Happy 100th Birthday to the Boy Scouts

Congratulations to America's Boy Scouts, a wonderful American Institution.

John W. Scherer
Video Professor, Inc.
Reach me at ceo@videoprofessor.com or follow me on Twitter: @VidProf.

Got Mobile? The video floodgates are about to burst.

I’m going to do my best to translate tech talk to people talk as I comment on some research released by the folks at Cisco. You can read it here, which has an additional link to more tech info.


The bottom line is, according to writer Sarah Perez, is not that the mobile web has a future but just how big is that future. It appears to be huge. (Not that there was any doubt as one person who posted about the article noted.)

Traffic on portable devices increased 160% in the past year alone and according to the Cisco study is expected to increase 39 fold by 2014.

We are becoming a nation of big screens at home, and small screens on the go. But wherever we go, we want content on demand.

All this is getting noticed by consumers because it’s win-win for them. More and more mobile devices, PDA’s and iPad-like devices will be flooding store shelves in the big box stores. Competition is good for consumers.

But those of us who market everything from computer lessons to car parts are already making use of this new and rapidly growing pipeline. The biggest demand will be for mobile video and this isn’t just here in the United States. The demand is world wide.

Nations like Iran and China are working hard to “narrow” the pipeline and what comes through it. But technology will trump ideology.

That’s a good thing.

-John

John W. Scherer
John is CEO and Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
Share your thoughts and ideas with John at ceo@videoprofessor.com
Follow me on Twitter: @VidProf

Teens Text, We Tweet.

The folks over at the Pew Internet and Life Project have been studying how we communicate on Web 2.0.


They found some interesting facts. I wasn’t surprised that communicating online is a multi-generation thing these days, but there are generational differences in how we do it.

What Pew found:

• Teens tend to text while older generations are more likely to use Twitter®.

• Blogging is on the decline for those under 30, but people over 30 are blogging more. Blogs are popular in business, hence mine each week.

• Sites like Facebook® remain popular with the younger generation but more and more “Boomers” are connecting on Facebook as well.

All of the above remain a work in progress. There are no experts as we’re inventing all this together as we go along.

Regardless of method, wireless interconnectivity is growing and will continue to grow. There are many ways to do so and different sites ranging from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn® offer young and old alike ways to catch up, make new friends and even market themselves or products.

I came across an interesting description of Social Media Networks from Mike Hanbery of Hanbery & Hanbery, ) a Denver-based marketing firm. Mike posts,

“The Office, The Water Cooler and The Bar: A Tale of Three Social Networks

Here’s a real easy way to think about the cultures of the “big three” Internet social networks: LinkedIn is the office, Facebook the water cooler, Twitter the bar after work. Source: Swift Kick Blog.

A pretty good description if you ask me. (He posted this on Facebook by the way.)

Remember that famous line from the movie “Cool Hand Luke?” The boss of the prison camp says to Luke (played magnificently by Paul Neuman,) “What we’ve got here, is failure to communicate.”

They didn’t have PDA’s back then. Not that ole Luke likely would have used one.

As always, a word to the wise: Once you post something via Twitter, Facebook or whatever, it’s out there. Forever. The good thing about the ‘Net is everyone has access to it. The bad thing about the ‘Net is everyone has access to it.

Look both ways before you cross the digital highway.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Should Super Bowl be a Saturday Night Special?

Another Super Bowl is over, and millions of bleary-eyed people are showing up for work this morning, if they haven’t called in sick. But congrats to the Saints who've gone from "Who Dat?" to "We Dat!"


Super Sunday. Eat, drink and be merry. Not so good on Monday. I wonder if anyone has done any productivity, or lack thereof, studies about work the day after the Super Bowl. I did hear one analyst on the radio say this morning the cost is in the millions.

I was listening to Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN before the game, and they raised the idea about moving the Super Bowl to Saturday night. It seems to make a lot of sense. Let’s be honest, people party hearty during the game; it’s become a tradition. An unofficial national holiday.

