King of Broadband

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.
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Barack tethered

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.

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 iPhone – the screenshots

Slide show: (screenshots below)

Splash screen:

Connecting:

Contact list:

Contact profile:

Recent conversations:  

A chat:

Calling:

In a call, speaker on:

In conference call:

Conversation history:

My profile:

Set profile picture:

screenshot credit: Skype.

tags: skype, iphone, screenshot, screenshots, pictures, apple

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.

Review: IPEVO Wi-Fi Skype Phone

When most people think about using Skype, they probably envision a nerd with a headset sitting in front of his computer. Skype is primarily a computer-to-computer internet telephony product, but there are a few options for using your Skype service on more traditional handsets.

I have evaluated the VOIP841 from Philips before and was overall happy with the device, minus the OK audio quality. However, recently I heard about and received IPEVO's new Wi-Fi Skype handset for review.

This little unit is as small as most candybar mobile phones and contains the Wi-Fi chip directly in the handset. Contrary to the Philips VOIP841, which requires a separate base station along with the handset, everything with the IPEVO phone is housed on the handset itself.

This means you can take the IPEVO phone and use it wherever you can get a Wi-Fi signal for free Skype calls and ridiculously cheap calls to traditional landlines and mobile phones.

Opening the Box

First impressions with the IPEVO Wi-Fi Skype phone are postive. The black handset has a bright and readable screen and well-sized buttons that are used to navigate the handsets traditional Skype menus. Anyone familiar with the Skype user interface on a PC or Mac will easily be able to adapt IPEVOs implementation of them on the Skype phone.

The Skype handset takes about 4-5 hours to charge and after doing so, you are ready to assign the device to your wireless network and start making and receiving Skype phone calls.

Setup

On my home wireless network, I employ WPA-PSK encryption. When I tried to utilize the phone's wizard interface to join my Wi-Fi network, it had issues and would not properly connect. As a result, I had to manually select my home network and enter in the security setting and details by hand. After successfully joining the network, the phone prompts you to log in to your Skype account.

With the IPEVO device, you can either sign into your existing Skype account or create a new one directly on the handset without having to log into Skype on a computer. I thought this was a nice little feature.

One note about the IPEVO Skype phone: if you have special characters in your Skype or Wireless password, it is a little tricky to figure out how to input these into the phone. When you press the pound key, aka #, you are presented an on-screen menu with all the special characters you might have in your passcodes.

Usage and Performance

The IPEVO Skype phone is quite easy to use, especially after you are set up on your wireless network and signed into Skype on the phone. Upon signing in, your Skype contact list is available and shows your contacts' presence information. Like the Philips VOIP841, from the IPEVOs home screen, you press the "Contacts" button to load your contacts for easy dialing. The homescreen also displays the current local time, the current user name that is logged in, and the current Skype balance.

The call quality with the IPEVO Skype WiFi phone was outstanding for a handset. My callers were very audible to me, in fact, they were clearer and louder than when I called them with the VOIP841, for comparison. Callers said I sounded great as well. This was true for both Skype-to-Skype calls and Skype to landline/mobile calls as well.

While call quality was good, battery life left a lot to be desired. I found that with moderate usage and keeping the phone powered on, the IPEVO device could only stay powered on for about 5 hours.

This is understandable, considering the IPEVO has the power-hungry Wi-Fi chipset on board the device, but this poor battery life is something to keep in mind if you are a heavy Skype user who needs a handset that will last a considerable amount of time.

Conclusion

Overall, the IPEVO Skype Wi-Fi phone is an attractive, feature rich handset that makes great sounding calls. Anyone who wants to be able to talk to their Skype contacts or make/receive very inexpensive Skype calls should consider this device for a purchase. Having Skype on a handset like this really makes Skype no different than a normal cordless phone for regular dialing.

One important note: if you have areas of your house that have weak Wi-Fi signal quality, this specific phone won't work in those areas. The IPEVO handset does have a Wi-Fi signal indicator, but I noticed choppy calls in rooms that are far away from my wireless router.

The IPEVO Skype Wi-Fi handset is Skype Certified and is available for around $130 at various Intetnet-based retailers.

Skype Journal columnist Jason Harris, engages communities for corporations and explores internet telephony, mobile technology, and the leaders who bring them to market on his Techcraver blog and onTwitter.

Monday reading

Business

Skype's 2008Q4 contribution falls from Q3, but still profitable. (Jean Mercier)

20% off the Emerging Communications Conference with 'skypejournal' discount code. See you at the SFO Marriott this week.

UK's O2 and Orange oppose Nokia+Skype phones, T-Mobile support them, and Vodafone hasn't said. "if you spend upwards of £40m per year building your brand, you don’t want to be just a dumb pipe do you?" Sounds like hard bargaining to me. (P.S. Wishing/Branding you're not a dumb pipe doesn't make it so.)  (Mobile Today)

AIM for iPhone comes out. AIM Free is ad supported. AIM Paid is... price TBD. Now supporting multiple accounts and free SMS to people in your iPhone contact list. (Ars Technica)

Community in action

Eurojust retracts news release attacking Skype. "NOTE: This is an update of the press release issued on Friday 20 February 2009. Some of the information in this press release was issued prematurely and is therefore incorrect, as there is not yet an official case reported to Eurojust." If only the Sopranos or The Wire were still running. (Government Technology) SJ:Eurojust coordinating anti-Skype project; SJ:Evildoers trust Skype encryption, Cops seek more power

DataPortability.org calls for volunteers to fill a steering committee vacancy. One conference call per week until elections. [disclosure: I'm on the steering committee.]

Twitter Friends and the Influence of Influentials in Word of Mouth Marketing. On research performed by the HP Social Media Lab and explained by BT's JP Rangaswami. (Skillful Minds). Attention to statistics describing social conversation behavior can improve the choice of features in software like Skype.

Future visions

Theme for Supernova 2009 is "Change Networks." Think innovation/value networks but looking at how change propagates. December 1-3 in San Francisco.

Microsoft Office Labs vision 2019. Utopian vision, clutter-free, ten years' out, all feasible, if only for the wealthy. Videos and screenshots. (istartedsomething)

Marriage beginnings and endings

Father (Poland) gives daughter (Texas) away at wedding over Skype. (Killeen Daily Herald)

Ex-Wife Haunts House over Skype. (Ask Bossy column)

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.

Skype asks US LOC to legalize jailbreaking mobile phones

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF for short) petitioned the U.S. Copyright Office to allow people to put whatever software they want on their mobile phones. This would permit working around copy protection. 

Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute lawfully obtained software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications with computer programs on the telephone handset.

Apple doesn't like this, saying the petition is an attack on the iPhone business model.

Apple is opposed to the proposed Class #1 exemption because it will destroy the technological protection of Apple’s key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone™ device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone, resulting in copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects, adverse effects on the functioning of the device, and breach of contract. The proponents of the exemption have also not satisfied their burden of proof of showing harm to non-infringing uses of the copyrighted works protected by the technological protection measures on the iPhone.

Specifically, it seeks through the proposed exemption to clear the path for those who would hack the iPhone’s operating system so that a proprietary mobile computing platform protected by copyright can be transformed into one on which any third party application can be run, without taking account of the undesirable consequences that would ensue from the transformation. EFF’s submission offers no proof that this proposed transformation would actually increase innovation or investment in creative works...

In other words, if just anyone can download just any software without Apple's approval, then Apple's stranglehold over the iPhone software market would be broken. 

The Mozilla Foundation likes the exemption, saying iPhone users should be free to use Mozilla's browser instead of the one MicrosoftApple includes (consumer choice and control). They also say the exemption promotes open access to the Internet. When users cannot choose their browser software...

The choice in access means is equally important to an open web. today, all consumers do not have a lawful means of exercising their choices, because some devices are tethered to particular software chosen by the hardware vendor. As a result, it limits the means by which users can access and use the Internet. When this happens, consumers' experience of the internet – an open and public resource – is artificially constrained and unnecessarily defined by the hardware vendor because users are required to use that particular software in order to access and use the Internet.

Paraphrasing, when one company controls your browser, that company controls what you see, how you see it, and how you participate. You may trust that company, but you shouldn't have to.

Skype supports the exemption [full text below]. Skype says the freedom to install software powers the freedom to use your phone with different mobile carriers. They say copyright law shouldn't be used to keep people from switching telephone networks (locking) or from using the software they want (blocking).

And there's Skype's obvious self-interest:

Copyright law should not interfere with a user using his or her phone to run Skype and enjoy the benefits of low- or no-cost long-distance and international calling.

The comment period ended 2 February 2009. Next steps are Copyright Office public hearings in the next few months and published decisions later this year.

See also:

• Copyright.gov: Rulemaking on Anticircumvention 
• Previous rulemaking rounds: 2000, 2003, 2006.
• Notice of Inquiry (pdf) requests comment.

 

Full text of Skype's comment on the petition below:

Before the
COPYRIGHT OFFICE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Washington, D.C.
In the matter of
Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies

Docket No. RM 2008–8
COMMENTS OF SKYPE COMMUNICATIONS S.A.R.L.

Skype Communications S.A.R.L. (“Skype”) hereby files these comments in support of the proposals to exempt from the prohibition on circumvention of access control technologies computer programs that enable individuals to use software applications of their choice on wireless telephone handsets and that enable individuals to use such handsets on wireless networks of their choice (Classes 5A–5D in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking[1]). As discussed below, allowing consumers to use devices and software applications of their choice on wireless networks maximizes consumer choice and encourages innovation, and should not be restricted by copyright law.

