Stay Connected With Friends And Family Cheap AndFree Tips To Stay In Touch (NAPSA)—Considering that the economyis top of mind, the experts at PC.com haveidentified some helpful and inexpensive ways to stay in touch: e Phone home—Reach out and touch. So, you’ve got family all over the place. Luckily, you can ~ : = “ > contact anyone you want, free. Thanks to the Internet, there are some wonderful waysto call, chat, video conference and so on: e Instant Messaging (IM). What’s so cool about IM?First,it’s free to get the software and chat with friends, and if you’ve got a webcam and a microphone, you don’t even have to type. You can look at your friend or family member and talk just as you would in person via video conference. Voice-over Internet proto- col (VoIP). The name sounds more complicated thanit really is. There are two VoIP options to choose from—you can go the totally free route over the Internet when talking from one computer to another with a microphone, or you can purchase a monthly service plan and use your normal phone, which only requires highspeed Internet access and not a computer. Say good-bye to stamps and hello to e-greetings. Sending cards can seem like a chore, but electronic greetings are very simple, whether you’re a novice or expert Internet guru. All you need is yourlist of e-mail addresses and youre a few clicks away from sending your friends and loved ones personal greetings that are fun, cute, touching andinteractive. And you can schedule the time when relationships up—even with friends and family far away—with help from your computer. they go out—today, tomorrow, three weeksfrom now, whenever. e Family newsletters. Elec- tronic newsletters are an easy way to update friends and family on everything that has been happening andall you need is access to a computer. With so much at yourfingertips, including free clip art options and your own digital photos, you can create a newsletter that’s the ultimate show-andtell. And you can e-mail it to friends and family members, no stamp required. e Even better—Consider creating a holiday photo blog. Upload your pictures to a photosharing site and send a link so friends can easily see and read the wonderful things you’ve been doing all year long. If you are looking for a new computer to do all these things, consider PC.com’s matchmaker tool to help you find your perfect PC match. To learn more about how to stay in touch with friends and family, visit www.pc.com.