I think a Saturday night game would actually be good for both fans and the teams. Certainly sports bars would get better business if people had the next day to recover. (Remember, always bring a designated driver.)

Long as I’m on the subject, do we really need a four-hour pre-game show? It’s not like there hasn’t been wall-to-wall coverage the weeks(s) leading up to the game.

So that’s my idea. Shorter is better for the pre-game and let’s make the Super Bowl a Saturday Night Special.

Sunday you can sleep in, or better yet, go to church and ask for forgiveness for over-indulging the night before!

I’m just sayin’ …

John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

NASA, Inc?

We have a magazine exchange here at Video Professor. Once someone has read a magazine, instead of tossing it, they share it.


Digging through the box, I found and read the January 2010 edition of Popular Science. The cover story dealt with the commercialization of space travel.

Several companies led by Richard Branson, uber entrepreneur, and Burt Rutan are offering commercial space travel. Still pricey but the line for flights is a long one.

Meanwhile, NASA fiddles and faddles. NASA is a bad mix of politics and science. As said in the movie “The Right Stuff,” “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” There also seems to be no direction or definitive goals set for the agency either.

Commercial space vendors are soaring while NASA is running out of shuttles and ideas. Soon we’ll be hitching a ride with the Russians just to get to the space station.

If you have a spare $25 million or so lying around, the Russians will actually fly you to the space station. Not so with NASA. Heaven forbid they actually try and make money from space.

The commercialization of space is nothing new, and it’s creating international partnerships. The television programs you watch are transmitted from satellites launched, in many cases, on American Atlas-Centaur booster packages with Russian Proton motors. Many commercial rockets are transported to Cape Canaveral aboard Russian-designed Antonov AN-124s (think the C-5A Galaxy on steroids) flown by a Ukrainian air transport company.

Do you believe the Cold War is over?

The bottom line is that if you have the cash, you can go into orbit.

Is it time to turn over the space program to private enterprise or for NASA to operate as a for-profit entity? Just think what Apple® or Google™ would be willing to pay to have their logo on the shuttle.

Competition means progress. Competition produces results. Free enterprise does the best job of it.

Space isn’t just for Buck Rogers anymore. It’s for anyone with the bucks to get there. The list grows every day.

John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Is Privacy "Passe?"

If you haven’t read the Jan. 25 edition of Bloomberg BusinessWeek, I recommend you do so and turn to page 13.


In an Ideas column, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as saying that privacy “is no longer a social norm.”

Think on that for a minute.

Tech bloggers are chiming in. Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote on http://www.readwriteweb.com/ that “the notion of privacy can no longer be equated with absolute secrecy.”

Blogger Evgeny Morozov wrote on that some governments are “moving towards reinforcing privacy protections.” France for example is thinking about laws to allow citizens to have old online data about themselves deleted. The technology, however, doesn’t exist to do that.

With the growing number of social media web sites, it’s so easy for someone to bend, fold and electronically mutilate anyone’s reputation. A sober reminder that in a world where everyone has a camera, a picture of you is just seconds away from being posted.

Let me say that social media sites are great fun, a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends and family. As one of our employees here said: It’s a way for her to “have a high school reunion every day.”

But once something is posted, it’s out there. Forever.

We all treasure our privacy. These days you have to work very, very had to protect it.

The great thing about the Internet is that everyone has access to it; the bad thing about the Internet is that everyone has access to it.

Privacy need not and should not be passé.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Sports will break your heart.

I’m writing this prior to the Jan. 16-17 playoff games but wanted to talk about both the Texas-Alabama NCAA championship game and the extraordinary battle between the Packers and the Cardinals in their NFL wildcard matchup.


Both are perfect examples of why we love sports, and why sports will break your heart.


As for the Texas game, the strategy was obvious. Stop the Tide, and get the ball to Colt McCoy. It worked for two minutes until McCoy was sacked on only his fifth play of the game, which he left with a limp throwing arm. He never returned. Fifty-eight minutes left on the clock. So much for that idea. In comes Garrett Gilbert, true freshman and thoroughly unprepared.


