Skype for Vampires: Making the business case

[Editor: From an internal report.]

Is there a market?

There is clearly an underserved market with different needs.

Can Skype serve that market?

Vampires use phones. Here are some shots of Bill pulling a mobile from his pocket in True Blood, Season 2 Episode 1. Stands to reason that if they talk and use phones, they could use Skype.

Will these users spread Skype faster than the Skype average?

Vampires are persuasive.

With so many still in-the-coffin, they value trusted and private connections. Like other underground subcultures, tools that help them stay connected help them survive.

Will this segment use Skype more than average?

We don't know. We suspect most of their communications are short, frequent, and bursty vs. long, occasional, and regular. The challenge will be to uncover sub-subcultures and patterns of use within the vampire communities.

Will this improve our brand?

Skype's brand is so happy, cheerful, laughing, blue skies. A hint of smoke, a touch of dark, might make Skype a more vivid, cutting brand.

How will rivals respond?

Microsoft: Ballmer will re-launch Live.com by buying and launching Dead.com. 

Google: Android and iPhone apps that blend Wave and Maps with GPS to find the nearest blood banks, Trublood retailers, vampire bars, graveyards, and college campuses. Starting with Stanford. 

AT&T: Lawyers and lobbyists to criminalize VoIP (Vampire over Internet Protocol).

Deutsche Telekom: New fees for calls to dead people.

What's the cheapest way to test our assumptions?

We tried focus groups, but we kept getting goths from Whitby.

We tried ethnographers to live among vampires and report their behavior, but they kept getting turned. or disappeared.

Maybe we should just put something out there and see what happens?

tags: skype, s4v, vampires, skype for vampires, branding, strategy

Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Trueblood photo credit: copyright HBO.

Time: a Skype Red Software Design Challenge

Skype for Vampires is Time Aware.

Making the most of every night is not enough. Vampires want to make the most of every day too.

German Skype partner PamConsult announced Pamela V software that turns on automatic voice mail and IM attendants before dawn. You never need to miss a daylight message from humans or from vampires in other time zones.

A new clock counts down the minutes until dawn, with alerts at the –60 and –30 minute marks. For early risers, the clock also reports the wait until dark.

Because sunrise and sunset times depend on longitude, Skype now gathers location information from IP addresses on laptops and desktops and more accurate GPS data for S4V Mobile users.

Five Digit Years

S4V resolve bugs that bothered vampire Skypers for years. Skype now holds birth dates going back 100,000 years. The big change was changing age in profiles to support five digits, complying with IETF RFC 2550.

Still on the wishlist: Century. Many senior vampires were raised in eras when calendar dates were less standardized and education less common. You should be able to pick your origin century as an alternative to Julian calendars dates.

Skype restores birthday alerts. Adds death day alerts.

The first release of Skype for Windows 4 left out contact birthday reminders. Skype for Vampires restores them. Skype added two new fields to profiles. First Death Date is your date of conversion to vampire status, or a rebirth as some call it. Last Death Date is when you are really, truly, completely dead. So now Skype helps you celebrate two lifecycle milestones with your friends.

Last death date turns out to be very useful in managing your relationships but hard to get people to fill out.

tags: skype, s4v, skype for vampires, skypeforvampires, pamconsult, time, years, centuries, ui, ue, ux, vampire, vampires, skypered

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Skype Red: The Hardware Story

Skype for Vampires creates new opportunities for Skype's hardware partners. As with any (in)human factors design, Skype certifies gear to meet the particular needs of its demanding customers.

Skype's Jonathan Christensen said the new certification standards inspired hardware to use every drop of power in Skype's SILK and NYLON Superhuman Wideband Codecs. "Our partners, like Logitech, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony, are creating a Skype call fidelity so high you can mesmerize humans as though you were in the same room."

Different Abilities	Technical Response	Products Upgraded
Heightened Vision	High frame rates Higher resolution Wide spectrum (into the infrared) Higher color depth	Webcams Displays NYLON lossless video compression
Visual Sensitivity	Filtering out frequencies found in sunlight that trigger allergic reactions	NYLON codec
Heightened Hearing	Higher audio frequency response range and sensitivity Noise reduction to drown out distracting sounds picked up with sensitive ears	Microphones Speakers

Logitech webcam, Vampire Red edition. Certified for Skype for Vampires.

tags: skype, vampires, skype4vampires, logitech, panasonic, toshiba, sony, fun

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Skype Red: Ground Penetrating Wi-Fi

Just because you're dormant doesn't mean you're offline. New advances in Ground Penetrating Wi-Fi (802.11gp) let your mobile phone or laptop stay connected to Skype and the rest of the Internet while you're six feet under. Your persistent Skype chats and voice mails will be all queued for you at dusk.

Cemeteries are a growing market for Skype partners Linksys, Cisco, and others making routers supporting the new technology. The gold standard is the D-Link Red, above, able to deliver 100Mbps two meters under soil at a distance of 25 meters.

Coffin makers are also equipping their products with batteries and uninterruptable power supplies. Laptop and smartphone batteries still have trouble making it from sunrise to sunset without a charge.

Cemeteries are racing to zone plots with Wi-Fi coverage, hoping to charge tenants a premium.

On the down side, privacy advocates urge caution, warning most graveyards have lax security, even online. 

cc-by: TheeErin

The Social Vampire: A Skype Red Design Challenge

When vampires tweet, follow, friend, and bite

Vampires vary more than humans in the degree of social connectedness and styles of social interaction. Skype for Vampires brings several features built on their social behavior.

Groups in Groups. Groups of vampires are called different things in different countries and subcultures. Depending on size and strength of ties, they have been called nests, clans, families, tribes. Skype "contact categories" now let you nest contact categories.

Unflattening Social Graphs. Skype contact groups are flat and democratic, unlike pecking orders among vampires. S4V lets you define hierarchy within contact groups. So you know who's the master.

Instant Cabal. A Skype preference automatically form groups by clan/bloodline affiliation. This can be a big time saver and better models real vampire-vampire relationships.

People Rank. S4V can sort your contacts using bloodline social proximity calculations. Social proximity shows how close you are to someone within a social graph, answering the questions "how many contacts do you share?" "how strong/active are those connections?" LinkedIn shows social proximity in a business context; Skype in the vampiric context. 

My Vampire(s). With a nod to twitter, Skype now lets non-vampires "follow" a vampire, and a vampire "claim" a non-vampire. Vampire affiliation and custody of non-vampires now shows up in search and search results, profiles, and automatic contact lists. Unclaimed humans can set their profile to the "BiteMe!" option in the My Species field.

Dating. Skype partnered with Lovebitten, a portal partnership for interspecies dating. The bitecurious can launch Skype chats and voice/video calls from the Lovebitten site. 

tags: lovebitten, bitecurious, biteme, skype, sociology, social, linkedin, twitter

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Skype Red: The Skype name origin

You've heard several stories about how Skype's founding team conjured the name. A Chuvash word meaning "the whole word can talk for free." Short for "Sky peer-to-peer."

Now for the simpler truth.

skype is the sound of a vampire bite.

Two teeth
sliding into warm flesh
lips surrounding the wound

Which founders knew this?

We're not telling.

Technorati tags: skype, vampires, skypeforvampires, s4v, bite, teeth, origin

Skype for Vampires: New Emoticons

Skype's designers had a unique brief: enrich Skype IM conversation for vampires. Notes from the original design specification:

Title

vampire IM emoticons

Short Summary

We're building an IM product for vampires. One visual element are the emoticons vampires might use in ordinary conversation. We're looking for a few, well crafted emoticons in small size and larger display size.

