This can take a while because the Android Market, which is the Google equivalent of the Apple iTunes store, has lots of good stuff. Granted not as much stuff as the Apple iTunes store, but it’s slowly getting there. So, just like a kid in a candy store, you are likely to start installing everything to see what it is all like.

But in the long term, you can’t install everything you find (phone performance would take a serious hit if you installed the kitchen sink) so finally you have to scale back to the best, most essential apps.

To help all you fellow new Android users out, here’s the ones I personally consider to be keepers. After less than a week, I am still looking and refining my phone but the following are ones I will find really hard to get rid of. To find them, just go to the Android Market on your phone and search for them.

Meebo

As someone who makes his living online, being able to chat to my colleagues and other contacts is a must. Pidgin is my favourite IM app but until they make a mobile version of their software, Meebo seems to be the best option for multi-client instant messaging.

An online account from the Meebo website doesn’t seem to be needed for this app. Just add your instant messaging ID’s and passwords and log in. You may be asked to confirm all your contacts again (it asked me to confirm 5 of my contacts who have been on my Pidgin IM list for over a year) and then you will see everyone in a neat vertical list.

If you are more of an AIM fan, check out the Android app Hi AIM. Yahoo Messenger fans can download Hi Yahoo, ICQ users have ICQLive (does anyone still use ICQ?) and Windows Live Messenger users can use Hi MSN Beta. But honestly, if you use more than one of these apps (and who doesn’t these days?) then Meebo is an easier tidier option.

Skype Lite

Another of my requirements, when buying the Android phone, was that it had to be able to run Skype. Not all mobiles can run the Skype Lite app (my partner bought a Palm Pre phone last week and then discovered that it doesn’t run Skype. Boy is she unhappy!).

The Skype Lite app (as it name suggests) is a slimmed down bare-bones app that allows you to call your Skype contacts via your mobile (so very useful for national and international calls). You can also instant message your contacts.

But what Skype Lite will NOT do (at least for me here in Germany) is allow me to send SMS messages, which is rather inconvenient as I am a big SMS sender.  You also can’t receive video.

Nevertheless Skype Lite is an extremely useful app to have on your mobile phone and absolutely essential if you need to make a national or international call (and you don’t want to pay your mobile company’s extortionate standard rates).

Twidroid

The next essential thing I needed on my phone was a good Twitter app. As someone who is really getting into the swing of twittering, I needed something other than visiting the mobile version of the site.  I needed a proper app which would allow me to follow / unfollow people as well as do other things such as make changes to my Twitter profile. I found it in Twidroid.

Twidroid allows you to do virtually everything you can do on the regular Twitter site, as well as give you a nice clean easy to navigate interface to read and respond to tweets. You can also read peoples profiles and follow / unfollow them.

If that wasn’t enough, you can also be notified on your Android desktop when new tweets have arrived (and you can choose what notification tone you want). But having this one is actually a battery drainer so I chose to switch it off. As well as a battery killer, it is also a productivity killer. I don’t want to be looking at my phone every 5 minutes reading the latest tweets. I can easily wait a couple of hours and then scroll through them all in one go.

Facebook

I am not THAT much into Facebook but every now and then I like to visit the site and see what my friends are saying. Android has a nice Facebook app which, like the Twitter app, puts everything into a nice compact easy-to-read format.

You can like / dislike entries, write on peoples walls, comment, upload photos, poke people, send friend and invite requests and much more.

One of the things I really like is that, to refresh the app, you just need to shake your phone! That’s right, find out who has just poked you by shaking the Droid.

Again you can be notified on the Android notification bar at the top when new updates come in (as well as get an unique sound to alert you). But once again, these features are battery drainers and if you have a battery which runs out after a day, then it would be best to switch off all the instant notifications.

Last.FM

The phone shouldn’t only be for work but also for play.  It should be able to relax you when you’re feeling a bit stressed out. Until Android develops a back massage app, then Last.FM is the best app for you to close your eyes for 5 minutes and unwind.

Just like the website, the Last.FM app allows you to

• Log into your account and listen to music.
• Choose a radio station (or start a new one),
• Say who you like listening to and the Last.FM app will find similar artists and play them.
• Like / dislike the currently playing song
• Skip to the next song

The quality of the music sound will depend entirely on your phone speakers but my Android phone came with headphones and the Last.FM music sounds fine through them.

In the next post, we will discuss the next 5 free Android apps you should be putting on your Android phone. In the meantime, what do you think of these 5? Do you have these ones or do you prefer better free alternatives? Let us know what you think in the comments, and stay tuned for part two.

[Update: 10 Free Android Apps For Your New Android Mobile (Part 2)]

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One of its most important features is the seamless integration of real-time collaboration tools. It’s actually fairly complicated to explain what it is, because a proper definition would have to encompass both developer and consumer aspects of the product and we have yet to receive invitations to the service.