But the Longhorns battled back to get within three points. There was hope, right up until the ‘Bama “D” got to Gilbert, who was sacked and fumbled the ball. Then, the Tide “rolled” into the end zone and that was that. But Gilbert, the most highly recruited high school QB in the country, showed grit. There’s much to feel good about in Austin.


Then, watching the offensive free-for-all between Green Bay and Arizona, it looked like the Pack was out of it early. Proof again that you should never leave a game before it’s over.


The Pack battled back, and after a missed chip shot field goal by Arizona’s placekicker, the game tied up at 45-45 and went into overtime. The Packers got the ball and began their drive. Put another brat on the grill!


Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is good, very good, especially making plays when everything around him is falling apart. Early in overtime, he made a simple three-step drop but held on to the ball too long, perhaps expecting to make magic one more time. He ran out of rabbits up his jersey.


Just like the Texas QB, Rodgers got hit, lost the ball and Arizona ran it in for the game-winning touchdown.


The emotions for both games ran the full gamut, and if fans have fingernails left from either game, I’d be surprised.


But in sports, one team has to win and the other has to lose. Texas and Green Bay fans had their hearts broken.


But the nice thing about sports is that both those teams will be back next year, likely to break a few more hearts, and both are hoping it’s the hearts of their opponents.


For you non-sports lovers, this is why those of us are so passionate about sports, because it’s so full of passion.


And heartbreak.


-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Eighty Football Fields of E-Bliss!

The annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) just finished up yesterday in Las Vegas. Although the economy has had an impact on attendance, it remains one monster of a showcase for all that’s new in technology.

Imagine over 80 football fields-worth of displays from all the major players in tech, plus tucked away here and there—and out in the open—the next big thing.

Absent as always is Apple®, who does their own thing, not the least of which is the anticipated release of the ”iTablet” on Jan. 26 in San Francisco.

By any measure 2009 was a disappointment for folks who make their living selling tech toys, but optimism was seen everywhere looking ahead through 2010.

What will be hot in 2010 (my humble predictions):

My “super hot product” prediction for the upcoming year will be 3-D HDTV. Like any other technology there will be early adaptors, there will be bugs and of course, like anything new, the first sets will be expensive. With both ESPN and TLC rolling out HD it provides incentive for potential viewers to invest in the sets, but do satellite/cable program providers have the bandwidth and, if so, at what price?

But 3-D HDTV, especially in sports, is guaranteed to be a hit eventually. The transition from HD to 3-D HDTV will be faster than it was from standard def to HD (depending on the economy of course).

Also hot: E-readers like Kindle and tablet-style computers. I blogged elsewhere that Amazon.com reported that they actually sold more digital books than traditional ones on Christmas Day 2009. According to the CES web site, there were 23 different exhibitors with various types of e-readers.

Small will be big, and as a result, “hot.” Handheld TVs with both off-air and premium programming will also become very popular. Prices should be affordable from the start and only get better as more players enter the market.

DVDs are on the way out, as it will be more and more common simply to download movies right off the Internet to your TV. There will be a myriad of ways to do it, and it will be confusing for many at first, but it will catch on. Actually, it already is.

CES isn’t open to the general public, but attracted more than a hundred-thousand industry folks and media who cover tech. Has the tech turnaround begun? I think so. Proof will come when all these goodies hit store shelves throughout the year.

See you at the Big Box store!

-John

John W. Scherer

John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

It’s about the terrorists, stupid.

Call it a Christmas miracle, but for some reason the bomb carried by 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria didn’t go off the way it was supposed to while he was seated in 19A aboard a Northwest Airlines jet.

He tried to set off some sort of explosive device while the jet was approaching Detroit. There was smoke; there was fire but no explosion, which is doubly lucky because 19A is very close to the fuel tanks.

Catastrophe averted. Abdulmutallab claimed to be Al Qaeda-trained and, within a few days, a murderous group linked to Al Qaeda claimed he was a “brother” and that they had trained him.

