Online Chat
Online Chat, its something your kids can do without thinking but does it have an application for a more mature user? This week’s column will delve into the online chat world and show you how you can make good use of this technology both at work and at home.
Online chat is live communication between two or more people online. It can be typed text, live audio or streaming video. Most PC users will be familiar with Instant Messenger and Mac users will know iChat.
As with most internet related issues the speed of your internet connection will determine which type of communication will work the best for you. Hi-speed internet connections through MTS or Shaw allow those with a camera attached to their laptop or desktop to engage in two-way visual communication.
To make use of this technology you need a webcam (many PC and all Mac laptops come with one built in) the software program (iChat is free with any Mac purchase as part of the iLife suite) a speedy internet connection and finally an account through Yahoo, .Mac, Jabber, AOL, etc. that will feed video. Check your software program and it will walk you through the necessary steps to set-up your free account.
My wife works with profoundly deaf children through the Central Speech and Hearing Clinic teaching them to listen, hear and speak using hearing aids or cochlear implants. Out of town parent’s drive to their local hospital while my wife travels from her office to the St. Boniface Hospital. At a pre-arranged hour the two Manitoba Telehealth facilities link-up through the internet offering high-speed and high-quality audio and video. The parent and child can see and hear the clinician (my wife) and she can see and hear them. They spend an hour together working on the child’s listening, hearing and speech.
I use iChat to communicate with my office at Spacecadet Design. I work at home and make use of this technology to initiate mini meetings, present ideas and share advertising concepts. We have found it a great way to stay in touch.
We use it at home too to check in on our parents after a storm, show our new puppy to cousins or let grandparents see their grandkids. Its one thing to talk on the telephone, its quite another to see their happy faces and share in a special moment.
Oh..did I mention that all calls are free? Yup, you can iChat with friends, relatives or business contacts around the world on the internet for free. Got a sister living in the US and want to see her not just talk on the phone. It’s simple, when you log into your computer simply turn on iChat and set it to “available”. When she logs on she does the same and notices you’re online and ready to chat. She clicks on your icon in her iChat program and you get a pop-up asking if you want to chat. Click ok and begin to chat by typing back and forth, talking into your microphone or… hit the video button and there she is smiling out at you from your screen.
Try it you’ll find a million ways to have fun and do business with Instant Messenger or iChat.
Chris Brown
Online chat is live communication between two or more people online. It can be typed text, live audio or streaming video. Most PC users will be familiar with Instant Messenger and Mac users will know iChat.
As with most internet related issues the speed of your internet connection will determine which type of communication will work the best for you. Hi-speed internet connections through MTS or Shaw allow those with a camera attached to their laptop or desktop to engage in two-way visual communication.
To make use of this technology you need a webcam (many PC and all Mac laptops come with one built in) the software program (iChat is free with any Mac purchase as part of the iLife suite) a speedy internet connection and finally an account through Yahoo, .Mac, Jabber, AOL, etc. that will feed video. Check your software program and it will walk you through the necessary steps to set-up your free account.
My wife works with profoundly deaf children through the Central Speech and Hearing Clinic teaching them to listen, hear and speak using hearing aids or cochlear implants. Out of town parent’s drive to their local hospital while my wife travels from her office to the St. Boniface Hospital. At a pre-arranged hour the two Manitoba Telehealth facilities link-up through the internet offering high-speed and high-quality audio and video. The parent and child can see and hear the clinician (my wife) and she can see and hear them. They spend an hour together working on the child’s listening, hearing and speech.
I use iChat to communicate with my office at Spacecadet Design. I work at home and make use of this technology to initiate mini meetings, present ideas and share advertising concepts. We have found it a great way to stay in touch.
We use it at home too to check in on our parents after a storm, show our new puppy to cousins or let grandparents see their grandkids. Its one thing to talk on the telephone, its quite another to see their happy faces and share in a special moment.
Oh..did I mention that all calls are free? Yup, you can iChat with friends, relatives or business contacts around the world on the internet for free. Got a sister living in the US and want to see her not just talk on the phone. It’s simple, when you log into your computer simply turn on iChat and set it to “available”. When she logs on she does the same and notices you’re online and ready to chat. She clicks on your icon in her iChat program and you get a pop-up asking if you want to chat. Click ok and begin to chat by typing back and forth, talking into your microphone or… hit the video button and there she is smiling out at you from your screen.
Try it you’ll find a million ways to have fun and do business with Instant Messenger or iChat.
Chris Brown
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