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NYC Fashion Week: the glitz, the glamour, the Skype video calls?! That's right; this Fashion Week, Skype will be in the mix.

Fashion designer Norma Kamali, a big Skype fan, has teamed up with us to offer one lucky fan the opportunity to view her OMO (On My Own) collection Fashion Week presentation on September 17 via Skype video call. The contest winner will also be able to ask Norma a question about the collection and win one of her coveted "all-in-one" garments.

Feeling lucky? Get into the front row by entering the contest. Rules and entry instructions can be found here.

This contest is just the latest move by Norma to give access to the often exclusive world of fashion via technology.

She told us, "I believe in the democratization of fashion and technology is accelerating this process. I am grateful that I can utilize Skype, the Internet communications software that connects millions of people around the world, to bring one fan into my show and let them experience the excitement that is Fashion Week in NYC."

We're excited, too, that we can partner with Norma to allow a Skype user an insider's view into a world that most fashion lovers don't get to experience.

For those fans who don't win the contest, but still want to view Norma's Fashion Week presentation and will be in NYC on September 17, they can stop by the Apple store in Soho (located at 103 Prince Street) and see the show live. A podcast of the presentation will also be available for download via the iTunes store in the weeks following the show.

When Avoca School District 37 in Wilmette, Ill., on Chicago's North Shore, has a job opening, hundreds of teachers apply. It's a highly ranked school whose students feed into the prestigious New Trier Township High School.

Chris Brown, chair of professional development and district technology coordinator at Avoca, said applicants come not only from around the Chicago area, but from around the country and world.

To even the playing field for out-of-town applicants, the hiring committee, including Dr. Deanna Reed, interview them via Skype video calling, he said. Applicants can see the committee and the committee sees a projection of the applicant.

Chris jokingly referred to the "Skype test" these teachers must pass--they need to set up and use Skype and then show up for the interview. He said most teachers can jump over that hurdle because Skype is so easy to set up.

A recent interview round included Skype interviews with teachers from Japan and the Virgin Islands. Neither got the job.

But Chris said it's only a matter of time for Avoca's first "Skype hire."

Skype has just launched its website in Russian.

Check it out.

You've heard of a wake-up call? How about a Wake Forest call--on Skype?

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based university began offering virtual interviews to early-decision applicants in October. Thirty students opted for virtual interviews on Skype, which save on the time and expense of a campus visit.

Now virtual interviews are available for other students.

"While a personal visit is the first choice, the virtual interview is an innovative way to use technology to connect individually with those who, because of financial or other reasons, cannot come to campus," said Martha Allman, director of admissions at Wake Forest. "This combines Wake Forest's historic commitment to personal attention with our emphasis on technological innovation."

Kevin Pittard, an associate director of admissions at Wake Forest, has conducted several virtual interviews and says the response has been positive.

One student said Skype not only made his interview possible, but also allowed his mother to make a Video call to her sister in Japan.

We're just here to help.

I bumped into my neighbor Francis Fullam on a commuter train the other day heading into downtown Chicago.

Francis, a market researcher at a major medical center, and I have followed the development of Voice on the Net since the mid-1990s . I can remember when Francis, his then grade-school son Spencer and I made calls out into the ether, reaching people we didn't know, like the guy claiming to be in a hammock in Hawaii. In those days, Voice on the Net was akin to CB radio.

Things have come a long way since then with advent of broadband service and Skype.

Francis told me he used Skype Audio to speak with his son Spencer, now a University of Illinois student, while he was studying in Prague last year.

Over Thanksgiving, Francis expanded his Skype capabilities and spoke with relatives in Seattle using Skype Video.

He said he expects to make weekly Video calls to distant family.

"It will be part of our family tradition," he said.

Toronto portrait artist Barbara Muir is accustomed to having her subjects come to her home studio.

But recently, she has been using Skype Video to speak with and sketch her friends and family in their homes. She said she finds this intimate since she's talking to people where their computers are: home offices, kitchens, bedrooms.

She explains her approach in this video:

She also enjoys the different camera angles and lighting conditions that Skype Video presents to her artist's eye.

Sometimes, she even captures images from Skype or uses the sketches to do paintings, such as this one of her son Christopher, who is an English teacher in South Korea:

Continue reading "Part II: Sketching with Skype" »

Toronto portrait artist Barbara Muir was introduced to Skype in June.

She has put her own spin on art Skype-style.

Here's how happened: Muir found last June that Skype Video is a great way to stay in touch with her son Christopher, who went to Seoul, South Korea to teach English.

