Because some people are using CUseeMe for things other than virtual visits with faraway relatives, parents will want to use CUseeMe's parental controls, which enable you to password-protect the software to lock out incoming calls, prevent outgoing calls and more. If you're expecting Picturephone quality from Internet videoconferencing, you'll be disappointed. Even with the fast connections that my sister and I have, video is chunky-looking and motion is jerky. When we tested CUseeMe using a slow modem connection, a new image appeared only every second or two, and audio cut out occasionally. Results like these may lead you to dismiss low-end videoconferencing.
Oculus also creates time-lapse movies and can even snap images when it detects motion.
Internet cameras are particularly fun if you use a PowerBook or iBook equipped with Apple's AirPort wireless networking hardware. By roaming around with my PowerBook, I was able to give my snowbound sister a tour of our garden. She'll be visiting soon, I suspect. The Denver Post. All rights reserved.