Monthly Archives: April 2007

Going Global With Skype

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As you probably figured out by now, I’m always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to use IT. Besides it being my profession, I flat out enjoy it. I’m one of those blessed souls who is fortunate enough to have a job that’s also their hobby. So, on a day like today, I’m pretty much as happy as a pig in slop. Why? I took today off, the sun is shining in the blue skies of Stockholm, Steely Dan’s “Everything Must Go” is playing in the background on both my MacBook Pro as well as my stereo (simultaneously, of course) thanks to a wireless connection via my Apple Airport Express (which is PC friendly as well, FYI), before I finally head into town to buy a bike (which I’m loooong overdue in buying). It’s another one of those days where where the good weather reminds me to thank God for life. And now I get to share my adventures with Skype with you. Oh yeah! It’s a banner day people.

For those of you who have never heard of Skype, I’m not about to try and explain all that it is. I have heard some call it a Voice Over IP (VoIP) client, some call it a chat client, and other things as well. Nevertheless, the more I use it, the more it turns into something else. But, and this is no surprise, the folks at Wikipedia have the best definition I’ve seen so far, so here you go.

Don’t get me wrong. Yes. One can make phone calls with it. In fact, I tend to call my friends and family in the U.S. via Skype. The rates are extremely competitive! After taking a peek at those rates the first time, I quickly signed up and got myself a SkypeOut account. Then I started digging a bit deeper.

Since I live in Scandinavia, I’ve been acquainted with SMS messaging for nearly 10 years now. It has literally become something I depend on both on and off the job. But you should know that already based on my writing about how elated I’d become when I discovered Google Calendar sends free SMS reminders for events, in my last entry. All that said, SkypeOut also supports SMSing. While it isn’t free, the rates are good. The only thing better than a good rate is “free”. :)

Speaking of free, if you’re calling another Skype member, it is just that. In fact, I make free calls quite a bit to other Skype users. But it gets better. I also make free video calls. If you recall, I mentioned Skype-ing with Erik the Red and Cool Business Lady, their cutie pie “the little Ducissa” in an entry last month. That didn’t cost anyone a single cent (or crown, for that matter!). That’s nice. And the future seems to offer more and more.

Now that I’ve typed “more and more”, that’s a nice little segue into my mentioning Skype’s offering conferencing for up to nine other users. Oh yes. It’s a powerful little piece of software indeed. But I must go on.

Da Minx uses Skype at work. This means she’s a more savvy user than most. I found out that I was included in the “most” crowd the other day when I was playing with it and about to make a call to the U.S. She asked me why I hadn’t set up a SkypeIn number for myself. I didn’t really know what she was talking about, so I asked her to elaborate. Then she explained that if I simply got myself a SkypeIn number in New York it would be a lot cheaper for folks in there and the rest of the U.S. to call me via that number. After feeling a bit sheepish (call it techy pride if you must), I told her I never really though about it. Then, with the proverbial shoe being on the other foot, I asked her to walk me through the steps. It was cake. She simply told me to click on the link and set up an account for myself. I got to choose a number with an area code in New York City (NOTE: don’t waste your time hunting for a 212 number. They’ve been gone for years now. I had to settle for a 718 number), and I was good to go. Now, regardless of where I am anywhere in the world, if I’m connected to the Internet and using Skype, if someone in New York calls that number, it’s a local call for them. If someone calls me from anywhere in the U.S., it’s a national call. That’s pretty nice, and I know my friends and family in the U.S. appreciate it. “But what if you’re not connected, Harlem?” Easy fix. Then the caller simply leaves me a voicemail message. It’s that simple. And the nice folks at Skype are kind enough to offer my buying up to 14 different numbers around the globe for use. In case you’re wondering, a number costs me $22 for 3 months, or $67 for an entire year.

Da Minx and I used Skype in a way today that I thought was rather slick. She left for work and forgot an important document she needed. Seeing as the MacBook Pro comes with Photo Booth and a built-in iSight camera, I simply got the document, took a snap shot in Photo Booth (which saves it as a .jpg), and file transfered it to her via Skype during a chat session. (NOTE: I wish I could say I came up with this idea on my own, but that’s not the case. I believe I read about this on the MacWorld web site some time ago.)

