The Skype's the Limit

Well, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself tonight - I've added Skype to my online arsenal!  Now that may not seem like a big deal, but for me it is! And it is SO cool!

Now to give you background, I am totally inept at video, computer and audio equipment.  I usually have to have Chris (my eldest son) help me out.  Considering that Chris lives in West Virginia, he is usually talking me through the process and I am guessing at the buttons I'm supposed to be pushing.  Let me give you an example.

A few weeks ago, my sister came to visit from Topeka.  Her 7 year old grandson, Braeden, was with her, which was very cool.  Of course at 7, you play DS, but you also have to play Wii or XBox or PS2 or 3 or whatever number it's up to now.  I have a Wii, so we were set.  Except that the Wii was upstairs on a television and we wanted it 2 floors below in the family room.  So, we moved it. It was no big deal to get it downstairs, after all it's a tiny box, a little strip that sits on top of the TV and some controllers.  Got it.  So it's all hooked up and then I realize you have to change some settings on the TV to get it to play.  Uh-OH!

There are about a million buttons on the controller and we happen to have two controllers for the TV - don't ask me why, we just do.  You get to choose from format, input, aspect, menu, info and a dozen other words.  I'm pushing buttons like a maniac and no picture is emerging.  The Wii is on, we can see the blue light.  Grrr, so I resort to the step I didn't want to take - I call Chris.  See, I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent woman and to have to call my son because I can't figure out a remote control is just humiliating. 

Chris is patient, as always,although I do get the requisite "Maaa!!!" after I've greeted him and then tell him I need help with the TV.  You'd think he wouldn't care that he has explained this same function about a dozen times at least and I just can't get it to sink in! He of course identifies the problem immediately, I'm using the smooth remote instead of the one with the ragged corners the dogs chewed eons ago.  That's the one that has the magic button.  But, naturally, the dogs were appalled by the labeling system on that remote and chewed off every blinking word.  I can't find the right button because while the button is still there (barely), there is no way to know what it does.  Chris knows, because as most boys/men, he has the entire remote memorized by touch. He doesn't even have to look at it - his fingers go automatically.  He guides me to the third button down, second row, click it twice and we have Wii.  Lovely.  Of course, when Braeden left and the Wii was no longer being used, the TV picture was still messed up and it took me a week to get it back to filling the screen.  And no, I did not call Chris, I watched it with a picture that was a small box, too wide for the screen cutting off heads and elongated so everyone looked like football-heads.

But I digress as usual.  Today for some unknown reason I decided I wanted to learn to skype.  So I downloaded the program (after talking to Chris), and went through all the steps.  Checked my webcam to be sure it's functioning and then called Chris to do a test run.  And IT WORKED!!  The picture was awesome - I was so happy, I could see my Chris full screen!!  And I'm hearing him loud and clear.  And suddenly he's yelling, "Ma!, Ma! Are you there?"  Razzle -  he can see me, but can't hear me.  You can guess what comes next ... he's telling me to check this control and that control and I'm writing notes and holding them up to the camera so he can read what I can or can't do.  It was insane.  The problem was quickly identified - my webcam doesn't have a microphone!  Oh brother!

So, it's off to Staples, purchase a microphone that thankfully simply plugs into my USB port (even I can handle that), I call Chris and ask him to do another test run and SUCCESS!!  I see him, I hear him, I can change him from full screen to 1/2 ... I'm a genius!

Bottom line, I've taken another step and added a new function to my online arsenal!  I can't wait to try it with other friends and family!  The only downside?  Now I have to clean up the area the camera can see and there'll be no more making faces at some of the conversations!!  Maybe I'll just put a pug in the chair and hold the microphone under the desk!