So how did it happen? We know he started his “mission” in Nigeria where security screening involves just getting on the plane. Oh yes, he paid cash for his ticket and had no bags. Destination: USA. No red flags, at least not in Nigeria.

By then he was in the system. There were additional security screenings in Amsterdam, but he sneaked by those as well.

Initially, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the system indeed worked. Oops. Last Monday she “recalibrated” her position to say the system, in fact, didn’t work.

Passengers are already being impacted. Some airlines won’t let you leave your seat within an hour of landing. Laptops and the like also have to be stored at that time. Bomb sniffing dogs are everywhere, especially in international departure areas.

Sadly, there has also been some political sniping going on. Cheap shots are out of order.

Much of the talk remains on the “system.” Can it be made better? Absolutely, but terrorists aren’t flying from here, they’re flying to here. The problem isn’t the system, it’s the terrorists!

They keep trying. They keep coming back. They’re not giving up. They’re relentless in their “jihad” against the West.

They’re sponsored by, and find refuge in, nations like Yemen and Iran. Countries like Nigeria simply let them walk on.

All the security here in America won’t keep them from boarding planes in other countries. The terrorists know that. Their modus operandi is pretty basic. Bombs, made from stuff you can buy at a drugstore. Scaled down versions of the improvised explosive devices, or IED’s, killing our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our high tech vs. their low tech.

What we continue to underestimate is their cunning. Intelligence gathering is getting better. The capture of Najibullah Zazi in Denver is proof. By holding the 9/11 terror trials in New York, who knows how many young, misguided people will only be inspired to join the ranks of terrorists because you can bet the bad guys on trial will take every opportunity to portray themselves as glorious martyrs.

So, while we take our computers out of bags, slip off our shoes, are submitted to random pat downs, etc., here in the United States, terrorists will simply continue to refine their techniques and continue to walk on to planes in countries that have few if any security checks.

Keeping people in their seats an hour before landing just means the terrorists will try an attack more than an hour before landing.

We know where the safe havens for these terrorists are. We know who is bankrolling them. What we’re not doing is anything to stop it at the source.

The horse has long since left the barn. No need for a new lock. What we need is a new door. A door that locks from the inside rather than the outside.

-John
John W. Scherer
John Scherer is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

A good time to look ahead, not back.

This is a time when many news organizations present end of the year stories, or in this case, end of the decade.

I remember as a kid looking forward to the new century. Back then the year 2000 seemed so far away.

There have been some rough, make that awful, times since the big ball in Times Square dropped, not the least of which was 9/11. Then the economic crash. We’re at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many around the world, and sadly some here at home, are writing off this nation. Our time on the world stage is over, they say.

I don’t buy any of that for a minute. The United States of America was, is and will remain the most powerful, prosperous and—most importantly—generous nation in the world.

Truth be known, we remain the envy of most of the world.

Can we do better? You bet. It can begin with our own government, where votes might as well be sold on eBay®. Bitter and petty partisanship must end. Immediately if not sooner.

Ultimately, it’s us who live along Main Street, USA who will carry on. We remain a nation of great people and problem solvers.

Just a few weeks ago we teamed up with a group of parents, educators and businesses to provide 130 computers and Video Professor lessons to deserving kids in Brooklyn, New York. As a result, kids who would have been on the wrong side of the digital divide are sitting at home with computers, learning and communicating. We didn’t need the government to help us make it happen, just the willingness to work together to make a difference.

So I remain optimistic about this nation’s future. Look back at our history. Seismic events throughout our history have simply made us stronger, as people and as a nation.

It’s with that spirit that I wish each and every one of you a most prosperous and happy new year.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Is Santa real? I have proof!

There always seems to be some discussion this time of year about whether or not there is a Santa. The naysayers tend to be Grinch-like personalities.

So I did some checking to set the record straight once and for all.

I didn’t have to go any further than the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It’s a great place that honors the best traditions of journalism and those who did, and continue, to practice them. If it’s in the Newseum, it’s fact. Period.

