John W. Scherer VIDEO PROFESSOR Blog for Sept 16, 2005

Let’s talk computing!

Katrina Scam Alert!
There are a lot of people looking to cash in on your generosity to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. I just did a Google search using “Katrina Aid Help” as search words and got 39,700,000 hits! Many obviously are for legitimate charities like the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Most are not. They’re scams.
Read more >

Others are already receiving scam e-mails, claiming to be legitimate charities but all they want is your money in their offshore bank accounts.

Legitimate charities like the Red Cross do not use these tactics; you go to their official websites and make your donations. They don’t solicit by e-mail.

America is digging deep to help. But be careful when and where you donate. Work with the established charities like the Red Cross and Salvation Army. If you have any doubts about a charity, check them out by visiting www.charitynavigator.com. This non-profit organization monitors charities, and provides you with information you need to know before you give.

Another good way is to donate is through your local church or club and you can also visit the websites of your local newspapers and broadcast stations, as they list legitimate sites to donate to. Our employee group, Seasons Club, is actively working with several relief organizations to get the right help to the right people.

Americans are responding like never before, but like everything else, look before you leap, or in this case, give.

Infomercial Info
We’re shooting a new infomercial this weekend. They’re fun to do, but our team here at VIDEO PROFESSOR puts in some incredible work getting it all done. The VIDEO PROFESSOR infomercials you see on TV run 30 minutes, but days and days of work go into planning, we’ll shoot for approximately 8 hours on Saturday, then dozens more hours are spent editing it all together. I’ll have some pictures and “behind the scenes” views of it all in next week’s blog.

Bill Gates on the record
Microsoft Guru Bill Gates is pitching software developers to work together to support existing and planned software products from Microsoft. Gates is keeping his focus on the future, and is encouraging others to team with him to do the same thing.
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Google Google GOOGLE GOOGLE
Can Google get any bigger or better? Like weather in Colorado, wait 15 minutes and you’ll find out! They have a new “Industrial Strength” blog search in Beta. Once again they surprised everyone, by not surprising everyone. Because at Google, the hits just keep coming.
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Mini, not Mega
Everyone, it seems, has a digital camera. And based on the popularity of our Photoshop tutorial, you’re doing all sorts of wonderful things with pictures and graphics (See site o’ the week below) But if you think digital imaging is something new, think again. The folks at Kodak were thinking digital 30 years ago!
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Friends, Romans and fellow iPod users, lend me your ears
I’ve joined the iPod generation. I too wear the white ear buds. You may have chosen a different brand of MP3 player, but we share the ability to work out, chill or whatever, listening to our favorite music. But what impact are those ear buds having on our ears, Bud?
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Spelling Checker?
Any of you who work with Word can appreciate how helpful the spelling and grammar functions are. If you don’t have a lot of experience with Word learn more about our Video Professor Word lesson.

That said, the English Language is an interesting one, and it pays not to totally depend on this neat little function. As a matter of fact, quite a few people personally “eyeball” the blog before I post it each week. But I did come across this article, which is great fun and shows the perils and pitfalls of depending entirely on technology! And a good reason to include English skills in your educational plans!
Learn more >

Off-topic
I’ve had a chance to watch part of the confirmation hearings for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts. He’s a lock for the job, likely to win confirmation in the full Senate by 70 votes or more. The Senate Judiciary Committee has the role of conducting hearings to learn more about the nominee. Senators of both parties get to ask questions, but not necessarily get answers. But some Senators (and you know who you are) need to understand the question part. A couple of Senators have the term confused with speeches. One “question” lasted 8 minutes. Followed by silence. Because it wasn’t a question. A waste of time and bugle oil.

Site o’ the week
Photoshop is an absolutely wonderful picture-editing tool and our award-winning tutorial really shows you just how powerful an editing tool it is.
Check it out >

I found this site, worth1000.com, which shows you some of the neat work you can do with Photoshop and your computer, plus a lot of imagination!

My cyber door is open. Send me e-mail at CEO@videoprofessor.com.

John W. Scherer
CEO and Founder
VIDEO PROFESSOR, Inc.
Member: Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau. Check out our report at www.denverbbb.org