Connect with Friends and Family Online

Email and Messaging

How many times a year do we make that extra effort to get in touch with friends and family for a friendly greeting? This year, with the entire world's mind seemingly focused on things related to the economy, why not consider these alternative and inexpensive options to get you through? 

Reach out and touch someone. So, you've got family from west coast to east coast and everywhere in between and on just about every continent. And if you're not careful, the chatty Cathy in your house—or Carl respectively—and that might be you—will have your phone bill rivaling that of the national debt.

Luckily, you can contact everyone you know on every continent and you can do it for FREE. How, you ask? Through this wonderful little thing I like to call "the Internet". Here are some wonderful ways to call, chat, video conference, etc.:

• Instant Messaging (IM). What's so cool about IM? First, it's free to get the software, free to 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 chat just like you would in person via video conference. But with this option, unlike in person, you have the added benefit of not having to share your holiday cookies.
• Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). The name sounds more complicated than it really is. There two VoIP options—you can go and purchase a monthly service plan and use your normal phone—or you can got the totally free route over the Internet with a microphone. That means you can talk with anyone, anywhere on earth, as long as they have a connected computer. How awesome is that? Catching up on the last 20 years (or more) with your best friend from grade school? Talking with Mom, Dad, uncles, aunts, cousins, sisters, brothers... and without fear of going broke? Priceless!

Free e-cards

To find e-cards simply type "free e-cards" or "e-greetings" into your favorite search engine—or you can try out one of these:

• Blue Mountain
• Hallmark—yes! They do e-cards too!
• American Greetings

Say goodbye to stamps and hello e-greetings. Unlike "snail mail", electronic greetings or e-greeting are customizable and are another way to say, "I'm thinking of you". And it's super simple whether you're a novice or expert Internet guru. All you need is your list of email addresses and you're a few clicks away from sending your friends and loved ones personal greetings that are funny, cute, touching and interactive. And you can schedule the time when they go out—today, tomorrow, three weeks from now, whenever.

The mother of all family newsletters. If you're a newsletter writer, there is nothing better than having access to a computer with a good word processing program. With so much available (free) clip art options, along with your own photo library of digital images, you can create a newsletter that's the ultimate show-and-tell as to where you've been in the last year. Not only that? You can email it to friends and family members, no stamp required.

Even better? Consider creating a photo blog—simply send a link and they can point, click, and 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 wonderful things with, consider laptop and desktop PCs with Intel Inside® and stay connected.