They list an article that, to me, is absolute proof that Santa does exist. It all started when a young girl named Virginia wrote into New York's The Sun back in 1897. Apparently, some of her friends had been telling her there was no such person as Santa Claus. Concerned, she wrote a letter to the editor, and this was the response she received:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Francis Pharcellus Church
The Sun

So there you have it, proof directly from the Newseum itself. Santa does exist. (Was there ever any doubt?)

Ho Ho Ho!

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

NASA can learn from NASCAR.

I’ve been reading about entrepreneur extraordinaire Richard Branson who, along with engineer extraordinaire Burt Rutan, is building a commercial space facility in New Mexico.

Starting as early as 2011, you’ll be able to take a short suborbital hop for $200,000. Hundreds of folks have already placed deposits for a flight 70 miles above the earth and five minutes of zero-G.

The Russians will take you up to the International Space Station for $20 million.

All these prices are out of reach for most of us, but the bottom line is … the bottom line. Making money off space travel.

This leads me to wonder why NASA hasn’t gotten on the bandwagon. Theirs is a constant fight with Congress for budgeting. As they said in the movie "The Right Stuff," “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.”

There are ads on everything these days from busses to stadiums to race cars. Why not the space shuttle, or whatever next generation rocket comes along? Can you imagine what some companies would pay to have their brand on the side of a spaceship? Or on space suits?

Hey, it works just fine for NASCAR, so why not NASA?

Space exploration is important. It’s in our nature to want to explore to see what’s over the next hill or the next planet.

Why not earn a little advertising revenue along the way? Or would that make too much sense? Tax dollars are hard to come by these days and the voters are getting restless.

-John

John W. Scherer

John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Dec. 7, 1941. A day that still lives in infamy.

Sixty-eight years ago, Pearl Harbor was attacked. A sneak attack by the Empire of Japan. The Pacific Fleet was essentially wiped out. Thousands died.

America was at war.

It all ended in Tokyo Harbor aboard the USS Missouri in 1945. The fighting in between, both in the Pacific and Europe, was horrendous and the cost enormous.

American didn’t start it, but they finished it with victory.

Should your travels allow, visit Pearl Harbor and tour the USS Missouri and USS Arizona. In Europe, visit the beaches of Normandy. Feel the history; embrace the sacrifice.

Back then, battle lines were clearly defined, as was the enemy. They flew flags and wore uniforms.

Today we’re at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. We wear uniforms. Our enemies don’t. There are no battle lines, and often those we fight come in from other countries then escape back over some border to regroup and fight again.

As with all wars, the cost is high. Too high. But we pay it.

Like World War II, we didn’t start this war either. But we will finish it. With honor.

How victory will be measured is something entirely different.

After winning World War II we re-built Japan and Europe. What was once the enemy is now an ally.

It’s much different now.

But on this day, let’s remember what happened over the skies of Pearl Harbor those many years ago. Let’s remember that there are people in this world who want to destroy us and everything we stand for. They are dangerous and not to be taken for granted.

Let us remember this day and every day that it’s brave men and women who step up to finish the fight someone else started.

Let’s never, ever apologize for doing so.

-John

John W. Scherer

John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

A Tiger’s Tale

Golf fans, (which include me) and non-golf fans alike were stunned to hear the news that golfer Tiger Woods was “seriously injured” in an early morning car accident outside his home.

A short time later we heard he had been treated and released from the hospital and returned home. End of story? Nope.

As for the accident itself, police reports say it involved him leaving his home early in the morning, hitting a fire hydrant, then a tree. He suffered some facial injuries as a result. Police found him lying on the ground, his wife with him saying she used a golf club to break out the windows of the car to help Tiger get out of the car.

Then the Rumor Express left the station.

I won’t repeat any of them because I don’t know if they’re true. Stuff posted on blogs and other websites, were quoted by “traditional” news outlets. Stories began with the word “Rumor.”

