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dragonlady7Skype is a new Internet telephony program that, as they put it, "just works". I downloaded it and my cousin Andreas, in Oslo, used it to call me, and we talked for an hour and a half for free. It was really nice to hear from him.
How it works, I don't really know. They're brand new (the installation file I used was dated Oct 25), and Swedish, and already have over a million users. Andreas says all his friends use it and it's cool.
What I think is the coolest is that you can use it to call regular telephones, for 1.7 cents (Euro) a minute, anywhere in North America, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. The rest of the world is available but for different rates, that they list on their website.
As long as it's computer-to-computer, it's free, though, so... an hour and a half of chatting with Andreas, mostly about politics? Very cool. He speaks better than he types, in English, so it was faster for him, and it's more fun to tell stories out loud. I discovered, by the way, that his request for US citizenship was granted-- he thought he wasn't eligible, having served in a foreign military, but they sort of waived that and didn't mind at all. (His mother is an American citizen.) So, he tried to register to vote as well, but as he doesn't have a residence in the US, he hasn't succeeded. He is rather of my mind on US politics, in that something has to be done.
I also found out that Aleksander has been called up again by the Norwegian army, and will be going abroad with them in the spring, probably to Afghanistan. So Katy will be in Iraq, and Aleksander will be in Afghanistan. "They should meet in the middle," Andreas said. "That's Iran."
"Oh, I hear it's nice there in the Spring," I said.
But anyhow. I must now embark upon a quest to get all my overseas friends to sign up for Skype so I can talk to them again. Mua-ha-ha.
It doesn't do much good for me in the US, as I have free long distance on my cellphone. I dunno... I have too much by way of phones, and too little by way of money.
But anyway, it seems kind of cool, and I have to go now and wash Dave's black socks so he doesn't have to wear white ones for the wake's second night tonight.
How it works, I don't really know. They're brand new (the installation file I used was dated Oct 25), and Swedish, and already have over a million users. Andreas says all his friends use it and it's cool.
What I think is the coolest is that you can use it to call regular telephones, for 1.7 cents (Euro) a minute, anywhere in North America, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. The rest of the world is available but for different rates, that they list on their website.
As long as it's computer-to-computer, it's free, though, so... an hour and a half of chatting with Andreas, mostly about politics? Very cool. He speaks better than he types, in English, so it was faster for him, and it's more fun to tell stories out loud. I discovered, by the way, that his request for US citizenship was granted-- he thought he wasn't eligible, having served in a foreign military, but they sort of waived that and didn't mind at all. (His mother is an American citizen.) So, he tried to register to vote as well, but as he doesn't have a residence in the US, he hasn't succeeded. He is rather of my mind on US politics, in that something has to be done.
I also found out that Aleksander has been called up again by the Norwegian army, and will be going abroad with them in the spring, probably to Afghanistan. So Katy will be in Iraq, and Aleksander will be in Afghanistan. "They should meet in the middle," Andreas said. "That's Iran."
"Oh, I hear it's nice there in the Spring," I said.
But anyhow. I must now embark upon a quest to get all my overseas friends to sign up for Skype so I can talk to them again. Mua-ha-ha.
It doesn't do much good for me in the US, as I have free long distance on my cellphone. I dunno... I have too much by way of phones, and too little by way of money.
But anyway, it seems kind of cool, and I have to go now and wash Dave's black socks so he doesn't have to wear white ones for the wake's second night tonight.
