Do you remember the days when ExxonMobil used to say, "Put A Tiger In Your Tank!"? Well these days, the only Tiger to put anywhere is in your computer.

Tiger, Apple's new operating system, is now shipping.

In this day and age, the saying should go: "Put A Tiger In Your Computer and Make A Fox Your #1 Browser!"

May 3rd 2005 goes on record as a "Good Day" at Rugged Elegance San Francisco Headquarters. Those in our community on the inside track know why.

But there are two other reasons that give us reason to celebrate today.

#1 - Our Tiger OS X 10.4 Family Pack for the five Macs in our family arrived!

#2 - Our favorite browser, Mozilla Firefox has caught fire with 50 million downloads to-date since it was first made available on November 9, 2004.

The folks here at Rugged Elegance write all of our Rugged Elegant Living stories using the open-source browser called Firefox.

We weren't the 50 millionth person to download the browser, but I bet we were one of the first 500,000.

Whatever the number, it is amazing that it was less than 171 days ago that we made Firefox our #1 Browser.

Rugged Elegance is proud to promote Firefox.

However, unlike some customers, we will stop short of temporarily tattooing our forehead with Firefox's logo as one eleven-year-old youngster did.

Give That Kid A Coin!

Today, the Mozilla Foundation, the creator of the browser is celebrating. And we are celebrating with them.

In honor of 50 million downloads in 171 days they will create 50 limited-edition coins.

These coins will be given to users who have the best stories to tell.

If you have personally boosted the browser's adoption you could receive a coin.

Personally, I think they should be giving out limited-edition tilt lighters -- to metaphorically help "spread the fire".

To further commemorate the event, the foundation plans to give a prize to the Web site owner responsible for the 50 millionth download.

In addition to giving away prizes, the foundation also praised the Firefox contributors on its SpreadFirefox site.

Blake and Asa, the Web masters at Firefox were often told that open source would never penetrate the mainstream. Those non-believers were dead wrong.

Next to TiVo and our family of Apple iPod (mini-to-Photo) Mozilla's Firefox is the "make your life better" product we tout the most.

USA Today said: "Beware of spyware. If you can, use the Firefox browser."

And Forbes called Mozilla "better than Internet Explorer by leaps and bounds."

While Internet Explorer remains the market leader with 86.63% market share, according to the Dutch analytics company OneStat.com, Firefox is rapidly gaining on Microsoft.

Yankee Group analyst Jim Slaby said:

People have been turning to Firefox because it's more secure.

Slaby referred to the browser's adoption at universities as an indication of security-driven browser-switching.

As Firefox becomes more readily adopted, it is inevitable that the Mozilla Foundation will find itself addressing greater security concerns.

However, browsers that are more secure -- like Mozilla -- are this way, in part, because hackers are mainly interested in targeting the most popular applications, operating systems and browsers.

Slaby recognized that "as Firefox gets more widespread usage, it will become a more attractive target to hackers."

Here's Firefox's feature set:

Popup Blocking

Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker.

Tabbed Browsing

View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they're ready for viewing when you're ready to read them.

Privacy and Security

Built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls.

A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business.

Smarter Search

Google Search is built right into the toolbar.

There is a plethora of other search tools including Smart Keywords (type "dict " in the Location bar), and the new Find bar (which finds text as you type without covering up anything).

Live Bookmarks

RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines and read updates to your favorite sites that are syndicated.

Hassle-Free Downloading

Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker.

Fits Like a Glove
Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured, Firefox has all the functions you're used to - Bookmarks, History, Full Screen, Text Zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc.

S, M, L or XL—It's Your Choice

Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet.

Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new Extensions that add new features, add new Themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines.

Firefox is as big or small as you want.

Setup's a Snap

At only 4.7MB (Windows), Firefox takes just a few minutes to download over a slow connection and seconds over a fast connection.

The installer gets you set up quickly, and the new Easy Transition system imports all of your settings - Favorites, passwords and other data from Internet Explorer and other browsers - so you can start surfing right away.

A Developer's Best Friend

Firefox comes with a standard set of developer tools including a powerful JavaScript and CSS error/warning console, and an optional Document Inspector that gives detailed insight about your pages.

Read Mail—Not Spam

Thunderbird is the perfect complement to Firefox.

To make the switch today from Internet Explorer to Mozilla, go to:

To jump right in and download Mozilla, go to:

If FireFox has already lit up your computer experience, consider donating to the Foundation at:

If you already have a major credit card or PayPal account, it's as easy as a couple of clicks to your mouse.

The Mountain View organization also accepts anonymous donations in the form of e-gold.

Imagine how secure Mozilla would be if all 50 million downloaders pitched in $10 to the foundation.

Firefox is a Rugged Elegance Select Product along with Apple's iPod, Shuffles and TiVo's Digital Video Recorder.

Congratulations to the 50 million+ believers! Keeping the fire spreading.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "a different kind of foxy" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC