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Independently covering the Talk Revolution since 2003
The Skype Song by Eric Ng, Mhae Rempillo, Carlo Puche.
tags: skype, eric, ng, music, ericngmusic, ukulele, green, pineapple, song
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Q. My son Skyped my mobile phone from Argentina. Will I see expensive international rates or roaming fees on my next bill? – Dad in USA.
A. No. That was a local call as far as your phone company is concerned. Your son only paid "SkypeOut" rates, about $1.20 per hour. Aren't you glad your boy learned to use the Internet?
tags: skype, pricing, skypeout
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
An Israeli rabbi tries to dispossess a Brazilian student, according to The Jewish Chronicle. 
Over Skype. I'm not making this up. A video of Rabbi Batzri and his backup team on the Skype call.
“After it was determined that it would be extremely difficult to bring the student to Israel, arrangements were made to remove the dybbuk using Skype and a computer, permitting the rabbi and the student to see each other,” kikar.net said.
Aside from avoiding possession-by-dybbuk, this story shows how small communities in diaspora continue to strengthen ties to each other over the Internet.
People now ask if you can do the work over a Skype video call before buying airplane tickets. Skype's free in-network calling also means you can take all the time your exorcism needs; hours in this case.
Another proof point that Skype disintermediates international telephone companies and airlines.
tags: skype, religion, dybbuk, dybuk, brazil, israel, video, exorcism, judaism, hebrew
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: healthcare, israel, life, middleeast, skype, skypenomics
Gear: The Better to Hear and See All Year Long
Cute 3-D Webcam from Minoru. For the friend who wants even more than Skype's High Quality and considers 3D glasses the height of fashion. Cheerful, stereoscopic, and works wonderfully with Skype. Minoru videos on YouTube (and wear your 3D specs). Review. Amazon. $89/£50/€80.
Point 2 View (P2V) USB camera. 
Skype in-focus close-ups in your video call. You show the grandkids your stamp collection, they show you the bugs they found in the back yard. Armature stand included. Review, Overview, Gallery, FAQ, Tech specs, Downloads. Ipevo Store. Amazon
Touch Screen Videophone from ASUS
The ASUS SV1TS gets the PC out of the way of Skype video. You drop it in the kitchen or living room, plug in the power cord, connect the Wi-Fi, touch the screen, and talk. Large, clear picture. Amazon. $230.
MXL AC-405 USB personal computer speakerphone. 
Absolutely the best audio quality anywhere near this price from Maxell, world experts in microphone engineering. The AC-405 shares technology with their high-end music and television studio microphones. Amazon
Freetalk Wireless Stereo Headset. 
Still one of the best for looks, quality, comfort and ruggedness. More than five hours of talk time and even then it works while recharging. I use it daily without tripping over cables. Review. Amazon.
Software: To Record and Share
Vodburner records Skype video calls on Windows. The Vodburner Beta includes easy editing software (see screenshot below) that automatically switches the shot between the two of you depending on who is speaking. Publish meetings, interviews, and training sessions on the web. A subscription runs $9.95 (USD) monthly.
Pamela Professional Edition, 
the Skype Assistant. Proven software with built in voice mail, birthday reminders, and in-call sound effects. Like Vodburner, it records calls but without an audio or video editor. An all around utility kit for Windows Skype users. I've been using Pamela for many years. PamSoft. €19,95.
Skype Journal Video Grooming Kit:
Teeth: Rembrandt 2-Hour Whitening Kit. 
Whiter teeth take years off. Feel free to smile.
Hair: Kent White Bristle Hair Brush 
for those stray hairs. (Ah, I remember the days when I had hair on the top of my head worth brushing.)
Inspection: Jerdon First Class Mirror 
so you know you look good and bounce a little light your way. See yourself the way others see you.
Skin: Avon mark Cheat Sheet Shine-Blotters 
to remove oils from your face that shine in the light. (I always thought it was a reflection off my eyeglasses that blinded viewers, but it was the glare from my forehead. )
Wardrobe: Everyone looks better on camera in a clean, dark blue shirt: Soffe Men's Base Layer Long Sleeve Crew Tee. 
