Virtual Family Holidays

Tech Hero

Many of us cannot be with our family or friends over the holidays, and many more of us need to be in two places at once. Though it’s not as good as being there, the creative application of technology can help close the distance somewhat. Here are some ideas.

1. The Virtual Dinner - Put a chair at the dinner table for your PC, and place the monitor on the table (this is most ergonomic with a flat screen). Put a webcam / microphone near the monitor. Tell the folks in the other location to do the same. Now, connect to each other through a free streaming video chat client like Skype or AOL Instant Messenger. Now you’ve got a virtual family dinner!

2. The Name Game - Draw a name of family members that couldn’t be with you out of a hat or box or whatever container happens to be handy. Record some short digital video of each person saying something they like about that person, and have them try to guess their favorite Christmas treat. Get a free account with www.vimeo.com and upload the video into a private page. Have the other family group do the same. Now send the link to your friends and family so they can watch the video. Uploading video is usually quick enough to where you can all watch them in the same evening.

3. Online Gaming - PC’s and Game Consoles like the XBOX let you play against other people from all over the world. Kids and Adults alike enjoy good video games, but you might want to be careful which ones you choose. In any case, pairing up with family members virtually to compete online can be a lot of fun.

4. MagicJack Games- I wrote a previous article on a nifty device called MagicJack, a device that you can purchase for $40.00 to get unlimited local and long distance calling for $20.00 a hear. It transforms you old telephone into an Internet Phone, or you can use with PC speakers and a microphone. Send your away family one of these too and you’ve got a very clear, free way to talk together. Of course, it can call normal phones as well, but the quality is vastly improved if you both have a MagicJack. Hook up your PC speakers or activate your speaker phone and play a game together, like Monopoly or Bingo, by verbalizing your moves to each other. It’s not just the game that is entertainment, it’s whole process of playing together like this.

5. White Elephant - This game involves people taking a number, then as their number comes up they can either choose a present under the tree or take a present from someone that has already chosen a present from under the tree. Nice game huh? Well, it’s actually a LOT of fun, and you can play it with your away family in real time as well. Simply take pictures of the presents under each of your trees (the actual present, not the box it’s wrapped in) and mail them ahead of time to each other. Then place each picture in a gift bag for those that are not actually there. When your away family chooses your gift (the bag that has the picture in it on their end) you then move it to an empty chair reserved for them on your end. Once the game is over, you can mail the gifts as needed! For complete rules visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange .

Perhaps you can think of other ideas now that I’ve got the creative tech current flowing through your synapses. Offer up your suggestions online at www.valleytrends.com and share them with the world. You’ll be making the holidays a bit less lonely for some, and a whole lot more fun for everyone!