June 2008

Sure you can use an emoticon to share a smile.

But that's not enough. Skype has launched a campaign to drum up belly laughs, guffaws, chortles, hoots, snorts, titters, giggles, cackles. We want you to fall down laughing, double up, roll in the aisle.

Just plug in your webcam, watch the start of the chain below and film yourself watching it. Send in your video and your laugh could be added to the chain.

Find out more about the Laughter Chain (plus find out how many calories a good laugh burns up) at the Skype Laughter Chain website.

Also, check in on Peter Parkes, the new main blogger for Skype.

In the minute or so before the Personal Democracy Forum conference on technology and politics went live on C-SPAN, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential contender John Edwards, apologized for being unable to attend the meeting in person in New York.

Andrew Raisej, the Forum's founder, who worked on Edwards' 2008 campaign, told Mrs. Edwards: "You're here anyway by the miracle of technology and this wonderful thing that someone invented called Skype. So we were saved by the same technology that we are all excited about."

Mrs. Edwards may have been new to Video calls via Skype. But she explained she had previous experience with Skype.

She noted: "Actually, Skype allowed us to keep in touch with our children when John was giving speeches in Europe at three cents a minute or whatever it is, instead of an a dollar a minute. So I am rather fond of Skype myself."

The media often describe the Edwards as wealthy. So there is a message for the rest of us as well on how Skype can save money.

Check her out at YouTube:

The national and international media couldn't get enough of Elizabeth Edwards' appearance via Skype this week at the Personal Democracy Conference in New York.

Edwards couldn't fly to the conference because of bad weather. So she reached out via a Skype video call. And her husband John, the former presidential candidate, joined in an apparently unplanned appearance.

Egan Orion in UK's Inquirer
observed that the impromptu Skype conference was a media breakthrough:

"What strikes us as revolutionary is that Elizabeth and John Edwards conducted this video interview impromptu and online over Skype, not from a television studio. Eat your hearts out, US television networks."

K.C. Jones in Information Week observed:

"The glimpse into the Edwards' lives and their home turned out to be a crowd pleaser, drawing applause and laughter when it resulted in the brief impromptu exchange with John Edwards during the last five minutes of the conference.

"Once he regained his bearings, he told the crowd that technology has 'completely changed the nature of the race already.' He should know. He competed for the Democratic nomination before dropping out of the primary in January.

"As a member of the audience, I found it a lot more interesting to see Elizabeth Edwards in her own surroundings -- on a yellow couch with a pink rose print, in front of oak furniture, pottery, and a grandfather clock in the background -- than it would have been to see one more speaker behind a podium and under a spotlight. And, without the technology behind Skype, I doubt I ever would have seen anyone nominated for vice president come home from work without the self-consciousness and self-editing that usually comes from knowing you're on camera."

Also among those reporting the Edwards-Skype news and more were The Economist, ABC's Good Morning America, Wired and e.politics.

Bad weather may have stopped Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the former Presidential campaigner John Edwards, from leaving her North Carolina home to deliver a speech at a New York political forum. But thanks to Skype, Mrs. Edwards still was able to speak on an impromptu video call to the Personal Democracy Forum.

And John Edwards was a surprise drop-in speaker via Skype on Wednesday to the delight of attendees.

ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports that because of bad weather Elizabeth Edwards had to cancel a speaking engagement at the Personal Democracy Forum 2008 in New York.

Parker reported that a Chapel Hill, N.C. woman with a Mac computer and a Web cam was dispatched to Edward's house, enabling Mrs. Edwards to appear at the conference on Skype.

The ABC blog noted: "During a question and answer session, Mrs. Edwards was talking about how the Internet can get people more involved in the political process when her husband, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., walked into their home.

"'John, sit down here and say hi to the PDF conference,'" Mrs. Edwards called to her husband, eliciting applause and laughter from the crowd. "

Andrew Raisej, the Forum's founder, who worked on Edwards' 2008 campaign, said, "There's about a thousand people here who are expecting Elizabeth and unfortunately the weather didn't allow her to make it, so we used technology -- you may have heard of it, it's called the Internet, to bring her to everyone in real time."

Check it out

at YouTube.

Edwards was asked how the Internet has changed politics.

"It's completely changed the shape of this race already," Sen. Edwards said. "It is the only reason that Barack Obama is not taking public financing, because he has a fundraising base that's more grassroots, more small donors that allows him a huge competitive advantage against Bush."

"McCain," corrected Mrs. Edwards.

"I mean, excuse me, McCain. Freudian slip," Sen. Edwards said to crowd applause.

We already reported how the Obama campaign in SIlicon Valley reached out to potential voters on Skype.

Heading out to the ruins in the remote Incan town of Ollantaytambo, about 75 kilometers from Cuzco, Peru,"the navel of the navel" in the Incan worldview, I spotted an Internet cafe on the main square.

My wife Judi and I along with our yoga teachers decided to climb the ruins and on the way back go into the Internet cafe.

The teachers wanted to check their e-mail. But I wanted to introduce them to the wonders of Skype.

I struck up a conversation with Carlos Danz, the owner. Carlos' business may be based deep in the ancient Sacred Valley, but he is a man of modern communications.

I asked him what he thought of Skype.

"It's killing me," he semi-joked.

Continue reading "Good karma for Skype along the Inca Trail" »

Continue reading "Skype's new 4.0 Beta 1 for Windows steps up Video conversations" »

I'd like to tell you about an opportunity for the entire Skype community to get involved in an important Internet community event.

OneWebDay is an Earth Day for the Internet that takes place each September 22nd. 2008 is the third OneWebDay. This year, OneWebDay is focusing attention around the world on the importance of the internet to political participation.

Skype's own Christopher Libertelli has joined the cause as one of 100 OneWebDay ambassadors. On each of the 100 days leading up to September 22nd, a different ambassador is reaching out to his or her community about OneWebDay.

We're encouraging people to talk (and do something) about internet issues that worry them - censorship, the digital divide and inadequate connectivity, in general.

The idea behind OneWebDay is to create a platform for a global constituency that cares about the future of the internet. We make progress when we make things visible, and with OneWebDay we're showing that this global constituency exists.

For more information about OneWebDay, check out its website, or have a look at the OneWebDay starter kit for keen participants.

Having a Father's Day headache? Just can't decide what to buy for dear, old dad?

Here's the remedy: Take one tablet and your headache will go away.

The tablet is the Nokia N810, a pocket-sized Internet tablet.

Continue reading "Take one Nokia Tablet, call me on Skype for Father's Day" »