White clothing creates glare and throws off your camera's sensors. Keep a clean, dark and solid top by your desk for the unexpected Skype call.
Lights: Natural light 
makes you look marvelous. I use the Verilux Original Natural Spectrum Deluxe Desk Lamp, so the camera can see my face. (Despite requests to turn it off.)
Lens: Keep your webcam lens clear with the Nikon Complete Lens Cleaner Kit or the LensPEN Lens Cleaning System. (This doesn't seem to help me: I always turn out smudged no matter how clean the webcam.)
Labels: fun, hardware, life, PamConsult, product, skype, software, video, voip
Skype Journal is blocked by China's government. Millions work around censorship and monitoring with networking tools like GTunnel. The GTunnel proxy on your PC connects to GTunnel servers. The client connects directly, through the TOR network, or through the Skype network. Connecting through Skype assures your packets are encrypted from beginning to end. This hides your IP address from servers. This also circumvents blockades of target servers like mine.
GTunnel is run by Garden Networks for Freedom of Information, a member of the Global Information Freedom Consortium. When you combine GTunnel with UltraSurf, FreeGate, FirePhoenix, GPass, and Ranking you get a complete suite for surviving online censorship and monitoring.
Caution for Chinese users: Skype cannot assure what you download from TOM-Skype does not include spyware. So download the international version from the Skype.com site or another independent source.
tags: security, censorship, iran, china, gfw, encryption, anonymity, gtunnel, anti-jamming system, jamming, blocking, blocks, blocked, globalinformationfreedom, gift
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: china, freedom, life, security, skype, software, technology, TomSkypeBreach08
A few more ads for the English language North American market within the Skype for Windows 4 client. Some are tips, like this new one for The Phone Booth Experiment.
Turn on Skype-provided tips, help
messages, promotions and public service announcements through the "Alerts & messages" controls under the Tools > Options menu command. Or turn them off.
Use the #inskypeads tag for alerts you see inside Skype. You can always tweet them to @skypejournal email them to tips@skypejournal.com and we'll share them. Thanks!
tags: skype, advertising, design, ue, ui, ux, inskypeads
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Chris says you save on roaming and keep connected with Wi-Fi when cell coverage is spotty. The IPEVO S0-20 WiFi Phone for Skype
AmperorDirect has a detailed unboxing video.
This is IPEVO's best selling Skype phone in 2009. Be sure to upgrade the firmware for the latest version of Skype's software.
Caveats: the SO-20 doesn't come with a web browser; many Wi-Fi hotspots require you to log in before getting a connection. It doesn't appear to import SkypeOut contacts.
See also: VoIP Planet review. CrunchGear review. Skype forum feedback.
tags: skype, wi-fi, wifi, phone, hardware, gear, gift, mobile, ipevo, so20, s020, s0-20, so-20, so2o, confusingname
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Skype supported Arabic for years. This update lets you buy monthly subscriptions, buy Skype credit, and manage your Skype account. Here are some 2009q3 Skype facts and figures in Arabic - حقائق و معلومات عن سكايب.
Hat tip to Skype's Peter Parkes.
tags: skype, arabic, localization, stats, statistics, charts, trends, presentations
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: language, life, middleeast, skype, statistics
Does this need explanation? Really? NSFW: Skype, sex, and the sex industry. do people use it for other things too?
tags: beyoncé, beyoncéknowles, mtv, videophone, skype, sex, position
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Skype developer Don Kennedy will write a Skype program for you. Free. In two weeks. 
Just ask for what you want in the comments below. "Dear Don, I wish Skype could..."
Don built a Skype bot that translates live Skype chats in 43 languages. An app that monitors your subscription use. A tool that lets you make Skype calls from your mobile through your PC with Skype using a normal mobile phone.
So I challenged Don to build for the #lazyweb. For a random stranger with a clear need.
And it's up to you.
Rules:
So be creative.
