Skype Journal FAQ: Do I pay roaming when my son Skype's me from Argentina?

Q. My son Skyped my mobile phone from Argentina. Will I see expensive international rates or roaming fees on my next bill? – Dad in USA.

A. No. That was a local call as far as your phone company is concerned. Your son only paid "SkypeOut" rates, about $1.20 per hour. Aren't you glad your boy learned to use the Internet?

tags: skype, pricing, skypeout

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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Tip: Include Skype Calls in Your Ustream Broadcast (Mac)

This instructional video is courtesy of lockergnome. Ustream.tv lets you broadcast a live video over the web. Here's how to add Skype calls to your show with a Mac and Audio Hijack Pro.

tags: skype, ustream, ustream.tv, broadcasting, streaming, video, tip, tips, tricks, howto, production

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private technologist roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Skype-modded Hulger phone

The Hulger P*PHONE is a gorgeous retro USB phone. It's technically simple, just a microphone, a speaker and a cable.

Canadian artist and designer Mike Pelletier "added a lever switch connected to a phidgets interface kit [seen below] so a max patch can detect when you pick up and hang up the phone and automatically tell skype to answer or end a call. I made sure that the wires match the phone."

tags: skullbee, hulger, mod, skype, hacks, voip, phone, telephone, handset, switch

Call me at +1-510-316-9773, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
Visit our Skype Journal private roundtable, one of the longest running public Skype chats.

Ping.fm takes updates from Skype IM

Ping.fm is a synch service in the social stack, mostly in microblogging and rich presence. Set up on Ping.fm:

Enable posting with Skype

To enable posting through Skype, request to add the bot "pingdotfm" by searching for the username and add it as a contact. When the bot appears on your contacts list, send it an IM with your verification code.

The ping.fm page will show your verification code once you log in to the site.

Ping.fm posts results in multiple places.

Twitter. (microblogging)

Vox. (blogging)

LinkedIn. (professional network updates)

This is one of many ways to update your Ping.fm account so Ping.fm can update your many online lifestreams. Ping.fm's bots also talk with AIM, jabber (including Google Talk), Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Hat tip to the Pacific IT chat.

tags: skype, ping.fm, synch, synchronization, dataportability, microblogging, im, chat, twitter, linkedin, vox

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.

Dear Speaker,

Duncan Davidson of Portland, Oregon, was photographer in residence for the eComm conference this week. In a spurt of inspiration, Duncan tweeted these nine tips on conference photogenicity (photogeneity?).

1. Dear speaker: please deliver your speech to the crowd, not the screen.
2. Dear speaker, please pick a spot and stay. Move deliberately to another. Don't pace aimlessly. And please don't turn all the way around.
3. Dear speaker, please take off your name tag.
4. Speaker pro tip: if you find yourself walking _backwards_, you are probably pacing very vigorously. Stop. Breathe.
5. Speaker pro tip: if you don't make eye contact with your audience, you make it that much harder for them to connect to your message.
6. Dear speaker: the corner of the stage that you like to use to feel closer to the crowd is darker than rest of stage. They can see you less there
7. Dear speaker: all of you are being videotaped, what I've just said matters 10x more. Think of viewers watching a rapidly pacing speaker.
8. Rule of thumb for speaker clothing: Dress like you mean it. ~0 to 1 levels above mean "nice" for audience.
9. Speaker Pro Tip: When on a panel, don't look at your shoes. Try to look at who's talking. Otherwise, you look bored, even if you're not.

tags: speech, public speaking, ecomm09, ecommconf09

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