What with everybody staying home, virtual meetings with Zoom are taking the lead. Some computers and all laptops come with a built-in camera and microphone. If you don't have one, there are plenty of aftermarket webcams available.
Office Depot was out of almost everything but the $1,000 models when we looked. Amazon didn't have many either, but there we found a $240 webcam from Logitech, the C615 HD, which came out four years ago. (It turns out we could have gotten it for less than half that price.) The quality is great, and we get a much wider view than we do with our laptop camera. We can clearly see Harv and Marv, Joy's two stuffed bears, sitting on a bookshelf in the background.
By chance, we later found our old model, the Microsoft LifeCam Studio HD we paid $80 for four years ago. The difference between that and the new one is slight. We used it for talking to Joy's brother in Florida using the Zoom software, which is free.
Besides using a webcam for videoconferencing, you can use it to take your picture or a video of yourself. You can also use it to copy documents. To do so, type "camera app" in the search box in Windows 10, then click on "Camera app" and watch the screen fill with your image. We snapped a picture, then switched it to video mode. This is a fun way to make a record of our thoughts on any given day, a sort of video diary.
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MOVIE NIGHT
You can go to the movies with a friend without either of you leaving home. There have been countless articles about apps that allow you to remotely watch a movie with friends, such as Netflix Party and Kast.gg.
We wonder if anyone really tests these things. We did. Zoom is much easier.
Joy and her friend used Zoom to watch Virgin River from Netflix. Joy could see her friend responding to the web TV drama series in a small window in a corner of the screen. She paused the video when anyone wanted to make a comment. The next day, they tried doing a yoga class together on YouTube. Our young relatives are using it to cook together. If there are three people or fewer present, Zoom lets you go beyond the 40-minute limit. Otherwise, you'll need the $15-a-month pro account.
To host a movie on Zoom, go to Zoom.us and click "Host a meeting." This will prompt you to send an email to your guests with the link they need to join you. Once you're up and running, click "Share desktop" in the Zoom menu and go to Chrome, Firefox or whatever browser you are using to show your movie.
STAYING ONLINE
In a video call with her Osher Lifelong Learning Institute discussion group, Joy lost her internet connection.
How can you avoid that? One way is to position your laptop, computer or tablet close to the router. Another way is to be sure you don't have a lot of programs running in the background. Shut down Chrome or Edge or Firefox or whatever browser you use after you start your video call. You might also ask participants to turn off their video camera when they're not speaking, if things get bad.
We found these and other tips at Techlicious.com.
INTERNUTS
On parenting site YourCub.com, click on "Lego Stem Activities" for some fun stuff the site's owner did with his son to ease the boredom of social distancing. "Lego Marble Drop" lets you drop a marble from the top of your Lego creation and watch it descend through various barriers. Another good one is "Exploding Lego Targets." A soft foam bullet makes the loosely-connected Lego wall tumble all over the place. Who doesn't like to batter down walls?
Search on the phrase "53 Funny Things to Ask Alexa." We didn't think the answers were funny, but a child might.
"What a wonderful world shadow puppet." Search on that phrase to find a remarkable YouTube video. This guy can make his shadow look like Louis Armstrong, then a rabbit, then a swan preening itself, then a baby's hand grasping an adult's hand and more.
"Take a Virtual Tour of Two Recently Excavated Homes in Pompeii." Search on that phrase to find a Smithsonian article. This Roman city was buried in a single day by a volcanic eruption in A.D. 79.
GOING BACKWARD
Using System Restore in Windows is a good idea when you want to get your computer back to the point where things were working properly. It's harder to find in Windows 10 than it was in Windows 7. Here's how:
In the search bar, type "Create a restore point." When that opens, choose "System Restore," and select a recent date when all was well.
System Restore does not touch your files or email, so you don't have to worry about losing anything. However, you will need to reinstall any app that wasn't there before the date you chose.
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwab@gmail.com and joy.schwabach@gmail.com.
Business on 04/18/2020