What new feature would you like in Skype?
tags: skype, free, contest, hacks, lazyweb, #lazyweb
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: developers, fun, life, skype, SkypeExtras, technology, wishlist
Ashley Hutchinson created this art for a YCN 09 design competition. Her theme: "Free to Roam... It's about more than just free calls." Ash's flickr set, used with permission.
tags: skype, art, ashhutch, ahutchabove, conceptart, ashleyhutchinson, graphicdesign, huddersfield, illustration, typography, animation, ycn
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Ashley Hutchinson created this art for a YCN 09 design competition. Her theme: "Free to Roam... It's about more than just free calls." Ash's flickr set, used with permission.
tags: skype, art, ashhutch, ahutchabove, conceptart, ashleyhutchinson, graphicdesign, huddersfield, illustration, typography, animation, ycn
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Ashley Hutchinson created this art for a YCN 09 design competition. Her theme: "Free to Roam... It's about more than just free calls." Ash's flickr set, used with permission.
tags: skype, art, ashhutch, ahutchabove, conceptart, ashleyhutchinson, graphicdesign, huddersfield, illustration, typography, animation, ycn
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Ashley Hutchinson created this art for a YCN 09 design competition. Her theme: "Free to Roam... It's about more than just free calls." Ash's flickr set, used with permission.
tags: skype, art, ashhutch, ahutchabove, conceptart, ashleyhutchinson, graphicdesign, huddersfield, illustration, typography, animation, ycn
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Chris from Vancouver suffers from Skype Syndrome. No word yet on treatment or a cure.
tags: skype, syndrome, humor, fun, addiction, boisestate, toothbrush, psychotherapy, skypesyndrome, youtube
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Ella:
"Yesterday I took a building-wide poll after the murder and we all agreed we'd feel a lot safer in the courtyard if there was some sort of security camera. So with Jonah being the building's resident film school grad slash A/V geek, we figured you could hook us up."
"Yeah, I mean, I guess. Sure. I have a camera I use for Skype."
From the "Melrose Place" Nightingale episode.
tags: skype, productplacement, tv, melroseplace, melrose place, webcam
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: fun, life, marketing, television, usa
1178315:33:42. 134.5 years. So this call started in 1875, the year of the Metre Convention. A strange bug between Windows and Skype, considering Skype is less than six years' old. You'd have to be a vampire to stay on a call this long (see: Time: a Skype Red Software Design Challenge).
So you have two bugs. One that sets the duration incorrectly and another that doesn't present time with years and days. Hat tip to Toni from Germany for the screenshot.
tags: skype, bug, bugs, windows, time, duration
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Brian Dunn (@bjdsr) of Best Buy shared this Skype story in an interview with the New York Times.
My sons are big basketball freaks. My wife, too. So I’m in London and I can’t sleep. It’s 4 in the morning, so I go on NBA.com and I’m watching the Lakers and Utah game. And all of a sudden my little Skype video chirps, and it’s my three sons on their computer talking to me and they’re whispering.
I said, “Why are you guys whispering?” And it’s about 11 at night back home. They said, “ ’cause Mom will kick our ass if she knows that we’re up.” And so I said: “Well if she walks in the room, click me off, man. Don’t let her know I’m part of it.” But I’m sitting there watching the game with the boys and the only thing I can’t do is put my arm around them. I’m on the road 100 days a year, so those moments are really important.
tags: skype, london, nba, family, bjdsr, bestbuy, briandunn
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
The Real Housewives of New Jersey with Jamie-Lynn Sigler from Jamie-Lynn Sigler shows how Skype helps best friends sustain their close relationships. Jersey style. NSFW. Hat tip to Chaim.
tags: skype, fun, newjersey, funnyordie, jamielynnsigler
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
The SXSW 2010 PanelPicker is up. You can vote for seven data portability talks (including mine) to be in the Interactive conference's program before 11:59 pm Central Standard Time on Friday, September 4. Vote for Me!