Winston Churchill wrote years ago that, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

Now the call is for Tiger to come clean. He did make a statement about the issue on his website. But almost everyone feels he should make a full and open public statement.

All that the law requires is he show his driver’s license and proof of insurance. He did that.

Personally, I think whatever Tiger says, or doesn’t say, simply fuels the fires of the blogosphere. Because of his celebrity, all bets are off about what is written or said about him.

Tiger is in a rough spot. If he says something, many will run with it and have a field day. If he leaves it with his website statement, many will run with it and have a field day.

Darned if he does, darned if he doesn’t.

Churchill nailed it.

-John

John W. Scherer

John Scherer is CEO and Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can e-mail him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

A Time for Thanks

This week families gather for Thanksgiving. It’s been a tough year in so many ways, but there remains so much to be thankful for.

Not the least of which are the freedoms we enjoy to gather, to speak our minds and to live and work in peace.

Let’s be thankful for the men and women of our armed forces who have volunteered to protect these freedoms, often making the supreme sacrifice in doing so. Remember them this week and every week.

Let’s be thankful for so many organizations that help out the needy who otherwise might go hungry or without warm clothing or shelter. Whatever you can spare to help these organizations in your community will be greatly appreciated. The need is bigger now than ever before.

Thanks to our own employees here at Video Professor, Inc. who, through their Seasons club, organize an annual food drive for a local nonprofit, the Jefferson County Action Center, which gives out two tons of food a day to the needy. As soon as the food drive is over, they start work on gathering gifts for the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program. I know so many of you are involved in similar projects where you live.

Americans are so generous, and they don’t get nearly enough credit for it. But you don’t give for recognition; you give because you care.

Let’s be thankful for technology and social web sites like Facebook® that allow us to hook up with new friends—and catch up with old friends—to share pictures, videos and what’s going on in our lives.

While many of us will get a few days off to enjoy the holiday, there will be police, firefighters, doctors, nurses and so many others who will be on duty. Let’s be thankful for their dedication and service.

Finally, let’s all be thankful for the spirit that is uniquely American. This nation has gone through tougher times before and has always snapped back. We are a nation of great people.

Yes, there is so much to be thankful for.

I wish you, your family, your friends and colleagues a most happy Thanksgiving 2009.

-John

John W. Scherer

John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

The Water Cooler now has a plug.

There once was a time, especially in the workplace, where the water cooler or coffee pot (depending on one’s needs) was the center of conversation, usually Monday mornings.

It was a place to share news and gossip as we “gathered around the water cooler.” The water coolers and coffee pots still exist, but just to serve beverages. Talk and gossip have moved online to web sites like Facebook® and Twitter®. Business-style discussions and exchanges of opinion can be found on sites like LinkedIn®.

It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t use these sites. We all create our own circle of friends, peak in at others, find old friends and make new ones.

Instead of pulling pictures from our wallets, we post them online. We don’t have to tune in to blooper shows anymore on television because we can post them online instead.

When it comes to sports trash-talking, there’s nothing like Web 2.0!

One colleague here keeps her Facebook circle of friends pretty much limited to friends from her school days. “It’s like having a class reunion every day” she said. It’s the best description I’ve heard about social media.

There is a dark side to all this, however. People have a tendency to say things online, especially anonymously or using a pretend identity, that they wouldn’t say to your face. Others will try and exploit their “friendship” with you for personal gain, or even more nefarious activities.

Generally, it’s all pretty terrific but, like anything else, look both ways before you cross any digital road. Pick and choose your friends wisely. Always remember that once you post something online, it’s out there pretty much forever.

Part of the HR process these days when evaluating potential hires is searching these sites to get a sense of who you are. Keep that in mind before hitting the Submit button.

Like anything else, when used properly and responsibly, these electronic versions of water coolers are great fun.

Let’s hope it stays that way.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

College Football and Computers: A BCS Mess

There’s hardly a part of your life where computer skills can’t help you be better at what you do, both at the office and at home. We’ve been teaching just that for 22 years here at Video Professor.

