(Click Photos to Enlarge)
Dad and Z Troubleshooting (Yahoo!)
After a couple weeks of troubleshooting various webcam packages and tearing out our hair (dad moreso than I) trying to get them to work right, dad and I have finally settled on one that seems to work well for both mac and pc. Dad discovered it online someplace and it’s called SightSpeed.
Dad in Bend (SightSpeed)
Yep, it was quite a challenge getting the mac and the pc to talk to each other politely, but we finally did it! So now everyone just needs to run out and buy a computer and a webcam so we can all get on here. Go ahead, I’ll wait! Did you buy one yet? Well, one of these days we’ll all be able to hang out in each others living rooms without leaving our own. Dad and I have had a great time on it so far, even though much of our time was spent troubleshooting crappy software. My home office is now basically a portal out to the ranch, and dad has a portal to the big city, well at least a tiny room in the big city…it’s pretty cool.
New Years Supper (Squidcam)
This marks the beginning of a new era of communication for us so I decided to put up a post and create a gallery for nostalgic purposes. Someday we’ll look back at the quality of this stuff and laugh our asses off I’m sure (actually I already am), but it’s cool to us, so screw you future selves! Here’s our convo when we first made video contact using quicktime broadcaster, it was one way communication (meaning I could see dad but he couldn’t see me)…
First Contact (Quicktime Broadcaster)
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Zack says:
i’m trying to open it, let me try to open up those ports
rickjohnson1950@gmail.com says:
ok
rickjohnson1950@gmail.com says:
I used the wrong file to begin with… the last one I sent you is the correct file… dadtozack.sdp
Zack says:
hey, i see you, kinda
Zack says:
lol
Zack says:
it’s super fragmented
Zack says:
getting clearer
Zack says:
your laughing
Zack says:
lol
Zack says:
it’s choppy though
Zack says:
aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Zack says:
scary
rickjohnson1950@gmail.com says:
can you hear me, too?
Zack says:
what the hell is that?
Zack says:
oh dear god
Zack says:
every time you move the camera it gets super choppy
Zack says:
until it settles
Zack says:
there we go
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And here’s when we were able to get 2 way video, but no audio…
Zack and Dad (Yahoo!)
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rickjohnson1950: hi zakc
zackjenks: hola
rickjohnson1950: hola!
zackjenks: can you see me
rickjohnson1950: I can see you — can you see me?
zackjenks: no not yet
rickjohnson1950: Ok I’ll have to
rickjohnson1950: figure out
zackjenks: did you click webcam button
rickjohnson1950: how to get it going..
zackjenks: can you hear me at all
rickjohnson1950: Ok, I’m broadcasting..
zackjenks: it says your webcam isn’t available???
rickjohnson1950: Can you see me
rickjohnson1950: How about now?
rickjohnson1950: now?
rickjohnson1950: I’m going to close out MSN, you?
zackjenks: i can see you
zackjenks: and elina
rickjohnson1950: Great! I can see you and Misty!
zackjenks: how’s the quality on your end
rickjohnson1950: Now, how can we get audio?
zackjenks: brett on phone
rickjohnson1950: There’s mom!
zackjenks: hi mom
zackjenks: hi elina
rickjohnson1950: I told her you said hi
zackjenks: that’s what i’m wondering
rickjohnson1950: How about audio?
zackjenks: we can do it through gmail if we have to
rickjohnson1950: Does Yahoo! have audio?
rickjohnson1950: Say hi to Jenny
rickjohnson1950: Do you see Jenny?
rickjohnson1950: Who you talking to?
zackjenks: brett
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After this, we installed Skype for audio and used yahoo! for video and we had full contact…WHOO-AH!!! (Al Pacino Voice)
Dad and Zack w/ full communication (Yahoo! and Skype)
Later we installed Squidcam (which had better video than yahoo! but crap audio) so we settled on using Squidcam with Skype, that is until dad found SightSpeed…which brings me full circle.
The End!
Thats all folks!
What are you still doing here? Stop reading this and go get a webcam!
Are you still reading this, what’s the matter with you? Seriously dude, that’s the end! This isn’t funny! Alright, you can stay but I’m leavin…
…what is your problem? I’m callin the cops…
Awesome, Zack. Thank you so much! It was so nice to hear Dad’s wonderful voice again and know that it’s here for me to listen to whenever I want to. I wish more people who have recordings of Dad would send them to you, too, so we could have lots of stuff to listen to. Thank you again. I love you!
Zack. we took for granted that we would have him always and didnT know how precious were those moments. I love his voice….i want to be with him again because my life is so empty without his presence.