Skype is a global software company whose software application allows its users to communicate with individuals around the world, either for free (when communicating with other Skype users) or at very low rates (when calling PSTN phone numbers). In less than six years since founding, Skype has revolutionized the voice calling market, giving hundreds of millions of users[2] an easy way of staying in touch with friends and loved ones and reducing their long-distance bills (particularly international-calling bills). The Skype software client marries the traditional appeal of voice calling with additional features such as video calls, instant messaging, file transfer, online payment, and so on. Like many software applications that use the Internet, Skype first became popular being used on wired broadband networks; however, its wireless software client is increasingly popular as wireless users seek the benefits offered by Skype including cheaper calls, online presence detection, etc.

Skype strongly supports open wireless broadband networks; i.e., wireless networks on which users can attach (nonharmful) devices of their choice (“no locking”) and use software applications of their choice on such devices (“no blocking”). In February 2007, Skype filed a Petition for Rulemaking[3] with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) asking that wireless broadband networks be operated under these openness principles, in keeping with the FCC’s Broadband Policy Statement[4] and its seminal Carterfone[5] decision.[6] A few months later, the FCC adopted no locking and no blocking rules to a vital block of spectrum auctioned off for use by wireless broadband networks.[7]

Over the past several months, the nation’s wireless carriers have increasingly embraced the principles of open wireless networks — though their actions so far do not match their words. Wireless carriers and the handset manufacturers they strike deals with continue to employ various means to keep users from using devices and software applications of their choice — from terms of service to the software and firmware loaded on the handsets sold by the carriers. Where carriers and handset manufacturers allow the use of third-party software applications, such as Apple’s iPhone App Store (used on the AT&T network) or Google’s Android (used on the T-Mobile network), the carriers and handset manufacturers reserve the right not to permit the use of software applications that it deems harmful to its business. For example, while it is possible to install adaptations of VoIP applications on some smartphones,[8] carriers’ Terms of Service typically block more robust “end-to-end” VoIP products that use a wireless broadband connection rather than a narrowband connection that uses the carriers’ regular wireless voice minutes. The adapted versions of applications like Skype do not provide wireless consumers with the full range of innovative features that would be available if VoIP application developers were able to harness the full benefits of the wireless data plans that the consumers pay for.

Skype opposes any attempts to restrict the ability of individuals to use devices and software applications of their choice on wireless networks,[9] and, therefore, supports the proposals to exempt from the anti-circumvention provisions:

1. Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute lawfully obtained software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications with computer programs on the telephone handset,[10] and

2. Computer programs in the form of firmware or software that enable mobile communication handsets to connect to a wireless communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless communication network.[11]

These two classes of exemptions will ensure that copyright laws do not interfere with the no blocking and no locking open wireless network principles. Enabling wireless handset users to use their unlocked phone on a network of their choice and to use legally-obtained software applications of their choice on their handsets will ensure that they enjoy the benefits of choice and competition with respect to mobile software applications and handsets — not simply choice among wireless networks. Copyright law should not interfere with a user using his or her phone to run Skype and enjoy the benefits of low- or no-cost long-distance and international calling.

More broadly, users should be able to use their choice of devices and software applications on wireless networks rather than being limited to those devices and applications that are “approved” by the wireless carrier. Allowing end users to choose the devices and applications they use gives them access to a much wider array of devices and applications than would restricting their choices to those offered by wireless carriers acting as gatekeepers — particularly in instances where carriers restrict access to applications, such as Skype, that may threaten part of their business model. An end-to-end network, in which consumer choice is empowered, ensures that innovation occurs at the edges of the network where hundreds if not thousands of application developers and software manufacturers, rather than a handful of wireless carriers, can compete to meet consumer demand.

* * *

For the foregoing reasons, Skype supports the proposals to exempt from the prohibition on circumvention of access control technologies computer programs that enable individuals to use software applications of their choice on wireless telephone handsets and that enable individuals to use such handsets on wireless networks of their choice, i.e. Classes 5A–5D. Skype supports no blocking and no locking policies, and opposes any limitations on these wireless consumer empowerment principles that may arise from the DMCA.

Respectfully submitted,

SKYPE COMMUNICATIONS, S.A.R.L.

Henry Goldberg
Devendra T. Kumar
GOLDBERG, GODLES, WIENER & WRIGHT
1229 19th St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 429-4900 – Telephone
(202) 429-4912 – Facsimile
Of Counsel to Skype Communications, S.A.R.L.

Christopher Libertelli, Senior Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs – North America
SKYPE COMMUNICATIONS S.A.R.L.
6e etage, 22/24 boulevard Royal,
Luxembourg, L-2449 Luxembourg

Dated: February 2, 2009

Footnotes:

1. Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, Docket No. RM 2008-8, 73 Fed. Reg. 79,425, 79,427 (2008).
2. Skype has over 400 million registered users worldwide.
3. Skype Communications S.A.R.L. Petition to Confirm a Consumer’s Right to Use Internet Communications Software and Attach Devices to Wireless Networks, RM-11361 (filed Feb. 20, 2007) (“Skype Petition”).
4. Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities, CC Docket No. 02-33, Appropriate Regulatory Treatment for Broadband Access to the Internet Over Cable Facilities, CS Docket No. 02-52, Policy Statement, FCC 05-151 (rel. Sep. 23, 2005).
5. Use of the Carterfone Device in Message Toll Telephone Service, 13 FCC 2d 420 (1968).
6. The Skype Petition remains pending at the FCC.
7. See Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762 and 777-792 MHz Bands, Second Report and Order, WT Docket No. 06-150, FCC 07-132, at 88, ¶ 189–230 (rel. Aug. 10, 2007) (“700 MHz Order”).
8. See Bob Tedeschi, Phone Smart: Free Internet-Calling Services Join the Cellphone App Market, N.Y. Times, Jan. 29, 2009, at B5, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/technology/personaltech/29smart.html.
9. The only exceptions to open wireless networks should be for devices that harm the network and for restrictions on the use of software applications that result from reasonable network management practices.
10. 73 Fed. Reg. at 79,427, Class 5A.
11. 73 Fed. Reg. at 79,427, Class 5C. Note that Classes 5B and 5D are almost identical to Class 5C and are treated as such in these comments.

tags: skype, life, regulation, jailbreak, iphone, mobile, rights, fcc, copyright, copyright.gov, drm, freedom

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Jim Courtney moves on

At VON Canada 2005 I first met Stuart Henshall, the founder of Skype Journal; this Canadian VON event attracted bloggers from across North America. It was the only North American opportunity to hear Skype founder Nicklas Zennstrom personally while he was in legal limbo in the U.S. Later that year I was asked to write a couple of posts for Skype Journal; effectively Stuart had seen my personal post about Skype's newly launched email toolbar for which I had been a beta tester and asked if he could post it on Skype Journal.
The following April when VON Canada held its third (and last) show in Toronto, I had just completed a client business development assignment and was asked to blog on behalf of Skype Journal. Stefan Oberg, Skype's current Vice-President for Business, spoke about Skype's goal to be "Better than a phone...". Today, with the SILK codec, Skype is much better than a phone; since its introduction I cringe politely when I have to go back to normal phone conversations.
But, more importantly, since then I have had a wonderful opportunity to meet many keen and passionate Skype employees, develop an understanding of what it takes to be a Skype Partner - especially with business applications -- and participated with a network of great bloggers who all contribute to a better understanding of the business and technology issues of the emerging communications world.
Yes, there have been challenges; Skype has had to reorganize and restructure as a viable and growing business. Several players have attempted to get into the real time communications space; they need to find their niche and attract users and develop revenue streams. But, when I look at the outcome of the past three years in this space, Skype remains a strong player; it has become synonymous with disrupting barriers to communications around the world at little or no cost to the user.

New services have evolved; small businesses can enjoy the advantages of services that were previously only available to large enterprises.16 million users online concurrently every day around 2:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5) is half the population of Canada. And there are probably 30 to 40 million who use Skype daily with about 30% in business applications. Free video calling has become a reality.
But over the past eighteen months:

• Skype's business application partners are looking for ways to have third party support marketing their leading edge services
• Other significant players have come into the real time emerging communications space offering a range of unique products and services
• Mobile phones have evolved into smartphones
• Social media keeps everyone informed in real time about news, personal activities and individual opinions
• It's the year of the Voice 2.0 world.
• WordPress has become the most powerful platform for not only blogging but also complete websites.
• Search has become a key tool in developing a significant web presence

As a result today I am launching a new website Voice On The Web - facilitating personal and business communications across a Voice 2.0 world. Check out my initial post for more details about the goals and objectives I hope to achieve. Note that all my Skype Journal posts are archived there and readily searchable. There's still lots of warts on the site but one has to start somewhere.
At the same time Phil Wolff will continue to blog on Skype Journal, continuing to bring his perspective on the technology and business opportunities in the Voice 2.0 world. I will be providing him link love frequently for posts I feel should be checked out.
Time to move on... see you at Voice On The Web. And, thanks to Phil for the opportunity to participate on Skype Journal over the past three years.

Powered by Qumana

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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i heard it through the skypevine

"soooo....i heard u had skype sex with PK ;)"

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

did u have skype sex?

I sooo want to use that API.

Happy Valentine's Day.

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

gross, kinda

"Wife just coined a new word in normal conversation: skype sex. The word I said in return was: gross, kinda."

