OT: Skype and the world Skypes with you...

Being a bit slow with things technical, it has taken me until a few days ago
to get around to installing Skype.

(The techie avant garde have had it for a couple of years already... The
difference is that a new release has been made, and it is really
spectacular.)

For those of you who are on another planet, Skype was one of the pioneers of
VOIP (voice over internet protocol).

Their slogan is that "the wholeWorld can talk for free", and it can...

It is a 10MB download from: http://www.skype.com/download/

It installs easily and is a very good example of a user friendly interface.
Almost painfully easy to set up and configure and all those problems you
keep expecting to happen simply don't materialise. :-)

What has prompted me to make this post is that I just finished a chat with
Daniel Summers who, as some of you will recall, was a regular poster here
until being required to go to the Middle East on business for Uncle Sam.
Daniel is doing fine and sends his regards to all in CLC. He has had the odd
problem posting using Google Groups but will try it again.

What staggered me was the fact that I am in Auckland and he is in Bahrain,
and yet it sounded as if he was in the next room. The quality of the Skype
connection is unbelievable.

And the call cost absolutely nothing! You can talk to anyone who has Skype
(and happens to be online), anywhere in the world, for free!

But wait... there's more! :-) (I haven't even got to the bit about the steak
knives yet...)

You can place a call to most of the world, to ANY telephone (including
mobiles in the USA and some other countries) for 2c a minute! That's right
folks, $US1.20 per HOUR. Anywhere. (Well, almost...)

Still not impressed...? :-)

Let's recap:

1. If you have Skype installed on your computer, and it is equipped with a
sound card and microphone (either built in (as in my Notebook), or has ports
for a headset so equipped), and you are using it, you can set your Skype
status to "online" and anyone who has you in their Skype contacts sees your
icon turn green and knows you are available to call. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
CHARGE. (Whether you call them or they call you) And you can talk as long as
you like.

2. If you want to call someone who HASNT got Skype, is not at a computer,
but has a telephone, you can do so for 2c a minute to anywhere on Earth. (It
is a global rate, but see their web site for some very minor exceptions.)

3. The quality (if you receive it at your computer...I haven't tried it by
standard phone) is infinitely better than the normal telephone network. (It
is digital packets, being forwarded over the internet).

Some general observations...

1. Is it catching on?  When I spoke to Daniel there were just under
6,000,000 people logged in...

2. Time diferences? Skype shows you what the time is in the place you are
thinking of calling , for each of your contacts. It was midday for Daniel;
9:00pm for me.

3. There are rumours that some ISPs who are also telecomm providers, are so
worried by this that they are deliberately giving VOIP packets a lower
priority on their networks, in the hope of degrading the service to the
point where people won't want to use it. All I can say is that I have seen
no evidence of this in the comparatively short time I have been using Skype.
My ISP is not a telecomm provider, but I have no doubt they must use Telecom
backbones. I've made calls to the UK, USA, Middle East, and Australia, and
on every occasion the quality was beyond reproach.

4. You can open chat windows on Skype if you don't want to talk by voice.

5. You can have conference calls with up to 100 people, and you can
'bookmark' these conferences so you can come and go at will. All for free.

OK, if you still think I'm getting excited over nothing...next wend I'm
buying a video camera to mount on my computer. Skype have a video connection
Beta in operation and I really want to try this out...:-)

Worldwide video connection, for free, sounds like a good deal to me... :-)

If anyone wants to add me to their Skype contacts, my Skype name is
'petedashwood'.

(No, I don't mind publicising it; Skype allows access settings that will
block spam and anything/anyone else I  may not want...)

It's good to talk... :-)

Pete.

In article <4i16r7F1l9slU1@individual.net>,
Pete Dashwood <dashwood@enternet.co.nz> wrote:

[snip]

>OK, if you still think I'm getting excited over nothing...next wend I'm
>buying a video camera to mount on my computer. Skype have a video connectio
n
>Beta in operation and I really want to try this out...:-)
>
>Worldwide video connection, for free, sounds like a good deal to me... :-)

Oh, I *cannot* resist...

... given a certain circle of contacts, perhaps so... but with the looks
and likes of *you* at the other end?

(... and before anyone can chime in with 'Well, what do you expect for
free?' I'll say 'Not much... but that 'not much' includes 'keeping my
lunch down.')

DD

Pete Dashwood wrote:
>
> OK, if you still think I'm getting excited over nothing...next wend I'm
> buying a video camera to mount on my computer. Skype have a video connecti
on
> Beta in operation and I really want to try this out...:-)

Good, I'll be able to hijack your camera and watch your keyboard usage.
Ridiculous? I beleive it was a Spaniard that has been prosecuted for
doing just that.