Description

User Considerations:

• vampires are real, having coming out of the coffin in 2006;
• vampires drink TruBlood, the product featured on the HBO show;
• vampires vary in age from teenager to ancient (think centuries); 
• vampires are social with tribes, territory, and "bloodlines". 
• vampires, like Skype, are global with social connections that cross national borders.

Emoticons used for feelings are typically derived from the smiley face.

Potential emoticons from our Thursday brainstorming session (and we're open if you have other suggestions):

• Vampire, V''''V
• Thirsty
• Bite
• Smiley Fang
• Blood
• Garlic
• TruBlood bottle (first emoticon product placement, see http://www.trubeverage.com/)
• TruBlood Type O - hearty and satisfying
• TruBlood Type A - light and delicate
• TruBlood Type B - aggressive and energizing
• TruBlood Type AB - smooth and refined
• Plasma (weak blood)
• Stake
• Holy Water (H2O with a halo)
• Sunrise (when we go to sleep)
• Sun Glasses
• Sun Block (SPF-1000)
• Toothbrush, dental floss
• Sunset (when we get up)
• Sire (the vampire that brought you over)
• vampire, Vampiir (eesti spelling) ,veripard, vere-imeja
• Coffin/Sleep

What I Want

• Be consistent with our Skype emoticon library(http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/emoticons/), not Yahoo!'s or Microsoft's or QQ's. 
• Files for each emoticon, on white background
• Skype's emoticon size is 19x19px.
• Bonus points if you have time or imagination for animated versions for one or more. 
• Character. This is for the everyday use by millions of people, so it better have heart. A bleeding, pulsing heart. Have fun, show the gist.
• Gender Balance.

What I Don't Want

• Too cute. Put on your Skype design hat; you don't want to belittle or offend our vampire customers or employees. 

Prior art:

• A Yahoo! style emoticon.
  
• 3-D treatments
   

tags: skype, emoticons, s4v, skypeforvampires, design, ui, ue, ux, smileys, trublood, trueblood, bloodtype, branding

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Vampire Identity: a Skype Red Software Design Challenge

Skype for Vampires offers the first Vampire-Ready Digital Identity System

Along with Skype for Vampires comes a new ID system, reflecting deep research into vampire market needs.

Multiple Pseudonyms, Persistent Identity. As you might imagine, vampires may wish to remain closeted. S4V now lets you define multiple aliases. You can apply aliases to individual contacts and contact groups. Your core digital identity should last as you shed aliases over the decades.

My Species. Each alias may have its own species indicators. You can choose from Human, Vampire, Dhampir, Werewolf, Pixie, Decline To State, BiteMe! We can only guess what  BiteMe! presence means.

Profile attribute: MyType™. Vampires can share their personal tastes using the common ABO blood group system (A, B, AB, O). Humans will be able to share their blood types in their profiles. You will be able to search the Skype directory for people according to MyType.

Real Vampire™. Is this contact really undead? Skype partnered with the American Vampire League to certify Skypers users as AVL members in good standing. Building on technologies like OpenID and OAuth, this is Skype's second use of third-party authentication after its MySpaceIM partnership. They are promoting VoID, the Vampires over Open ID protocol.

These features should also be useful to humans. We all want to share ourselves differently with different people, applying the appropriate social context. Your boss shouldn't know you hang out at vampire bars, your bloody friends shouldn't know you go to church, and your church committee shouldn't know how you voted. Skype now makes that possible.

See also:

• Your MySpaceIM account dies when you do. Skype Journal, 2007.
• WhoAmI - A Web2.0 Platform for Faceted Identity Management through Aggregation of Social Media. Stephan Baumann, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
• Faceted Id/entity: Managing representation in a digital world, danah boyd's thesis on contextualization of identity.

tags: skype, skypejournal, bloodtype, realvampire, mytype, myspecies, biteme, vampire, dhampir, werewolf, pixie, presence, aliases, facedtedidentity, identity, id, trublood, trueblood

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Mobile Skype for Vampires

From the product pitch: "We'll bundle apps for the market to sweeten the attraction of mobile Skype for Vampires."

tags: skype, vampires, mobile, location, skypeforvampires, skype4vampires, s4v

Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Vampires work Skype's graveyard shift

Like many companies, Skype learned trusted, valued employees were vampires. Gilles Annespie, HR director, affirmed Skype's commitment to workforce diversity and equal opportunity extended to all employees, even the undead.

 
Vampire-ready jobs are tagged "graveyardshift" on the Skype jobs blog.

Embracing change. Workshops at Skype offices helped employees who wanted to "come out of the coffin" to their colleagues. "Beyond the normal anxieties of people acknowledging something new, we wanted to deal constructively with change" said Annespie.

"Some of our best developers worked late and missed meetings. Now we know why" said a Tallinn team leader. Half the quality assurance team came out at the evening sessions. "It's the focused, ruthless pursuit of bugs that makes them so good. That's why we're pretty sure most of our private beta testers are vampires too."

To become a more vampire-friendly workplace, Skype's bigger offices turned a few wire closets into emergency sleep spaces. The light-proof "day bunks" have beanbags, locks from the inside, atomic clocks, and wi-fi. All Skype offices are now open around the clock. Refrigerators in every lounge stock Trublood in all the popular types.

Staffing up. Skype actively recruits vampire programmers, both for its staff and for its third-party developer program. Skype named Bertoine Antout Manager of Vampire Community Relations. The team will host VampDevCamp, an unconference for undead hackers at Skype House London on 31 October 2009. 

Miller Roberts, Skype's general counsel, said it was hard extending health, disability, and life insurance to vampires. Coverage used to end with death. Skype's legal affairs team rewrote contracts with more than forty insurers, in a dozen countries, to cover all current and future undead employees within the first 30 days.

Some paychecks were briefly stopped during the transition when newly added "first death" dates were added to legacy payroll software. 

tags: skype, vampires, hr, payroll, skypeforvampires, s4v, skype4vampires, graveyardshift, trublood, trueblood

Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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16 Skype Mobile @ CTIA fantasies

1. iPhone gets a Skype Lite client.
• [Hat tip to Om Malik's creative? sources.]
2. Apple buys Skype.
• Skype is what iChat could have become with funding and management support. Although we're still waiting on multiparty video.
3. Skype Lite For iPhone OS 3, later this year.
• The best Skype experiences need push and sync services you'll find in 3.
4. Verizon buys Skype.
• Or another US mobile carrier. 0% growth in wireless minutes, 20% growth in data; time to sell services that drive data growth.
5. Three US carriers will sell low end Skypephones this year.
• Maybe if carriers won't spend a few billion to buy Skype, they'll partner to build data plan sales and consumption.
6. Skype asks the new FCC to force mobile Carterfone rules on US carriers.
• A new administration could be very interested in the political appeal of consumer-friendly rules.
7. Google buys Skype.
• Would complement Google Voice, Goog411, Google Talk, Android and all the other realtime conversation projects, filling in gaps and serving non-Google customers. Skype's new evidence-based management culture might fit too.
8. Cisco buys Skype.
• Telepresence at the high end, WebEx in the bigco, Skype everywhere else.
9. Skype Lite now supports video.
• I wish. Completely depends on the handset, on features turned off/on by carriers, on the quality/capacity of 3G.
10. Rupert Murdoch buys Skype.
• Skype already partners with MySpace, a NewsCorp company. Could Skype branded mobile and desktop tools help sell other NewsCorp television, sports, business, and games content?
11. Skype launches DENIM, a new video codec for mobiles.
• Skype depends on On2 for video codecs. How long before Skype decides it's better to own than to rent? Skype's SILK codec proves they've decided that before.
12. Microsoft buys Skype.
• MSN and Windows Live Messenger are both insanely popular IM products, but neither of the ad-supported products convinced people to use voice, video, or PSTN features. After Microsoft buys Yahoo!, they may have enough loose cash to pick up Skype. Skype has a newly upgraded client for Windows Mobile.
13. Skype mobile clients support video calls.
• An oft requested feature.  
14. Nokia buys Skype.
• Just a long ferry ride from Tallinn. It would explain Nokia's Barcelona announcement to ship smartphones with Skype later this year. Skype has mobile products all three Nokia OS's: Symbian, Maemo/Linux, and java.
15. Skype becomes location-aware.
• Sort those contact lists by proximity. Update mood messages automatically by zone ("leaving the office"). Filter directory search results. 
16. Oprah buys Skype.

