New Internet phone service 'Skype'............

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

While I was out at the Anne Marie Lodge, one of the Copper's Minipi Camps in Labrador, I discovered a new way to communicate while traveling in the back woods.

Naturally, our cell phones would not work out at the Anne Marie Lodge.

The Coopers had just had a new satellite dish Internet service installed and a new wireless network at Anne Marie Lodge so the customers and staff could get on the Internet.

One of the guides had a laptop with a headphone/microphone setup and a subscription to Skype which is a service that allows you to talk on the Internet to land phones and cell phones in the US and Canada for only $35/year.

Out there they use to use radio phones and then the past 20 years or so they used those expensive SAT phones ($8.00/minute) but now they just use Skype for a phone service in the back woods.

You need 110ac, an Internet service, laptop with micr/headphones and the subscription to Skype.

[jlmelend]

Hey Bill, FYI - Skype is also useful for webcam communication. Whether you choose to communicate locally or in remote areas, if you have DSL and a webcam on your computer, you can communicate world-wide on line via "real-time" webcam, and this component is absolutely free. You don't even have to pay a subscription fee to do this. All you need is your webcam software, a fast computer and the webcam ready to go. (BTW - your friends have to have a webcam and subscribe to skype as well.)
Only downside is that every now and then you get spammers sending you solicitation messages (some of which you may actually like ). But it is not nearly as bad as most commonly used E-mail sites.

So Bill, you can videocast to friends and show off your new beard or new products! You can even record video messages and send them off to friends!

[coolrivertx]

I have been using Skype for almost 2 years now. I am really impressed with the call quality. I used it in Cancun with my laptop, and was able to call the US for almost nothing. I bought Skype credit, and can make calls all over the world for cheap!