Skype still works fine, and the latest version has an incredibly useful feature: echo cancellation. In the past, you had to use headphones when using Skype, else your voice emanating from the other person’s speakers would re-enter the microphone and come back as an annoying delayed echo, making it hard to speak. The new echo cancellation works great, making “speaker-phone” conversations comfortable and clear.

My parents have started their annual visit to their cabin on an island north of Seattle, and often Skype in to share a sunset. It’s kind of nice–like a private web cam, in that use of Skype. If my camera weren’t planted in the face of my Mac, I’d be able to give them the same kind of view. I should see if I can attach my video camera and use it that way–I think I can if I want to.

My father’s camera is an iSight, the kind detached from the computer, so he can move his around… and we found, to our mutual surprise, that we could use the camera with a spotting scope. See the small red circle in the sunset view below? My father wanted to show me the people he could spot on the spit between the bay and the channel–and was able to, but putting the camera lens up to the eyepiece on the spotting scope. Cool.

Next time he sees an Osprey or other cool bird perched in a nearby tree, he promises to call me and share that with me. Real-time, remote-control trans-Pacific birdwatching!