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

Get your eternal identity on Skype. No wonder they have over 300 million users, they never leave.

Skype: you can check in - but you can never leave
National Business Review - Auckland,New Zealand
“Unfortunately, for technical and security reasons, deleting a username is not possible."

The only things a person has to do now is create some online chat mechanisme to make phone-calls after your death and keep chatting after you are gone. This could actually be some kind of a service offered to the family of the deceased. Terminate or continue your online identity, after you have gone from the non-virtual world.

This is actually very important. Remember Kevin Mitnick, who found a way to assume identities of other people, after they had died... Now this is the topic of identity theft and impersonation which will pose a problem on the internet. Already has..

Question for skype is how they will protect their 320 million users (not sure about that figure...) against such types of abuse.

A system where you cannot delete a username is a joke. This one is a global joke. It's a dangerous system from a certain perspective, since you can link any email to a skype ID, and the skype ID are immediately active without any external authentication.  This opens the door to too many abuse. I wonder what genius in Skype has created such a "safe" system. It's encrypted yes of course, but what about the thing I just decribe above. Combine that with the dual login without notification, well these is a serious problem. Sometimes it feels like they are deaf, dumb and blind over there at skype development.

Time to bring in the 3 monkeys PR people (hear no evil, see no evil, talk no evil).

Skype presence is wrong, Cellphone user get Unlimited Long Distance, IVR and Clouds.

NewsOXY

Skype Gives Mobile Cell Phone Users Unlimited Long Distance Calling NewsOXY, FL - 3 hours ago Skype offers an unlimited long-distance calling plans for customers who want to phone calls to landline and mobile cell phones. Skype users can make ...

ZDNet UK

Why Can't Skype Get "Presence" Right? ZDNet UK, UK - 21 hours ago I've had Skype running on some of the Linux test installations for the past couple of weeks. One thing that has become clear is that the erratic "presence"

Pushing IVR Into The Cloud, Part 1: Why Make the Move?
TMCnet - USA
The world of instant messaging started out primarily all in the cloud with AOL, MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Skype (News - Alert), etc., and while corporate

Can an outlook user switch of Skylook.biz ?

Making Skype and Outlook work together with Skylook
Technosailor, MD - 22 hours ago
"MIchael Arrington at TechCrunch reviewed it a few days ago (Skype + Outlook = Skylook) so I thought I would check it out again..."

My take : make an ON/OFF button for this email-harvester and keep it outside of any office email-network.

You really don't want your company emails to end up on the open skype network. It's a big NO NO for me. Stay away from it. End of story.

Of you course you can all do on  your computer anything you want, but I would be careful to "integrate" things like this with an MS Outlook system, certainly when this MS Outlook is attached to your MS Exchange Platform or other mail or Active directory system.

program : www.skylook.biz

I just got spammed in Chinese English translation by uu.skype.com.cn. Ni Ho Ma...

Skype logo nicely integrated with the Skype logo. Would these guys have some deal with tom.com ? or skype.com ?

I noticed also that they have a proper affiliate system, which would explain why they are so eager to throw around url's...

domain : http://www.uuskype.com.cn/

Follow your friends

http://whoisi.com

interesting concept

Full eBay Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript, some interesting things said about skype here.

Found it here on seekingalpha. Quite objective "boring" numbers, but surely relevant for the shareholders.

• "In addition, management may make forward-looking statements relating to our future performance that are based on our current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the company’s ability to grow its businesses, user base and activity. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed in this call for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to our increasing need to grow revenues from existing users in established markets; an increasingly competitive environment for our businesses; the complexity of managing a growing company with a broad range of businesses; our need to manage regulatory tax, IP and litigation risks, including risks specific to PayPal and the financial industry and risks specific to Skype's technology and to the VOIP industry; "
• " Skype also generated strong results, with revenue growth of 51% to $136 million in Q2, its sixth consecutive quarter of profitable growth. User metrics were also quite strong at Skype, with registered users up 54% to $338 million and Skype to Skype and Skype out minutes accelerating for two consecutive quarters."

• Now let’s take a look at the operating details from PayPal and Skype. The more time I spend with the PayPal team, the more excited I am about the growth prospects for this business. It is a gem.

• Now let me move briefly to Skype, which had another great quarter and continues to be a terrific business. Revenues grew 51% in Q2 and Skype is on track to surpass $500 million in revenue this year, with double-digit profit margins. As importantly, growth in user metrics have accelerated for two consecutive quarters, and Skype offers a killer communications application, with free peer-to-peer video, which is now used for more than 25% of Skype-to-Skype calls. This momentum is remarkable for a company not yet five years old and Josh Silverman and his team are doing a terrific job leading Skype since moving into their roles earlier this year."

Read the rest here.

Related : EBay Falls as Average Selling Price Drops on Its Retail Sites | eBay Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript | EBay Beats Street, But Q3 Looks a Bit Light | eBay Earnings Primer | What to Expect From eBay's Earnings.

Good spreadsheet on SJ also (pdf file shareholder reports by Ebay here).

