1. Skype and Video - Skype is a company that offers telephone service over the internet. This service you actually have to be on your computer to make a call. You can call different parts of the world at a huge discount. A lot of people over here use Skype to keep in touch with people back at home. Most of the people who use Skype as their phone service are from outside the US. North Americans use a different service (see #2 gadget). What we North Americans do use Skype for is talking to friends and family over a video feed. It is very cool to see people when you talk to them. Very George Jetson. Every couple of weeks we will get on with my folks or Marie's parents and let the kids talk. We also keep up with friends this way. It is great to watch the Matt and Paula R's kids and our kids talk to each other face to face from halfway around the planet. So if you don't have a video camera for your computer go out and pick one up. They are inexpensive and we would love to see you real soon.
2. Vonage - Vonage is another online phone service (VOIP). Much less expensive then regular phone service in the states. Marie and I had this as our primary phone service in the states for the past few years. The really cool thing about Vonage is that you can unplug the Vonage box from your computer and take it with you wherever you go and have your phone number with you. For example, if you are in Philly you could take your box to the shore with you and hook it up to a computer with internet there. If people called your home phone number the phone at the shore would ring. No long distance. So take that idea and move the box with you to Saudi Arabia and the same principal applies. We have moved our old U.S.number here to Saudi with us. So if you have our old number it still works. We are able to call family and friends in the states like it is a local call or at least state to state. People get a real kick when you call them on their cell phones from Saudi. There have been times when Mom has been sitting on the beach talking to me in Saudi on her cell and it costs next to nothing. Technology is so cool. Our phone has two lines. Line 1 is our local Saudi line. Line 2 is our US line. The down side is that we do get calls in the middle of the night about once a week asking for donations to this and that. So if you have our old phone number from the U.S. give us a call. Oh, please don't call after 3 in the afternoon or you just might get a cranky sleeping family member.
3. Slingbox - This is probably my favorite gadget. Back in the states Dad S. has a box (Slingbox) hooked up between his tv cable and his computer. This then feeds the cable signal off into cyber space. We here in Saudi we can then log in to our Slingbox account and watch local cable on the computer here in Saudi. The really cool thing is that we can change channels as we wish and it does not effect his cable at all. He can be watching CNBC and we can be watching Food Network at the same time. Why is this my favorite gadet you ask? Because of two words: Philles & Eagles. I can watch hometown sports which is a real treat here. Not to mention that most of the channels we get are British. You try watching the BBC Food Network. Slingbox is really catching on here and many people are starting to get their computers hooked up to their TV's so they can watch stateside TV on their nice big TV rather then their little computer screeen.
For now I am just happy to be able to watch my Philles and listen to Harry and Wheels once, sometimes twice, a week (I can only watch the 1PM games as the 7PM games don't start until 2AM here). Here is a pic of my father-in-law and I watching a game in front of the computer.
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