We'll see what really happens.

tags: skype, ctia, ctia09

Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Skyecandy: The Whole World Can Speed Date For Free

OK, this looks fun. A team from NSW opened their beta to Skyecandy, a speed dating site that uses Skype video. "The more you share, the better you pair."

I really like the "Skyecandy" name but hope they have a decent IP attorney.

tags: skype, voip, dating, speeddating, skyecandy, au, australia

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So you want an encrypted mobile phone?

Echelon Conspiracy opens today. An untraceable mobile phone shows up in the mail. And then the texting begins...

Echelon will be in some theaters this weekend. If we survive eComm's arduous schedule next week, and you're not going to CeBit in Hannover, maybe we can see it in the Bay Area.

P.S. Skype Lite was not included on this phone.

P.P.S. Can you name the phone used in the production?

tags: skype, mobile, fun, movies, echelon conspiracy, echelon, conspiracy, security, anonymity, privacy

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Freedom Wins Down Under

The Australian Communications Ministry's censorship scheme died in the senate today. Good on ya, Senator Nick Xenophon. Only you know if it was an open mind or reading the polls, but you stood up for civil liberties and the freedom to communicate against the Right Evil Stephen "Cleanfeed" Conroy.

role play on skype

If you will play D&D, GURPS, or White Wolf RPGs online with dragon8u (aka Rob from San Jose, California), he will download Skype again. Help Skype. Drop Rob a line.
(Skype Journal, building the Skype population one person at a time.)

tags: skype, dungeons, dragons, gurps, white-wolf, play, fun, rpg, rpgs, collaboration

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Tell a love story. Win two webcams.
The POValentine's Day Confession Contest.

i heart the skype test call lady

Happy Valentines Day!

Tell a love story. Win two webcams.
The POValentine's Day Confession Contest.

NSFW: Skype, sex, and the sex industry

OK, all the sex stuff's a been a bit much. But I wanted to let you get a feel for yourself. 

We've never really covered Skype in the bedroom. So, in the run up to this weekend's Valentine's Day, I've been sharing first hand accounts from twitter and the blogosphere about Skype and sex.

I wanted to show the healthy, relationship-positive side to Skype and sex. So I went and found it.

In Skype Sex Will Turn Software Hard a college student explains how Skype video supports her long distance relationship with her boyfriend. And in The Dangers of Skype-Sex.. a true story a woman laughs about a hangnail injury during video sex with more casual lovers. Emiliey checks with two budding lovers did u have skype sex? because she heard a rumor.

When the phrase "phone sex" becomes "skype sex," you're hearing a cultural phenomenon go mainstream.

This is great for Skype.

Nearly every technology gets used for sex when it becomes

• cheap or free,
• reliable, and
• many people have access.

Skype is far past that tipping point.

What attracts lovers to Skype are the very things that make Skype attractive to a grandmother vidding her grandkids. Free, high audio quality, video quality at full screen, chat and presence for arranging calls, agile bandwidth management, privacy, and interruption management.

The bedroom is the last part of the home to get technology, and Skype is winning its way through that door.

Downsides.

• Skype Spam. I'm tired of sex spam in Skype chats, IM adverts for webcam sex sites. Beyond the rude interruptions of SPIM (messaging spam), they cheapen the world's perception of my favorite conversation channel.
• Skype Prime limits. Skype forbid selling "adult, sexual or pornographic" services through its Skype Prime terms of service.  Skype's own brand is cute and wholesome. Prime's beta protects that image and avoids criminal issues by keeping the service family friendly.
• Harassment. Women often "decline to state" their sex in Skype profiles. This sometimes prevents unwanted attention. Dina Mehta's landmark report, SkypeMe Eve, showed the dramatic difference between the number of stranger approaches received by men and women.

Opportunity.

I occasionally follow adult industry information technology. In many respects they lead the Internet by a year or two.

• They drove the inventions of payment systems for phone calls and for Internet commerce, long before Skype Prime, PayPal and Amazon.
• They drove innovation in video distribution and cheap video production back in the VHS days and later in the early webcam and pre-torrent download days.
• They pioneered bandwidth management and traffic analysis.

If you talk with young adult performers today, so many of them have sysadmin skills and talk about Ruby on Rails and CDNs and SEO and all the other geekery that boosts the right traffic, keep operations up, and keep site costs down.

Skype's technology doesn't offer the right connections for integration into today's commercial sex services. Skype would need to offer:

• Pseudonymity. Privacy is important in commercial sex services.
• Voice, video, and IM gateways. To pipe video between Skype users and the hosted media-stream management systems that route stored and live video.
• Payment system integration. So you can pay, confidentially but reliably, with Skype credits.

Talking dirty pays well, as you'd expect in an US$18 billion industry. I expect to see the Skype network interop with adult businesses as the technologies and markets mature. If landline and mobile phone companies, ISPs, web hosting and payment services do business with adult service providers, why not Skype?

People using Skype for sex among themselves affects the sex industry. It raises expectations for quality and personal engagement. It lowers expectations for cost and redefines speed and convenience of setting up a video call. Perhaps most important: Skype sex is market evidence that adult IT providers trust, spurring entrepreneurship in two-way video chat technology.

Summing up.

So people's love lives are joining the rest of their onlives. And Skype is just the latest utility to bring people closer together. Saint Valentine would be proud that Skype serves Cupid.

Have a lovely Valentine's Day weekend. Skype someone you love.

tags: skype, sex, love, valentinesday, usage, video

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Skype Sex Will Turn Software Hard

Guest post by Dallas journalist Dana Olsen, reprinted with permission from her 2008 column in the UC Santa Barbara Daily Nexus, Issue 57 / Volume 88.

I’ve never been in a long-distance relationship, but from what I’ve observed, it seems like cross-country coupledom is the way to go - especially in the technologically advanced and emotionally independent era we live in. Who needs roses and candlelight when we have webcams, emoticons and the ability to airbrush away our imperfections?

Globalization has swept the business world, and it’s bound to affect all of our personal lives sooner or later. Long-distance relationships are the wave of the future, so hop on the Skype train and ride.

Sometimes, when I’m arguing with my boyfriend about his excessive inebriation or his inability to properly display emotion or various other petty and pointless topics, I compare my relationship to my friends’ long-distance counterparts and the green envy monster rears its ugly head. I’m downright jealous of my friend who has daily Skype sex with his British girlfriend, and I kinda wish it were me instead of my roommate who got to send semi-pornographic photos via airmail to Kenya.

Granted, the long-distance thing can be a deal breaker for certain couples - Turkey Drop, anyone? - but I bet all you overzealous freshmen who broke up with your high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break would think twice if you knew the sex can actually be better when you’re not sharing the same zip code.

Sure, long-distance sex has the potential to suck, but international intimacy can also blow, if you really put your mind to it. Phone sex is potentially awkward - Wait, where did you say your hand was? - and text sex is almost impossible. But I’m pretty sure webcams, what with their visual design and high speed, were invented to solve both of these problems.

