The Blog known as Skype-watch.com, Skype-gadgets.com.

The Skype nomad filmed a psycho toilet...

Okay, good : a toilet that suck ups water in funny way. Lucky we only saw it with water... It's called the cuteness of blogging... But maybe there should be a bit more blogging on how the skype devices perform during the trip ?

What would be interesting is to see how much total time of the trip the skype nomad ID is like really online ? That would be interesting data to publish. (in percentages...). What devices are performing the best during the trip. Things like that...

What we see now is a cute travel diary, nothing more, nothing less... I would have expected the Skype nomad handing out some Skype stuff to x,y,z locals in the population, being intercepted by important bloggers or others that have something to do with Skype ... Simply asking (and filming them, whith a proper camera,not some nokia...) people if they know Skype would have been a good idea.... For me it's all a bit too "my trip" and not enough about how Skype can be useful along the way.

Now it seems to me that Skype just sponsored a trip around the world. How much of the generated content is Skype related ?

But thanks to the toilet bowl being documented by the Skype nomad, I got to see some funny jokes about toilets on youtube.

Now maybe write something about Skype and we will get to see some skype related video content.

Entrust your voice to the wild west of the Internet ?

Good article on VoIP in business. "explore ways to get the most out of an Internet-based PBX (Private Branch Exchange) deployment so that your calls are as cheap and reliable as you are willing to make them. And we’ll look at ways to help you decide how much risk your company can tolerate in the name of slashing phone bills" source.

Skype Pamfax does not do it for me, sorry.

And here is why.

I installed it and okay, I need to install the Skype extra's manager. But okay, even I don't like that heave platform, I will give it a try. But this is where the pamfax implementation will already be stopped in many companies... who allow skype but not all those plugins.

We continue on pamfax. I thought that I would be able to use either my OWN SkypeOut credit to send faxes at a more affordable rate than over the PSTN network. But here is what I noticed.

1st you must buy credit via the Pamfax account (this is how they make money and this is why the software is free). 2nd in the end I was even more dissapointed since the bill of sending 2 pages via Pamfax costed me 1EURO while if I would send it locally it would cost me not even 10 cent.

Conclusion : I could say a lot about this software, but it just does not cut it for me.

In the end I got even an error of a payment gateway, so they could not even get the 1 euro. It's not mainstream yet. It gets worse : it was simply not working.

Over and Out, I am deleting the Skype the extra's again and I am reverting to my good old and reliable www.efax.com program. I believe that things like Pamfax will never be able to compete with the existing systems. By the way, if you can throw a skype ID a pdf-file why do you need to send them a fax ?

I see some issues with the server portal also, but I got no time to elaborate on that one right now. I think that the developers of pamfax still have some work to do...   

See my other screendumps on www.flickr.com/tropicaljantie

Former eBay marketing will run Skype marketing.

"Skype, the internet phone company, has appointed former eBay marketer Suchi Mukherjee to its top marketing role. Mukherjee, who has already joined the company, has the title of director of user experience and customer journey, and will be responsible for marketing as well as growing its customer base." source.

As found on linkedin the official title is :             " Director, User Experience & Product Prioritisation at Skype, an Ebay Inc. Company". How can you fit that on a business-card ?

A thing to look at is what follows. This user obviously has had a bad experience with Skype, which would explain all his ranting : Twisted Logic in Skype "Community" Administration, Jamie's Random Musings on Video IM, More Blundering in the Skype "Community",

Furthermore it would be interesting to see who from the original Skype team remains on the Skype Executive Board.

source news : Ex-eBay marketer takes Skype top role

Schiferli's Pamfax goes global (at least online) and I hope it does not become SPAMfax...

" LAKE COUNTY – Lake County's online talk show, Power Networking (www.talkshoe.com/tc/1833), will conduct an interview with Dick Schiferili, CEO of Pam Consult, Saturday morning at 9 a.m.  

Schiferili will be calling in for the interview from Europe. This is a very important interview for people living in the Lake County area because the discussion will partly focus on Skype – the fastest growing FREE telephone service in the world. How do you get it? What can you do with it – besides make FREE phone calls to anyone who also uses Skype ... anywhere in the world? Among the more than 300 million Skype users, there are many who use the modern and affordable VOIP software as their main or exclusive means for making calls. Until rather recently, Skype users have not been able to use Skype to send faxes. Schiferili's company has now closed that gap with PamFax. This program sends documents from a PC without the expense of a fax machine from any location and deducts the resulting charges from the user's Skype credit. Sending faxes requires very little input from the user. PamFax is actually a follow-up to Pam Consult's signature product, Pamela – the automated virtual assistant. Power Networking can be accessed online up to 15 minutes before 9 a.m. by going to www.talkshoe.com and clicking on the icon for the show. You can also use your telephone to call into the show if you would rather not use a computer. The phone number is 724-444-7444. The caller ID is 1833." source.

