Photodex ProShow
This amazing program makes it easy to turn still images into really nice slide shows. It includes tons of transition effects, it allows for audio tracks, it's easy to use, it can create VCD's (Video CD's), screen savers, MPEG files, and autorun CD's.

I found this while I was searching for an easy way to create a VCD slide show. I tested about eight different programs and I can say that they all stank except for ProShow.

ProShow comes in two versions, ProShow and ProShow Gold. I settled for the less expensive ProShow, which is plenty good enough for me. ProShow Gold has some additional features which are worth looking at.

The Scheme Programming Language
Scheme is a nice dialect of Lisp, which is a computer programming language that was first implemented in 1958. This doesn't make it the oldest programming language by any means, but it is well-established.

After working with it a bit, I think I can see why some people love it and others dread it. It bears almost no resemblence at all to any of the other languages that I have worked with over the years. There are no gotos, for loops, while loops, etc. Any looping has to be done using recursion. In fact, while I was programming in Scheme, I felt at several times as though my mind was being twisted into a pretzel. I'm sure that those who adapt to this way of thinking can get to enjoy it. There are a lot of things to like. I'm just ready to devote my life to it right now. I have to say, though, that my brief experience was worth it.