AsterConference Asia 2008 is a conference dedicated to Asterisk, the IP-PBX Telephony Software

Just got this email for a conference I would recommend to any business that wants to use VoIP :

"AsterConference Asia 2008 is a conference dedicated to Asterisk, the IP-PBX Telephony  Software that has changed the telecommunication landscape in the Business World. AsterConference Asia is your premier choice for everything Asterisk,  in Asia. Find out all you need to know about Asterisk directly from it's founder Mr Mark Spencer who will deliver the keynote address. AsterConference Asia 2008 will be held on the 10th September 2008 at Crown Princess Hotel,Kuala Lumpur, followed by 2 concurrent workshops on 11th September 2008  titled: Asterisk Essentials / Instructor:  Mr Reza M (Canada) and Integrating Wireless Technology with Asterisk Instructor:  Mr David Duffett (UK)"

Venue :  Crown Princess Hotel, Kuala Lumpur / Registration is now open.  Don't miss out on the PREMIER EARLY BIRD SPECIAL for registration before 31st July, 2008.
For more information on AsterConference Asia 2008, visit www.asterconference.com or email  coordinator@asterconference.com or call us at 603-7710 0605

Use a hacked traditional pay phone to call with Skype.

It was great during the times we read more of this kind of hacks via Skype. I actually saw this commercialized on the 3GSM fair in Barcelona. Not sure if it ever made some track on the market. Anyways, technology and commerce (two different things). Now listening to the explanation of Torone on how to adjust a payphone to make free phone-calls, it's obvious how Telecoms think about payphones (hardware) linked to softphone systems (with more volatile behaviour...) Cute anways. Here is the movie on this type of skype link to a payphone that I found via CNET :

Some other interesting things listed there too such as a "cell phone jammer that is designed to block Wi-Fi or cell phone transmissions and is small enough to be hidden inside a cigarette pack" :

Related search on the Skype Payphone.

Good financial points for Ebay / Skype even with the alledged 338 million Skype users.

More Jeers Than Cheers for eBay
Motley Fool - Jul 17, 2008
The company behind PayPal, Skype, and the namesake online marketplace posted respectable second-quarter results given the iffy economy. ...
eBay Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2008 Results MarketWatch
eBay Q2 Profits Up 22 ... InternetNews.com
EBay beats American gloom with 22% leap in profit Times Online
TG Daily - Bloomberg
all 439 news articles »  EBAY


BUT Skype reports 338 million users

ACCOUNTS, NOT USERS... Let me put it like this : if I have 10.000 skype user ID, accounts, then I am still one user. meaning 338.000.000 just became a bit less. Also it would be more honest by Skype/Ebay to publish figures "registered identifiable skype ID's linked to paypal or other payment-gateways." Those would be considered registered customers.

Skype blocked account or error 9407

this

Error 9407/Blocked account, will Skype

and this

Skype Firefox add-on disables Google Maps

followed by

Will Skype ever take notice of what their customers say or want.

E-TEN M600+ works with skype also.

source : E-TEN M600+ Unveiled, Skype Compatible

no sample reviewed by www.skype-gadgets.com

telcos blocking voice-over IP packets, or the packets of competitors like Skype and MXit. BitTorrent

Network neutrality — what?

Skype revenue rose to $136 million, or 51%, as nearly 30 million new users signed on.

eBay Shares Drop Despite Positive Earnings Report
InformationWeek, NY - Jul 17, 2008
PayPal revenue rose to $602 million, or 32%, while Skype revenue rose to $136 million, or 51%, as nearly 30 million new users signed on. ...
UPDATE: CEO Says EBay On Track Despite Auction Concerns CNNMoney.com
EBay net rises amid worries Moneyweb
eBay Announces Marketplaces Executive Changes MarketWatch
Barron's Blogs - TameBay
all 31 news articles »  EBAY

Vosky and Skype PBX gateway improves Firmdale Hotels it's global market presence, while reducing in international calling costs

"Firmdale Hotels recently implemented VoSKY’s (News - Alert) system, which allows Skype to be used in conjunction with an existing standard telecom system to make cheaper long distance calls. The PBX-to-SkypeGateway ( News - Alert) enables customers to make overseas calls using Skype, and as a result is making Firmdale Hotels more popular among its guests." source.

Solution used : VoSKY’s Exchange Pro VIS8 in combination with a Digium SwitchVox IP

PBX

Skype 4.0.150 beta update remains the most despised new user interface? Nothing has changed.

No comments, really, boring stuff. I refuse to give any more attention to it, than is already described here. I think like this the "forward" going path of the Skype development (at least this part) is nothing but the expression of a development team on the loose, due to lack of direction, which is mostly due to lack of proper leadership. And if that is not the case, well then read what the skype cheerleaders have to say (lately nothing more than talking about casing for Blackberry's and waiting at stores in Canada to buy an Iphone... - it's called personal blogging...) and basically the impression has already been given...

