I’ve just returned from Chicago visiting my sister. It was a short trip but we packed the weekend with fun things to do and catching up with each other’s lives. We went downtown to see the green river for St. Patrick’s Day. While we were there, I was watching everyone with their camera phones out taking pictures. We even got in a picture of a foreign gentleman who asked strangers to get in his picture for “Fassboot” (Facebook). We couldn’t understand what he was saying but he was excited that 50+ people went along with his mission.

We went for some dinner later and were talking about great uses for our camera phone. She talked about taking pictures of wine bottle labels so she would remember the names later. I take pictures of small print like computer codes so I can pinch and zoom or retype it into my computer. Then we started collaborating on other ways to use our camera phones. Cameras are pretty handy and most people have a camera on their phone so why not put them to use?

Here are a few we came up with:

1. Take a picture of people borrowing your stuff. I can’t tell you how many DVDs, computer games and books are missing from my shelves. This is great for your memory and the borrowers’.

2. Take a picture of the sign closest to your parked car in a large parking garage. Later, you won’t be wandering around the garage like a Seinfeld episode.

3. My sense of direction is terrible. When I travel, I take pictures of my hotel from the street or beach. It really does help me find my way back when I’m out exploring.

4. Take a picture of your insurance card or passport. It will come in handy if that information is ever lost.

5. At our computer store, we recommend people take a picture of the back of their computer BEFORE unhooking all the cables. They will have documentation to follow when hooking it back up.

6. Use your camera as a scanner. Take a picture of a document and text it to someone or to yourself, for safe keeping.

7. Shopping! While prom dress shopping with my daughter, she received several opinions taking pictures and texting them to her friends.

I’m sure everyone can come up with something to add to this list. I would love to hear it! We see people being very creative with their cameras taking pictures of food at restaurants, cute animals or pets, and even total strangers for Facebook.