Don’t kick that pickle, lady!
Whatever. No, I don’t know, either. I stole the picture from Anorak because I pretty much got nothing.
I’ve spent the evening getting my father Skype’d up. Or, anyway, the iPad equivalent of Skype, Tango.
He’ll be 86 soon and he’s newly unleashed on the internet. He had a laptop for ages, but he kept getting it snarled up and finally gave up on it. He can just about grok the iPad.
So today I rummaged around in the back room and found my old webcam (so old there isn’t a Windows 7 driver for it), downloaded this piece of videophone ‘ware and gave him a call.
He was stonked. It was like ten minutes of, “I can see you! Can you see me? I can see me! Can you see me? I’m down in a little block in the left corner and you’re all over the screen! It rang just like a real phone. I heard it and everything! I can see you! And you’re in England!”
Which was funny and sweet. And then he rang off, “this is great! We can watch opera together and I can teach you to play the harmonica and everything!”
So, there’s that.
Posted: October 1st, 2012 under personal, technology.
Comments: 18
Comments
Comment from mojo
Time: October 1, 2012, 10:01 pm
Mom (also 86) was online for a while, but I had to cut her off from online sales.
10 porcelain Corgies, Mom? Seriously?
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: October 1, 2012, 10:25 pm
I feel quite certain my old man had no trouble finding the pr0n.
Comment from Can’t hark my cry
Time: October 1, 2012, 10:47 pm
But can he teach you how to play opera on the harmonica?
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: October 1, 2012, 10:51 pm
Don’t encourage them, please, Can’t Hark.
Comment from Gromulin
Time: October 1, 2012, 10:55 pm
Counting down to free pr0n chatrooms in 5, 4, 3…
That is awesome though. Just think of his perspective – from telegraphs to (free!)video chat in one lifetime. Interesting times. My Dad was born in 1900 and remembered seeing the first aeroplane anyone had ever seen and then lived to watch a man walk on the moon just some 60 odd years later. The 20th century will be hard to match in the history books.
Comment from Can’t hark my cry
Time: October 1, 2012, 11:57 pm
Sorry, Uncle Badger–I’d kindof assumed that the opera part, at least, was unwelcome. Silly me!
Comment from Redd
Time: October 2, 2012, 12:05 am
Alternate caption: You’re going to poke that guy’s eyes out, lady!
Comment from Deborah
Time: October 2, 2012, 12:33 am
Wow. I just had this amazing vision of a harmonica band playing the sextet from Lucia.
Comment from benning
Time: October 2, 2012, 1:53 am
Awwww. That’s just so darned sweet! 😀
Comment from Pablo
Time: October 2, 2012, 2:03 am
I was in an airport bar a little while back watching a guy send his little boy good night wishes via live video on his smartphone. We’ve come a long way, baby.
Comment from Another Bob
Time: October 2, 2012, 3:15 am
My wife, who is totally not into computers at all, was using skype on my laptop in the kitchen to teach her niece in Asia how to cook some “American” food. Then she picked the darn thing up, turned it around and gave them a tour of our house.
I was amazed.
Comment from Scubafreak
Time: October 2, 2012, 4:51 am
Stoatie – I just found something on Facebook you might like. Might actually come in handy sometime.. http://www.rootsimple.com/2012/03/rocket-stove-made-from-five-gallon.html
Comment from SCOTTtheBADGER
Time: October 2, 2012, 5:32 am
Verily, that dost be one large picke!
Comment from Tibby
Time: October 2, 2012, 1:40 pm
Aw man! Bittersweet, aren’t we lucky? My grandmother was so awed by the changes that came about in her lifetime. We’ve lived in a a wonderful century, hope this next one turns out the same.
Comment from mojo
Time: October 2, 2012, 7:38 pm
“No, NO! Put DOWN that pickle!”
— The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye
Comment from Oceania
Time: October 2, 2012, 9:00 pm
Windows 7?
It’s a dog. A black dog, without a US birth certificate, living in the Whitehouse.
Dog.
Comment from Veeshir
Time: October 2, 2012, 10:44 pm
I gave my mother and step-father my cellphone when they visited me in 2001.
I called them to see what they wanted for dinner and all I heard was, “I don’t know how to turn it on, do you? Well, at least it stopped buzzing.”
They kept it up as I was whistling and shouting into the phone, they never heard me. I finally just hung up.
We had spaghetti.
Comment from David Gillies
Time: October 4, 2012, 4:51 pm
My Dad was pretty computer savvy – online banking, word processing, spreadsheets etc.. Not bad for a guy of 87. My mother left everything for him to do, so she’s a lot less sure-footed. She never learnt to type (she had Other Ranks/secretaries to do that sort of stuff) so it takes her forever to send an email. If I had the spare coin I’d get her an iPad so she could access her WiFi from the comfy chair.
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