VoIP Extra Credit

What a pleasant surprise! My sister has lived all over the country for the past few years and I've never used skype. My best friend's husband is in the military and told me how much she loved it but trying it out never interested me. My favorite thing about this class has been stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Technology is useful and fun.

Skype is wonderful. I'm glad that the basic service is free. It is user friendly and if one overlooks the ocasional service interuptions due to faulty internet connections, it can be a useful personally and professionally. I definately see my self continuing my use to communicate with me sister who recently moved from Florida to New Hampshire. I'm excited! I currently work for a small nonprofit and I can see our staff of four using skype for informal meetings when we shift from having a physical location to home offices.

For this extra credit project I recorded a chat with my sister in New Hampshire. The Jing application stopped working a couple of times but I think I finally recorded a segment of our conversation successfully. I had the most trouble attaching the video to my blog. I tried so many different options because the blogger site said it kept having trouble uploading my video.

file:///C:/Users/Jasmine/Desktop/Lane_Jasmine_Skype_Extra_Credit.swf

http://portal.sliderocket.com/AILKL/Skype

My Web Face!

I absolutely LOVED this activity! I've never tried or even thought about trying to create an avatar. This was a really cool activity. I didn't know what to expect. I clicked one of the links from the list provided and it took me to another list of avatar applications. I randomly chose mywebface.com. It turned out to be pretty simple to navigate. I enjoyed the process of choosing intricate details like hair, eyebrows, facial blemishes and such. I was trying to create a cartoon version of myself that was as close to reality as possible. I struggled with accomplishing this goal because none of the options for body type and facial shape were exactly right but in the end, I made an avatar I was very pleased with.

I decided to try another one of the application options. This time I wanted to have a different look. I went to an application offered through a zoo which allowed me to have fun and go crazy with avator options by attaching animal parts. Once again, I had a lot of fun making this one. I asked my 3 year old son to try. He had a blast. He chose the different parts to make up his avatar as I clicked the options. It was a great bonding experience! We both have our "wild" avatars posted on my computer.