A bad case of featuritis on the loose. Maybe they should simplys skip the skype 4.0. beta project and go to beta 5.0. I would certainly recommend the development to give up on creating such bloated interfaces... Congratulations to the geniusses who came up with that dead duck... Why not just write a public statement and say "we made a mistake, we don't know how it happened, the UI of the skype beta 4.0. sucks, but we'll make a better different version." Are there then no voices inside the skype team that dear to speak up and change course ? Or has the company culture changed in all corporate bullocks instead of choosing the right path ?

Maybe I should close this blog alltogether, nobody is making any interesting skype samples anyways, and I got fed up waiting for the 3skypephone that never came.

Maybe I should just go out there and buy and Apple Iphone.

See also ; Skype 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows - Skype Blogs

Skypejournal removed from Google Blog Search Skype Related Blogs !

Just something I noticed. when search in google's blog/search for the word skype.

And this bug in skype also annoys me, Phil appears as striped out in my list. Don't know why. It happens when I delete the user evanwolf and then it remains like this.

study commissioned by Skype and conducted by Harris Interactive of 3000 online adults

Survey shows untimely e-mail losing glow, being replaced by IM ...11 Jul 2008 by Howard Wolinsky 
A new study commissioned by Skype and conducted by Harris Interactive of 3000 online adults confirms that many of us, especially younger people, are opting for other means of communications, including instant messaging, social networks ...
Skype in the US - http://share.skype.com/sites/us/


I hope they counted right this time with their 300 mio users. Hahhaahhaaha

Stupid automated marketing spam introduction emails from Skype

I get the below from Skype once in a while (via email). I don't want, I don't need it, I don't like it.

Contentwise : I don't need to do groupchat with 100 people at once (is anything more stupid that doing groupchats with 100 people... jeezus man, what genius at skype invented that one...)

Also I don't need and want to import my contacts into Skype, so they would be exposed or spammed via whomever get's access to my contact-list... (now imagine the scary face of the exchange server admins, thinking what will happen if some employees put their contact-business-LDAP list via skype or skylook.biz on the Skype cloud... disaster in the making, for sure...)

So basically my message to Skype. Don't annoy me with this kind of old-school (still the same or at least simular) standard spam marketing e-mail...

"

Communicate with many people at once

Set up a conference call with up to ten people for business or pleasure. Or use Skype to have a group chat with up to 100 people at once.

Need to add more people to your contact list? Spread the love and get your colleagues to use Skype as well.

Tell your colleagues about Skype

Organising your contacts into groups

Sorting your contacts into groups allows you to send group messages, as well as easily organise group chats and conference calls.

Import your Outlook™ contacts into Skype. Then send any Outlook™ contact a message to download Skype.

View Outlook™ contacts in Skype"

All your web2.0. connections on one place (except for skype of course)

Use AIM, GTalk, iGoogle, WAP, iPhone/iPod Touch, SMS or E-mail and let Ping.fm relay your message to a multitude of social networking sites. http://ping.fm/

Good name also ping... (www.ping.be used to be one of the early providers in belgium long long time ago...) beta code is dreamofping

got it via a.

it's something that the new league of online relationship makers in companies should apply... soon not being there will not be an option anymore. young people (web 1.0. and web 2.0. generation) are to be found there... and not only for gaming... I know for a fact that many companies don't even have a clue what is going on in that space... they might and want to join but their corporate policy (which transpires in their firewalls) do not allow them to think outside the box... and yet today we can do any job from home or from another location while sitting behind a laptop, so why go sit in some cubicle if you could make money (not all can do this) from your couch...

Belkin 54g router, new addition in jan's tech home world.

I just put a 54g Belkin Router in my network at home (it's amazing how slow a techgeek like me adjust to new technology, when it comes down to paying more... for getting only a bit more). I do use www.izzi.com.my for mobile connections in the Klang Valley and I drag the box back and forth to the office, but for steady connections, I still use streamyx (no, I am not saying they are a very good provider (sorry,but they still got the cables here...). Today I got this speed out of my line and I was very surprised to see such good results.

Basically I got rid of my old 10mbit Benq router (which still works fine) but it has to move out. Faster and better come into place.

Skype online status plugin for Wordpress

The plugin Skype Online Status allows you to add one or multiple, highly customizable and accessible (!) Skype buttons to your blog.

via Anthony who got it from source, all seems to come from here  Skype Online Status plugin for WordPress

Declutter your desk with this bright idea.

Just got this smart idea and how to do it thrown to me.

very good idea. good idea comes from people you know. this one came from anthony.

thanks for the tip. I am off to the do it yourself store, right away.

source :
http://www.decluttered.com/

Ribbit does what Skype did not, should have but probably never will.

Start with the slides here (found them on SJ) :

| View | Upload your own

Very good summary by Phil on SJ here.

Skype in the SME managed VoIP market looks like a joke right now.

Skype trys SME managed VoIP market
One Stop Click, UK - 15 hours ago
Skype is attempting to crack into the small to medium enterprise (SME) VoIP market, saying it can reduce costs and allow companies to work on a global scale.

My take : Yeah, yeah it is a great product that skype things and it works, but not if you need to support it and make money with it (which is why nobody is selling it, it is just there, mostly fo