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

skypesex bad for sleep

"That's not healthy. I'd recommend less skype phone sex. It'll help regulate normal sleeping."

i will sex you up

"Tyler, seriously, you need to get skype. It is far superior to both AIM and MSN. I will sex you up via web cam if you get skype"

promises, promises.

(Is Skype still hiring a marketing vp?)

do people use it for other things too?

"Ah, yes, my beloved Skype. How could i have virtual sex with my boyfriend without it? Do people use it for other things, too?"

How important is Skype to your love life?

party with us later

"Don't go to sleep. Come on Skype and party with us later."

Valentine's Day is coming up. Share a love story, win two webcams.

get thee to sleep

"GET TO SLEEP, but if not, get on skype :D"

can't skype tonite

"don't worry if you can't skype tonite, get some sleep."

head on my pillow

"Going to sleep now.. Maybe.. I might. But then again, I might be on my iPod waiting for a skype call. :)"

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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noodling the wife

"can't sleep. again. cup-a-noodle supper with wife over skype."

lonelyskypr16

"YOU disappeared from Skype. I had no one to talk to while I couldn't sleep. *sniffle*"

[presence is Skype's way of letting friends know you can fill in the gaps when they can't sleep]

unsleeping friends

"Can't sleep so I may as well find all my friends on Skype instead"

they pulled me back in

"was just oing to go to sleep but asked me to go on skype so here i am back on comp"

新年快樂 (Xin nian kuai le!)

Year of the Ox! Thanks to bluebison for the cool sketch.

Skype's partner in Hong Kong, TOM-Skype, decorated the Skype logo today.

Skype's Taiwan partner, PChome, posted a holiday banner…

and a holiday promotion.

I love PChome's dressing up of the Chinese character for "ox" with horns and black/white patches. See the ox character in 24 typefaces.

On a more serious note, Ms. Cristy Li blogged a series of moving photos she took last week from Sichuan of people preparing for the Spring Festival.

• Beichuan Middle School Parents & Classmates Mourn Ahead Of Chinese Lunar New Year.
• Sichuan Survivors Remember Their Loved Ones Seek Hope Ahead Of Chinese Lunar New Year
• Good Wishes For Lunar New Year---Remember Sichuan Earthquake Littlest Survivors
• Spring Festival Shoppers Prepare For Holiday
• Chinese New Year 2009 Hope For Better Life 
• Sichuan Province Welcomes Spring Festival 
• Sichuan Quake Survivors Continue to Struggle
• Spring Festival Guests To Meet Panda Cubs 
• China Prepares For Year of Ox
• Sichuan Quake Survivors Move In New Homes 

tags: skype, holiday, new year, china, taiwan, typography, ox

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dawn is the new bedtime

"Sounds like me most days. In fact Saturday was chatting to @someone WY4N until 6:10am on Skype as I couldn't sleep."

brain too dead

"Haven't wrote 1 more word, ah well, too awake to sleep, brain too dead to function, just laze around on skype i spose :)"

cold wifi

Time zones + Skype = sleep lost.

Solution: nap to make up for a sleep debt.

up all night

hmmm. Skype hangovers for the sleep deprived?

to bed

Dear friend, when I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, please tell me to step back from the computer, go to sleep, and get back to you. Thanks.

drunk skype

Drinking impairs judgment.

Don't drink and Skype.

 

Don't drink and Skype me.

nuts on skype

Sleep deprivation affects judgment.

Really.

Sleep before Skyping.

skype or sleep

What's your choice? Skype? or Sleep?

RIP Roland Piquepaille, pioneering science blogger

I don't know that I ever met Roland in person. We were among the early bloggers who used Radio Userland at the millennium's dawn. Roland brought humor and thought to his blog, Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends: How new technologies are modifying our way of life.

He helped invent blogging as a new writing form. He defined science writing in the blogosphere; an intriguing mix of facts, analysis, explanation and context. He also was one of the first to model bilingual blogging, using English or French to fit each topic. He had a joyous enthusiasm for science news storytelling and shared it abundantly on Slashdot.

Roland Piquepaille died Monday. I'll miss him.

Technorati tags: roland piquepaille, ohnoitsroland, boycottroland, dierolanddie, blogger, RIP, obit, obits, obituariesalablog

watch out gotomeeting

Will Skype desktop sharing challenge Skype’s developer ecosystem or support it?

Skype giving Journalists access to Gaza Strip

Skype helps reporters flatten the earth and get to subjects around the world. Take Gaza, for example…

Have you seen other Skype reportage from war zones?

Technorati tags: skype, journalism, reporting, israel, gaza, war

wiki: Skype in Schools

Skype in Schools is a directory of teacher and educational technologists, their want-ads to find other schools to talk with over Skype, and shared experiences about using Skype in schools. It's becoming a great resource. Is your school Skyping yet?

tags: skype, education, schools, wiki

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die... now

tags: skype, spim, spam, spit

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Around The World with 80 Schools

Kids will learn geography, and maybe a little more about people, using Skype this year. Silvia Tolisano's Around The World with 80 Schools project will help her primary school visit briefly with other schools around the globe over Skype. Short calls to say hello and introduce yourselves. Your school can sign up on the Langwitches blog.

Such a great way to learn it's a big world, people are different and the same, it's a flat world with access only a click away, not everyone speaks English, languages are barriers you must overcome to be a part of the world, time zones matter in a flat world, and seasons differ.

Ms. Tolisano is also known for her great elementary school blogging curriculum.

tags: skype, florida, geography, language, langwitches, blogging, education, edutech

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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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famcams

Wishlist:

Does Logitech sell high quality Skype webcams in family packs? Support the viral impulse.

Tips:

1. Position Skype below the webcam. So you’ll be looking “at” the people on the other end of a video call.
2. Look for noise cancellation in speakerphones. Clears up background noise. A little.
3. Keep a notepad and marker handy to show hand drawn notes. Nothing talks like doodles.
4. If you talk with your hands, sit back so the webcam picks up all of you.
5. Get a hand mirror to check your grooming. Nothing like having someone point out food stuck in your teeth from across the world.
6. Turn off automatic answer of video calls. Who knows what you’ll be wearing?
7. Reserve Skype names for your loved ones, especially kids. Don’t leave them with georgewbush29837647a.
8. Chat before you call. Invite them to video, don’t assume they want to now. Netiquette.
9. Make a contact group for your family. Easier to look them up.

What did I miss?

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

free and brainless

Hmm. Maybe it’s time for Skype to launch Skype Mail with Skype video built in?

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

Wii Speak connects living rooms

Nintendo Wii owners can buy a Wii Speak speakerphone and talk to three friends also using Wii Speak. Nintendo bundles Wii Speak with Animal Crossing: City Folk and other software.

The social model emphasizes privacy. Your identity is secret. You must exchange Speak IDs before you can talk, and there is no public directory.

Wii Speak let’s you IM, leave voice messages, annotate video messages, and speak live during some games. In City Folk, your Wii Mii avatars speak your chats with comic strip style balloons.

It’s a closed system. Only microphones licensed by Nintendo will work with the system. Approved gear will show the Wii Speak icon (on the right) on their packaging.

This is not a platform play.

But it could be.

In-game talk is a fixture of RTS like World of Warcraft (voice chat and conferencing through third parties like Skype, TeamSpeak, or Ventrilo), virtual worlds like Second Life (includes f2f and distance voice chat), and multigame platforms like Xbox Live (voice and video chat).

The Wii, however, is culturally different from other online gaming social spaces. Wii folks don’t consider themselves as “hard-core gamers”. Yet. So it’s good for the Wii Speak team to slowly discover what works best for Wiiland. Wii Speak is a good first step.

See also:

• 17 Ways VoIP Has Improved My Gaming Experience: One hard-core gamer describes how VoIP has helped her up her game. by Laura Milligan, January 30, 2008.
• Wii Speak Unboxing and WiiSpeak Channel Review by Chris. video.
• Hiii! Demonstrating the Wii Speak Channel voice message process. video.
• Wii Speak Channel - How to Download. video.
• Video interview with one of Wii Speak’s creators. I love the fishing expedition. July 2008. 

Technorati tags: wii, skype, voip, nintendo, wii speak, wiispeak, gaming, games, play, talk, speak

China blocks New York Times and Skype Journal

Welcome to our club, Gray Lady. Skype Journal is blocked by the GFW too.

Technorati tags: censorship, china, nyt, gfw, skype journal

Wishlist: Skype for Android?

Fifth most popular request for "Suggest an Android Application" on Google Moderator. Tetris is first.

tags: skype, google, android, wishlist, mobile

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make skype dinner

Skype sued for old money

Do you want your money back after 180 days?

Skype's long taken credits from accounts it deems abandoned. Seattle lawyer Roger M. Townsend filed suit Friday on behalf of all Skype users in Washington who lost money this way.

The plaintiffs say a Skype account should be treated like a merchant's gift certificate. In Washington state, all gift certificates are refundable by law (and balances are turned over to charity 24 months after being abandoned). So Skype should be giving back a Washingtonian's money instead of keeping it.

If Skype broke the law, then plaintiffs want triple damages, legal fees, and for Skype to stop the practice. "Our goal is to get a fair disposition" Townsend said to Skype Journal.

The claim says Skype has billing information good enough to identify and notify all Washington Skype users about the suit. 

A similar suit in Germany ordered Skype to stop this in 2006.

So how could this affect Skype and Skype users?

The suit may not find a legal nexus. But Skype does business with Washingtonians daily.

Skype may win. It's not clear Washington's gift certificate laws apply to something that is neither a gift certificate nor a bank account. However there are enough similarities that Skype may be held to that standard.

