Google Hangouts

Recently my family and I have taken to using a fun Google+ tool called Hangouts to catch up. Unlike Google voice and video chat, you can chat with many people at once. It's been great since my brother Ted doesn't live at my parent's house (he's at college, or currently away at his internship for the summer). I highly recommend it to anybody who misses a scattered group of people. A neat, but easily exploited, feature is that whoever is talking (the loudest) gets the screen time. The idea is that you don't have to click on each speaker manually, which is a bit burdensome (though there is that capability). Sometimes my family members will yell nonsensically just to be the one the screen or we will simply end up talking or laughing loudly all at once. This causes a strobe-light of family appearances which ends up being very amusing. 

Last weekend, my parents were packing up to travel, so I didn't get to see them. However, I did get to talk to my brother Ted. Before he entered the hangout I launched a fun app called Google Effects, which became available to whoever joined the hangout. The app has face recognition, and places "props" (you can pick specific items, or "randomise" for ridiculous combos) on your screen. Ted and I experimented with exactly how much of your face you can hide before it get's confused about where to but the prop, and FYI, the nose is a key feature. Screen shots for your amusement below. 

Ted as a clown snorkeller with a sweet 'stache

Ted as a cat with a Google sweatband, still sport the 'stache

Ted as a Devil with an eye patch, and he apparently really likes the 'stache

                   

                    

And the most ridiculous, Lydia as a confused beauty queen with a hormone problem

Google hangouts has advantages beyond just video chatting, there are a plethora of apps for gaming with family, work related "white boards" and Google docs sharing, as well as my favorite, an app that shows a children's story on the side for a parent to read to their kid if they aren't able to be at home to put them to bed. Adorable.