The first thing any long-distance couple needs to pair with their webcams is Skype: It’s free, it’s convenient, and, when used correctly, it’s the best practical-turned-sexual invention since handcuffs. Once you’re all wired and the webcam is set up, your lover feels so close it’s like their wet mouth is right between your legs. Of course, when I say “their” I mean “your,” and when I say “wet mouth” I mean “sweaty hand,” but work with me here - it’s the perfect combo of sex and masturbation.

The beauty of Skype sex, aside from the beautiful alliteration the term lends itself to, is you can pretend your girlfriend is a porn star. Of course, nobody actually wants their girlfriend to star in sex tapes and aid in other dudes’ quests to cum, but who hasn’t fantasized about their woman prancing around onscreen? Think back to seventh grade - the Playboy bunnies were goddesses. Now, your girlfriend is a goddess, and it’s an exclusive peepshow for only your eyes to see. My buddy, whose girlfriend is 6,000 miles and a Skype connection away, said it best: It’s just like a Wednesday night at YouPorn.com, except you get to talk to your favorite video girl afterward.

And it’s not just the boys who reap the benefits of cyber sex. For ladies, the beauty of bringing yourself and your partner to the big O over a webcam is the advance warning implicit in the arrangement. You know how sometimes, you go over to his place with plans to cuddle up and watch “A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila,” but his dirty male brain has something else in mind? In a long-distance relationship, this dilemma is nonexistent, because there is no such thing as surprise Skype sex. You’ll never be caught with extra hair down there you were meaning to shave tomorrow, and you’ll never feel obligated to give a half-hearted blowjob. Right after you two plan the next time you’re gonna meet up on the ‘net, you have the chance to plan the lighting scheme, pick out matching underwear and decide exactly how much eyeliner achieves the elusive balance between lady of the night and girl next door.

Long-distance sex is superior for both genders: It’s the ultimate equalizer. It’s much easier for the ladies to fake an orgasm, and the guys don’t have to cuddle afterward - everyone wins.

If you need me, I’ll be at the airport. I’m flying as far away from my boyfriend as possible… just as long as there’s an Internet connection.

Daily Nexus sex columnist Dana Olsen wonders why there isn’t an emoticon for her “O” face. Photo credit: Kiss Lips by Anyaka.

tags: skype, sex, skypesex, porn, intimacy, video, alliteration, masturbation, nsfw

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The Dangers of Skype-Sex.. a true story

Guest post by Kyle who blogs on Butchtastic. NSFW.

I’ve been an aficionado of cyber and phone sex for a while now but only recently added visual stimulus to the mix. The webcam works ok through IM clients, but through Skype it really rocks. Last night my wife was on a date and my daughter was on a sleep over and I had the house to myself for a few hours.
And so I found myself on a Skype date with the luscious Roxy and the handsome and sexy MrRoxy. We listened to music, I played a little guitar, we flirted and laughed and talked some more. She was wearing very close to nothing, and I like nudes but love and get hard over almost nude. What is hidden is as sexy as what is revealed.
Things progressed and I demonstrated how my snap front shirt opened, and things kept progressing until we were demonstrating our “come faces”. And that’s when the injury occurred. I don’t know if I flailed back and struck the wall behind me or if it happened when I was spasmodically gripping the couch cushions but I tore my fingernail down to the quick, drawing blood.

This injury must heal quickly, dammit, that’s my right hand.. not that I don’t use both hands, but come on…

Despite the injurious outcome, we all had a great time. At one point, MrRoxy and I were talking shop (we’re both computer software geeks) in the middle of the action. At another, I was calling out encouragement and direction to him.
It was a great date, thank you Roxy and MrRoxy.. you are both sexy beasts and wonderful, fun playmates.

tags: skype, sex, skypesex, valentinesday, love, play

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142 hour marathon Skype call

142:54:50, to be precise. Just shy of six days (144 hours).

Richard and Kelly from the Netherlands kept a Skype voice call running for 143 hours from Wednesday, February 04, 2009, until 10:00AM Tuesday, February 10, 2009.  Richard sent a picture file to Kelly during the call. A system error cut the call. Richard used Skype 4.0 BETA and Kelly used Skype 3.X on Windows.

Why? "Well... to see if its possible, and we are trying now to break this record to a new record ;)"

Richard said "during the conversations we had no problem, other then after a file transfer the line went bad, so we muted the thing for one second and then it worked. We didn't think it would be a world record, but we think its great!!!"

This is a day longer than the previous record by Monty from Palmdale, California.

See also:

• Marathon Skype voice call: 66 hours 40 minutes. October 2008.
• 115 hours in a Skype call. November 2008.

tags: skype, marathon, 143, call, statistics, record

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Skype hosts video cards for Valentine's Day

Skype sets the mood with free video valentines. Pick your cover…

Record your love note using a webcam, and address it to the one(s) you love.

From the Skype media team:

Roses are Red, and Violets are Blue
Chocolates are sweet, but what about you!?

To make someone smile and giddy with glee,
Just video call your Valentine; it's easy and free!

With a click and record, your readers can share, 
Their Valentine's wishes as though they were there.

While overpriced roses can stir up some hype,
What better surprise than a quick call on Skype!

So say 'I Love You' to him, her, or mom, 
By recording a video card at Skypevideocard.com.

Observations from the 2008 Christmas/Chanukah Video Greeting Card version still apply: Skype can use your video as they like, including your name and the name of your recipient. Skype will delete your videos when it suits them. No encryption. While Skype video cards are a great example of marketing fun and elegance, my concerns still stand:

The video card site doesn't use Skype. At all.

• No use of Skype names or address books to send video greetings.
• No use of the Skype client to record the video message. Or to view video messages from others.
• No use of the Skype client as a way to continue the conversation in a voice, chat or video call.
• No use of Skype's advanced audio/video codecs for higher quality.

Skype Video Card highlights where Skype's technology is creaking with age at the end of 2008.

<geek>

• Skype doesn't offer a browser-based client. Rich Internet Apps improve virality and adoption with less downloading and faster time-to-value.
• Skype's APIs don't expose an open web services platform beyond simple presence. So third parties cannot build Skype into, oh, say, video card apps running in browsers.
• Skype doesn't support third-party authentication, identity interop, profile synchronization, or personal contact synchronization, or personal contact group synchronization. Far from the data portability ideals.
• Skype's identity model does not facet identity. So you're stuck with one profile for everyone. For family. For every job. For every relationship. Forever.
• Skype clients don't support inline media sharing. No playing of images, videos, sounds or other objects during a conversation.

</geek>

Love, Phil

tags: skype, ebay, identity, dataportability, marketing, promotion, advertising, video, eula, greeting, greeting card, video mail, videomessaging, facebook, stumbleupon, furl, delicious, digg, friendfeed, reddit, valentinesday, holiday

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Tell your love story, win a pair of webcams

IPEVO and Skype Journal believe in love. So IPEVO is putting up five pairs of their naughty POV webcams in time for Saint Valentine's Day. Share your love story in our POValentines Day Confessions Contest. We'll publish all decency will allow right here on Skype Journal.

All we ask is that it's true, it's your own story, and in your own words. Winners will be selected randomly because, frankly, we thought we'd get into lots of trouble picking the most romantic, sexiest, most embarrassing, best use of a webcam, or funniest confessions.

