My sister and I used to skype way back in the day – when international calling was still pretty expensive. We would have dual pane real-time instant messaging, which meant simply that she could type and I could type our conversations at the same time and I could see her words appearing as she typed them and she could see mine. Dual pane meant that we were typing simultaneously, and yes that was, in effect like both of us talking at the same time.
But somewhere along the computer and country changes I lost skype. I found it again tonight though, with the web cam we got for Christmas (thanks Al and Ann!)
When we first got the web cam (if you can believe it, my computer – a mac powerbook – is so old that it didn’t come with a built-in web cam. Sheesh, am I behind the times or what??) Chad went through and checked it out.
We discovered that skype has added lots of entertaining little gizmos and tricks. I was particularly impressed with the effect that turned Chad into a talking skeleton. (And if I can find that vid, I’ll replace the oldtime-y one of Chad drinking water below. That one was his favorite effect.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEnAUPfEvU]
But finally tonight, 5 1/2 months after the fact, we finally used the web cam for its intended purpose: connecting with faraway family. Here is a web shot of my niece in Bangkok tonight. How could I have waited so long? Look at all the sweetness I was missing out on! (Nabi Grace just turned two last week.)