Yes, I know I could’ve simply e-mailed it to her after taking the snapshot of it. But, as I wrote, it was an important document. Add to that the fact that I’m very cautious when it comes to transferring data across the Internet, and you get where I’m going. But the Skype folks thought about this as well. Hence the reason they’re as serious about security as can be. I know when I’m transferring data via Skype, unless the NSA or some NSA wannabes out there want to really find out what I’m sending, it’s secure. That’s a nice feeling.

So, if you’re not already using Skype, you may want to reconsider. And there’s one other important little thing I forgot to mention. Skype doesn’t cost you anything to download and install. Yep. It’s free. ;) Of course, there are services you can buy. That’s a given. But if you and your family use it, it costs you nothing to call, chat, and transfer files. That’s worth considering.

Well, it’s time for me to go buy that bike. Have a good one folks!

Laterz.

Better Late Than Never

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Hey there folks. I know. It’s been awhile since my last post and I apologize for that, but salsa lessons have started again. Before any of you fellows out there start laughing at me, I only ask you to do one simple thing: ask the lady in your life if she would like to take salsa lessons with you. After the initial shock wears off, she will give you what I call that “first date” smile. That’s the smile you get because she’s crazy about you and can’t hide it. Think back to when you first started dating and how she used to light up when you did those romantic things you used to do. I could go on, but I’ll just leave it at that. But no laughing until you ask.

Last week, not too long after my last entry, I took the leap. I finally dared to do it. I’d heard about it and decided that now it was simply time to give it a shot. I’d heard podcasts about it, but I still didn’t want to bother, because I know me. Once I try something out, if I like it I’m going to have to commit to it. To learn the ins and outs about it. It’s the IT geek in me. When we learn something we try and learn it well, and if we don’t get the time, we become frustrated and tip-toe around it until we finally get some real tinkering time.

“Okay already, Harlem! What are you talking about?!?”

Oops. Sorry about that.

That would be Google Calendar.

Oh, I know some folks may have given it a shot and moved on already. That’s how it is with a lot of folks nowadays. But I’m soon 42 and have learned over time to approach things that can become time consuming more carefully. I find all this rushing and switching that others seem to do nowadyas a bit unhealthy. So I’ve been playing around with Google Calendar for over a week now and I must say I’m pretty hooked on it. What’s even more fun is that I get to share it with my wife. …woe. That sounded as corny as a 1980′s shampoo commercial. Sorry about that. But seriously, I do get to share it with both my wife, daughter, and whomever else I choose to share it with. That’s part of the beauty of it.

Before I go any further let me say to all of the Microsoft Outlook fans out there that I’m well aware of Outlook offering these very same services in Public Folders. In fact, we use Public Folders in the organization I work for. Nevertheless — and you knew this was coming — Outlook costs money. It costs money per client, and I’m not about to buy or set up an Exchange server to run and spend way too many hours monitoring, patching, and updating at home. No thanks. I see what our Exchange server folks have to go through at work. I’m not about to bring that into my home. And everyone out there who knows just a teensy weensy bit about IT security knows that my footprint on the net would go up just enough to attract more attention than the average home user wants. That would mean I’d have to buy a firewall, configure that, blah, blah, blah… Nah-uh. If I wanted all of that I wouldn’t own a Mac. ;)

And to my fellow Mac enthusiasts, for you, I know that .mac offers the same services through iCal, but I’d like for folks like my wife and daughter, who don’t have .mac accounts, to be able to access my calendar. Besides, it’s enough for me to dish out $99 a year for my .mac account alone. Yes, I love Macs, but I’m not shelling out more money for .mac accounts. Surely not in its current state!

I don’t have to worry about that in my Google Calendar life. Why? Because Google Calendar is free! It doesn’t cost a dime. (I can’t help but wonder what Microsoft, the company that brought us Internet Explorer for free (!) is thinking about Google Calendar. I bet Netscape fans know where my mind is going.) And free things tend to be more appealing, of course. I’m willing to guess that at least one of you out there is going to go and have a peek at it based on this alone.

Sooooo, I now have a calendar that the entire family can check out. Well, if I wanted, the entire world could check it out (which is kind of cool, but a bit creepy too), but I’m not likely to bore you all with my daily goings on.

“So what. You have a calendar you can share. Big deal!”

Yeah. It is a big deal. But OF COURSE that’s not it!

