New Technology for the New Year

We have had some exciting tech developments in our home lately and hopefully they will make life a little easier and more enjoyable during our stay here.

First, my brother John is helping us set up Slingbox and I am still amazed by this concept. Basically it allows us to watch our Southlake TV in Singapore. We have the Slingbox connected to our cable box in Texas and a Slingcatcher to broadcast on our Singapore TV screen. While John is helping us work out an issue with the Slingcatcher, in the meantime we can watch shows on our computers. I log on to the Slingbox website, click "Watch" and a screen pops up, complete with a miniature Verizon remote for me to control. I can record my favorite shows on the Southlake dvr so I can watch them at a decent hour locally. It will also come in handy with sports events. Everything we could watch at home will be available to us here. For example, Brian was able to watch the BCS Championship Game even though our Singapore sports network didn't broadcast it. I only watch a few shows each week but between my favorites, kids shows and sports, I think we'll use the Slingbox often. Thanks for your help, John!

And those of you who are familiar with John's appreciation of all things technological, you won't be surprised to learn that he sent along a cool little gadget when my mom visited. We now have a "Magic Jack." Have you seen the ads on TV? Well, obviously we haven't but Magic Jack connects to a computer via USB and allows us to make phone calls to the US for free for one year. We use our regular house phone for the calls and we have been using it for the past month now with no problems. We are basically making phone calls over the Internet for free and unlike Skype, I'm not tied to my laptop during the call. I can use my cordless handset instead. As an expat, I sure am glad that some smart people out there have the brainpower to come up with inventions like Slingbox and Magic Jack.

Our latest technology acquisition was a new laptop for me. When I had an uncontrollable desire to smash my Dell on the marble floor, I needed to take action. I could no longer rely on it to do anything consistently so it was time to move on. I'm now the proud owner of a Mac! Brian was supportive of my decision to make the switch, although he pointed out that he would no longer be able to provide tech support for me. Remembering my past experience of working on a Mac, I felt confident I would no longer require his tech support! So far the transition is going smoothly as I have been able to set up everything with no assistance. Proof that Macs are user-friendly :)

I'm excited to start 2010 with new technology in our home that will keep us connected to the rest of the world!