Long distance relationship

How the love of my life and I struggle to keep our love strong

Thursday, July 14, 2011

When bad software is an advantage

Hello, friends!

My girlfriend and I one day decided we wanted to see each other besides just chatting. Unfortunately, taking a plane every weekend is kind of outside our budget, go figure...
We both use free software, so after trying different clients we settled for amsn to cam. Why go for a proprietary network? Simple: both my girlfriend and I have horrible connections; the cam implementation in the Windows Live Messenger network is just horrible, it goes frame-by-frame. Luckily, this was an advantage for us, because we wouldn't be transmitting or receiving as much data and it wouldn't make our connections choke. Seeing each other frame-by-frame was better than not seeing each other.

Jabber/XMPP works like a charm, really smooth and everything... on a normal connection. For us it gets all pixelized fast.

Unfortunately, Microsoft changed the protocol for their cam exchange in Windows Live Messenger, so we have to wait until the new version of amsn comes out.

In the meantime, I'm using VLC to stream to her. At least she can see me!

Do you guys have any suggestion on what to try? Only free software, please (ie, not Skype because it's proprietary). I was going to try SIP with Ekiga / Qutecom, anybody has a good / bad experience with that?
Posted by Charles Godfrey at 3:03 AM
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

28 comments:

  1. MagixxJuly 14, 2011 at 5:26 AM

    Use MSN? :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keine ScheisseJuly 14, 2011 at 6:11 AM

    I think Facebook already has some option for sharing videos. Not videoconference, but you can send PMs with video

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  3. pvJuly 14, 2011 at 6:33 AM

    thats cool man, im in a long distance relationship too and i text and talk on phone all day and we see pics of one another lol

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  4. AnonymousJuly 14, 2011 at 6:59 AM

    It's good to always stay positive. I'm sure you'll both be able to stream to each other soon.

    Doesn't facebook now have streaming capabilities?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mr. CactusJuly 14, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    If you both have apples I have found Ichat is better than Skype.

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  6. Losing My BalanceJuly 14, 2011 at 10:52 AM

    Long distance would be so frustrating, still a good situation though :) Video chat is on facebook now but it is in collaboration with skype, maybe try download.com for free software.

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  7. EstrangedJuly 14, 2011 at 11:11 AM

    Ah...long distance relationships.
    Here try
    http://www.oovoo.com/
    Pretty good I say.

    ReplyDelete
  8. SentimokoJuly 14, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    Check up on the streaming alts they were talking about. Should solve your conflict.

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  9. RobertMJuly 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM

    I second oovoo! Good luck man!

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  10. NeonJuly 14, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    I heard facebook will get a skype video chat. How can you stream via VLC though? oO

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  11. Scrubby BearJuly 14, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    I love long distance

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  12. Ready to GrowJuly 14, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    you'll figure it out...I have faith in you

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  13. gimpelJuly 14, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    hmm sadly I can´t help you but I´m sure you´ll find a way

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  14. LeroyBigJuly 14, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    I always just skyped with my girlfriend, but a lot of the time it doesn't work because of her bad connection :/

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  15. WhitUKJuly 14, 2011 at 12:56 PM

    I think that oovoo looks like a good alternative (said above)
    Good luck man

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  16. FalconsciousJuly 14, 2011 at 1:48 PM

    I don't know what else you could use, I am accustom to skype/msn. I hope you figure something out.

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  17. Sub Radar (Mike)July 14, 2011 at 3:15 PM

    i just use skype or tinychat... i like being able to see the person i'm talking to!

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousJuly 14, 2011 at 3:47 PM

    Great blog, I hope it all works out

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  19. ZeroTimeJuly 14, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    I hope everything works out for you guys

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  20. gog magogJuly 14, 2011 at 4:13 PM

    cool ideas!

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  21. Eddie NanceJuly 14, 2011 at 4:25 PM

    Man, I know how hard it is being in a long distance relationship. Power to you guys for sticking it out! Really interesting blog! Followed!

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  22. braumamanJuly 14, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    Maybe Tinychat? That seems good.

    ReplyDelete
  23. LuukashJuly 14, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    Your blog is getting better everyday =D

    ReplyDelete
  24. R. MotJuly 14, 2011 at 8:10 PM

    You should try Google+'s hangout feature. You can have up to 10 people on webcams in one chatroom. It's free as long as you get a friend to hook you up with an invite! It might work, but I've never tried it. Good luck with your search! :D

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  25. AesthetikosJuly 14, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Apart from Skype, I don't any others... Sorry I can't help, but keep looking!

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  26. Elliot MacLeod-MichaelJuly 15, 2011 at 12:48 AM

    I'm not sure what proprietary means. Skype has always been free for me though.
    +followed

    ReplyDelete
  27. Charles GodfreyJuly 15, 2011 at 11:36 PM

    @Neon: I'm going to set up a tutorial on how to stream with VLC.

    @Ellit: Proprietary means it's not free as in freedom (what some people call opensource).

    ReplyDelete
  28. kh0ndorSeptember 22, 2011 at 5:32 PM

    Use the phone

    ReplyDelete

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