At least once a week, she catches up with Christopher "despite the 14-hour difference. My morning is his night."

Christopher has shown his mother his Seoul neighborhood "in the heart of the city" by holding the webcam on his laptop up to his window. "I also can see my son's headboard and pillow when he talks to me," said Muir.

Video is a two-way street: Muir's husband Steven comes in for chats, along with the cats, Timbah and Fiona, and the dog, Zoey.

Muir who blogs at Barbara Paints has added an artistic angle to her Skype. She calls it "Sketching a Skype."

Muir stays sharp by drawing all the time. Once, she was talking with her friend Flora Doehler, of Nova Scotia, a fellow artist, and started a sketch. Friends and family can tell she's up to her Skype sketching when she bows her head down.

"While we were talking, I was sketching. I kept showing her every 60 seconds or so, and she was egging me on saying, let me see, let me seeee!'"

On an actual portrait commission, Muir has 10, two-hour sittings. But her Skype sketches provide "instant gratification - just like Skype.

"This was my wonky view of (Flora, below) in her kitchen, with the shelf to the right. Of course it's got that caught in the headlights feeling that a Skype image has, but it's also got a nice,' Are you really drawing me?' serious look to it. And it was a very fast sketch..."

Muir said the Skype drawing helps fill her blog: "Blogs are hungry for images."

Tim Bacon is a gung-ho squash coach at Smith College. Even a hip replacement surgery and medical leave couldn't keep him down.

Days after his surgery, he was coaching his squad remotely from his rehab room. His team was 60 miles away at Smith in Northampton in the Connecticut River valley of western Massachusetts.

A Web cam was set up on a laptop on court-side during practice so Bacon could stay in touch with his players. He sent his observations on chat and also can offered pointers on Audio and Video.

He notes the Skype coaching approach can work on the road: "There is nothing to stop a tour athlete from setting up a laptop in the stands."

He tells his story on his video "Skype Coaching for Squash" here: and below:

Back in 2003, MTV introduced the concept of "punk'd." That's where they play a practical joke on someone, recording it on video for all the world to see.

Now a couple of jokers have introduced "SkypeD Yah." The idea is to position your Skype Video window over an image and then snap a photo for some tomfoolery. (When was the last time you used word? A first for me.)

The results are hilarious. You can post your callers' images over movie stars, rock stars, derelicts, whomever you wish.

SkypeD Yah even has Facebook link where you can post your favorites for possible inclusion on the SkypeD Yah blog.

Watch out. You can be punk'd and SkypeD at the same time.

Montreal resident Steve Felix uses his "the bridge" blog to "share his thoughts on the world of institutional real estate and other stuff."

In an Aug. 8 entry on other stuff, he describes how he had signed up for Skype years ago, but only the previous week had given it a spin with a call from his son in London.

He was impressed: "It was amazing how clear the connection was. Skyper-Skyper calls are free. If you use Skype to call a non-Skyper there's a charge but a friend of mine in London says that by using Skype their company saves 35% on their telephone bill. Not too shabby.

"Today I buy a good headset and start encouraging certain friends and business colleagues to sign up (P.S. Skype also has a camera feature and as my new MacBook Pro has a built-in camera it's easy for people to see me through the Skype connection). Now, if I choose to use that feature I better be sure that I've combed my hair first!"

So if you're thin king about saving money when you contact friends, family and business associates, why not follow Steve Felix's example?

The Law & Order show on NBC prides itself on ripping its stories from the headlines.

So I sat up in my seat, while catching up with Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The episode, entitled "Reunion," is about the murder of a host of a TV show on rock 'n roll with a champagne bottle.

Detective Mike Logan (Christopher Noth) tells his partner, Detective Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) they need to start investigating. He asks what her plans for the evening had been.

Just back from living in the UK, Wheeler said she had a "Skype session" planned with her boyfriend in London.

It seems that everywhere I go lately I meet people who stay in touch with their squeezes around the country or around the world--on Skype.

Talk about ripped from the headlines. Wheeler, and the L&O writers, nailed it.

At the Persistent Illusion blog, a strong case is made for using Skype.

PI complains that her Verizon bill last month amounted to $285. (Yikes.) She notes:
"We can't figure out how we used more than 1400 minutes, and went two hundred dollars over our regular bill. But it doesn't matter, because I have had enough."

