i discover skype.
in preparation for this trip, i looked into the various means of communication i could use once over here. i thought about perhaps renting a cell phone, but that might get too expensive. i looked at vonage, but that required extra equipment which i had no time to wait to be delivered. i had no idea if the apartment would have a land line. and i had no idea if i would have an office phone (which i don't, and don't know if i will be getting).
i noticed that the german student in my lab at school would talk to people with a headset on his PC sometimes. he told me he used skype. all you have to do is download the application. skype to skype calls are free (much like any voice app on an instant messenger). and there is a flat rate which varies by region for calls from skype to actual phone numbers.
so i downloaded it last night. the rates for calling the US and the UK are both $.021 per minute. and that's fantastic. so i loaded up ten bucks on to my account, and started programming in numbers in my contacts list.
it's funny. i know how to call international numbers outside the US, but i wasn't sure how to call internationally to the US. i thought i read somewhere that our (becoming antiquated) long distance code of "1" was also our international prefix. so i loaded the numbers as "001" then area code. and it worked. i had a chat with my mother about, amongst other things, my car. unfortunately the call started to cut out a few times. i could hear her but she couldn't hear me. then that last time it cut out, after a minute or so of listening her vocalling feeling around in the dark to see if i was still there... it disconnected. i suppose it was due to my wireless signal's lack of strength.
then i called scottie in london to see if he would be able to hang out this weekend. it seems i "could have picked a better weekend" but i should be able to see his new place. i mean, flat.
then i called joe's brother to confirm my arrival.
all whilst still stealing bandwith from the unprotected and faceless wireless signal i can barely pick up from my room. near the windows.
this thing is pretty great.
i noticed that the german student in my lab at school would talk to people with a headset on his PC sometimes. he told me he used skype. all you have to do is download the application. skype to skype calls are free (much like any voice app on an instant messenger). and there is a flat rate which varies by region for calls from skype to actual phone numbers.
so i downloaded it last night. the rates for calling the US and the UK are both $.021 per minute. and that's fantastic. so i loaded up ten bucks on to my account, and started programming in numbers in my contacts list.
it's funny. i know how to call international numbers outside the US, but i wasn't sure how to call internationally to the US. i thought i read somewhere that our (becoming antiquated) long distance code of "1" was also our international prefix. so i loaded the numbers as "001" then area code. and it worked. i had a chat with my mother about, amongst other things, my car. unfortunately the call started to cut out a few times. i could hear her but she couldn't hear me. then that last time it cut out, after a minute or so of listening her vocalling feeling around in the dark to see if i was still there... it disconnected. i suppose it was due to my wireless signal's lack of strength.
then i called scottie in london to see if he would be able to hang out this weekend. it seems i "could have picked a better weekend" but i should be able to see his new place. i mean, flat.
then i called joe's brother to confirm my arrival.
all whilst still stealing bandwith from the unprotected and faceless wireless signal i can barely pick up from my room. near the windows.
this thing is pretty great.