>
> Worldwide video connection, for free, sounds like a good deal to me... :-)
>
> If anyone wants to add me to their Skype contacts, my Skype name is
> 'petedashwood'.
>
> (No, I don't mind publicising it; Skype allows access settings that will
> block spam and anything/anyone else I  may not want...)
>
> It's good to talk... :-)

But as DD says, maybe not so good to view. Are you doing all this so
that you can do some online doggin' ?

>
> Pete.

<docdwarf@panix.com> wrote in message news:e9fsp5$mph$1@reader2.panix.com...
> In article <4i16r7F1l9slU1@individual.net>,
> Pete Dashwood <dashwood@enternet.co.nz> wrote:
>
> [snip]
> 
>
> Oh, I *cannot* resist...
>
> ... given a certain circle of contacts, perhaps so... but with the looks
> and likes of *you* at the other end?
>
> (... and before anyone can chime in with 'Well, what do you expect for
> free?' I'll say 'Not much... but that 'not much' includes 'keeping my
> lunch down.')
>
> DD
>
Gee Doc, I guess being so gorgeous yourself gives you the right to make such
a statement?

Oddly enough, a number of people are very interested in communicating in
this way with me.

Guess they are folks who eat light lunches...:-)

Pete.

"Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1153151809.142928.22050@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Pete Dashwood wrote: 
>
> Good, I'll be able to hijack your camera and watch your keyboard usage.
> Ridiculous? I beleive it was a Spaniard that has been prosecuted for
> doing just that.
>
Golly, I'll take care to ensure the keyboard isn't in the field of view...
Can't be too careful...
> 
>
> But as DD says, maybe not so good to view. Are you doing all this so
> that you can do some online doggin' ?

I have no idea what you are talking about, so I guess the answer's "no"...

Pete.
> 
>

Pete Dashwood wrote:
> "Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1153151809.142928.22050@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... 
> Golly, I'll take care to ensure the keyboard isn't in the field of view...
> Can't be too careful...

I'm serious. Beware of having the keyboard in view of the camera. And
watch what you are wearing.
 
>
> I have no idea what you are talking about, so I guess the answer's "no"...
>

The practice (often conducted in UK carparks) of watching a couple
making "sweet music" usually with the permission of the observed couple.

In article <4i3vjuF1vviaU1@individual.net>,
Pete Dashwood <dashwood@enternet.co.nz> wrote:
>
><docdwarf@panix.com> wrote in message news:e9fsp5$mph$1@reader2.panix.com..
. 
>Gee Doc, I guess being so gorgeous yourself gives you the right to make suc
h
>a statement?

I thought that posting to the UseNet required only capabilities.  How did
something like 'rights' get involved?

>
>Oddly enough, a number of people are very interested in communicating in
>this way with me.
>
>Guess they are folks who eat light lunches...:-)

Perhaps they are just made of Sterner Stuff... I am delicate, I am frail,
I am but a wilting, hot-house flower.

DD

In article <1153223330.234279.17840@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com>,
Alistair <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote:

[snip]

>The practice (often conducted in UK carparks) of watching a couple
>making "sweet music" usually with the permission of the observed couple.

Hmmmmm... this is curious.  In the USA it is a given, set by legal
precedent, that a person in a 'public place' does not have a 'reasonable
expectation of privacy' so that since the playing of such tunes as you
mention occur in a 'public place' then permission to observe is assumed.

How do the couple in question, outside of their choice of venue, indicate
that their permission is given... what kind of 'invitation' is issued?

(consider the difference between 'whoops... got a bit 'carried away in the
moment' there, didn't we?' and 'Pat's engine just doesn't turn over well
without an audience')

DD

"Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1153223330.234279.17840@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
>
> Pete Dashwood wrote: 
>
> I'm serious. Beware of having the keyboard in view of the camera. And
> watch what you are wearing.

I don't know about Skype, but most video chat programs I've used show a
thumbnail image of yourself, so you can see exactly what's visible and what
isn't. That said, some people are unaware that they were being filmed (e.g.
they didn't know the video conference had started already), and did some
embarassing stuff in full view of everyone. I usually have my camera pointed
at a blank wall, and only re-position it when I'm ready to be filmed.

- Oliver

"Oliver Wong" <owong@castortech.com> wrote in message
news:jX9vg.52993$B91.31781@edtnps82...
>
> "Alistair" <alistair@ld50macca.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1153223330.234279.17840@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com... 
>
>    I don't know about Skype, but most video chat programs I've used show a
> thumbnail image of yourself, so you can see exactly what's visible and
> what isn't. That said, some people are unaware that they were being filmed
> (e.g. they didn't know the video conference had started already), and did
> some embarassing stuff in full view of everyone. I usually have my camera
> pointed at a blank wall, and only re-position it when I'm ready to be
> filmed.
>
>    - Oliver
Thanks for the very sensible tip, Oliver.

Pete.