Just received my Logitech QuickCam Fusion, now happily hanging like a lizard off the top of my laptop display. I am soooo ready for Skype video. engadget first look; Dark Vision Hardware description; buy Logitech QuickCam Fusion on Amazon, on Froogle.

National Public Radio's Larry Abramson did a segment on Internet Telephony Attracting Mainstream Users for All Things Considered, October 12, 2005. "Internet telephony, known as 'voice over Internet protocol' or VOIP, has grown to be a mainstream application that could someday replace traditional phone service. The market for VOIP is broadening to include regular households who don't care how it works but are attracted by the low cost." Features our own Kevin Delaney.

Luleå University isn't ready for Skype voice, let alone video. From a post by Peter Parnes, PhD, Chief Scientist, to the Skype Forum: "Skype has been forbidden at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden for a while as well." Kevin Tolly's column, Can Skype be a good corporate citizen? in Network World last month, argues for Skype to make the effects of its use transparent and easily understood by enterprise network admins and IT managers. This gives them more choices than allowing/disallowing Skype at work.

Wired: Furor Grows Over Internet Bugging. Skype appears subject to US CALEA wiretap law, meaning it must make all calls tappable on demand by police. Any lawyers who can clarify the questions of jurisdiction?

• an eBay be held accountable for Skype, now that they own it? or does that exposure end at the Luxembourg border?
• Does CALEA apply to my employer if I'm using Skype at work?
• Does CALEA apply to Skype if they don't run any of the hardware or networks over which my voice travels?

Is this law enforcement or Big Brother? Next thing you know, they'll want to build a breathalyzer phone into Skype. (Good advice: Don't Drink and Skype.)

Unanswered security questions from Damien Miller about the Tom Berson Skype Security Evaluation.

Weekend projects:

• Big picture reading for the weekend: danah boyd's Why Web2.0 Matters: Preparing for Glocalization - Part 1 and
  Part 2. Does Skype fit into Web 2.0? How about into Microsoft's "Live" vision of application and communication services?
  
• Om Malik on the attitude change from supporting each other in a p2p community of Skype users vs. supporting eBay's stockholders. A question of brand? Buzz Machine follows up by saying those who build businesses on the contributions (words, pictures, bandwidth) of participants merely rent them.
  
• The most threatening meme for Skype: "Skype versus Gizmo Project. Its like IE versus Firefox." from the This Week in VoIP podcast.
  
• The wikipedia entry for Skype Technologies S.A. needs updating. Just dive in and add updates.
  
• O'Reilly updated Glenn Fleishman's How to Record a Podcast Interview on the Macintosh. A classic.