Friday, February 25, 2005

What is a Blog anyway?

I have to admit that I’ve been teaching people how to use their computers for 18 years now, but I only had a rough idea on this blogging business.

I’m sure many of you have heard me say on TV hundreds of times, “I get stopped and recognized on the street almost everyday.” And it really is true. So this blog seemed like a great way to let me talk to people, and let them share their ideas with me.

Technology is changing the world we live in so quickly. I still remember when wallpaper was something you slapped on the walls and a chat was something you did over the backyard fence.

Anyway, here in Denver, I just heard about this local construction worker who had a headache and thinking it might be a tooth problem, went to his dentist. The dentist took an X-Ray, and lo and behold, the guy had a 6 inch nail stuck in his head. This guy’s starting to make the rounds on the TV talk shows now. How’d you like that to be your 15 minutes of fame?

It’s been a strange year for sports here in Denver. The Denver Broncos made it to the NFL Playoffs for the second year in a row, played the Indianapolis Colts for the second year in a row and got blown out for the second year in a row. Oh well, at least they’re consistent! The Colorado Avalanche didn’t play because of the NHL Strike. Spring Training is starting up for Major League Baseball. You know a lot of people outside of Denver think that Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies is a home run haven because the ball flies farther. That’s partially true. But did you realize that the altitude here keeps pitcher’s breaking balls from “breaking”. So the ball goes straight down the middle of home plate. Wish my golf ball would do the same!

I know that there are millions of dog lovers out there. In fact I count myself as one. But is it me, or is the Westminster Dog Show a little over the top for most of us and our dogs? I just read where the winning dog came from one of our nearby neighboring cities, Castle Rock. If they had a competition at Westminster for “Best Chewing of Furniture,” my dog might have a chance!

Our PR Director is a huge NASCAR fan. Quite a win by Jeff Gordon at the Daytona 500. Although I guess most of the race fans here root for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

One of the great groups here at Video Professor is our production team, and every one of them must have gotten an iPod for Christmas. I hear the music they listen to ranges from Metallica to Britney Spears. Metallica? I thought that was a planet from Star Wars!

I do want to tip my hat to our production employees here at Video Professor. Our production team won the Aurora Gold award for their work on our Photoshop lessons. And our employee club really got in the spirit of giving over the holidays. Fully 1/3 of all the gifts collected for the Salvation Army’s Giving Tree in Lakewood where we’re headquartered, came from Video Professor Employees. They also adopted 43 soldiers through the Soldier Angel Project. They send weekly letters and monthly packages of personal items to our troops in Iraq, Afganistan, and many of our other bases. We’ll include CDs from our most popular lessons like Microsoft Word, Windows XP or Intuit Quicken. We all need to do more than just say we support the troops. They’ve taken the fight to the terrorists. That’s why we enjoy the freedoms we have here in America each and every day.

One final thought, and that is Identity Theft. Make sure you visit our website at http://www.videoprofessor.com/security. We have a lot of free information for you about ID Theft, exactly what it is, and just how it easy it is for cyber crooks to steal your identity. You may have heard news reports about Paris Hilton getting her cell phone list hacked! Just shows you it can happen to anyone.

There’s another type of theft going on as well. Fake charities. We found a great site called Charity Navigator http://www.charitynavigator.org/. This non-profit group rates charities, so you can find out the ones that make sure the most money possible goes to those who need it most. We all want to give when events like the Tsunami disaster occurs, and many great charities are doing important work helping Tsunami victims. But Charity Navigator is a good place to double check on who you’re giving your money to.

As always, my cyber-door is always open. If you have a question, product suggestion or anything else, just e-mail me at CEO@VideoProfessor.com.

Finally, we found this fun little site. It’s for all you clock-watchers! Enjoy!

http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~yugo/storage/monocrafts_ver3/03/index.html

See you next time!

John Scherer
CEO and Founder
VIDEO PROFESSOR Inc.