Webcam + Skype = Soccer Match

I wanted to write this since Thursday but was held up by school stuffs(more details in next post). This post is also a sort of an appreciation to modern technology. A few years back, video conferencing was not so common(at least during my brother's overseas period). During his time, the only common internet communication tool was ICQ which he used to communicate with his wife(now) and me. Plus phone calls per week to my parents and grandparents.

Now, video conferencing is so much common. I use msn to communicate with my gf, bro and sometimes my parents too though msn sucks even if just using audio. Furthermore the size of the video on msn is small even if set to 'big'.

With the new version of Skype(with webcam feature) out last month(I think). Video conferencing has never been so fantastic! The audio quality is way better than msn which is already proven, so the video quality should be anticipating. It is better than I expected after trying it out. The video hardly lags as much as msn even when the bandwidth is shared by other applications, furthermore, the video can be switched to a different window(size way bigger than msn) or full screen(quality not as good as in smaller screen). Video conferencing with my gf has never been so smooth, ever since!

08/03, Thursday morning 630am, local time. The free channel telecasted the match Arsenal vs. Real Madrid instead of Liverpool vs. Benfica. Streaming was never an option over my place due to the speed(ISP issue, long story). I was so yearning to watch that match that I came up with an idea of video conferencing with my brother's TV screen during the match!

We tested it out on the night before the match and it worked wonderfully. There was no lagging at all even if my bro shook the webcam, you could see the 'waves' of the shaking. However, there was a few seconds of lagging from time to time which was tolerable(as mentioned, way better than msn). We got connected again when the match started and there I go, a match to watch. Even though Liverpool lost the match, this 'equation' means that I will be able to watch soccer matches which I am unable to watch here! A million thanks to technology!!!
posted by Estan @ 12:27:00 PM (GMT+08:00).