.

Even in “Liberty,” Texas.

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I haven’t seen The Da Vinci Code yet. I had planned to be there opening weekend, but then I came down with a bad case of Da Vinci Code burnout. I read the book a few years ago. More recently, like most Christians, I’ve been forced to define my faith in terms of my response to Dan Brown’s fictional musings. (I offered my two cents on that silly controversy in “Don’t Let ’Em Fool You…Churches Love Da Vinci Code.”)

I also got wrapped up in a Da Vinci Code contest sponsored by Google and Sony Pictures which involved answering trivia, doing Google searches and working puzzles each day for 24 days. I was among the 10,000 finalists who qualified to compete in the Final Challenge, but no such luck — I didn’t win the $125,000 grand prize. I did win a nifty cryptex valued at $40 (if you don’t know what a cryptex is, you’re definitely out of the Da Vinci Code loop).

By the time The Code opened last weekend, I had had Da Vinci Code up to here. So when I saw that the critics were giving the film almost universally bad reviews, I just lost interest in being among the first wave of Code-watchers. Despite my truancy, The Da Vinci Code did well. $77 million U.S. box office and $224 million worldwide. That’s huge.

Now what I’m interested in seeing is how The Code does on Weekend 2. Everybody knew that nothing was going to keep The Code from ringing up a great opening weekend. It had a built-in fan base created by the sale of more than 40 million copies of Da Vinci Code: The Book, making it the biggest selling hardcover fiction in history. Add to that a hot controversy generating so much free publicity. Sony and Dan Brown must be thanking churches all the way to the bank for doing such good P.R. for them. Some churches were simultaneously denouncing the movie and giving away free movie tickets. That’s so smart it’s just plain dumb. Unbelievable!

With all the build up, even when the critics reported that the movie was long, dull and convoluted, there was no way The Code wasn’t going to have a phenomenal opening weekend. But how many of the millions who saw the flick last weekend came away agreeing with the critics? How many have spread the word to friends and family that The Code is not as good as the book, is not up to Ron Howard’s usual standard, and is Tom Hanks’ worst performance since The Burbs (oops, I forgot about The Lady-Killers)?

Actually, The Code will probably do quite well again this weekend. Many who heard what great box office the movie had last week will be eager to follow the crowd. And it’s a holiday weekend, which is always good news for the movies. The only major new release this weekend is X-Men: The Last Stand, which will do well, but not enough to dampen the Da Vinci Code’s prospects. Too bad Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston’s The Break-up doesn’t open this weekend instead of next; I think the movie-going mood is just about right this weekend for a romance-related comedy to do well against the same old chase scenes, bombs and blood-letting offered by The Da Vinci Code, Mission Impossible 3, Poseidon and X-Men.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing if The Code’s Weekend 2 box office results hold any “surprises.” And yes, there’s a good chance I’ll be among the second weekend crowd. Even though I already know every twist and turn of Hanks’ Search for the Holy McGuffin.

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Speaking of good web sites, this one lists 450+ freeware utilities, all categorized and described with the phrase, “I want a freeware utility to…” (hat tip to Law Practice Tips).

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Dave at DaveTown recommends the Top Five Web Sites You Need to Know. One is Wikipedia, which is a truly amazing site that I use almost every day. Another is LibraryThing, which I have looked at before but have not really gotten into yet. Not sure I care about the other three. Do you have a truly outstanding website to recommend?

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Microsoft Office 2007 will be a “big, bold” leap forward from Office 2003. A significantly different look and feel will make the upgrade essential for most offices, but users may need some training to get comfortable with it.

Office 2007 remains on track for release at the end of the year, Microsoft said this week. It will be the first update to Office in more than four years. Microsoft also is racing to finish Windows Vista, the newest version of the PC operating platform since Windows XP in 2001. Although Microsoft would like to release Vista at the same time as Office 2007, all it is promising is that Vista will be released during 2007.

Office, of course, is Microsoft’s suite of productivity products, including, depending on which suite you buy, Word (word processing), Outlook (email and other tools), Excel (spreadsheet), Access (database), Publisher (page design) and PowerPoint (presentation). Although each of those programs can be purchased separately, many customers, especially business users, go for the package.

Microsoft intended to update Office in 2005, but the project has been pushed twice. Microsoft execs said this week the January 2007 release date remains firm.

One source estimates that about 40% of business desktops use Office 2003, and another 30% use Office 2000. That leaves 30% who don’t use Office at all, and another 30% who never made the last upgrade. But Office 2007 will include major changes to the package, and I speculate that at least half of business users and many home users will make the leap during 2007, 2008 and 2009.

What changes? The change getting the biggest attention is the replacement of toolbars and drop-down menus with the new “ribbon.” Rather than try to explain it, take a look. Here’s Microsoft’s preview of the Office 2007 ribbon. Here’s a 14-slide slideshow PC Magazine put together.

Purpose of the new look and feel is to make it easier for users to find and use the ever-growing arsenal of bells and whistles that Office offers. As Microsoft explains:

As we’ve added more and more features and functionality to the applications, it has become more challenging for people to find the software capabilities. For example, Word 1.0 had about 100 commands, and by using the menus you could see everything you could do. In comparison, Office Word 2007 has more than 1,500 commands. One of the things the new menus and toolbars do is help make those commands easier to find.

To make the myriad of tools and commands more functional, Office 2007 will use “contextual tabs.” (more…)

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