Should Skype lose, while this class action is limited to one US state, suits in other populated states may follow. Other states have similar gift card consumer protection laws, but terms vary a lot from state to state.

I don't imagine the business impact would be severe. Skype has been driving customers to switch from Skype credit accounts to signing up for pay-as-you-go subscription plans for years.

Has Skype taken your money? How did it feel? Would you like it back?

2008 Skype Class Action

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business Skype Journal Skype s

tags: skype, security, law, terms, conditions

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don't friend me

Alec Saunders Twitters: "Ditching all IM Systems except Skype"!

When I started using Skype more intensively about three years ago, I had been a heavy user of Microsoft's MSN Messenger for several years. But about 18 months ago, I stopped logging into MSN Messenger; none of my contacts were there - or, if they were, they were also on Skype. As for GTalk, well I added a couple of contacts two weeks ago to test out GMail's new voice and video chat feature, so now I'm up to ten contacts on GTalk - and they are also all on Skype. One person still persists in trying to reach me on GTalk these days ... and my BlackBerry catches that - in background.
But when long time acquaintance, well respected blogger and former Microsoft employee Alec Saunders puts up a tweet as shown above, it has to be the ultimate complement to Skype's pervasive worldwide presence.
When you have 370 million accounts (yes, I know there are only 30 to 50 million using Skype over the course of a month), one would suspect that market presence and user base size wins out over any technical disadvantage, such as the lack of XMPP compliance. Sort of places XMPP right up there with SIP - an excellent protocol for interop but it's sort of like the tree falling in the forest - who hears it -at the end user level? And, both SIP and XMPP require business agreements between the linking service providers covering every connection, whether there's revenue or not.
In the IM world, it's a matter of who's available for a conversation? Which service has the highest probability of being able to determine a contact's availability and start a chat, voice call, share a file, send an SMS message or even do a (High Quality) video call? Which service has eight ways of seamlessly carrying out a file transfer?
Alec's one problem in keeping current? He'll have to go back to his BlackBerry to receive Skype IM messages via iSkoot. BlackBerry's background processing capability becomes a very distinct advantage here in the smartphone market. When attending an event in downtown Toronto last night I received an important "good news" Skype chat message on my BlackBerry Bold, while looking up a website the speaker was referencing and following the Twitter feed of one of the organizers.
A more significant challenge for Skype is to generate the marketing that will attract all those of a younger generation (such as my daughter) whose "social networks" are immersed into MSN Messenger as their IM client.
In closing have a look at some of Alec's followup Tweets:
In closing I should also mention that I like to use BlackBerry Messenger for its ability to bypass the Internet for messages that "just have to get there now!" via BlackBerry's unique method for PIN messaging.
Update: An oversight on my part: of course Skype IM also has the hooks to allow Skype chat sessions to proxy for other services. For a classic example check out Twitter4Skype.
Full disclosure: Alec Saunders is author of the Voice 2.0 Manifesto, which is proving itself out in today's dynamic mashup environment - especially when it comes to Communications Enhanced Business Processes. He is CEO of iotum, whose Calliflower Conference Call service is currently being launched. And, much earlier in his career, he was DOS product manger at Microsoft Canada at a time when DOS's memory management feature tried to compete with Quarterdeck's QEMM and the author managed Quarterdeck Canada.

Powered by Qumana

21 November 1938 – Testing Telephone Meter

On this day, seventy years' ago...

We build on those who came before. 

Photo courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

tags: skype, history, au, australia, nsw, telephony, telecom, telephone, meter, test, testing, Postage Reduction League, Scottish House, Bridge Street, photo, statelibraryofnsw

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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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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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The cable connecting Gore to Kerry to Obama

I'd like to make two points.

First, the Democratic party learned grassroots organizing on W's watch. There's an exponential curve moving:

• from nothing in the 2000 Gore/Bush election,
• through substantial roots activity in the 2004 Bush/Kerry campaign,
• to overwhelming in the 2008 Obama/McCain victory.

Second, the elements that made campaigning so lively, engaging, social and meaningful may show up in Obama's governance.

You may not know this about me but my gig before Skype Journal was volunteering on the John Kerry presidential campaign.

Ten of us met in Berkeley a few months after the first Howard Dean meetups in San Francisco's East Bay. We became five thousand full time volunteers over 18 months until election day 2004. Our two-county grassroots operation made more than one million phone calls to swing states. 1,000,000.

We had no control over the candidate and his campaign staff, so we focused on what we could do ourselves. Using an American football analogy, we thought of East Bay Kerry as the ground game and the national campaign as the air game. 

We modeled many of the practices used today in the Obama campaign.

• Communications and coordination
• Local blogs. Feed aggregation. CMS. All with free/cheap technology.
• National event directory. Developed locally, adopted by the campaign, used to drive activity.
• Yahoo mailing lists.
• Focus on organizing, not policy/issues.
• Managing
• Grassroots organizational structures that scaled and split.
• Professional guilds (writers, coders, designers, speakers, lawyers) ran service bureaus for grassroots orgs in swing areas.
• Netroots fundraising.
• Meetups for recruiting volunteers.
• Operations
• Mobile phones for instant phone banks.
• Ambassador roles connecting local groups.
• Involving electeds in roots activities.
• 50 state strategy.
• 58 California county strategy (the fast growing eastern part of the state votes for conservatives).

Lots of peopleware with just a touch of technology to

• speed things up,
• keep costs down,
• push activity out to the edge, and
• help more people make smarter decisions.

We also revealed many problems.

• How grassroots fund themselves without violating campaign finance law (or not).
• Web applications absurdly hard to learn and use.
• National message management vs. local enthusiasm.
• Strangers instead of locals in GOTV efforts.
• The speed and efficiency of offline missing the disconnected and offline.
• Difficulty pairing union efforts with grassroots efforts.
• Inability to activate and motivate stale and tired Democratic Party organizations at the state and local levels.
• Costly voter and geographic data sets that grassroots couldn't afford. Weak geomapping software for precinct walking.

Most of these problems were tackled by the Democratic National Committee in the 2006 races.

The Obama crew really built on those basics, applying four years of advances in

• social media,
• GIS,
• cogsci,
• smarter/mobile phones,
• VoIM (like Skype),
• streaming video,
• agile methods,
• creative commons and open source licensing,
• emergent organization design,
• more reliable and scalable server hosting,
• SMS/texting (thank you American Idol),
• internet sousveillance and surveillance,
• flat rate long distance,
• cheap conference bridges,
• real estate 2.0,
• and all the rest.

Near the end of the 2004 campaign we hoped to bring the Democratic netroots into the new administration.

• Would there be a Chief Blogging Officer (CBO) as part of the white house communications office?
• Would local groups be able to meet and have a say on national policy with a channel not just to their safe congressman but to the cabinet and to the white house policy advisors?
• Would the conversation started in San Francisco's East Bay with 10 people sitting in a coffee shop, ending with 5000 full time volunteers in liberal Berkeley and Oakland and conservative Walnut Creek and Danville, continue into the new year?

We lost then. But what about now, after the Obama-Biden win?

Today, the hundreds of thousands of people who gave up work, family time, and school to volunteer want to continue the experience of being connected civicly with each other and of influencing their nation.

Chris Hughes posted Moving Forward on My.BarackObama on Friday.

Over the past 21 months, millions of individuals have used My.BarackObama to organize their local communities on behalf of Barack Obama.  The scale and size of this community and its work is unprecedented.  Individuals in all 50 states have created more than 35,000 local organizing groups, hosted over 200,000 events, and made millions upon millions of calls to neighbors about this campaign.  There can be no question that these local, grassroots organizations played a critical role in Tuesday's victory.

What has made My.BarackObama unique hasn't been the technology itself, but the people who used the online tools to coordinate offline action.  My.BarackObama has always been focused on using online tools to make real-world connections between people who are hungry to change our politics in this country.

And the site isn't going anywhere.  The online tools in My.BarackObama will live on.  Barack Obama supporters will continue to use the tools to collaborate and interact.  Our victory on Tuesday night has opened the door to change, but it's up to all of us to seize this opportunity to bring it about.

In the coming days and weeks, there will be a great deal more information about where this community will head.  For the moment, let's celebrate this victory and know that the community we've built together is just the beginning.

More than 1400 comments on that thread.

We'll see what the election laws permit. The Obama Administration is already creating tools for change that may become a vital part of the national discourse, a force for good in our little-d democracy.

Competition fuels innovation. The pursuit of power, the struggle to help millions of people climb ladders of engagement and participation in your cause. These are a crucible with real consequences, measurable results, and strict fitness tests. How many lessons can we draw for the private sector, for education and for governance from what politics invents? Let's pay attention and dive in.

tags: skype, politics, campaigning, organizing, roots, grassroots, netroots, barackobama.com, barackobama, change.gov, eastbaykerry, eb4kerry

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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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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.

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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What businesses prosper in harsh times?

Who prospered in the great depression? There were three strategies:

Businesses that helped you survive tough times. 

Five and Dimes, buy/sell stores (pawn shops, used clothing, thrift shops) and other local retail.

Repair shops (shoes, tailors/seamstresses, furniture) extending the life of what you own. When shoe repair shops get busy, you know the economy is in pain.

Vegetable seed catalogs and others who helped you garden your own food. Disintermediate farmers and middlemen by using your back yard or roof garden.

Labor market-makers (employment agencies, unions, guilds, clubs) helped employers avoid long lines and people find work. Nepotism and social networks trumped formal employment processes. And political patronage became a lifeline to families that repaid jobs with votes. 

