Webcamming
I set up my old Dell laptop today so Ana and I can use it to teleconference. Or maybe a better word is "webcam chat"? I bought another inexpensive webcam and installed it and then tested to make sure there were no problems. (No reason to invite long-distance debugging sessions because I assumed things were working). It's not going to be iChat A/V, but it'll work okay.
Yahoo Messenger and MSN both have Webcams as part of the chat now, which is nice. That makes it pretty simple to just start a session. Since we've got broadband here and I'll definitely have decent connections back in the US, it should work out. I also - of course - made sure that Skype is working so we can cut back on international phone calls as well. (Though we use a service here called Tele2 which is only .15 Eurocents a minute to call the US anyways, so it's not that bad). Man, I wish Skype had webcam support as well, that would rule.
I'm most excited about the webcam. Being away from Ana and Alex for a month isn't going to be fun - like I explained to someone just recently, there are people who reveled in being single but I wasn't one of them. Being able to "call home" and see these guys will help.
Does anyone know of "better" webcam chat clients? Something that sends a bigger image for example? I guess Yahoo has a higher-end version you can pay for, but there shoudl be something out there that's free, no? I've Googled, but it's hard to narrow down - I don't want to be a part of some weird-ass teen webcam community or something, I just want basically Skype + Moving Pictures.
That's all from Spain, I'll be in various airport terminals tomorrow, so I'll see if I can find a HotSpot to blog from. :-)
-Russ