I’ve recently entered the world of “video chat” – and while I never thought I’d be interested, it’s been really rather nice.

It started with my new iMac (20″, with the built in camera). Then my friend Freda was ready to get a new computer, and decided to go Mac. And my collaborator on the various FAMVIN sites finally worked out a way to get past some firewall issues with his MacBookPro, and we were off to the races… the fourth party is also a Mac person in Denver.

Details: we are using AIM accounts (I think .mac accounts would work as well); My old router had to be replaced with one that would allow the proper ports to be opened (the old one is EOL – and had no clue that this was a possibility!); Freda had to do nothing except remember her AIM password;

Yesterday we had a 3-way “conference” going for a while. And right now I’m on with the friend in NY.

Issues: Sometimes the pictures aren’t very clear – my guess is bandwidth; I need better lighting, because the current setup makes me look like a purple people eater. I have to be sure I’m semi dressed for the day when I answer a call. And, how on earth do we get this to work with the folks on PC’s?