John W. Scherer Video Professor Blog Nov. 22, 2006

Technology and Turkey!

Because of the Thanksgiving Holiday, I’m posting my blog a little early this week. I know you all eagerly anticipate my stellar NFL picks each week, thus I wanted to make sure I got them posted before the pigskins fly on Thursday morning. But with an early posting, there hasn’t been too much new technology news to discuss.

New software helps parents monitor their children online
For some time, I have been very active trying to help people protect themselves from dangers lurking on the Internet. Video Professor offers a number of tutorials that teach people how to keep their computers safe. And with this blog, I would like to point people to other useful software. Webroot recently released new software that will help parents monitor their children’s online usage. ChildSafe, available for about $40, lets parents screen the sites their kids visit and also get a detailed activity report of use. The biggest thing parents can do to keep their kids safe is to make sure they stay one step ahead of them.
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The new Office 2007
It seems like nary a week goes by that we don’t see big press regarding Microsoft’s pending launch of Vista. This week is no different. With the launch of Vista, Microsoft is also revamping its complete Office suite. The article below gives a pretty comprehensive overview of the new Office products. If you are having trouble with the new Office products after you upgrade, make sure you visit Video Professor’s web site. Our new tutorials on Office 2007 will be out in February.
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Picks o’ the week!
I’m not an “I told you so” guy, but how about those Cowboys? Ok, I know I’m not the only one in the world to make that prediction. We all knew it was only a matter of time before the Colts lost. How good is Tony Romo? He’s one botched field goal attempt away from being 4-0 as a starter. Not bad. He’s breathed life back into the Cowboys, and with the New York loss to Jacksonville, Dallas finds themselves tied for first place in the NFC East.

Here is the real reason I’m not an “I told you so” guy. If I’m going to talk about games I accurately predicted, I also have to talk about my misses. I was completely wrong about San Diego. I figured that with Denver’s defense and the home field advantage, the Broncos would certainly win last week. They have dominated the Chargers at home in recent years and I thought the trend would continue this year. I was wrong. LaDainian Tomlinson sparked the Chargers with four touchdowns and took control of the AFC West. I can’t remember seeing an individual performance from a running back since, well, the week before when Tomlinson scored four touchdowns against Cincinnati. Are you kidding me? He scored eight touchdowns in two weeks? I don’t think anyone can argue that there is a better player in the league right now. Wow!

One more note: Other than the Denver at Kansas City game, this year’s Thanksgiving slate of games is pretty bad. Miami at Detroit? Tampa Bay at Dallas? Ugh! After having to sit through those dogs, at least the NFL will give us something decent to watch in primetime.

After finishing 2-1 last week, I’ve now run my record to 19-14 moving into Week 12. Here are my thoughts.

San Francisco over St. Louis: Mike Nolan has the 49ers playing very well. And, who would have thought that a chronically injured running back, Frank Gore, would be able to make such a powerful impact? San Francisco will pick up an important road win and will continue to be in the hunt for the NFC West crown.

New England over Chicago: The Bears have earned two tough road wins the last two weeks, but that string comes to an end Sunday. The Patriots put together their most complete effort of the season last week (granted it was against Green Bay) and that momentum will carry over at home this week.

Baltimore over Pittsburgh: The Steelers definitely aren’t the same team they were last season, but they will show some life this week. They are battling one of their most bitter rivals. Unfortunately, they don’t have what it takes to get the win. Baltimore will be too tough, especially at home. With all the attention being put on the Colts and the Chargers, the Ravens are just flying under the radar in the AFC. This will be a blessing for them once the playoffs start.

Happy Thanksgiving!

John W. Scherer
CEO and Founder
VIDEO PROFESSOR, Inc.