With one exception, however: college football.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how computers should factor into who should, and who shouldn’t, play for the national championship. The folks at the Bowl Championship Series do, however, and it provides no small amount of grist for sports pundits, reporters et al.

The BCS combines a labyrinth of polls and computer rankings to decide the best teams in the land, and who should play for the various games in the Bowl Championship Series.

Computers compute. But they have no heart, no soul, no true passion for the game. Sports is about passion. (And heartbreak!)

I follow a weekly “bracket” each week at CNNSI.com:

Okay, it’s put together by SI’s own pundits and scribes, but it’s close to what could be a legitimate play-off system, which could really go toward deciding a national champion in college football.

The idea of a play-off system in college sports isn’t a new one. It exists in many sports, not the least of which is the fabled NCAA basketball tournament.

A journey that starts with 64 teams and then narrows down to the Sweet 16 and then to the Final 4. (Sorry, I can’t embrace the “Great 8” yet.)

In the NCAA basketball tournament, everyone gets a shot. When it comes to football, it’s a case of the have’s and the have-nots. Great teams can go undefeated, but because they play in “non-BCS” divisions, they have no shot at knocking off a Florida or Texas.

President Obama likes the idea of a play-off, and he has an ally from the “loyal opposition” in Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.

Let’s hope the NCAA figures out a way to make it work before the government tries. NCAA “reform” would make the current arguments going on in Washington pale in comparison.

Every NCAA Division 1 conference should have a champion. That champion should have a shot at becoming the national champion.

The decision should be made on the playing field, not inside a computer chip. Or, worse yet, Congress.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

To: Congress

November 2, 2009

To: Congress
From: Taxpayers
Subject: Notice of Employee Misconduct

As we approach your biannual review, we thought it important to notify you of several deficiencies. We deem them serious, and unless immediate efforts begin to remedy the situation, we will be forced to notify you that your continued employment may be in jeopardy.

We should remind you that this is what you agreed upon when entering into employment with us.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

According to our legal department, this may not actually be legally binding, but we consider it at the very least, morally binding.

Here are the key areas that concern us most:

Budget Management
As of September 30, the deficit for the 2009 fiscal year was $1.42 trillion. This is up from $459 billion from the same period a year ago. The overall budget deficit is well north of $13 trillion, an increase of $3 trillion from a year ago.

You have indicated several times that you inherited a significant deficit from the previous management, but you also promised that you would work toward decreasing that deficit, not increasing it.

Here are just a few of literally thousands of examples of what we feel are wasteful spending. They have been brought to our attention, and we’re sharing them with you here:

· A tattoo removal program in San Luis Obispo County, California ($50,000)
· The Fort Union Trading Post bike trail in North Dakota ($500,000)
· The Center for Diabetes and Obesity at West Virginia University ($2 million)
· An effort to combat "Goth culture" in Blue Springs, Missouri ($270,000)

Individually, these items might not sound like much, but these projects and ones similar to them are up 14 percent over the last year.

Teamwork
One major project several departments are working on is reforming our existing health care system. Your original target date for completion was set for last August, but your latest reports to us indicate the end of the year at the earliest.

An area of concern appears to be an issue of competitiveness and personal agendas versus shareholder concerns. We also note that follow-up questions we’ve had since our employee-employer meeting in August are not being returned. Our “open door” policy rules are also not being followed.

These are issues of great concern, and it is management’s perception, at least, that you are driven by personal ego and lust for power rather than putting shareholders first.

Job Creation
Unemployment rates hover around the 10 percent level and have been steadily increasing. When you budgeted stimulus funds, we were promised job creation. Your report of 10 percent unemployment rates also appear to be understated due to the significant number of people who have given up searching for work, or who no longer receive unemployment benefits. True accounting puts the number in the region of 17 percent, a number which, like us, I know you must consider very serious.

The solutions, at least to us, appear easy. You must make every effort to loosen up the housing and credit crunch. No one sector of our economy employs more people. You must also free up credit to responsible borrowers and small businesses. Banks have the money; they simply are not lending it. Again, we stress that money should be lent only to responsible borrowers, which make up a huge majority of shareholders.

