Understanding Physics by Isaac Asimov. All three volumes.

Read the volumes along side being taught the course and you will not miss a trick. The only drawback is there are no images and when you first learn physics, it helps to visually grasp the topic.

Read the volumes without or before taking the course and you will raise your nerd quotient by 111%

1: The commercials should be music based. "Lie To Me" does have that soundtrack for its commercials they've played on the FOX TV network. So this example fits.

2: The commercials should not repeat. If they do, they should not be identical in content. This is similar to running two different 15 second commercials on TV now.

3: Discretion is required. Commercials for Sham-Wow and their ilk are a deal breaker.

Input devices and their software take a step forward. Specifically, improvement in voice recognition, and mouse gesturing/Wii controller applications. No killer ap implied here.

Free software expansion continues, as Intuit finds competition for Quicken in the home and small business marketplace from low cost/free alternatives.

Everyone waits for the hardware of cellphones to catch up to better software for phones, so a prediction here is for no huge leap for cellphone software. Windows Mobile 7 doesn't bowl over anyone. Jostling for position as to the #1 seller of phones isn't important because most of the software advances has to do with the phone/web interface, and the extra charges for web access is reaching its peak in many markets.

New rootkits for Windows, and separately, one for a select few versions of Linux.
Linux users will promptly declare that there's no such thing as a true rootkit for Linux and blame lax password procedures for their problems as well as lack of dates on Friday night.

As I understand it, the Earth's magnetic field is healthy and extends up past the bulk of our atmosphere. The pushing from the solar wind deforms our atmosphere, but any ripples or other magnetic eddies are considerably smaller and that possible "ripping" of an Earth eddy would take place pretty far above the planet. I might guess that the Earth's magnetic field is consistent enough to prevent any large eddies from forming in the first place.

Al Gore's emotion chip has been on the blink for years.

One simple upgrade and his warranty gets extended another ten years!