1. Keep Track
Move the kitchen calendar online with Google Calendar or Zoho Calendar. Both are free Web-based applications that everyone in the family can access. The programs can be set up to email daily reminder lists (e.g., dental appointments, carpool schedules, birthdays) to all users and can be updated from a computer or smart phone.
2. Help with Homework
The Web-based Google Docs program makes it easy to review you child’s school work, even if you’re not at the kitchen table. Offer corrections and suggestions, and check progress while you’re at work or in a doctor’s waiting room.
3. Stay Connected
Need more face time with long-distance friends and family? With your webcam (or your computer’s built-in video camera) and the video-conferencing software Skype, you can have a face-to-face chat with loved ones anywhere in the world. Never miss another birthday!
4. Get in the Frame
Instead of storing your pictures on your PC, display them in a digital-picture frame, an LCD colour screen modeled after a desk-top photo frame. (Digital frames must be connected to a wireless network.) Some, such as Kodak Pulse, come with an email address to which anyone can send their latest photos – and pics will appear in the frame as if by magic!
5. Rewind the Moment
Family videos can be hard to share via email because of their size. So set up a channel on YouTube that can be viewed only by friends and family, then post videos of vacations and other events.