February is  warming up. What's your love story?

tags: skype, ipevo, pov, webcam, video, love, sex, lust, romance, stories, contest, affection, internet, writing, distance, intimacy, fun

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eComm 2009 Early Bird Ending this Week: Take Advantage of the 20% Skype Journal Discount

So many thought leaders we respect will be at the Emerging Communications Conference, I just wanted to remind you that the early bird discount is ending this week. eComm09 details and 20% discount codes.

tags: skype, drinking, drama, deadpool, pirates, ecomm09, revolutionaries, voip, secrets, cabal, emergence, sfomarriott, banned, ununconference, hallway, beachcombing, obamatelecom, multimodalskypesex, insight, socialeverything, skypejournal

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my new favorite thing

Phil Wolff's 26 incriminating 2009 Skype Predictions

Last year's Jim Courtney's 2008 predictions and mine. 
In 2009:

1. MacWorld sucks without Steve Jobs.
2. Steve Jobs steps down as Apple CEO.
3. Skype brings back Skypecasts with a new feature: with one click, introduce spammers, con artists, and sexy webcam girls to each other.
4. Skype for Neocortex. Mood based on serotonin levels. Very high quality audio and video by tapping directly into the optic nerve and auditory system. Some side effects.
5. Skype for Lovers. Extension of Skype 4.1. Just one buddy to dial. No interruptions. Ultrasimple UI: click the heart.
6. Skype's new platforms have more active developers than BT Ribbit. More than Google Android. Fewer than Apple iPhone.
7. Litigation. 1530 sleep deprived patients sue Skype for keeping them up late.
8. Google Central will be exciting.
9. Google Video Talk adds multiparty video.
10. The Emerging Communications Conference (eComm) will sell out.
11. Yahoo! fires thousands of people. Decimates the messenger team. Hires a new executive team. Reorganizes. Again.
12. Skype introduces multiparty video. The kids love it. WebEx hates it.
13. Skype for Asterisk gets video call support. Dating sites love it.
14. Skype for WoW builds on Skype for Asterisk. The raiders love it. 
15. Skypephone comes to the Americas via partnership with with US mobile carriers. Wal-Mart will carry it. Nothing for Canada.
16. 3 INQ1 sales will cut into 3 Skypephone sales in the UK.
17. U.S. Mobile Carterfone rules (to free mobile phones from carrier contracts) will be considered by the FCC.
18. VoIP falls from telecom jargon. Even VoIP bloggers stop using the term. The public starts using Skype as a generic name for internet talk.
19. eBay's auction businesses will do well in tough times, better in the second half of the year.
20. Skype will make $630 million in FY2009.
21. Peak Skype usage will top 18 million simultaneous users.
22. Skype will serve 23 billion minutes in 2009Q4.
23. Skype scores product placements in:
    
    
    • Hannah Montana: The Movie, spurring the rise of Skype pajama parties.
    • The Sinatra Club, using the new Skypeoke feature.
    • Star Trek, as ancient technology.
    • Startups will rally to Running Out Of Angels (March 2009).
    • 24 as Cisco cuts ad spending.
    • In My Pocket (2009) is not about mobiles.
24. Skype issues new krypto since its old cryptographic source code escaped from TOM-Skype control
25. Skype Video for Mobile. Skype buys a streaming video service for smart mobile camera phones.
26. China approves SkypeIn and SkypeOut.

tags: skype, predictions, 2009, inq1, skypephone, wal-mart, canada, asterisk, video, ebay, voip, carterfone, WoW, 24, china, tom-skype

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Happy 2009!

tags: skype, emoticon, emoticonart, 2009, happynewyear, hearts, suns, smileys, bows, handshakes

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What’s your New Year’s Resolution?

IPEVO and 12seconds.tv are are hosting a contest this week: “Give a New Year’s Resolution that will make the world a better place.”

Leave a twelve second long video and you can win passes to MacWorld or IPEVO hardware for Skype. Twelve seconds is short, just 40-50 words.

Skype Journal will pass along a Sony PSP with Skype microphone to the most inspiring resolver; PSP courtesy of Skype North America.

Technorati tags: skype, ipevo, 12seconds.tv, resolution, resolutions, macworld, skypejournal, sony, psp

dinner, prophecy, skype

“Wow. I already had the family Christmas dinner. Which was nice, including the End of Days prophecy by my mother. Sis Skyped from Israel” – Ruud van Wijngaarden

49-second student Skype ad

Animated Skype Ad
– Joint Student Project for YCN
from cmygeek on Vimeo.

good defaults

make skype dinner

dog cake

Dial-o, the new typo

Congrats to Shai Berger, the first to coin "dial-o" and winner by popular acclaim of a Sony PSP3, courtesy of Skype. Shai is CEO of Fonolo, which helps you deep dial customer service, sales, and tech support hotlines, bypassing phone trees.

Other suggestions for what to call an accidental call:

• Skypo
• callerr...pronounced differently from caller. More like Call Err!
• Bad Call
• DTMF'd (no other meaning there :-) as in oops I dtmf'ed the wrong number
• MisD'd as in Sorry I misd'd the number.
• Burp
• ryle (wrong + dial)
• voops (VoIP + whoops) 

P.S. So, do you pronounce it "di-low" or "di-uhl-oh"?

P.P.S. dialo.com resolves to dialo.de, a yellow page directory for Germany.

tags: dialo, words, jargon

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Weekend reading

What Can Skype Do For Graduate Students? on the The Graduate Student Survival Blog. Save money is the first concern. I chipped in ten more things grad students can do with Skype: #10: Robots.

The Skype survival guide by David Tang of VoSKY Technologies makes the case for Skype trunking, adding Skype gateways to PBXs. 987 Hotels (Prague, Barcelona) uses VoSKY's 9040 Exchange gateway. 

Is Our Internet Future in Danger? InfoWorld's Gruman and Kaneshige say it is, that demand for video is quickly outstripping the world supply of bandwidth. Doc Searls urges America to go Forward with Fiber: An Infrastructure Investment Plan for the New Administration. Doc makes a strong case that we can expand capacity far beyond

Korea's Cyworld virtual community gives up on North America. Culture barriers.

Google Reader Implements Feed Translation. Brilliant. Can't believe Skype still has not built in IM translation like Don Kennedy's Universal Language Real-Time Message Translator. Moka is jumping into this space with its own Moka Chat Skype Plug-in.

Super Mario Galaxy is absolutely brilliant writes Jaanus Kase.

Wish for Skype on Please Fix the iPhone.

Mail-order brides on Skype. hmm.

tags: skype, education, vosky, fiber, bandwidth, cyworld, korea, google, iphone, apple

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Contest: What's the word for a calling misadventure?

As 'typo' is for writing, ??? is for a call made in error.

I often launch a conference call or dial a contact accidentally, or get called by someone who clicked the wrong button. We furtively apologize but lack a simple word to describe our error. Nothing as simple as "typo."

What should we call it?

Leave your ideas as a comment or email it to tips@skypejournal.com.

Most useful contribution? Win a Sony PSP, courtesy of Skype.

tags: skype, sony, psp, contest, typo, error

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115 hours in a Skype call

Guest post by Monty, a Palmdale, California, ham radio operator and computer geek. Monty blogs on LiveJournal, tweets, and is on Skype.

This continues Monty's 24 October 2008 post, Marathon Skype voice call: 66 hours 40 minutes.

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

OK here we go again, longest Skype call experiment part 2 is underway, will I make it past 66 hours 40 mins? Will guthro break 74 hours? 5:26 PM

My friend Jdawg has just gotten upgraded to 12mbps/2mbps on Comcast standard tier wow it's nice! 7:31 PM

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Just waking up now, attempt 2 at longest Skype call with Guthro and I now passed 12 hours, 55 minutes. 6:04 AM

6:04am. Longest Skype call duration experiment part 2 now underway

I said I'd soon make another attempt at what I've come to call the Skype 100-hour challenge. That's the experiment between my friend Adam Guthro, and myself, as well as my friend Joe Quinn, where the goal is to make it to a call duration of at least 100 hours, or at the very least break our previous records. Joe Quinn has the oldest computer in the mix, and so he only made it to about 50 and a half hours or so during the last experiment attempt last week.