Ubiquity: The Future of Tech and What We Can Do Now (Elias Bizannes, DataPortability Project). Internet + cloud computing + information + everywhere anytime anyway = ? Welcome to our new world of Ubiquity. Run by one of the founders of the DataPortability Project, this session will look at the longer-term trends in tech and what we can do now to innovate and accelerate this change. Business / Entrepreneurial / Monetization, Cloud Storage / Delivery, Economic Concerns, History of Technology, New Technology / Next Generation
Data Rights 2.0: the World Beyond Privacy (Gil Silberman, peerFluence, Inc.). Web 2.0 is about the interpersonal: friends, actions, expression. Who owns this space? What are the rules and norms? We’ll review multi-party data rights like security, disclosure, portability, and informed consent, then gives some concrete advice on what interactive companies need to do to avoid trouble, and build trust. Business / Entrepreneurial / Monetization, Community / Online Community, Social Networking
Data Portability for Multiple Identities (Andrea Hill, Independent)Sometimes you don’t want them to know your name.. Roller derby skaters adopt alter egos. Those with serious health conditions may wish for discretion in their online activities. Who is responsible for ensuring an individual’s privacy, and what is lost by choosing not to share personal information? Cloud Storage / Delivery, Community / Online Community, Digital Distribution, Government and Technology, Social Issues
Discovery Identity: API’s of the Semantic Web (Glenn Jones, Madgex) Without much conscious thought, most of us have built identities across the web. We fill in profiles, upload photos, videos, reviews and bookmarks. This session will explore the practical use of Social Graph API and YQL to build new types of user experience combining identity discovery and data portability. Back-End Programming / Databases, Front-End Programming, New Technology / Next Generation, Social Networking
The 5W’s of Data Portability (Dave Morin, Facebook) With the advent of Web 2.0 came a new readable, writable Web. This user-driven Internet calls for control of identity, connections and usability. This panel will discuss how to leverage this new direction with identity providers such as Facebook Connect - including the successes, failures and learnings of the technologies. Accessibility / Web Standards, Case Study, Digital Distribution, New Technology / Next Generation, User Experience
Let My Data Go! Portability Freedoms and Revolution (Phil Wolff, Skype Journal) Want the freedom to move from site to site, bringing your online information, experiences, and friends with you? Instead sites lock us up and evict us. We've had privacy policies for ten years. Where is our Portability Policy? Where is our portability? What can we do now? Community / Online Community, Government and Technology, Licensing / Fair Use / Copyright, New Technology / Next Generation, Social Issues
Cloud Portability: A Standard for Using Cloud Resources (Alex Polvi, Cloudkick) This talk will discuss the on going effort to standardize the interfaces into the cloud. Currently every cloud provider has a unique, proprietary, API for consuming the services they offer. The cloud computing interoperability movement aims to provide standards that will overcome vendor lock-in, benefit the consumers, and allow the cloud ecosystem to grow transparently. Accessibility / Web Standards, Information Architecture, Open Source
tags: dataportability, portability, dpp, austin, texas, sxsw, southbysouthwest, southby
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: community, dataportability, events, life, politics, technology, usa
Dear Instructional Technology Professional:
This video explains Skype in non-technical language even a teacher can understand within the two minute student attention span.
The Say It Visually! people are explanation heroes.
tags: skype, overview, introduction, sayitvisually
Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Labels: backtoschool, education, life, skype
FCC acting chairman Michael Copps just named Blair Levin to coordinate the construction of the FCC's broadband plan. Thank you, Chairman Copps! Mazel Tov, Mr. Levin!
Astoundingly great, ubiquitous, pervasive, cheap, uncensored, clean, accessible, fair and market-driven broadband might be possible with a national plan. A former commissioner, Levin understands the deeper tech, social, economic and political forces at play, and the players. Skype's Chris Libertelli told FierceVoIP last year that "Levin would make an excellent FCC chairman." (He didn't get the job.) Blair's a nice guy who knows the lyrics to Winnie the Pooh songs.
The first months of the Obama administration's broadband efforts focused on quick, temporary, job creating projects. In his new role, Levin focus on "the whole ballgame." The video is from January 2009's State of the Net Conference where he discusses some of the gaps a national broadband plan could discover and fill.
Great broadband makes Skype better, so this appointment is a hopeful portent.
tags: blairlevin, fcc, broadband, internetcaucus, usa
Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Have you noticed President Obama is never photographed using a mobile anymore? Here are some pics from The Official White House Photostream on flickr by Pete Souza.
Given how many hours the President must spend on a phone, is a Bluetooth or other wireless headset out of the question?
tags: barackobama, whitehouse, gov, phone, telephone, telephony, mobile, landline, government
Call me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.
Got news to share? tips@skypejournal.com.
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