Stepping up communications

I may have more of a vested interest in improving ease of communication than others who read this blog since my wife is a cool 736 miles away. However, it won't be too long before I'm a cool 776, 889, and 916 miles away from my parents, my sister's family, and my brother respectively. That isn't to exclude friends and extended family members, who I welcome to utilize these tools as well.

The internet nowadays has come a long way. The ability to create and share content has become extremely easy and cheap. I think we should kick up the friends & family communication scheme with a little web 2.0 technology. Here are my picks for two free tools to keep us all in better contact with each other.

• Skype: An online chat, voice chat (if you have a microphone), and video chat (if you have a webcam). You do have to download the program, but it's not a major problem. You can just have it on in the background when you're on the computer and you can see when your friends come online. It even works all over the world, so if you happen to know people on the far side of the Earth, it's a good way to stay in touch with them as well.

• --> My Skype name: ben.wildeboer (look me up when you get on!)

• Twitter: I'm really not sure how to describe it, it's kind of like text messaging on steroids (without the side effects). The Twitter FAQ page probably does a pretty good job of explaining it. You can just check it online, or you can "follow" people and get their messages sent to your phone. You can also write your own "tweets" from your phone. It's a great way to stay in touch even when you're not by a computer.

• --> My Twitter ID: WillyB (check it out!)

I look forward to seeing you online!!