I faired slightly better, making it to 66 hours, 40 minutes on a single call, and Guthro finally was the last survivor during the last experiment, as he lasted a total of just under 74 hours total duration. He died when Joe Quinn, the only remaining person connected to him following my sudden drop after 66 hours, 40 minutes, went away a second time.

Well we're at it again, and attempt 2 of the Skype 100 hour challenge is underway as I write this, with all 3 parties still connected. We however have a long way to go to break our records and shoot for that 100 hour goal. Our current call duration stands at 13 hours, 12 minutes.

As we pass significant milestones, I'll keep you updated. You can also follow me on Twitter and get near realtime live updates that way as well. Can we shatter any of our previous records and make it to 100 hours? If anyone can, I hope it'll be Guthro and I, as I doubt Joe Quinn can, lol!

Looks like Jdawg's call dropped already after 15 hours, 2 minutes, don't think his PC is up to this challenge1! 8:14 AM

My Skype 100-hour call duration challenge for me now passed 21 hours as attempt 2 of this challenge continues 2:12 PM

I want a pizza, and I want one now! 3:39 PM

Skype call duration in my experiment now coming up on 25 hours shortly, all is well so far 5:59 PM

almost 27-and-a-half hours of Skype call duration so far 8:31 PM

Stupid Skype! I took another Skype call and somehow ended up hanging up on the experiment call!, even though it was on hold! 10:50 PM

My call duration this time, an unimpressive 29 hours, 34 minutes, 25 seconds, boo! 10:52 PM

Will I ever successfully complete this experiment? 10:53 PM

 

10:56 PM. I hate the escape key!

OK, I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever be able to complete my own experiment! My end of the long duration Skype call has yet again ended suddenly, but this time, it was because I pressed the escape key in Skype to hang up another call I thought didn't hang up, while the long duration call was on hold. I didn't think that would result in the long duration call hanging up, since it was on hold, and not active at the time. I hear the hang up sound, which I thought meant I'd hung up the other Skype call I was trying to hang up. However I guess it had already hung up and I missed it, because when I went to resume the long duration call, it was no longer there! I'd hung up that call instead, just by pressing the escape key, despite the fact that the call was on hold and not active at the time, gurrr piss!

So for me anyway, this experiment attempt ends in disaster after a pitiful 29 hours, 34 minutes, 25 seconds. That didn't even make it to the halfway point toward my all time Skype record which as of now remains at 66 hours, 40 minutes. Yes I hate the Escape key now! lol.
If my end of the experiment had to end without reaching the goal, I would've rather had my internet go away or something, instead of me ending the wrong damn call! Oh well, I'm going to make this work some time!

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Attempting Skype experiment again, I better do well this time! Almost 9.5 hours in now 12:39 PM

Skype call duration 10:36:40, will update when I pass 24 hours as my Skype 100 hour challenge continues. I plan to break records this time! 1:50 PM

Almost 15 hours and 15 minutes on this Skype experiment, while Guthro is around 51 or so hours and climbing. 6:27 PM

Damn I had good tacos tonight for dinner, and Skype call continues, I'm now at 18 hours, 44 minutes, and counting! 9:56 PM

10:15 pm. Happy Halloween to all

I'm again attempting the Skype 100-hour challenge, and this time I'm going to keep my finger well away from the dreaded escape key, lol. I'm currently a bit over 19 hours in, and by the time I wake up tomorrow, I will have passed the 24 hour mark. Updates via my twitter and on here, as we pass major milestones in this experiment. I do believe Guthro's total call duration currently is at 55 hours or close to it. Wish us all luck. Even Jdawg is holding in so far at around 33 hours this attempt. His record to beat is 50-and-a-half hours, my all time Skype record is 66 hours, 40 minutes,

And Guthro needs to break 74 hours to set new records. Can we actually do it? It's looking promising so far, we'll see how it goes.

Friday, October 31st, 2008

Considering waking up, and Skype call duration currently 25 hours, 27 minutes and counting! 4:40 AM

Guthro's portion of our Skype 100-hour challenge now passed 62 hours duration, wow! I'm at 26:02:30 5:15 AM

Looks like Jdawg will break his Skype call duration record of 50 hours, 30 minutes, yay for him! Time for me to break my record now 1:31 PM

I ate too much pizza, and Jdawg's Skype died at 51 hours, 58 minutes in, which is a new call duration record for him. 3:57 PM

I'm still going, currently 36 hours, 45 minutes into my Skype call with Guthro, almost halfway to my 66 hour 40 minute record. 3:58 PM

My Skype duration is at 38 hours 20 minutes, Guthro has set a new Skype record at 74 hours 19 minutes and we continue counting! 5:33 PM

My call duration on Skype as of now, 40 hours, 30 minutes, and still counting 7:43 PM

7:48 pm. My Skype 100 hour challenge continues

As the sounds of Halloween fill the house here, I just wanted to do a quick entry to say that my Skype 100-hour challenge continues at this hour, with my duration currently nearly at 40 hours, 40 minutes.

Jdawg set a new record for himself at a bit under 52 hours, and Guthro who I've called the master, has also broken his old record and currently stands at well over 76 hours of continuous Skype call time, and we're still going.

What will happen over the next 24-48 hours? Follow my twitter for major updates, and this journal will have the major highlights. Have a scary but fun rest of Halloween everyone, and a good weekend to come. 

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

The 100-hour-challenge is continuing, my call duration now: 47:44:00 and climbing, I'll get an updated duration from Guthro after he awakens. 2:57 AM

Guthro's call duration about to hit 84 hours, and ironically, I'm about to hit 48 hours for my call duration. 3:12 AM

My Skype call duration now 53 hours, 25 minutes, and climbing, and Adamguthro should've passed 88 hours by now, wow fun stuff! 8:39 AM

8:42 am. guthro should reach 100 hours of Skype call duration later today

Our Skype 100 hour challenge experiment, as I'm calling it, is continuing
right now, with my call duration currently standing at 53 hours, 32 minutes and climbing. Thanks to Jdawg staying connected to Adamguthro when I accidentally hit the escape key, disconnecting my portion of the call a few days back, Guthro's call duration currently stands at an impressive 88 hours plus, which continues to shatter his previous record of just under 74 hours from our last attempt at the 100 hour challenge.

There are two major milestones that will occur later today. In around 12 hours from now, Guthro should become the first person in our group to break the 100 hour barrier, and soon after, I am hoping to surpass my previous record of 66 hours, 40 minutes.

So assuming things remain as stable as they have been going so far, tonight will be a big night in our long Skype call duration experiment. and tomorrow morning is when we all fall back and daylight saving time ends here in North America. Not sure what that may do to the Skype call duration with 1 AM occurring twice when that happens, Guthro has temporarily disabled daylight saving time change adjustment.

So things are about to get interesting, and you can follow developments in near realtime by checking out my twitter page for updates. Wish us luck, as anything can happen at this point!

I've just passed 54 hours of Skype call duration, and Guthro's passed 90 hours now, wow! 9:13 AM

9:14 am. Correction: Guthro now passed 90 hours in our Skype call!

Guthro just informed me that he's now passed 90 hours Skype call duration, so time's flying by even quicker than I thought, holy wow! I've passed the 54 hour mark on my segment of the call, things still holding up.

Our Skype 100 hour challenge continues with me beginning hour 58, and Guthro now passed 94 hours, we're getting there! 1:17 PM

6:57 pm. we're about to achieve 100 hours of Skype call duration!