Product : www.pamfax.biz

My take : let's hope that this PAM FAX does not turn into SPAM FAX, but then again, when was the appliciation of an invention ever the concern of the inventor... I just wonder what Skype can do about protecting x,y,z from SPAMFAXING via Skype....

Looks like a fun thing to test and that is what I will do.

I wonder how this work with those global unlimited calling numbers. Does this mean I can send unlimited faxes to PSTN-numbers via Skype ?

Skype is hiring 3 monkeys to re-educate consumers on how VoIP works. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

"Internet phone market leader Skype has taken on new PR advice as the company aims to 're-educate' consumers on how VoIP works. 3 Monkeys Communications has been handed a B2B and consumer brief for the UK. It will also co-ordinate Skype's other agencies worldwide. The London agency will support Skype's press office, with account director Tristan Pineiro overseeing a team of six....   

3 Monkeys worked on a project with Skype last year as part of its work with mobile giant 3. After helping to launch the 3 Skypephone, the agency was invited to pitch for a larger chunk of the business. Incumbent agency Six Degrees will remain on board for project work. Both report to Skype head of global PR Imogen Bailey. 3 Monkeys recently launched sister agency Challenger Brand PR, in its Oxford office, to deal with conflict clients (PRWeek, 30 April). " source.

I hope we are talking about these three wise monkeys... Looking forward to see their policy on how they deal with Skype blogs....

Will it be the story of see no evil. hear no evil, speak no evil ?

Maybe the 3 monkeys should start running a blog themselves (to learn what it means...), because that is apparently the pressure-whole via which all what is "solved and addressed" on the Skype forum comes out.

Maybe take a skype ID also...

Here is one of the PR problem to start tackling : More Blundering in the Skype "Community".

Company : 3 Monkeys

Added myself to www.fon.com

I was just looking in my old boxes of skype related gadgets. Making an inventory actually. Finally decided to plugin the FON.COM router.

Normally you can find me on http://maps.fon.com/. Don't steal my bandtwidth... It's kind of a scarce commodity in Malaysia... For example, my 10254/512 ADSL line give me about 100kb/sec download speeds AT MOST. Hence we don't have a lot of bandwidth to share.

This is probably why currently things based on the "sharing is good" concept don't really get accepted here easily in Malaysia. Different stage of internet adaptation, as compared to Europe/USA also. But okay the box is online. It's actually a good mini-wifi router. You could easily drag this along to have wifi in some hotels where they have good wired connection  but not always so good free wifi. Although this is changing rapidly.

After registration they send me an email " Your friend, jan geirnaert (jangeirnaert@msn.com), has sent you a FON Spot location on the FON Maps for you to check out. http://maps.fon.com?lt=3.18259482940698&ln=101.68344497680664&zm=14 "

Small Business Owner's Critique Of Internet Phone Service

" If you make a lot of business calls and you're still not using Skype, drop everything you're doing and sign up for a free account. The phone services has come a long way and can help boost your business' productivity and sales. " By Jordan Malik source.

Asus Notebook boots Skype in Seconds

This is exactly what I have been waiting for !

DeviceVM today announced the release of their award winning Splashtop™ software on numerous ASUS notebooks. Splashtop is a light-weight operating system that allows consumers to use their computers seconds after hitting the power button.

news : Asus Notebooks Getting Splashtop Instant Boot Linux OS
source : Splashtop
Company : DeviceVM

(s)Pamfax has (s)Pamnews.com :)

Upcoming Skype Toolbars will support PamFax2 hours ago by Dick 
The next releases of the Skype Firefox and IE toolbars (which are included with every Skype installation) will have added support for PamFax. It works pretty slick and allows you to click and send a fax. Very easy!

news : http://www.pamnews.com/ / Upcoming Skype Toolbars will support PamFax
PamFax finally passed the Skype certification.

Belkin F1PP010EN-SK Skype Desktop Phone

Belkin F1PP010EN-SK Skype Desktop Phone

" The phone was announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show, but only now is available for consumers. The Belkin F1PP010EN-SK Skype Desktop Phone lists for $100, but can be purchased for $80 at Amazon and J&R." source.

No sample provided to www.skype-gadgets.com, no hands on hardware review.

Read the marketing stories here : Belkin : Desktop Internet Phone  for Skype

Let's blow the horn : Hackers stole Woeser's Skype identity.

" BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing-based Tibetan dissident writer who has been writing about the unrest there has come under cyber-attack to silence her, and possibly implicate her associates, her husband and activists said on Wednesday.    

