Author Topic: Skype  (Read 4197 times)

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Offline Bondai

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Skype
« on: August 11, 2012, 10:06:39 PM »
As I may have mentioned in other post's I live in Phoenix with my dog Milo. I'm disabled and I can't drive, so it's hard for me to get out much. I have a lot of time on my hands and I don't want to go completely insane from boredom so I am always looking for something interesting to do. I watch TV, surf the net, harass you fine people here at CC, read, play with my dog, just to mention a few. The one thing I enjoy doing the most is visiting with my son Joseph. He is a student at ASU and he lives in a condo with three friends over in Tempe. He's 20 years old and he is trying to build his own life, I can appreciate that. What with school and work he is pretty busy. Even so he finds time to come over to Phoenix and visit me. Sometimes he stays for 1 or 2 days if he can and we do a lot of different things while he's here. When he can't come over we call each other. Even though the phone calls are nice they feel sort of impersonal, one dimensional,like something is missing, at least to me. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, I welcome any opportunity to talk to my son, I'm just making an observation.

A couple of weeks ago Joseph was here visiting and we were talking about this exact same subject. He tells me that he has similar issues with phone calls and it's hard for him to stay on the phone for any length of time. He asked me if I had ever heard of a website called Skype.com I said no, what is it? So he tells me it's site that provides free internet phone calls including video and you can call anyone anywhere as they have the required set up, computer, internet service, web cam, yada,yada,yada.

Sweet. What do we need to do?. So he fills me in on the details and say's the first thing we need is a web cam with a built in mic. Off we go to fry's electronics, we pick up a web cam with mic for $30.00 and haul ass for home. Joseph grabs the web cam and say's let me set that up for you dad. You go to the site and create an account, basic information, user name, password, you know the drill. Then you download the actual program that runs the whole set up. I haven't seen any malware,popups,advertisements or any other malicious horseshit attached to this program, it's clean. Next you set up the web cam. Put it on the top of your monitor, hook up the USB connector and because everything these days is plug-n-play it takes three or four clicks and your done. I have the latest version of windows and it's a total no brainer. Joseph showed me all the finer details on how to use the whole set up and it's user friendly and has a fair amount of features, contact list, one click calling, etc. They also have a pay service for those who want more goodies, I don't have the details so if your interested, check it out. We tested it and everything worked perfect. Later that evening when Joseph got home he called me, the program runs in the background and when a call comes in a prompt box pops up and you select what you want, audio only or audio & video.Poof! picture pops up and there's my son. The video is really clear. It's not jittery, and it doesn't have any of that annoying starting and stopping nonsense that you see with internet streaming. This set up is great for me. it adds a whole new dimension to the calls I make to Joseph. I can see his face and his expressions, it's almost like he's here. I am surprised I didn't think of it, it's not like it's new technology or anything. :yahoo:

There you have it. I posted this little story about my experience and provided a link to the site. I can find myself behind the power curve sometimes so this may be old news to many of you. If not check it out, you may get some use out of it or know somebody who can. Enjoy. :lol:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home?intcmp=alogo



"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline Chris_

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Re: Skype
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2012, 10:11:49 PM »
You have a webcam... now you can do Chatroulette. :lmao:

Congratulations.  There are some other folks here who use Skype... you'll probably get some opinions.
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Offline CactusCarlos

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Re: Skype
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2012, 10:39:12 PM »
You have a webcam... now you can do Chatroulette. :lmao:

 :thatsright: Bondai, don't listen to him.  Nothing good ever comes from Chatroulette!   
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Offline Bondai

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Re: Skype
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2012, 12:24:34 AM »
:thatsright: Bondai, don't listen to him.  Nothing good ever comes from Chatroulette!  

If I had even the slightest clue about what you guys are taking it would be helpful.  :-)  Should I spend my time blindly stumbling about trying to figure out what the hell your talking about, or would you like to explain it to me. :argh:


Nevermind.....I figured it out. My first thought? No way in hell.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2012, 12:27:10 AM by Bondai »


"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline thundley4

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Re: Skype
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2012, 12:43:21 AM »
I have a webcam but all I've ever done with it was record what the dog does while home alone.

Offline Bondai

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Re: Skype
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2012, 09:43:46 AM »
I have a webcam but all I've ever done with it was record what the dog does while home alone.