Businesses that served escapism. 

Music, movies, and booze all took off. Quality fell with prices, but you could make a healthy living in making, delivering and serving

• Music (records, sheet music, used instruments, live performance),
• Movies (theaters and the birth of Hollywood), and
• Booze (moonshine, speakeasies, juke joints).

You paid cash directly for all of these goods and services.

No advertising subsidies.

There was some bundling; music came with booze at a speakeasy or juke joint.

Hope was a product too.

Churches, tent revivals, populist politics, and activist newspapers helped people acknowledge the crushing emotional burden of new poverty. They also gave hope for a better future. 

It is easy to share bad news, harder to find a silver lining. Those who provide meaningful hope in bad times not only prosper, they shape the society that emerges.

 

Harsh, apocalyptic times trigger basic human needs for relief, survival, and optimism.

• How will you and your organization serve those needs?
• How can you redesign your company and its products to align with those values? 
• How will you revise your marketing communications, your brand identity, your conversation with suppliers and customers to fit the new realities?

Thanks to Jason Calacanis for asking "What ideas do you have for winning in a down market? How do you stay inspired in bad times?"

tags: economy, depression, apocalypt08, strategy, history

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New US HEART tax law should be good for Skype

Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act, a new US law, will tax the income of green card workers for ten years after they leave the US if they stay in the US for 8 years or more.

Dean Collins, an Aussie geek in New York, suggests permanent residents should leave before their 8th year to avoid the painful double income taxation.

Any forced exodus should boost the demand for international talk, an area where Skype is growing quickly. Few people want to abandon their social capital when preserving their financial capital, so services like Skype, facebook, LinkedIn, and Upcoming become more important.

tags: skype, tax, heart, taxes, exmigration, green card, permanent resident

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oom pah pah

by David Yack

(is this a good thing?)

(the world is getting smaller)

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

more sister

by Kurtado
(the power of presence, convenience, affordability, quality to change behavior)

tags: skype, uk, usa, family

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4 generations

by Sean Moran

tags: skype, video, family, recording

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Monday reading: New PR firm, eduSkype, Emergency dialing, Sex Video, Dating, Multiparty Video

Text 100 became one of Skype's PR firms. Text 100 is a much larger firm than 3 Monkeys Communications, dropped after just five months. Text 100 has presence in North America (new New York office opening last May), EMEA, and APAC (ten years in Japan). They already serve clients eBay, PayPal, Nokia, Cisco, and IBM. via PR Week UK.

♦

Education and music was the topic on the MusTech.Net podcast. Skype's Ian Robin guest starred on last week's show. Distance learning, language instruction, music education, music performance. Ian is an alum of Skype partner Vosky.

♦

Tom Keating's "Vonage slams Skype for not following emergency rules" is a simple and thorough explanation of UK Ofcom's rules, how they apply and don't apply to Skype, who claims what, and where policy conflicts with technology. 

• Clear labeling for UK VoIP by June, March 2007
• Who's In Charge Here? Carrier Battles for Revenue Sustenance, June 2007
• Will It Take UK's Ofcom To Make Canadian SkypeIn Numbers Available?, December 2007

♦

Deadspin's "Kendra Wilkinson Will Skype Your Brains Out" delights in a Playboy Playmate's experience that Skype video is better than phone sex. So that's what all the Skype High Quality Video fuss is about!

♦

Michael Pennington's Wazzum is making turn-key software for dating services. Project "Orange" should launch next month. Key feature? Launching Skype video calls. Saves hosts from paying for video bandwidth.

♦

It's been more than a year since Philippe launched ooVoo's six-way video calling, a year that included an upgrade to high resolution video, Windows only. Apple iChat has had multiparty video for years, Mac only. Meanwhile, Skype just teases...

tags: skype, video, sex, dating, apple, ichat, wazzum, playboy, playmate, "Kendra Wilkinson", kendra, wilkinson, text100, text 100, mustech, ofcom, uk

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Michael Robertson: Use Skype - Go Directly To A Chinese Prison

Reposted with permission from Michael Robertson's blog.

A research firm recently revealed that eBay and TOM are colluding with the Chinese government to spy on users of Skype. Together they monitored user's text chats and stored those containing politically sensitive topics like freedom, democracy, Tibet, opposition to the communist party and Falun Gong. They also track voice call participants. Presumably they turned this data over to the government and it's impossible to track how that data has been used.

“What people have been implicated by their Skype usage and subsequently interrogated, imprisoned or executed?”

If history can be a guide it's logical to assume that the data resulted in prison terms or worse. In 2005, Yahoo was involved in a similar disclosed incident in which it turned over emails to authorities which netted a 10 year prison sentence for a reporter who dared to talk about democracy. I wrote about it when it happened and questioned where one draws the line chasing the almighty dollar (or Yuan). Two years later Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was in front of Congress explaining the situation and apologizing to the mother of the imprisoned.

In response to the revelation of spying on calls and instant messages a spokesman for Skype incredibly stated that Skype is "the most secure forum of publicly available communication." eBay points the finger at their Chinese partner TOM claiming they had "no knowledge or consent" of this privacy breach. This level of compromise requires access to source code which eBay would have had to provide them. Maybe eBay didn't have direct knowledge of these alterations. However no one can deny China's well known efforts to police and censor their citizens net activities which surely eBay executives know about. To provide the source code with no auditing or oversight shows at best a convenient excuse. One wonders how long this would have continued without the whistleblower and how many other countries Skype cooperates with to allow the same spying.

More likely at least some within eBay/Skype knew exactly what TOM was doing and consented because it gave them access to the enormous Chinese market. Its estimated that nearly half of Skype users are from China. This is why Cisco and others design special networking equipment enabling the Chinese government to snoop and lock down their country's net activities. Similar to Skype they are lured by the dollars awaiting any country that cracks the Chinese market.

I would call on eBay to be forthcoming with information on this situation by publicly disclosing details of this situation which will require tough questions of their partner and Chinese government. This would demonstrate that eBay's publicly stated "concern" is more than a press tactic. Specific questions eBay should answer include:

1. When did this spying start?
2. What users did it affect?
3. When specifically did it stop? Has it stopped?
4. What specific terms were monitored? (Users have a right to know if their messages have been implicated.)
5. What people have been implicated by their Skype usage and subsequently interrogated, imprisoned or executed?
6. What steps will be taken to defend these people or get their convictions overturned?
7. Has previously stored data been deleted? How can users be sure?
8. What will eBay do to insure that this spying isn't reactivated as soon as the press attention subsides?
9. What other companies and countries are monitoring Skype communications?
10. What auditing steps is eBay implementing to make sure this does not happen again?

Let me be clear about Gizmo5's policy and refute Skype's spokesman's claim that Skype is the "most secure". Gizmo5 doesn't spy on calls and messages and we wouldn't give that info to any government. We encrypt calls between Gizmo5 users and have given no one the decrypt key. We would not allow a partner or government to do wholesale monitoring of communications - no matter how many billions of prospective customers they have. If ordered to take action by a government that defies basic Western freedoms we would do it only under threat of imprisonment and the information would then be disclosed in this blog condemning the action and striving to defend any of those adversely impacted. I challenge eBay/Skype to do the same. Defend their users. Defend their brand. Defend freedom.

-- MR

Michael Robertson is an entrepreneur, co-founder of Linspire, SIPphone, and MP3tunes.

tags: skype, gizmo5, china, freedom, encryption, privacy, censorship

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Skype to FCC: Mobile carriers blocking Skype is proof of closed networks

Skype asked the FCC to support unfettered customer freedom following statements at CTIA's conference last month. CTIA and Sprint retorted with balderdash and Skype's Christopher Libertelli sets them straight in this short, direct letter. Emphasis mine. 

October 8, 2008

Electronic Filing

Chairman Kevin J. Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
12th Street Lobby, TW-A325
Washington, D.C. 20554

Re: Ex Parte Presentation; RM-11361

Dear Chairman Martin:

Skype Communications S.A.R.L. (“Skype”) responds briefly to CTIA’s letter of September 24th and Sprint Nextel’s letter of September 26th, both of which take issue with Skype’s earlier letter to you regarding the lack of openness of wireless networks. CTIA and Sprint go to great lengths to rebut Skype’s characterization of remarks made at a CTIA conference earlier this month, which Skype viewed as indicative of a hesitant, closed network mentality among wireless operators.

Rather than prolong an empty debate about whose characterization of remarks at the conference is correct, let me point out that Skype’s application is forbidden, blocked and otherwise interfered with by the largest CTIA members.[1] When CTIA members claim that “the entire Internet is open,” the intended implication is that the entire Internet is open, including to multi-modal Internet communications applications like Skype. The truth of the matter, however, is that, despite their representations to the contrary, applications are blocked even on the most recently-announced advanced handsets.[2] The proof of Skype’s argument is in the conduct of CTIA members, no matter what speeches are made at conferences. If Skype is blocked, the network is not open.

I also would like to take this opportunity to remind you that CTIA is currently suing the Commission to overturn the very openness rule they now claim to embrace. If the wireless industry is serious about openness, CTIA would immediately withdraw that litigation.