Hackers stole Woeser's Skype identity on Tuesday and impersonated her in instant message exchanges with her Skype contacts, apparently to trick her 170-odd contacts into revealing politically sensitive information which could then be used to trump up charges against them, Wang Lixiong told Reuters." source : Tibet dissident writer under cyber-attack

Skype ID : degewa.

source : Tibet dissident writer under cyber-attack
related : Noted Tibetan Writer's Site Hacked
More on Woeser's Skype identity.
source image.
Skype ID related : Degewa

Read also this : Prominent Tibetan Dissident Blogger Hacked, Impersonated on Skype where it is stated that "Tsering Woeser, the prominent Tibetan poet and blogger, has been under attack from the Chinese nationalist hacker team Honker Union. Her Skype account has been broken into, and now other dissidents are being contacted by people pretending to be Woeser. ".

My take : time to blow the Tibettan horn... I wonder how those "hackers" actually got into Woeser's Skype account...Then think back about the dual, triple and quadruple (endless I think) login without notification that is possible with Skype. I documented this conceptual flaw in detail previously.

You will simply never know who is listening to your chats and looking at your contacts if that would be the case. This is still the biggest weakness in the whole security within the user-interface. Anybody who guesses your password or who get's hold of it can simply follow chats and see your contacts. You will never know. This is alarming. The above is just an example of how easy it is to get kicked out of your own Skype account.

This is also a perfect demonstration of why most companies with strict rules and procedures might have a serious problem with Skype as such since you don't know who is logging onto your account (inside or outside the organization) and if that would happen, you don't get any notification. This is very unsafe. I also think that there are legal issues on the matter of IM privacy...

As a user you can patch this by not putting your normal email address in the skype box, and by changing your password on regular basis, before somebody else does it for you...

A yet more profound question to get an answer to is what is the applied security policy of skype on this matter.  Think why they leave this feature in place...

Anybody out there wants a cute 3skypephone ?

What happened to the Xing and Skype partnership ?

"I have met Niklas Zennstrom on several occassions and I know he is like-minded to us when it comes to giving people what they want. In part this shared view has enabled us to form a close partnership with Skype and I have to say Tim von Toerne from Skype Germany has been working overtime to make it work." source : openBC and Skype - it's official!.

It's like old blog news coming backup in the queue. But seriously, why is there no skype icon on the frontage of http://blog.xing.com/ ? And why are there like only 1000 plus users registered ? (as visible on the frontpage).

Nice logo's of ebay, paypal and skype.

I wonder where these are coming from. Which event.

source : PayPal, eBay and Skype

Benjamin Shapiro : eBay users could embrace Skype equivalently an stock option

Old new keeps coming back in blogs : " Benjamin Shapiro announced Wednesday eBay users could embrace Skype equivalently an stock option in that Being Messaging(IM) Alerts." source.

related : http://benjaminshapiro.com and Skype Alerts – eBay Activity Reminders Right on Your Desktop

Historic supersonic free fall. Michel Fournier

Historic supersonic free fall. Michel Fournier will drop out of the stratosphere from an altitude from about 130,000 feet (40 kilometers, nearly 25 miles) source : http://www.legrandsaut.org/index.php?Message=projet&lang=eng

Skype should give the guy a free skype phone to see if it works during the free fall. Global advertising.

Related : http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/23/america/jump.php

2-way SMS. New Gizmo5 allows to send and RECEIVE SMS!

The latest Gizmo5 version includes a new feature that allows you to send and receive SMS messages.  Save up to 80% on text messaging worldwide and keep in touch with friends even when they aren't online.  Click here to view more information and SMS rates.

I wonder when Skype is going to allow me to RECEIVE sms'ses.  It should be possible with those SkypeIn numbers...

Skype unlimited world for the nomads.

Being in Malaysia, I still have to pay (outside of my global calling contract) to cellphones, but okay... it is clearly mentioned in that calling to mobiles is not included in this (at least not for me) and hence it will cost SkypeOut credit. The costs are mentioned here on http://www.skype.com/intl/en/prices/callrates/

Here is a good product / service description on the Skype Unlimited World : http://www.skype.com/intl/en/allfeatures/subscriptions/europeworld/

I was actually asking this to somebody (actually Ike - Head of Communities and Forum Operations - from www.skypelifestyle.blogspot.com ) from the unvoluntary informal skype helpers (not helpdesk) via chat and they actually explained it to me via chat. Good and professional service. It must be a hell of job with all those users online.

Heads up for Forum Volunteers http://skypelifestyle.blogspot.com/2008/05/travelling-sunshine-skype-and-precious.html#links

Skype User Forums driving Skype users away ?

Read what is being said here : " When I have written previously about the Skype "Community" (formerly the Skype User Forums), I was only speculating that their objective in the reorganization was to drive Skype users away. Now there is more concrete proof of this, in the blog of their "Head of Forum Operations", who expresses satisfaction that since the reorganization there are "fewer posts and less new topics" than before. Well, if that is the measure of success, then it is clear what the objective was!

