The Internet can help keep us in touch over long distances both with each other and with things that matter to us. Here are just five examples from a vast array of resources, ones I happen to have found interesting, useful, or money-saving, and maybe you will too.

1. Happy birthday and anniversary song videos are available in large numbers and a variety of styles at YouTube, and they can be e-mailed to loved ones far away.

2. Learn languages for free if you are planning to travel. You can download sound files, for basic conversation for a traveller.

3. Enjoy learning arts for free. Read classics of poetry (sorted in a variety of ways) and prose online. You can also tour museums like the British Museum and the Louvre or view famous paintings online, like THe Letter by Tissot (1878), above.

4. Enjoy learning science for free. Nature documentaries are available in vast quantities, as are TED talks on a variety of science subjects.

5. Provide lots of good entertainment on a low budget. Print out and do crossword puzzles math puzzles, and word games, or play them on line if that is how the game works.

One expense that will be worth the money if your household really gets into virtual tours and lectures, etc., is a wide screen. After that, it’s all free for the monthly expense of broadband. 
  Denyse O’Leary is a Canadian author, journalist, and blogger.