CTIA attempts to sidestep the fact that its members’ networks are not open by arguing that Skype itself is closed and, apparently, therefore cannot advocate consumer empowerment principles and network openness. To make this point, they cite a blog post by Mr. Michael Robertson, CEO of Gizmo Project, a VOIP application. Fundamentally, Mr. Robertson is wrong. Mr. Robertson confuses open networks with open platforms. Skype is an open platform. Anyone, anywhere on the planet can download Skype for free, and he or she will be able to use Skype. Skype’s software is open to any application developer through our public Application Programming Interface (‘API’) program. Over 10,000 developers have taken advantage of this API and are part of Skype’s developer program. In fact there are many applications that use Skype’s APIs to send calls to/from Skype users and SIP endpoints, including VoSky, Fring, etc. Skype also recently collaborated with Digium/Asterisk, which will now bring Skype into “soft PBXs” for millions of users and allow many forms of applications and services to connect to Skype seamlessly.

Mr. Robertson is also wrong on the law. He rehashes the incumbent wireless operators’ various arguments against network neutrality and confuses to whom the Internet Policy Statement applies. Openness rules are properly targeted at network operators because of the limited intermodal choices available to US consumers in a wireless market dominated by the top three operators. Conversely, there is nearly limitless choice in Internet applications, with fierce competition and few or no barriers to entry. Quite properly, therefore, the Internet Policy Statement applies to networks and not to applications. Its aim is to assure an open Internet so that consumers can choose from the limitless number of applications available to Internet users, absent discrimination by network operators. To apply it to Internet applications would flipt the Internet Policy statement on its head. What the network operators are doing is very different. They restrict consumer choice by blocking Skype and other applications to which consumers would like to have access. To apply the Internet Policy Statement to Internet applications would flip the Policy Statement on its head.

We greatly appreciate CTIA’s invitation to attend the April show in Las Vegas. If CTIA members would like to prove their openness once and for all, Skype’s top executives will be available to attend the conference. When a Skype user can legally call the Chairman of the FCC on the mobile broadband networks of each of the top three wireless networks, we will know that their conduct is consistent with the consumer empowerment principles of the Internet Policy Statement.

We look forward to working with the Commission and CTIA members to ensure that the whole Internet – including multimodal applications such as Skype – is available to consumers.

Respectfully submitted,


Christopher Libertelli
Senior Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs
SKYPE COMMUNICATIONS S.A.R.L.
6e etage, 22/24 boulevard Royal,
Luxembourg, L-2449 LUXEMBOURG

 

1. Most network operators continue to restrict VoIP and or P2P applications on their network in apparent violation of the protocol-agnostic network management techniques employed by other operators, including Comcast.

2. See, e.g., Daniel Roth, Android: No VOIP for You -- and Other Oddities With the Google Phone. Sep. 23, 2008. In addition, commenting on the iPhone’s closed operating system, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, said "Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down...I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed." Oct 8, 2008

tags: skype, sprint, nextel, ctia, policy, suit, api, sip, vosky, fring, digium, asterisk

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TOM-Skype Breach: Questions from 2006

Reblogging this post from 19 April 2006.

The Financial Times' Alison Maitland scored an interview with Niklas Zennström that ran yesterday. In it Zennström confirms the TOM-Skype joint venture censors text messages on behalf of the Chinese government. He claims: "One thing that’s certain is that those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users."

I posed the following questions to Skype but they have no comment beyond trying to insulate Skype from responsibility.

"The Skype offering in China is actively managed by our joint venture in the country; TOM Online. Skype works hard to co-operate with local laws and regulations in all markets where we do business."

1. Is TOM only filtering chats where at least one of the callers' accounts were signed up by TOM Online?
2. Will TOM filter chats if both parties are Chinese nationals but outside the PRC, say traveling in the US?
3. Is TOM only filtering conversations where at least one of the parties are using the custom version of the Skype client written for the joint venture?
4. Will TOM filter conversations using the TOM client being used by non-PRC nationals who are outside of China?
5. Does TOM's contract with Skype provide for disclosure to Skype and Skype users when their information is provided to a government official?
6. Are records of what the filter does kept? If so, by whom? Does Skype have or keep copies of those record?
7. Does the filtering mechanism use a list of keywords? If so, is the list public? May I have a copy? Who has the list? How often does it change?
8. Are the keywords only in Simplified Chinese or are they in other languages too?
9. Is China the only country where Skype and Skype's partner have set up filtering?
10. Do all Skype chats have the potential for a hidden participant, whether human or a robot?
11. Are filenames for transfer subject to filtering?
12. Are people's names among the keywords?
13. Are the content of files transferred via Skype also subject to filtering?
14. Does Skype encrypt end-to-end the IMs that are subject to filtering?
15. In a multiparty, multinational chat, can I as an American citizen have my text to a British subject filtered if someone from Shanghai is in that chat too?
16. Are audio conversations, where at least one party is in China, being listened to, filtered or recorded?
17. Are all calls filtered, or only if users meet certain criteria, or are conversations selected for filtering randomly?

Skype's founders are not strangers to prickly questions of international law and corporate ethics. Their background with file sharing firm Kazaa left them very aware of the business and technology strategies available and their legal and social consequences. This is also a context where phone companies completely block Skype.com and Skype conversations.

Did the ethics conversation ever take place at Skype when they agreed to the Chinese joint venture?

Who was involved and was there a real debate?

And did eBay understand this situation before the acquisition?

See also:

• Jan in Malaysia: "The difference between Asia where Internet is seen as venue for free expression in Asia, unlike China. Thank god I live in Malaysia. Malaysia Boleh ! Wawasan 2020."
• Metafilter thread. "Oh dear, I had high hopes that Skype would hold out. Still, I guess they are telling us. Can anyone find the list of banned words in the TOM client?"
• China Herald: "But on a positive note, unlike Yahoo, Skype does not help to send their users to prison"
• 21talks: "And dear readers, the next time you want to give a call to the holy Dalai Lama, just say you’re trying to reach the smiling guy with glasses and a yellow head cap."
• IP Democracy: "Yeah, well, last I checked, the U.S. and Germany don’t lock up their journalists and throw away the key."

tags: skype, skypejournal, china, chinese, tomonline, tom-skype, filter, filtering, censorship, censor, blocking, ebay inc, ebayinc, ebay, skypetechnologies, policy, strategy, ethics, moral, legal, packetsniffing, surveillance

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TOM-Skype Breach: What is filtered most?

Milk powder. Ah, so the list is updated frequently. 

SARS. Cripple public safety worker communications for the next outbreak?

Skype. Hah!

Chart and terms provided in BREACHING TRUST: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype platform by Nart Villeneuve, Psiphon Fellow, The Citizen Lab, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Information Warfare Monitor Joint Report, ONI Asia (JR01-2008). 1 October 2008.

 

tags: skype, tom-skype, communist, Communist Party, Falun, Hu Jintao, Taiwan independence, Wen Jiabao, quit the party, Jiang Zemin, June 4, Olympic Games, Nine Commentaries, Li Hongzhi, earthquake, democracy, Tibet, Mao Zedong, Circumvention, Deng Xiaoping, Diaoyu Islands, Kuomintang, Tiananmen, milk powder, SARS, Voice of America, free door, filter, anti-blockade browser, Garden Network

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TOM-Skype Breach: Chinese TV News

Ｓｋｙｐｅ在中國的合資公司Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ，爆發擅自儲存數以百萬則用戶的簡訊， 並且將訊息儲存在缺乏足夠保密措施的電腦上，使外部人士可以很容易監控這些簡訊，對此 Ｓｋｙｐｅ公司向用戶道歉。

根據加拿大多倫多大學的電腦安全專家發表報告披露，Ｓｋｙｐｅ在中國的合資公司Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ長期監控用戶在網上聊天的記錄，並且把包含了敏感內容的訊息，儲存在可從公司外部進入的伺服器上，但是由於缺乏安全措施，使外部人士可以輕易的查看經過監控系統過濾的超過一百萬則簡訊，其中很多包括政治敏感詞彙，包括共產黨、法輪功、胡錦濤、台灣獨立、溫家寶等政治敏感關鍵字，地震、奶粉等字眼也在監控範圍之內，由於Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ並沒有將事先這項行為通報Ｓｋｙｐｅ或是獲得Ｓｋｙｐｅ批准，因此Ｓｋｙｐ ｅ向用戶提出道歉。

[Google machine translation:]

Skype's joint venture in China, Tom-Skype, the outbreak of the unauthorized storage of millions of messages the user and the message will be stored in a lack of adequate security measures on the computer, so that outsiders can easily monitor these messages, the Skype's users are An apology.

According to the University of Toronto, Canada, computer security experts issued a report on disclosure, Skype's joint venture in China, Tom-Skype users in the long-term monitoring on-line chat records, and to contain sensitive content of the message can be stored in an external company to enter the server , But due to the lack of safety measures, so that outsiders can easily see through the monitoring system to filter the more than 1,000,000 text messages, many of which include politically sensitive terms, including the Communist Party, Falun Gong, Hu Jintao, Taiwan independence, Wen Jiabao, and other politically sensitive keywords , Earthquakes, and words such as milk powder is also within the scope of monitoring, as the Tom-Skype has not informed in advance of this act or Skype was approved by Skype, so Skype apology to the users.

tags: skype, breach, china, news, tom-skype

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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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a year in china

"@johnkreiss When my friend spend a year in China, she used Skype to talk to her family back home. Apparently great quality, low/no cost." --  Jenny

texas peeps

"loves Skype! keeps me in touch with my Texas peeps!" -- Jackie Gilbert

tags: skype, texas, distance, friendster

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Skype the US Congress

One-click call to Congress.

Email corrections and your stories about your Skyping your elected officials to tips@skypejournal.com.

Revised 30 September 2008.

