Together While Apart: Virtual Families and Friends

New Life for Your Old Photos, Home Movies, Manuscripts -- Online

By Jim Buie

My family no longer maintains bound family photo albums -- that stopped when we bought digital cameras. We rarely looked at them anyway, and we NEVER watched home movies on outmoded formats (8 mm and Super 8 film, beta videotape) that were gathering dust in the attic. But thanks to recent innovations in digital technology, we now peruse and enjoy family images more than ever.

Videoblogging a Vacation

By Jim Buie

I videoblogged my family's summer vacation out west. Not in real time -- that would be too much like work. But in the weeks since we returned from Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, I have re-lived the vacation and re-explored online some of the sites we saw. I've also published on my blog excerpts from my wife's journal and video clips of my son. I've educated friends and family about fantastic places, so that they are putting such places on their future vacation itineraries. I'm sure that video-blogging a vacation will become a cultural phenomenon.

Basic video-editing software like Windows Moviemaker comes free with most computers these days. It's pretty simple to use. Drag and drop photos and videos and music clips, push a button to snip or edit a clip. Judge for yourself my results. I'll get better at it as I use it more.

Drill Deeper Re Videoblogging A Vacation:

• Guess Where? Basic Geography Lesson
• Bears and Us
• Traversing the West, Encountering Wild Animals, Participating in a Rodeo, Sleeping in a Teepee, Whitewater Rafting
• On the streets of Helena, Montana, 'Pogoman' Draws Attention to Homelessness, Affordable Housing
• Saving Money on Road Trips
• Lure of the Open Road Is Quintessentially American. I've Now Visited 39 States. How Many Have You Visited?
• Northwestern Montana Feels Almost Like Another Country
• Spectacular 12-Mile Hike in Glacier National Park, Montana
• Falling in Love with the Crown Jewel of the Continent, But Fearing for Its Future

Preserving and Presenting Photos, Slides, and Videos

Your treasured family photographs, videos, slides, newspaper and magazine articles are gradually deteriorating. If they aren't digitized and touched up, they may wither away in the years to come. And they could be far more accessible if they are stored on your computer, and backed up onto a CD or DVD. Learn how to preserve and create powerful digital presentations to share with your family and friends, or hire us to create such presentations for you. We charge $2 per scanned slide or photo. For details, contact jim@buie.com.