Boo!

[Celeste Stewart]

Just for fun:
http://12seconds.tv/channel/CelesteStewart/287993

PS,
The things we do for clients. I needed to do a little research about 12Seconds for an article and ended up tweeting my goofy self to the twitterverse.

[Debbi]

Haha! Yet another reason I should get a webcam.....

[CRDonovan]

quote]ended up tweeting my goofy self to the twitterverse.[[/quote]

I have no clue what that means.

[CRDonovan]

Oh.

Check. Link. First.

Very cutting edge, Celeste. Funny too.

[Celeste Stewart]

I don't know about cutting edge but it was definitely goofy. I can see the value of video tweeting and may experiment with it later (more professionally of course - I'll have to lose the pumpkin).

Deb, I have a webcam but don't use it. I wish my inlaws would upgrade to broadband so that I could send clips of the kids or even have live video chats. But no, that's not likely. Plus, the few video chat sites that I have checked out have been creepy, so even if their computer could handle it, I'm not sure I'd recommend video chatting. I know there are other options such as incorporating video with Gmail and so on, but so far, I have no need to explore them. I like the concept of using 12Seconds with Twitter though, but I'd need to make a more private account for my non-business videos.

[Debbi]

Is Skype creepy? I hear Oprah swears by it.

So did you use your digital camera and upload a file to 12Seconds? I could do that, pester my family with videos of Gretchen catching a frisbe, hehe.

[Celeste Stewart]

The creepy sites were "video chat" sites. I think Skype and other private sites are probably fine but really I haven't done much research other than my initial and somewhat shocking first explorations. Those early explorations scared me off! I know you can use webcams with instant messaging, Gmail, and other apps so you can have more control over the experience but my inlaws don't have gmail, instant messaging, Skyppe, etc... (plus they're on dialup) so I haven't explored much beyond my first "I wonder how I can chat with video" searches.

Yes, you can upload videos from a digital camera to 12Seconds. The videos need to be less than 12 seconds in length. YOu can either record a video with your webcam as I did or upload an existing video from your computer. You can also use your cell phone's camera to upload videos.

[ScottRC]

Celeste,

Fun stuff! So did 12Seconds provide the pumpkin graphics or do you have to do stuff like that yourself? (I assume it's the latter.)

[eek]

Cool! Thanks for letting us meet the real Celeste Stewart stuck-in-a-pumpkin.

We have dialup. Every service we've contacted says there's no service for high speed in our rural area yet. And we don't want to do satellite. However, we can watch video clips if we wait just a bit for the download. The first viewing is sporadic (in most cases it's still downloading), but on the second it plays straight through. I'm just mentioning this because for a long time I didn't think we could watch video clips. So maybe your in-laws could see short clips of the kids?

Emma

[Celeste Stewart]

Scott,
The pumpkin graphic is part of the software that came with the webcam. It has a bunch of silly effects like an Elvis wig and pirate hat, too.

Emma,
My in-laws get too stressed out and frustrated with large downloads. I sent them a link to a video of my daughter on YouTube and "it took them all night to download it" and many phone calls back and forth about whether or not it was "important" for them to watch. So, I don't bother with anything other than small jpegs now and then.

[Debbi]

Celeste,

You'd probably be better off just mailing your in-laws a DVD or CD of video clips and images. My mom used to be the same way, but now that she has DSL, she's a downloadin' fiend. Actually she called me the other night and said she was going through withdrawals because her computer was in the shop and she couldn't get online to watch Hulu. Hahah. She's 74 and the only one of all her friends who even uses a computer.

[Celeste Stewart]

Yep, that's what I do though I don't do it as much as I used to.

My parents are far more computer savvy than my in-laws so they get all the fun. But they also live close by and see the kids regularly so videos are less important to them.