State	District	Home Page	DC Phone	District Phone	Contact Form
AK	SR	Ted Stevens (R)	202-224-3004	907-376-7665	Contact Form
AK	JR	Lisa Murkowski (R)	202-224-6665	907-376-7665	Contact Form
AK	00	Don Young (R)	202-225-5765	907-225-6880	Contact Form
AL	SR	Richard C. Shelby (R)	202-224-5744	205-759-5047	Contact Form
AL	JR	Jeff Sessions (R)	202-224-4124	256-533-0979	Contact Form
AL	01	Jo Bonner (R)	202-225-4931	251-943-2073	Contact Form
AL	02	Terry Everett (R)	202-225-2901	334-794-9680	Contact Form
AL	03	Mike Rogers (R)	202-225-3261	334-277-4210	Contact Form
AL	04	Robert B. Aderholt (R)	202-225-4876	256-546-0201	Contact Form
AL	05	Bud Cramer, Jr. (D)	202-225-4801	256-551-0190	Contact Form
AL	06	Spencer Bachus (R)	202-225-4921	205-280-0704	Contact Form
AL	07	Artur Davis (D)	202-225-2665	205-752-5380	Contact Form
AR	SR	Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D)	202-224-4843	501-375-2993	Contact Form
AR	JR	Mark Pryor (D)	202-224-2353	501-324-6336	Contact Form
AR	01	Marion Berry (D)	202-225-4076	501-843-3043	Contact Form
AR	02	Vic Snyder (D)	202-225-2506	501-324-5941	Contact Form
AR	03	John Boozman (R)	202-225-4301	479-782-7787	Contact Form
AR	04	Michael A. Ross (D)	202-225-3772	870-881-0681	Contact Form
AS	00	Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (D)	202-225-8577	684-633-1372	Contact Form
AZ	SR	John McCain (R)	202-224-2235	480-897-6289	Contact Form
AZ	JR	Jon Kyl (R)	202-224-4521	520-575-8633	Contact Form
AZ	01	Rick Renzi (R)	202-225-2315	928-587-3417	Contact Form
AZ	02	Trent Franks (R)	202-225-4576	623-776-7911	Contact Form
AZ	03	John B. Shadegg (R)	202-225-3361	602-263-5300	Contact Form
AZ	04	Ed Pastor (D)	202-225-4065	602-256-0551	Contact Form
AZ	05	Harry Mitchell (D)	202-225-2190	480-946-2411	Contact Form
AZ	06	Jeff Flake (R)	202-225-2635	480-833-0092	Contact Form
AZ	07	Raul Grijalva (D)	202-225-2435	520-622-6788	Contact Form
AZ	08	Gabrielle Giffords (D)	202-225-2542	520-881-3588	Contact Form
CA	SR	Dianne Feinstein (D)	202-224-3841	619-231-9712	Contact Form
CA	JR	Barbara Boxer (D)	202-224-3553	909-888-8525	Contact Form
CA	01	Mike Thompson (D)	202-225-3311	530-662-5272	Contact Form
CA	02	Wally Herger (R)	202-225-3076	530-223-5898	Contact Form
CA	03	Dan Lungren (R)	202-225-5716	916-859-9906	Contact Form
CA	04	John T. Doolittle (R)	202-225-2511	800-232-1336	Contact Form
CA	05	Doris Matsui (D)	202-225-7163	916-498-5600	Contact Form
CA	06	Lynn C. Woolsey (D)	202-225-5161	415-507-9554	Contact Form
CA	07	George Miller (D)	202-225-2095	707-645-1888	Contact Form
CA	08	Nancy Pelosi (D)	202-225-4965	415-556-4862	Contact Form
CA	09	Barbara Lee (D)	202-225-2661	510-763-0370	Contact Form
CA	10	Ellen O. Tauscher (D)	202-225-1880	707-428-7792	Contact Form
CA	11	Jerry McNerney (D)	202-225-1947	925-737-0727	Contact Form
CA	12	Jackie Speier (D)	202-225-3531	650-342-0300	Contact Form
CA	13	Fortney (Pete) Stark (D)	202-225-5065	510-494-1388	Contact Form
CA	14	Anna G. Eshoo (D)	202-225-8104	650-323-2984	Contact Form
CA	15	Mike Honda (D)	202-225-2631	408-558-8085	Contact Form
CA	16	Zoe Lofgren (D)	202-225-3072	408-271-8700	Contact Form
CA	17	Sam Farr (D)	202-225-2861	831-429-1976	Contact Form
CA	18	Dennis Cardoza (D)	202-225-6131	209-383-4455	Contact Form
CA	19	George P. Radanovich (R)	202-225-4540	209-579-5458	Contact Form
CA	20	Jim Costa (D)	202-225-3341	559-495-1620	Contact Form
CA	21	Devin Nunes (R)	202-225-2523	559-733-3861	Contact Form
CA	22	Kevin McCarthy (R)	202-225-2915	661-327-3611	Contact Form
CA	23	Lois Capps (D)	202-225-3601	805-546-8348	Contact Form
CA	24	Elton Gallegly (R)	202-225-5811	805-686-2525	Contact Form
CA	25	Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R)	202-225-1956	661-274-9688	Contact Form
CA	26	David Dreier (R)	202-225-2305	909-575-6226	Contact Form
CA	27	Brad Sherman (D)	202-225-5911	818-501-9200	Contact Form
CA	28	Howard L. Berman (D)	202-225-4695	818-994-7200	Contact Form
CA	29	Adam Schiff (D)	202-225-4176	626-304-2727	Contact Form
CA	30	Henry A. Waxman (D)	202-225-3976	323-651-1040	Contact Form
CA	31	Xavier Becerra (D)	202-225-6235	213-483-1425	Contact Form
CA	32	Hilda A. Solis (D)	202-225-5464	323-307-9904	Contact Form
CA	33	Diane E. Watson (D)	202-225-7084	323-965-1422	Contact Form
CA	34	Lucille Roybal-Allard (D)	202-225-1766	213-628-9230	Contact Form
CA	35	Maxine Waters (D)	202-225-2201	323-757-8900	Contact Form
CA	36	Jane Harman (D)	202-225-8220	310-643-3636	Contact Form
CA	37	Laura Richardson (D)	202-225-7924	562-436-3828	Contact Form
CA	38	Grace Napolitano (D)	202-225-5256	562-801-2134	Contact Form
CA	39	Linda T. Sanchez (D)	202-225-6676	562-860-5050	Contact Form
CA	40	Edward R. Royce (R)	202-225-4111	714-992-8081	Contact Form
CA	41	Jerry Lewis (R)	202-225-5861	800-233-1700	Contact Form
CA	42	Gary Miller (R)	202-225-3201	714-257-1142	Contact Form
CA	43	Joe Baca (D)	202-225-6161	909-885-2222	Contact Form
CA	44	Ken Calvert (R)	202-225-1986	951-784-4300	Contact Form
CA	45	Mary Bono Mack (R)	202-225-5330	951-658-2312	Contact Form
CA	46	Dana Rohrabacher (R)	202-225-2415	714-960-6483	Contact Form
CA	47	Loretta Sanchez (D)	202-225-2965	714-621-0102	Contact Form
CA	48	John Campbell (R)	202-225-5611	949-756-2244	Contact Form
CA	49	Darrell Issa (R)	202-225-3906	760-599-5000	Contact Form
CA	50	Brian Bilbray (R)	202-225-0508	858-350-1150	Contact Form
CA	51	Bob Filner (D)	202-225-8045	619-422-5963	Contact Form
CA	52	Duncan Hunter (R)	202-225-5672	619-448-5201	Contact Form
CA	53	Susan A. Davis (D)	202-225-2040	619-280-5353	Contact Form
CO	SR	Wayne Allard (R)	202-224-5941	970-461-3530	Contact Form
CO	JR	Ken Salazar (D)	202-224-5852	970-224-2200	Contact Form
CO	01	Diana DeGette (D)	202-225-4431	303-844-4988	Contact Form
CO	02	Mark Udall (D)	202-225-2161	303-650-7820	Contact Form
CO	03	John Salazar (D)	202-225-4761	970-245-7107	Contact Form
CO	04	Marilyn Musgrave (R)	202-225-4676	970-522-1788	Contact Form
CO	05	Doug Lamborn (R)	202-225-4422	719-520-0055	Contact Form
CO	06	Tom Tancredo (R)	202-225-7882	720-283-9772	Contact Form
CO	07	Ed Perlmutter (D)	202-225-2645	303-274-7944	Contact Form
CT	SR	Christopher J. Dodd (D)	202-224-2823	800-334-5341	Contact Form
CT	JR	Joseph I. Lieberman (I)	202-224-4041	860-549-8463	Contact Form
CT	01	John Larson (D)	202-225-2265	860-278-8888	Contact Form
CT	02	Joe Courtney (D)	202-225-2076	860-886-0139	Contact Form
CT	03	Rosa L. DeLauro (D)	202-225-3661	203-562-3718	Contact Form
CT	04	Christopher Shays (R)	202-225-5541	203-357-8277	Contact Form
CT	05	Christopher Murphy (D)	202-225-4476	860-223-8412	Contact Form
DC	00	Eleanor Holmes Norton (D)	202-225-8050	202-783-5065	Contact Form
DE	SR	Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D)	202-224-5042	302-573-6345	Contact Form
DE	JR	Thomas R. Carper (D)	202-224-2441	302-856-7690	Contact Form
DE	00	Michael N. Castle (R)	202-225-4165	302-428-1902	Contact Form
FL	SR	Bill Nelson (D)	202-224-5274	305-536-5999	Contact Form