Your responsibility is not to create jobs but to let the private enterprise system work freely, which creates jobs. Simply put, get out of the way of those who know more about the economy than you do.

Personal Conduct
When we hired you, and as you stated in your earlier declaration, there was at least an understanding on our part that you would conduct yourself at a high level of decorum, ethics and personal morality.

There appear to be several areas where you have fallen short. Areas such as paying taxes, personal conduct issues and the like. While you may simply consider these “errors” or “lapses of judgment” we disagree. We will be paying especially close attention to personal conduct rules leading up to next year's employment review in November 2010.

There are also numerous and documented examples of name-calling, behavior expected from two-year-olds, but not from you, an employee of the United States of America.

Conclusions
It’s our hope that you take the above criticisms in the most positive of ways, and that they be guidelines to improve your overall job performance prior to next year’s employment review.

We must, however, inform you that your work is deemed unsatisfactory at this point, and unless significant improvements are made quickly, your employment with us will be in serious jeopardy.

Action Items
Return constituent calls, e-mails and letters.
Return to an open door policy, rather than trying to hide.
Please post legislative items for shareholder review at least 72 hours prior to voting on them.
Act like “grown-ups.”
Put your employers first, yourself second.

Again, it is management’s hope that you will carefully read and review all the above concerns. Your employment with us is, again, in serious jeopardy. We look forward to reports back from you detailing your actions for improvement.

Yours truly,

The Citizens and Taxpayers of the United States of America
Report filed on behalf of the above by:
John W. Scherer
CEO & Founder
Video Professor, Inc.
If you have any questions, please contact him directly at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Big Brother?

George Orwell’s “1984” promised (and delivered) a frightening look into a society where the government controlled every aspect of people's lives.

There’s a piece of legislation sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia officially known as “S. 773: Cyber Security Act of 2009.”

According to OpenCongress.org, "The bill would also give the President new authority to 'declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network.'"

On the surface it sounds good. Protect the federal government. The troubling part is drawing the line at exactly how “critical infrastructure information system or network” would be defined and how one person, the POTUS, would make the decision.

The bill was written much earlier this year and is in “committee,” which means that it’s essentially parked until further notice.

Here’s what some are saying about S. 773:

Cnet.com

Examiner.com

GovTrack.us

Computerworld.com

Lots of opinions. (Aren’t there always?)

What are yours?

-John

John W. Scherer

John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor, Inc.

You can reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.

Points to Ponder

I’m sharing these passages (with attributions) from various items I’ve read. You can draw your own conclusions, thoughts and ideas from them.

• Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

-First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

• The Internet [...] has also nurtured an “artificial” sense of community among the hateful [...] When you have a venue for ventilating rage, your belief in that rage is ratified [...] It increases their belief that their behavior is acceptable. Their behavior is applauded, seconded. In that case, it’s scary. It does seem to roll and escalate.

-Shari Julian, psychologist, in an article in the Denver Post about Craigslist cracking down on what was being posted on its site.

• One, I think there’s so much information out there that it’s hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. Two, rumors take on a life of their own. Three, the democratization of all this information undermines any kind of authority. Everybody’s an authority, so nobody’s an authority.
  
  -Dee Dee Meyers, former White House press secretary, in an article from Public Relations Tactics magazine.
• It started as privacy protection for the abused, the oppressed and the bashful. Now it shields creeps, criminals and malicious mobs. One story example was about a girl who, after sneaking out of the house, grabbed the keys to her dad’s Porche® and ended up crashing and killed in an accident. Gruesome photos of her mangled remains showed up online on Google™, Yahoo!® and Photobucket. Captions accused the girl of being a spoiled rich girl who deserved it. The postings were all anonymous.

-Paraphrased from the Forbes magazine article "Anonymity & the Net."

Food for thought.

-John
John W. Scherer
John is CEO & Founder of Video Professor.com
Reach him at ceo@videoprofessor.com.