The ecosystem

The silliest looking webcam on earth: the Brando FOOT WebCam. About two years' behind in optics and electronics (30fps @ a tiny 320x240 pixels or a jerky 15fps @ 640x480) it's small, fun to look at and play with. I like the LED on the big toe. Available in the UK at the SkypeStyle store (unaffiliated) for £22.49. Not Skype Certified.

Skype partner Vapps now offers the same free conference calling through Yahoo! Messenger. Download from the Yahoo! gallery and log in with your Yahoo! ID.

PCHomeboys from Taipei spell out Skype (picture at right by loveshrimp).

Design for Use

Seven new credit unions in Afghanistan joined a Canadian conference via Skype video. Cost: $0.

Globalization may be the VoIP gateway justification, wrote Ross MacLeod back in March of this year. I agree. Ross was talking about company's being able to have one telephone system across borders, without breaking the bank.

An old journal article wakens memories and a Skype call.

Feng Shui for virtual workers. a Nemertes Research view of bringing your distance workers together online. Presence is a key part.

Aaron Wellman's In the Dark - The Importance of Defining Use Scenarios Before Building an IVR Application. Great advice and lovely story of using an IVR during a blackout. Aaron works for Skype partner Angel.

The environment

FCC follow-up: Skype's Andrew Brennan blogs about Open Devices (for Skype) in the US. Professor Susan Crawford on the same subject: The public interest and Two things happened at the FCC today.

gPhones: Rumors of coming Google phones make it to the Wall Street Journal. [Really surprised the WSJ hasn't produced a faux post-Murdoch front page: lurid headlines, scandalous photos, and hawkish war coverage.]

Chinese Skype competitor QQ adds Twitter features. So do other Chinese services. Microblogging and other forms of rich presence may become a mandatory dish on our onlife menu.