She investigated and decided that Skype was the way to go. She told her husband "about how awesome Skype is, how we could have 10,000 minutes a month to call anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, how we could get a phone number that people could call in to, how it would free us from the tyranny of Verizon's evilness, and how cheapcheapcheap (!) it is. The only hiccup occurred when we found out that Skype cannot call 9-1-1. But instead of objecting to the idea outright, we did a little research.

"The solution? We are getting pay-as-you-go phones. So, yes. It's a cell phone...with no plan."

She notes: "(I)n reality - I LOVE SKYPE. Chris set up the equipment with a minimum of fuss, but if you are completely techno-ignorant I would suggest dragging a computer geek home with you. (It wasn't much more complicated than installing a printer driver.)"

You can run through PI's economic analysis at her blog. She says her savings from Skype will save her $576 this year and $816 in future years. PI said: "$816 is basically a well executed vacation to the Caribbean!"

Some great comments ensue.

Dreemwhrld notes: "I downloaded the free version of Skype a few months ago. I call my parents as often as I can with it. My favorite part? The video!! Now I can see my parents when I call them and they can see me, something I never wanted to pay for on a cell phone (and something most cell phones can't do anyway). I can conference call with my sister and parents, or send an instant message to one of my friends, and its all free. There's no way I could afford international calling to talk to my family, but now anyone with a web cam or a microphone can talk to me. The usefulness of the internet will never cease to amaze me."

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" »

They may still be voting in Pennsylvania.

But that's only for Obama and Clinton.

The results are in at Webware 100, honoring the best web 2.0 sites, services and products. Nearly 2 million people voted.

And Skype won in the communications category for the second year in a row.

Skype has announced a new flat rate calling plan to 34 countries.

Here's where you can call for $9.95 a month:

Continue reading "Skype's unlimited calling to 34 countries" »

Maybe you, like me, have feasted on the unlimited calling via Skype to non-Skype landlines and cell phones of your friends and family.

My landline bill shrunk when I used Skype Pro for unlimited calling.

Now for the first time this smorgasbord of calling is going international: Skype is introducing a new flat rate for unlimited calling to 34 countries.

Continue reading "Skype takes flat rate calling international" »

Skype is for lovers.

Ask Rafael Nunez Sá Freire, 26, an adman in Shanghai, China, and Sara Stultz, 26, a graphics design student in Nice, France.

The couple were married in a civil ceremony in Brazil via a Skype video call.

Sara and Rafael met as teens in Brazil and kept up over the years as they moved around the globe.

As to the ceremony. “We saw everything and we saw parents and godparents sign the certificate. It was very exciting and funny at the same time,” Rafael told FOLHA Online.

The judge had performed weddings via proxy before—but said the Skype wedding was a first.

The couple plans a religious ceremony later in Brazil. Maybe they could have their friends in France and China attend via a Skype video call?

Anyone in the US have a similar tale? Wy not share it?

It was April Fool’s Day in Vegas. But Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin wasn’t fooling around.

Martin told the CTIA Wireless meeting in Las Vegas he would try to shoot down Skype’s application to require wireless operators to permit any device on their networks.

Skype filed a petition with the FCC a year ago to apply the 1968 Carterfone decision to wireless networks. In that decision, the FCC gave telephone customers the right to connect their own gear to the public phone network so long as the customer’s equipment did no harm to the network.

The landmark decision made it possible for devices such as modems to be connected to phone network. Without Carterfone, you wouldn’t be reading these words.

Continue reading "FCC Commish Chair Martin's April 1 message: Leave the market to its own devices" »

There are only days left to vote. (Only until March 31.) Pressure is mounting. And “our guy” needs your help.

We’re not talking the Pennsylvania primary or Obama or Hillary or McCain. We’re talking CNET’s 2008 Webware 100 Awards on Web 2.0 products.

Skype did well in the voting last year.

And Skype has been doing more than kissing babies since then, launching High Quality Video, the 3 Skypephone, and appearing in the new Sony Mylo and the Sony PSP Slim & Lite.

This year, Skype is a finalist again.

Continue reading "Stuffing the ballot box for Skype" »

A couple years ago I wrote an article for the Chicago Sun-Times about a couple with a long-distance relationship that they kept going with Skype-to-Skype calls, coast-to-coast. He was in Seattle (Pacific coast); she in Chicago ("the third coast").

They would put on their wireless headsets and stay connected via Skype throughout the evening. They talked while preparing dinner. They watched the same TV shows and rented the same DVDs, commenting back and forth. They shared the silent moments. Together.

Continue reading "Ambient Skype: the next best thing to being there" »