FL	JR	Mel Martinez (R)	202-224-3041	904-398-8586	Contact Form
FL	01	Jeff Miller (R)	202-225-4136	850-664-1266	Contact Form
FL	02	Allen Boyd (D)	202-225-5235	850-561-3979	Contact Form
FL	03	Corrine Brown (D)	202-225-0123	407-872-0656	Contact Form
FL	04	Ander Crenshaw (R)	202-225-2501	386-365-3316	Contact Form
FL	05	Ginny Brown-Waite (R)	202-225-1002	352-799-8354	Contact Form
FL	06	Cliff Stearns (R)	202-225-5744	904-269-3203	Contact Form
FL	07	John L. Mica (R)	202-225-4035	407-657-8080	Contact Form
FL	08	Ric Keller (R)	202-225-2176	888-642-1211	Contact Form
FL	09	Gus Michael Bilirakis (R)	202-225-5755	813-985-8541	Contact Form
FL	10	C. W. (Bill) Young (R)	202-225-5961	727-893-3191	Contact Form
FL	11	Kathy Anne Castor (D)	202-225-3376	813-871-2817	Contact Form
FL	12	Adam Putnam (R)	202-225-1252	863-534-3530	Contact Form
FL	13	Vernon Gale Buchanan (R)	202-225-5015	941-951-6643	Contact Form
FL	14	Connie Mack (R)	202-225-2536	239-252-6225	Contact Form
FL	15	Dave Weldon (R)	202-225-3671	800-939-3515	Contact Form
FL	16	Tim Edward Mahoney (D)	202-225-5792	941-627-9100	Contact Form
FL	17	Kendrick B. Meek (D)	202-225-4506	954-450-6767	Contact Form
FL	18	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R)	202-225-3931	305-220-3281	Contact Form
FL	19	Robert Wexler (D)	202-225-3001	561-988-6302	Contact Form
FL	20	Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)	202-225-7931	954-437-3936	Contact Form
FL	21	Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R)	202-225-4211	305-470-8555	Contact Form
FL	22	Ron J. Klein (D)	202-225-3026	954-522-4579	Contact Form
FL	23	Alcee L. Hastings (D)	202-225-1313	561-684-0565	Contact Form
FL	24	Tom Feeney (R)	202-225-2706	321-264-6113	Contact Form
FL	25	Mario Diaz-Balart (R)	202-225-2778	305-225-6866	Contact Form
GA	SR	Saxby Chambliss (R)	202-224-3521	770-763-9090	Contact Form
GA	JR	Johnny Isakson (R)	202-224-3643	770-661-0999	Contact Form
GA	01	Jack Kingston (R)	202-225-5831	229-247-9188	Contact Form
GA	02	Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D)	202-225-3631	706-320-9477	Contact Form
GA	03	Lynn Westmoreland (R)	202-225-5901	770-683-2033	Contact Form
GA	04	Hank Johnson (D)	202-225-1605	770-987-2291	Contact Form
GA	05	John Lewis (D)	202-225-3801	404-659-0116	Contact Form
GA	06	Tom Price (R)	202-225-4501	678-493-6176	Contact Form
GA	07	John Linder (R)	202-225-4272	770-232-3005	Contact Form
GA	08	Jim Marshall (D)	202-225-6531	877-464-0255	Contact Form
GA	09	Nathan Deal (R)	202-225-5211	706-226-5320	Contact Form
GA	10	Paul C. Broun (R)	202-225-4101	706-886-1008	Contact Form
GA	11	Phil Gingrey (R)	202-225-2931	770-429-1776	Contact Form
GA	12	John Barrow (D)	202-225-2823	478-553-1923	Contact Form
GA	13	David Scott (D)	202-225-2939	770-210-5073	Contact Form
GU	00	Madeleine Bordallo (D)	202-225-1188	671-477-4272	Contact Form
HI	SR	Daniel K. Inouye (D)	202-224-3934	808-245-4611	Contact Form
HI	JR	Daniel K. Akaka (D)	202-224-6361	808-935-1114	Contact Form
HI	01	Neil Abercrombie (D)	202-225-2726	808-541-2570	Contact Form
HI	02	Mazie Hirono (D)	202-225-4906	808-541-1986	Contact Form
IA	SR	Charles E. Grassley (R)	202-224-3744	319-363-6832	Contact Form
IA	JR	Tom Harkin (D)	202-224-3254	712-252-1550	Contact Form
IA	01	Bruce Braley (D)	202-225-2911	563-557-7789	Contact Form
IA	02	Dave Loebsack (D)	202-225-6576	319-351-0789	Contact Form
IA	03	Leonard L. Boswell (D)	202-225-3806	888-432-1984	Contact Form
IA	04	Tom Latham (R)	202-225-5476	515-232-2885	Contact Form
IA	05	Steve King (R)	202-225-4426	712-580-7754	Contact Form
ID	SR	Larry E. Craig (R)	202-224-2752	208-523-5541	Contact Form
ID	JR	Mike Crapo (R)	202-224-6142	208-334-1776	Contact Form
ID	01	Bill Sali (R)	202-225-6611	208-743-1388	Contact Form
ID	02	Mike Simpson (R)	202-225-5531	208-734-7219	Contact Form
IL	SR	Richard J. Durbin (D)	202-224-2152	312-353-4952	Contact Form
IL	JR	Barack Obama (D)	202-224-2854	312-886-3506	Contact Form
IL	01	Bobby L. Rush (D)	202-225-4372	773-224-6500	Contact Form
IL	02	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D)	202-225-0773	708-798-6000	Contact Form
IL	03	Dan Lipinski (D)	202-225-5701	708-424-0853	Contact Form
IL	04	Luis V. Gutierrez (D)	202-225-8203	773-342-0774	Contact Form
IL	05	Rahm Emanuel (D)	202-225-4061	773-267-5926	Contact Form
IL	06	Peter Roskam (R)	202-225-4561	630-893-9670	Contact Form
IL	07	Danny Davis (D)	202-225-5006	708-345-6857	Contact Form
IL	08	Melissa Bean (D)	202-225-3711	847-925-0265	Contact Form
IL	09	Janice Schakowsky (D)	202-225-2111	773-506-7100	Contact Form
IL	10	Mark S. Kirk (R)	202-225-4835	847-940-0202	Contact Form
IL	11	Jerry Weller (R)	202-225-3635	815-740-2028	Contact Form
IL	12	Jerry F. Costello (D)	202-225-5661	618-233-8026	Contact Form
IL	13	Judy Biggert (R)	202-225-3515	630-655-2052	Contact Form
IL	14	Bill Foster (D)	202-225-2976	815-288-0680	Contact Form
IL	15	Timothy V. Johnson (R)	202-225-2371	217-348-6759	Contact Form
IL	16	Donald A. Manzullo (R)	202-225-5676	815-394-1231	Contact Form
IL	17	Phil Hare (D)	202-225-5905	217-422-9150	Contact Form
IL	18	Ray LaHood (R)	202-225-6201	217-245-1431	Contact Form
IL	19	John Shimkus (R)	202-225-5271	618-392-7737	Contact Form
IN	SR	Richard G. Lugar (R)	202-224-4814	317-226-5555	Contact Form
IN	JR	Evan Bayh (D)	202-224-5623	260-426-3151	Contact Form
IN	01	Peter J. Visclosky (D)	202-225-2461	219-795-1844	Contact Form
IN	02	Joe Donnelly (D)	202-225-3915	574-288-2780	Contact Form
IN	03	Mark Edward Souder (R)	202-225-4436	800-959-3041	Contact Form
IN	04	Stephen E. Buyer (R)	202-225-5037	317-838-0404	Contact Form
IN	05	Dan Burton (R)	202-225-2276	800-382-6020	Contact Form
IN	06	Mike Pence (R)	202-225-3021	765-747-5566	Contact Form
IN	07	Andre Carson (D)	202-225-4011	317-283-6516	Contact Form
IN	08	Brad Ellsworth (D)	202-225-4636	812-232-0523	Contact Form
IN	09	Baron P. Hill (D)	202-225-5315	812-288-3999	Contact Form
KS	SR	Sam Brownback (R)	202-224-6521	785-233-2503	Contact Form
KS	JR	Pat Roberts (R)	202-224-4774	913-451-9343	Contact Form
KS	01	Jerry Moran (R)	202-225-2715	785-628-6401	Contact Form
KS	02	Nancy Boyda (D)	202-225-6601	785-234-8111	Contact Form
KS	03	Dennis Moore (D)	202-225-2865	913-383-2013	Contact Form
KS	04	Todd Tiahrt (R)	202-225-6216	316-262-8992	Contact Form
KY	SR	Mitch McConnell (R)	202-224-2541	502-582-6304	Contact Form
KY	JR	Jim Bunning (R)	202-224-4343	606-435-2390	Contact Form
KY	01	Edward Whitfield (R)	202-225-3115	270-826-4180	Contact Form
KY	02	Ron Lewis (R)	202-225-3501	270-842-9896	Contact Form
KY	03	John Yarmuth (D)	202-225-5401	502-582-5129	Contact Form
KY	04	Geoff Davis (R)	202-225-3465	859-426-0080	Contact Form
KY	05	Harold Rogers (R)	202-225-4601	606-679-8346	Contact Form
KY	06	Ben Chandler (D)	202-225-4706	859-219-1366	Contact Form
LA	SR	Mary Landrieu (D)	202-224-5824	504-589-2427	Contact Form
LA	JR	David Vitter (R)	202-224-4623	504-589-2753	Contact Form
LA	01	Steve Scalise (R)