As I touched on just briefly, I can share it publicly, or I can choose private sharing. This means that I can share something only with my wife and daughter, or I can choose to share it with anyone I give access to my calendar. And for my friends that don’t have a Google account, I simply send them the link (I hope by some stroke of sheer luck Mr. Jobs has something like this in the work for .mac!!!). But it’s not just the sharing I like.

When one has an important event they need to remember, it’s fine and dandy having a pop-up with a sound occur on their computer you’re using. But Google is smarter than that. They take it to the next level entirely. I have Google configured so that it will send an SMS message to my mobile phone to remind me of certain events, and that’s pretty nice. And how much does it cost me to receive these messages? Not one single Swedish Crown! (Remember. I live in Sweden, folks.) It’s free! And you already know how I feel about that (lol). Unfortunately, for my fellow Americans who reside in the U.S., you may have to check with your carrier about this. For some strange reason I’ve never been able to understand, U.S. residents are sometimes charged for receiving mobile calls.

As you can see, I’m enjoying my Google Calendar experience. In fact, so is my wife! She now has her own Google calendar as well. We are currently a Google Calendar family, and it’s better than I expected. But enough for now. I get the feeling I’ll be telling you more about some of the other cool features later. In the meantime, go and have a peek. You know you want to. ;)

Laterz.

And So the Handset Disabling Continues

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Now imagine this:

You just bought yourself a nice, cool, sleak Nokia E65 or N95 for around £700. You’re excited as can be because you want to utilize the VoIP network you have access to, and your Nokia has SIP capability. You get home, you configure your phone as you ought and “fwwwrrreppp.” No good. You can’t get a connection. You try reconfiguring until your blue in the face, but to no avail. You eventually sniff around the internet and discover your provider has disabled components of your £700 phone and it’s now worth about £300-400.

How excited would you be about that?

Well, the folks at The Register are keeping us posted on just such a possibility unfolding in the UK.

Hold on to your hats boys and girls. This could get really interesting!

The Love of Money

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“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…” (1 Timothy 6:10)

It looks like this may be the case for both Orange and Vodafone in the UK. Why else would they remove the VoIP capability from the Nokia N95s people get from them as reported on The Register’s site? I guess “customer choice” is not in their vocabulary. (YIKES!)

More Choice Isn’t Always Better

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It’s hard for me to truly explain to folks why I’ve come to love my Mac. As one of my colleagues at work, The Barron, recently pointed out, it took me only 9 days to go from being “on the way” to actually including myself in the “Mac lovers” category. Actually, seeing as my MacBook Pro was a Christmas treat to myself, I’d argue it took a little longer. Nevertheless, I won’t hesitate to say I’m now an unquestionable Mac-loyalist who loves his Mac. Getting back to my point, it’s often hard for PC users who don’t experience the switch for themselves to understand. Luckily, there are others out there with more experience who are better at writing about it than I am at the moment. A fine example would be a recent article written by Carl Howe on the SeekingAlpha web site.

In part of Mr. Howe’s article, he explains, much better I easily confess than I could, an experience I often refer to as “The Cereal Aisle Dilemma”. By that I’m referring to the experience one goes through in a large US supermarket when all they want to do is by one box of breakfast cereal. You walk into the aisle and you pretty much lose your breath at the amount of cereals to choose from. The choices are so vast that one often wants to just give up and leave. And I’m sure there are more than a few parents of small children who often avoid going in that aisle altogether for this very reason when they have their kids with them.

In this day and age when one of the popular mantras is “the more choice, the better”, few fail to realize just how false this sometimes is. But I won’t steal any more of Mr. Howe’s thunder. Read the rest for yourself.

Laterz.

It Pays to Play Nice in the Sandbox

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Microsoft is infamous for swallowing up companies that are more innovative than them. If you can’t beat’em, buy’em, right? Granted, they’re not alone. Contrary to what we Mac lovers would like to believe, the iPod isn’t the brainchild of Steve Jobs and company. Nor is iTunes. Nevertheless, Apple seems to treat folks a bit better in the sandbox if they don’t want to share their toys. The same can’t be said of Microsoft.

That said, I found it rather interesting that some folks aren’t even inviting Microsoft to their demos for probably this very reason. Check out the second to last paragraph in this article. Mind you, the last paragraph says quite a bit as well.