Editor’s Note: Molly Wood is an executive editor and on-camera personality at CNETTV.com. An absolute tech whiz, Wood uses her expertise and passion for ruthless industry analysis in the weekly Buzz Report video blog, a sort of "Daily Show" for tech news. In addition, Molly also co-hosts CNET’s hysterical Buzz Out Loud podcast, while her "Gadgettes" podcast definitely proves that girls can be geeks too. And we mean that as a compliment. As if that’s not enough, Molly’s a frequently requested technology expert and has appearances on the "Today Show," CNBC’s "Power Lunch" and "On the Money," "Regis & Kelly" and countless other programs throughout the country. That said, we’re very pleased to announce that Molly will be sharing her nuggets of tech wisdom with you on a regular basis, here at wowOwow.

Phone calls, e-mail, snail mail — there are better ways to stay in touch with your loved ones, people! Sure, there’s no substitute for face-to-face encounters, but thanks to today’s easy-to-use tech, you can come pretty close via video chatting. Video chatting is the best and most fun way to communicate with your children, grandchildren, and friends who live far away.

It’s also a great way to phone home while you’re traveling — I use video chat to talk to my husband and two-year-old son whenever I’m on the road. My son loves seeing mommy on the “’puter,” even though he occasionally hangs up on me by banging on the keyboard! Anyway, no matter what kind of computer you use, it’s easy and maybe even free to start video chatting right now. Yes, right now. Here’s what you need, and how to get started.

The Internet connection: Video chatting will not be a happy experience if your Internet connection is dial-up. Make sure you and the person you want to chat with have at least a DSL connection before you try this. If your video is slow or choppy, it might be due to bandwidth problems. One tip to improve your chances of success: chat during odd hours, if you can, so that you’re not talking during a time when everyone in the neighborhood is online!

The Hardware: The most essential thing you need for video chat is, of course, a video camera. If you don’t already have one, you can buy an inexpensive Webcam (here are a few CNET recommendations). They range in price from about $40 to $100 and up. If you use a laptop, look for a Webcam designed for laptops, so it will clip to your screen properly. Our CNET editors’ top choice is slightly expensive, but has a two-megapixel sensor, so it offers great video quality and good low-light images. Note: Most new Apple laptops and iMacs come with built-in iSight cameras, and a lot of new laptops also have Webcams built in. If you’re in the market for a new laptop, a Webcam’s a nice extra feature that’s worth keeping in mind. Also, if you already own a digital video camcorder, you can use it for video chatting! It’s bigger than a Webcam, and you’ll probably want to use a tripod, but if you really don’t want to buy a new camera (and you want the best image possible), a DV camcorder will do the trick. Here’s a short tutorial on how to hook it up to your computer. Your computer probably has a built-in microphone, but if it doesn’t, you can easily purchase an external microphone. Those can range from less than $30 to more like $80 for a very fancy microphone. But you probably don’t need anything like that for video chat — unless you’re also a big fan of MySpace Karaoke! If you don’t have a built-in microphone and you don’t want to buy one, you can also use the regular old phone for audio. Sometimes when I’m on the road, I call my husband on my cell phone (since we have free long distance), he starts up Skype video chat and we just talk on the phone and use the video to see each other. The important thing is the camera and the software. Speaking of which …