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Connect Safely | Help for parents

I heard about Connect safely from Larry Magid on TWIT, and felt it worth sharing.  Connect Safely is a site dedicated to helping parents direct their children to safe and secure web browsing.  On TWIT they were highlighting their book/pdf about Facebook.  I think it is a great resource for parents looking for help with the huge experience we call the Internet.  Browse on over to connectsafely.org to educate yourself and your children.

Also, TWIT or This Week In Tech is site compiling many podcasts hosted by Leo Laporte for all sorts of technology news.  His shows are useful and information for all users of technology.  There is something for the novice and the expert.  Head on over to TWIT.TV

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Skype | Video Conference for the rest of us

#mce_temp_url#

My earlier post about the Microsoft LifeCam was based around us setting my Great-Aunt up with Skype so she could see and talk more with her family.  Tonight while waiting for mom to come home, we Skyped Gwen.  While I helped Gwen type her Christmas Card over LogMeIn Rustyn chatted with her.  I think he had fun, what do you think?

It should go without saying, but for those unfamiliar with Skype, it is a great solution to being able to getting to see them and share memories.  They offer high-quality video one-to-one video chatting.  The newest release of Skype also allow for group chat between multiple people.  This is to be a premium service that will be charged after the 28 day trial.

My brother-in-law was living in Connecticut when we bought home, and they’ve never been here. They did get a tour as my wife told them all about it while I walked around with my laptop. Check out our LifeCam writeup, it would make a good Christmas present.

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Microsoft H5D LifeCam Cinema

Ever since I got a MacBook Pro I haven’t had to worry about a webcam for Skype or some random need  to capture video quickly.  The built-in iSight camera does a great job for what I needed.  When my Aunt moved into an assisted living facility, I decided it would be neat if we could get her to use Skype to chat with us.  We tested it out for the first time last weekend, and it turned out great.  Click here to see the call in action She enjoyed it, and we plan on doing it in the future.  While preparing these plans I looked around for a nice webcam for my workstation.  I found the H5D which had nice reviews so I picked one up at TigerDirect.  The reason I pulled the trigger on it was the compatibility with both Windows and OS X.  The video on my blog shows it running on my MacBook Pro.  The picture quality was great (720P), and I would recommend this unit to someone wanting a better quality Skype call than a less-expensive webcam would get you.  I also bought a Logitech C250 for $19.99, also at TigerDirect, and while it works fine with her Windows 7 laptop, the video quality is definitely much more grainy than the LifeCam.