How to Hold a Virtual Party at Your Office or Home

For those people who can't be at your Party (especially your overseas friends and family),  set up a FREE Video Web Conference using Skype — that way they can participate live during the event. Here is how we we use Skype for our parties.

First, you need two Skype accounts.   It only takes a few minutes to set up the service  if you do not have it. With Skype,  you can make FREE voice and video calls over the Internet (Click to set up a Skype Account) You also need unlimited internet connections at both locations to place the Skype Calls (most people have this service these days).

Before the party starts, we set up the webcams and laptops in the locations that you want to connect.

Make sure the Webcam is plugged into your computer, you've installed the webcam software that came with it,  and that it's switched on.

Dial each other using Skype and turn on the video. Since the calls are completely free, we just leave the video conference up during the whole party.

Then people can wander over to the camera during the party and talk with each other, make bets on the game,  and taunt the other fans that are located in each party.

Have fun and may the best team win!

More Skype Info or Order a New High Quality Video Webcam before the party

Roku Player Update - Get 50,000 Videos, Movies, TV Shows & More on Your TV

Why do Cable Companies, Dish, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse have such a limited selection of Video-on-Demand and Pay-per-View Movies?  :(  We have no idea either.  However, this Holiday Season, we are buying a Roku Box to change all that... and if you love to watch movies (like we do), you should buy one too! Roku, NetFlix and Amazon have teamed up to provide you easy access to 50,000 Videos-on-Demand directly on your home or office TV.

* 40,000+ movies and TV episodes available from Amazon Video On Demand * 12,000+ movies and TV episodes available with your Netflix subscription * Start watching movies on your TV in seconds using your high-speed Internet connection * Instantly plays the entire Netflix Instant Watch library if you have a Netflix membership - no additional subscription cost required, and viewing is unlimited * Instantly plays over 45,000 movies and shows from Amazon Video On Demand * Connecting is easy - both Wi-Fi and Ethernet are built in * Works with virtually any TV - old or new - including HDTVs

New (November 2009), Roku just added the following 10 content channels to the product for FREE: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe.

Premium Channels

  • Netflix - Play movies and TV shows from your Netflix Instant Queue
  • Amazon.com - Video on Demand - Browse, purchase, and play the latest hit movies and TV shows
  • MLB.com - Watch all out-of-market baseball games live and on demand

Free Channels

  • Pandora - Free service that plays music personalized for you
  • Facebook Photos - View your Facebook photo albums, as well as friends' photos
  • Flickr - Browse your own photos and public photos on Flickr
  • Mediafly - Your premier source of personalized, on-demand content from the web
  • Blimp.tv - Hosts and distributes the best original Web shows
  • twit.tv - Netcasts you love from people you trust
  • Revision3 - Home of Diggnation, Tekzilla and tons more great shows for the Internet generation
  • MobileTribe - Your favorite social networks are now on your Roku player

Roku Player Unboxing and Set-up - YouTube Video

It is very easy to set up the Roku Player.  There are four basic steps:

  1. Plug the box into your TV
  2. Connect the box to the internet using a direct cable or through your wireless Wi-Fi network
  3. Walk through the set-up menus on the TV screen
  4. Turn it on and start watching your first Movie or TV Show... or listen to Music with Pandora (new)

Watch the video below to see how one user unboxed and set up a new Roku Player for Netflix.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tepv9iLMO0]

Please comment with any tips that you can pass on for new Roku owners.

cnet review of the New Roku HD-XR Player

More Roku Information & Customer Reivews

There are three Roku models available.  Each product link (to Amazon.com) below provides you with more product information, current  pricing and customer reviews. Roku SD Player - Entry Level if you don't have HDTVs - $79 Roku HD Player - HDTV & WiFi - $99 (We're Buying This Model) Roku HD-XR Player - HDTV & Wi-Fi N-Dual Band (Newest Technology) 29