I should probably do the same thing with my dog, sometimes I think he needs Prozac. :-)


"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline thundley4

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Re: Skype
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2012, 10:32:19 AM »
I should probably do the same thing with my dog, sometimes I think he needs Prozac. :-)

Our dog doesn't do much.  She lays on the couch, goes and looks out the window, lays on a chair, goes and looks out the window, lays on the floor, goes and looks out the window, repeat for however long we are gone.

Offline CG6468

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Re: Skype
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2012, 03:53:04 PM »
I use Skype audio for help in filling out things in a Coast Guard site.
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town

Offline Bondai

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Re: Skype
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2012, 06:12:39 PM »
I use Skype audio for help in filling out things in a Coast Guard site.

That's interesting. Can you elaborate without revealing any state secrets?


"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline Texacon

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Re: Skype
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2012, 06:33:45 PM »
We use Skype to talk to our son in Afghanistan. The connection is not reliable so it can be fuzzy, jerky or simply dropped. Sometimes it's next to impossible to hold an intelligible conversation but I wouldn't give up those fuzzy images of my son for anything.

I figured I would be good just talking to him on the phone from time to time but damn it sure is good to see him no matter how grainy.

KC
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Offline CG6468

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Re: Skype
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2012, 07:39:30 PM »
That's interesting. Can you elaborate without revealing any state secrets?

Just don't turn on your camera. The audio is sometimes garbled, but you can type your message into the message box and get an instant response.
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town

Offline Bondai

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Re: Skype
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2012, 12:43:59 AM »
We use Skype to talk to our son in Afghanistan. The connection is not reliable so it can be fuzzy, jerky or simply dropped. Sometimes it's next to impossible to hold an intelligible conversation but I wouldn't give up those fuzzy images of my son for anything.

I figured I would be good just talking to him on the phone from time to time but damn it sure is good to see him no matter how grainy.

KC

I haven't had any of those issues but I am only talking to Tempe, not to someone on the other side of the planet. :-)

Please tell your son that I thank him for his service and the sacrifices that he has made. Also let him know that myself and many others realize that we are able to live free because of him and others like him, who are willing to take up arms and defend our way of life. Stay safe and God's speed. :cheersmate:


"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline Bondai

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Re: Skype
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2012, 01:06:46 AM »
Our dog doesn't do much.  She lays on the couch, goes and looks out the window, lays on a chair, goes and looks out the window, lays on the floor, goes and looks out the window, repeat for however long we are gone.


My yorkie Milo is about 10 months old. About a month ago, his testicles finally dropped. As I'm sure you are aware dogs and other animals as well when they are young their testicles are held inside their body. Then when they reach a certain age the noogies drop down and start producing testosterone, and maybe other things I guess,I don't know I'm not a vet although I do play one on TV. So I'm thinking that Milo is not unlike a teenage boy going through puberty. I don't know how else to explain it. His body is suddenly full of testosterone and the transformation is dramatic. Virtually overnight he went from being a mild mannered mischievious little puppy, that slept most of the time, into a full blown out of control maniac, that never seems to sleep, I'm serious. :yahoo:

His energy level is through the roof, he never seems to wind down.He's more aggressive when we play, he runs through the apartment at full speed from room to room, around the coffee table two or three times and then starts all over again,somehow managing to avoid all the obstacles strewn around the apartment. He is in to everything he can reach, he's like a small child. He either drags stuff out and leaves it or if it's paper he will shred it and scatter it all over the house. :argh:

He unrolls the toilet paper and leaves it lying in a pile, if he feels like it he will then shred it and scatter it from one end the apartment to the other. These are just a few of his misdeeds, the list is long. Someday’s he just wears me out trying to keep up with him. He has an appointment with the Vet next month for a little elective surgery, she assures me that he will calm right down after that.
He’s a great dog and all I can do is just laugh about his antics. :lol:


"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack; not rationality".

Offline Texacon

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Re: Skype
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2012, 09:10:12 AM »
I haven't had any of those issues but I am only talking to Tempe, not to someone on the other side of the planet. :-)

Please tell your son that I thank him for his service and the sacrifices that he has made. Also let him know that myself and many others realize that we are able to live free because of him and others like him, who are willing to take up arms and defend our way of life. Stay safe and God's speed. :cheersmate:

Thanks Bondai.  I'll let him know.  Enjoy the Skyping with your son!

KC
  Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.  Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

*Stolen