We're less than 15 minutes away from Adam Guthro achieving the 100 hour mark in our longest Skype call ever! I didn't think when I first attempted this experiment that we'd even come close to achieving 100 hours, but it's about to happen! My portion of the call currently stands at 63 hours, 48 minutes. I have less than 3 hours to go to beat my all time Skype call duration record of 66 hours and 40 minutes. This is history making at least in the Skype department anyway I do believe!

7:16 pm. We did it, 100 hours and still Skyping!

Just minutes ago, Adam Guthro achieved the 100 hour Skype call duration mark, and Skype is still going! My call duration currently stands at 64 hours, 7 minutes, and the next major milestone will be mine when I pass 66 hours, 40 minutes for my portion of the Skype call. Now the only question that remains is can I make it to 100 hours? Let's hope so! By the way for those that don't believe that Guthro actually did it, here's a picture that proves it! Yeah we're nuts, and proud of it!

8:23 pm. Link to Guthro's story on achieving 100 hours on Skype

For those that wish to digg it, here's Guthro's dig story on hitting the 100 hour mark on a single Skype call.
http://digg.com/software/100_Hour_Skype_Conference_Call

 

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

9:52 am. my final call duration on Skype

OK well with Guthro having reached over 115 hours plus, and with my microphone hitting my escape key, I'd say I had a pretty successful longest Skype call ever. The Skype 100 hour challenge as I called it was met and exceeded, and I did set a new alltime record for myself for a single Skype to Skype call. The final duration was 79 hours, 15 minutes, 43 seconds. I gotta say I am impressed all around, as I did beat my previous record of 66 hours, 40 minutes, and exceeded that by almost 13 hours.

So I think now I'll have a bit more normal call durations, at least for now, lol.

tags: skype, marathon, endurance, hours, days, record, fun

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Scar Search

"Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever." – Shane Falco, The Replacements

IPEVO's cute handheld pointercam inspired the Scar Search. IPEVO and Rockstar Energy Drinks held the contest this summer, the public voting on the best scar story video.

Winners:  

Jeremy (Grand Prize)

Danielle (Editor’s Choice)

I love this promotion. Intimate, direct, sub-cultural, social, bold. The cutting edge. Scraping the bottom of the elbow. Leaving your mark. Branding your customers; literally.

tags: skype, ipevo, webcam, pointercam, contest, scar, scars, injury, scar search, scarsearch, marketing, promotion, brand, branding

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Star Trek : The Continuing Mission : Learning Curve

Just in time for Halloween, Learning Curve is out, the third episode of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission. Written by Andy Tyrer, "on the shakedown cruise of the newly refitted USS Montana, the ship is attacked without provocation by a heavily armed unknown vessel. Captain Edwards and the crew of the Montana must defend themselves and come to grips with 24th century technology or face certain destruction."

Executive Producers Andy Tyrer and Sebastian Prooth use Skype for ST:TCM's production, pulling together this audio adventure with cast and crew from Europe and the Americas.

Download episode 3 (42 minutes, 57MB) or its short trailer for your iPod or mp3 player.

CAST:

Captain Paul Edwards (Tim Renshaw), Commander Darius Locke (Stephen Perkins) Lt. Commander Thomas Plummer (Brian Bonner), Lt. Commander McGuire (Patrick McCray), Lt. Commander Kyle Wilson (Gabriel Diani), Lt. Stephen Knight (Scott Martineck), Ensign Susan Palmer (Etta Devine), Lt. Numi Natukov (Tiffany Tallent), Lt. Meechum (Matt Adams), Telara (Corinne Tandy), Lt. Michaels (Craig Clayton), Alien Leader (Andy Tyrer), Captain Pelmon (Sebastian Prooth), Doctor Richard Plummer (Brian Bonner), Ships Computer Voice (Cheralyn Lambeth).

DIRECTORS: Sebastian Prooth and Patrick McCray
SOUND DESIGNERS: Andy Tyrer and Tim Renshaw
ARTWORK: Andy Tyrer

tags: skype, star trek, sttcm, mptheater, drama, scifi, science fiction, workflow, entertainment, collaboration, commmunication, radio, conferencing, continuing mission

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See also:

• Skype connects cast and crew of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, November 2007
• The Continuing Mission Launched: Fueled by Skype, January 2008
• Star Trek: The Continuing Mission. Episode 2: Integration, September 2008

P.S. I'd have loved appointment listening, narrowcasting Star Trek: The Continuing Mission episodes in Skypecasts rooms with the built in back channel.

obviously very necessary

Marathon Skype voice call: 66 hours 40 minutes

Guest post by Monty, a Palmdale, California, ham radio operator and computer geek. Monty blogs on LiveJournal, tweets, and is on Skype.

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

4:08 AM. Chatting with Guthro. We've been connected for over 10 hrs 45 mins, wow!

8:02 PM. Attempting to have a single Skype call that lasts at least 24 hours, to see what Skype's display shows after 1 day call duration

8:04 PM. Guthro's PC crashed, so call duration only got to 22 hrs, 31 mins, trying again now though shooting for 24 hours.

 

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

6:05 pm: a pointless but interesting Skype call duration experiment

Beginning Monday evening, I got this crazy pointless idea where I wondered how Skype would display call duration time on a call if it exceeded 24 hours. I wondered if it would show time as days, hours, minutes, seconds, or if it'd show hours, minutes, seconds, as it does for calls greater than 1 hour.

So in an attempt to find out what would happen after the 24-hour mark of a Skype call, I called my friend Adam Guthro in Canada, and kept connected, even after he went to sleep and everything. My previous Skype record for a single call was actually a Skype out call to Bec that lasted 12 and a half hours.

That long standing record of mine was shattered yesterday when Adam Guthro and I reached the 22 hour, 31 minute, 20 second mark of our long call. The attempt to reach and pass 24 hours failed at that point, as Guthro's computer decided to reboot itself due to Guthro working it too hard.

So we tried again yesterday into today, and this time results were much better, and in fact the experiment is ongoing as I write this.

As the counter passed 24 hours, Skype did not switch to showing call durations as 1:00:00 as you may have expected, but rather it continues to show time in hours.

As of this entry, our call duration is 24:20:00.

Now I wonder how much longer we can keep the call live? I wonder if we can break a record for longest connected Skype call? Guthro wants to try and break the 100 hour mark. I'll be very amazed if we get anywhere close to that, but if we do, I'd have to guess we'll shatter any known records for longest Skype call ever. Wouldn't that be unique.

Hmm wonder if I should try for longest SkypeOut call duration next? Yes pointless experiments, but fun nonetheless.

2:56 AM. Going to bed, just finished chatting on radio with a good friend, then chatting with Patrick for a bit, that was fun 

2:59 AM. Skype duration now 9 hours exactly on my Skype experiment. 

10:59 AM. Installed Skype scripts, current duration of experiment with Guthro, about 17 hours now and counting! 

12:01 PM. Just finished watching the news, another warm day, temperatures in the 80's to low 90's in much of Socal.

5:09 PM. Longest Skype call experiment continues at this hour, previous record broken, now at 23 hours, 10 minutes! 

6:01 PM. We've passed 24 hours of Skype call duration with Guthro and I, and Skype shows call time in hours after 24 hours, interesting! 

9:32 PM. Just had a good dinner with sausages, Skype experiment continues now past 27 and a half hours! 

 

Thursday, 23 October 2008

3:22 AM. Guthro's up for another day, our long Skype call continues at over 33 hours now!