In the same blog is this gem about problem reporting: "Skype has an excellent ticket system". I wonder what twisted version of reality these people are experiencing? First, the Skype problem reporting ticket system is difficult and tedious, to be kind, but more importantly, the objective of the system should be solving the problems, and as far as I can tell they have no system for doing that whatsoever! As I have said previously, desperate Skype users, who have absolutely no access to Customer Support, and now have essentially lost the Skype User Forums as a source of support. have started posting pleas for help to the "Independent" Skype Journal comments."

my take : no real comments. Except maybe to leave those forums there for those who use them and well maybe Skype could setup a free calldesk,  helpdesk system. Many other big companies have done this too. Yesterday I was having a good online chat with Linksys to setup my router and it solved the problem. I did not even have to call them. I wonder what Ebay/Paypal offices would allow Skype professionals to be providing (un)paid support to the paying customers of Skype Ltd.

Check out this complaint also : Skype Stole 60 EUR from me and won't give it back

Spam with Skype inside from Israel... leads to a fake Skype Website.

I just go one of those funny spam emails with skype related info inside from ronen legativi (eom2004@013.net). Never heard of this person.

The badly formatted rich text email looked like this :

It also mentioned a bunch of other email-addresses.

2 things struck me :

These links (going to some domain in Israel, since .il) :

http://skype.ios.st/Front/NewsNet/reports.asp?reportId=227504

and then an image file sitting on http://skypehq.net/home/images/bottom-btn.jpg

linking to : http://www.skype.co.il/intl/en/download/skype/windows/downloading/

According to the records at http://who.is (in this case : http://who.is/whois-il/ip-address/skype.co.il/) it seems to be a geniune Skype domain (owned by Skype Limited).

Furthermore http://skypehq.net looks like something funny as you can see here and below.

They (unknown party) mention it themselves on their website by the way stating that :  "THIS WEBSITE THAT NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER WITH THE OWNER OF THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM, AND PROVIDES ONLY A LINK TO THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF FILECHAMPION.COM AND NEED SUPPORT PLEASE CONTACT US AND NOT THE SOFTWARE OWNER"

But the email does not seem to be geniune at all. It just contains some information linking to Skype.

I would recommend to stay away from such website. Maybe Skype can do somehting about this.

Skype on my nephews their PSP Slim. Seems to work.

Seems to work fine. But you need special gear for this. Special headset by Sony. Also it does not do skype chat.

Product info : http://www.skype.com/allfeatures/skypeonpsp/
System update for psp : http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/About/SystemUpdate

New for 3.93: (Skype™) has been added as a feature under [Network]. > See details.

 

Requirements :

• PSP-2000 system
• PSP® Headset
• PSP® Headphones with Remote Control
• Wireless Internet connection environment (Wi-Fi)
• Memory Stick Duo on which Skype™ application software is saved
• Firmware 3.90 (or later)

More info here.

Skype it's mobile cell phone application : Australia, France, Germany and US are excluded from the beta.

" Only eight markets have been selected for now to test Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut. Surprisingly, most mature markets like Australia, France, Germany and US are excluded from the beta. Users in UK will only have access to the new service. The beta period will allow Skype to fine tune and tweak the service before rolling Skype mobile worldwide." source.

No global beta and viral marketing like they did with the skype for computer-version.

My take: big mistake. big mistake not to launch it globally. Even in beta.

Product : http://www.skype.com/mobile/

Microsoft's U.S. patent for proactive virus protection

" Microsoft has just snared a U.S. patent for proactive virus protection, which is how security software helps secure your PC when it encounters shape-shifting malware not already in its antivirus definition file. What I want to know is, what does this mean for all the other vendors -- like McAfee, Symantec, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro -- that have been selling proactive protection software for years? Do they now have to pay Microsoft protection; I mean, royalties? " source.

iPhoneSIMfree iPhone unlocking software is available for purchase

" iPhoneSIMfree iPhone unlocking software is available for purchase from four online retailers around the world.

Wireless Imports in the US, iPhoneWorldwideUnlock in Australia, 1digitalphone in Germany, and iPhone4arab in Saudi Arabia (currently down) have all purchased bulk licenses from the iPhoneSIMfree team and are selling individual unlocks for around $100 (Update: that price is just from the US etailer, it seems; looks like the Aussies are letting it go for under 50 bucks American. Also, the Hackint0sh community is already busy at work trying to snatch these sites' code as we speak)." source.

Skype Nomad arrived in New York City.

Skype Nomad arrived in New York City.

Report on Malaysian Internet use

Report on Malaysian Internet use. "77% of IM users communicate on MSN/Windows Live Messenger and 57% on Yahoo! Messenger. Yahoo! Messenger is also significantly more popular amongst Malay internet users with a 56% reach."