11:08 AM. 41 hours, 8 minutes now, Skype call duration, and on we go, trying to wake up.

about 18 hours ago. We've now passed the 50 hour mark in my Skype call with Guthro, and we're still going, wow how long will our PC's stay connected? 

about 11 hours ago. Waking up on this Friday morning. Skype call at 58 hours 18 minutes, Jdawg left at 50.5 hrs 

about 6 hours ago. watching the Lunar lander challenge live at http://spacevidcast.com/live, though not totally sure what it is.

about 3 hours ago. Skype call with Guthro and I now over 66 hours in duration. 

about 2 hours ago. Skype call ended abruptly thanks to computer rebooting itself. gurr piss! about 66 hrs 40 min record to beat 

Friday, October 24th, 2008. 1:18 pm

Skype experiment ends abruptly, 66 hours, 40 minutes the new record to beat

My crazy experiment with Skype to try and see how long I can maintain a single Skype call, has ended abruptly after 66 hours and 40 minutes.

It ended without warning, as my computer decided to reboot itself suddenly while I was browsing the web, disconnecting not only my 66 hour plus chat with Guthro, but my telephone call I was on hold with as well! I don't know why the computer randomly rebooted, but I'm assuming it does that when there is low memory, as I did have a couple web browsers open at the time.

If I try this experiment again, I'll have to try and be sure only Skype is the only active window most of the time.

Ironically, Guthro's call duration is still climbing, since Jdawg remained connected to him when I dropped, therefore his portion of the experiment continues, and he's up over 67 hours now of total call duration, and he's shooting for 100 hours. Can he make it, or will he suffer the same fate as me and get the dreaded random no warning reboot? I'll let you know.

UPDATE: The Skype experiment has in fact officially ended with all parties, as Guthro['s connection] died after 73 hours, 15 minutes. so that's the new record.

tags: skype, marathon, endurance, hours, days, record, fun

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Skype Joe The Plumber

"They need to get Joe The Plumber conferenced into the debate on Skype" - ijefff

Too late for that. But you can SkypeOut to Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, an employee of Newell Plumbing & Heating (a plumbing firm), and a resident of Toledo suburb Holland, Ohio. Skype your drain and sewer cleaning problems to +1-419-868-1228, +1-419-472-5304, or +1-419-868-3045.

Wishlist: sharable emoticon sets

Clearly we need larger, more varied, more topic-specific visual vocabularies. James Bridle is a visual guy and I'm sure he could have come up with emoticons specific to cowboy romance cinema. The better to share stories with friends.

For me, I sooo want a bunch of Jewish emoticons, like: 

(borscht)
(bagel)
(matzoh)
(2candles)
(feh)
(oy)
(minyan)
(lox)
(kvel)
(tzitzit)
(dancingchasid)
(chelm)
(kosher)
(treif)
(bris)
(guilt)
(crushingglass)
(daven)
(dreydl)
(megillah)
(lchaim)
(shofar)

These have meaning for me, are part of my social vocabulary. Glad to provide translations if anyone cares.

But this list is specific to me and my tribe.

It would be enormous fun to have additional emoticon sets to freely, easily and safely share and trade. If you don't have a set, you see the text. If you do, you see the art. Inherently viral, social, meaningful.

And fun.

tags: skype, wishlist, emoticons

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Plip! Ploop! Nreeeerrrr

by casi

is there a setting for this?

by totally_anon

excellent

I think there should be an e-motion on my cell and skype which displays Mr. Burns with hands clasped together every time I type "excellent"

- Ben Ross

tags: skype, twitter, emoticons, emotions, the simpsons, mr. burns, excellent

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who's coming to the skypeover?

(first, in July)

(then early September)

(October)

(and it continues...)

(all of this with audio conferencing)

(now imagine a skypeover with multiparty video)

tags: skype, skypeover, sleepover, skype survivor, sleep, party, fun, conferencing

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Star Trek: The Continuing Mission. Episode 2: Integration

TCM Productions uses Skype to connect cast and crew of Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, an independent, fanfic, audio drama. The first episode came out in December. The second episode is out now: Download Part 1, Part 2 or The Master Cut. The Trailer. More to come; check out The Continuing Mission site for interviews with the cast and crew.

tags: skype, star trek, tcm, audio, theater, entertainment, radio, drama, science fiction, scifi, workflow, collaboration, continuing mission, coordination

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skyping friends while watching television

Clearly these two behaviors go together well. Watching television can be a social activity, something to talk about or to talk over. It's context or pretext for talking, grooming, bonding. Dancing.

 

Appointment television or event programming,

Events like political debates.

Ah, there's a US presidential debate tonight.

So, how could you more tightly couple TV+Skype? Watch TV in Skype? Talk (IM/voice/video) in Skype over TV?

Is that the sweet spot for Skype integration into television viewing?

Is this a reason to build Skype into Joost? into TiVo? into Hulu or YouTube?

tags: skype, research, consumerbehavior, hannahmontana, debate, us, tv, television, video, joost, tivo, hulu, youtube, party, danceparty

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goldfish-eating skype dweeb

"I knew it. you turned into a goldfish-eating Skype dweeb." - Cameron Kaiser

Harry Potter podcast

tags: skype, podcasting, secrets of harry potter, harrypotterpodcast, podcast

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i looooove being a girl!

creepy chick

skype is dead

Uh, in a good way!

Skype hates me. :(

sibling bonds

freaking

woo hoo!

peer pressure

now i have a phone number in my parent's home town

old people and aliens

Skype for Daleks

Harry Potter Secrets

Skype rulez!

IPEVO will give away a Solo Skype desk phone for Skype's birthday

Tomorrow, Skype will celebrate the launch of the first public beta five years' ago.

Honoring this, IPEVO is gifting a lovely Skype desk phone to one of the people who wrote a "What Skype Means To Me" essay for Skype Journal.

Deadline:	Midnight Pacific Thursday night, Friday Morning
Judgment:	We'll pick a name randomly from those who submitted entries to Skype Journal. Employees of IPEVO are not eligible.
How to enter:	Please email your essay or short thoughts to editor@SkypeJournal.com. Be sure to tell us how you'd like to be credited. While we don't take anonymous submissions, if you tell us who you are Skype Journal can publish your entry anonymously or pseudonymously.
Prize:	An IPEVO SO10 Skype Desktop Phone.

tags: skype, ipevo, whatskypemeanstome, phone, solo

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Dmitrii: What Skype means to me

On the occasion of Skype's fifth birthday, Skype Journal will publish a series on "What Skype Means To Me." You are invited to email your essay or short thoughts to editor@SkypeJournal.com.

Dmitrii is a psychology student at a Bulgarian university, sells advertising for a British newspaper, and is soon to be a father.

So, for me Skype is something very very special. It is the easiest way to talk with friends. For example, you are working all day and you don't have the possibility to go out with friends, but you are interested in what they are doing and how they are, you use Skype. You talk with them for free, you can see them, it's virtual of course, but it's not a big deal. :)

With Skype we can send and receive everything that you imagine: photos, files, music, film, everything. On Skype you can play some very funny games. In only two days, I was able to send fax by Skype.

And one of the privileges of Skype is that this is the best way to make business, the best program for companies. And nothing can be lost in Skype, because all the chat conversations are written because there is chronology.

tags: skype, whatskypemeanstome, bulgaria, bg, friends, memory

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Skype Video Not Dog Ready

This test of Skype's Canine Compatibility shows a confusing user interface. Is a person really there if you can't smell them (an odorama plugin?) or see them? Dogs have red/green blindness and see less detail. Cognitively, can dogs understand a computer monitor as a window to someplace else? Let's watch:

It's been five years (35 years in dog or Internet years). Does Skype have a task force working to strengthen the bonds between pets and their families? Bark-to-speech translation?

tags: skype, dogs, CCI, canine computer interface, pooch, video, audio spatialization, vision, design

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Skype for Vampires rumor

They have to be joking. It's such a small market niche. Can't the noble dead make do with the same Skype everyone else uses? s4v seems off strategy. We'll see.