I don’t particularly appreciate sensationalistic titles, either in print or online media but today’s title accurately reflects the content of this article. By adding support for Etherpad inside their already comprehensive communication web app, Tokbox just created the ultimate online communication tool.

Let’s take it one step at a time and take a look at Tokbox, a San Francisco start-up with some very smart people at the helm;  Tokbox is an online video chat application that implements basically all the functionality of Skype minus the mobile and landline phone support.

It’s free, it’s got an awesome interface and supports more concurrent video streams than your bandwidth can handle (more than 20 people in a conference call according to the Tokbox homepage). That alone is a great product, but there’s more; it’s got a multi-platform chat client, just type in your Yahoo!, GTalk, MSN or AOL credentials; free video ‘voicemail’ and integration with all the web services you might want: inline YouTube videos, Picasa & Flickr picture slideshows, Slideshare presentations, and notifications for MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

You’d expect a feature-rich application like that to be destined for your local hard drive, but the fact is that it works amazingly well online. If someone paid attention to past reviews of web applications – it’s these developers. Not only is the interface simple and intuitive, it’s also got power – detailed privacy settings, an Adobe Flash helper for guiding the user to the necessary steps to enable the webcam and microphone and a task list that takes the guessing out and walks the user through the available features.

Etherpad on the other hand, was created by a group of former Google employees with some support from Y Combinator and a couple of fellows from FriendFeed. It started out as “what might be both the ugliest and most useful group productivity app”, at  least that’s how  TechCrunch put it back in November 2008.

Now, Etherpad is all grown-up and its design, while it still remains rugged, is considerably improved. If you’ve seen the Google Wave demo, you’ll immediately catch the grip of Etherpad: collaborative online text editing, all happening live and with different color highlighting for each participant.

Now imagine a video conference call with your friends, planning a vacation and writing down the itinerary; discussing features and design with a client; proofreading an article with your editor; or collaborating on a project with someone from school. That’s what this amazing web app duo achieves.

This functionality is basically what we all expect to see coming from Google Wave. Although you might think the opposite, these two start-ups already have a leg up compared to Google’s vertical solution; they already integrate with existing web services and user habits: pop in a Slideshare, a Flickr slideshow or integrate a chat window in Facebook. If these two have an Achilles heel, it’s the brand awareness and sheer number users Google has in its grasp. Until Google Wave proves me wrong – I’m declaring Tokbox+Etherpad the best web applications of the year.

Check out Tokbox and Etherpad, then remember to come back and share your impressions. For more cool reviews of web applications visit the category page.

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In those circumstances I need a good tool that can record the phone call so that I can later transcribe it into a text interview. If you want to know how do you use skype for these sort of interviews – my tool of choice for this task is HotRecorder. HotRecorder is one of the most effective tools to record any VoIP call, not only Skype. However, if you are a Skype user you can rest assured that it’s a tool that’s very well integrated with the Skype application.

Getting Set Up to Record a Skype Call

Installing and using HotRecorder is about as simple as it gets. There’s virtually no setup. After you run the install and launch the application, it attaches (literally) to your Skype window. Whenever you move your Skype window around the screen, the HotRecorder window stays attached at the upper left edge.

There are a few things that you may want to configure in HotRecorder depending on your preferences. For example, in the options menu, you can assign a folder on your computer to save all of the audio files. The Sound Quality and Recording Type settings are also important because they’ll ultimately determine how quickly the size of your audio file grows.

If you have a huge hard drive and are only recording the call for yourself, by all means keep the sound quality high and use Stereo sound. However, if your intent is to email the file or you’d like to store it on smaller media that doesn’t have quite as much storage capacity, you may want to consider using Medium or Low quality.

Recording a Skype Call

When you hit “Rec” and then dial a phone number or connect with another user on Skype, you’ll see the HotRecorder display status change to “Recording” and the size of the audio file updates as well so that you know how much space the audio file is going to consume on your hard drive or USB drive.

The current time duration of the call is also displayed, so if you’re running a Podcast or radio show and you don’t want the conversation to go beyond a certain time interval, you’ll know exactly how long the discussion is going. If there are parts of the conversation that you don’t want to record, just click on “Pause,” and then when you’re ready to start rolling again you can click “Rec” again and the call will continue.

Once you click on “Stop,” you’ll be presented with the screen above so that you can fill out details about the phone call including who you talked to and anything else you want to note about the call. The important field is “Conversation with” because the listing of your calls shows this clearly, and it’s one of the best ways you’ll have of remembering your calls. You can use any filename convention you like, so keep it in a format that you’ll be able to organize. In my case I sort all of my interviews by date, so I keep the date in the filename.

Once you click on save, you’ll see the application encoding the audio and saving it to file. One interesting thing to note here is how the audio will get encoded when you choose audio. HotRecorder saves the conversation in 2 channels – meaning that during playback your interviewee’s voice will play on the left and your voice will get played on the right. This is actually pretty cool if someone has stereo headphones. Unfortunately if one of your listeners has mono headphones or will be listening to your audio file on any mono device – the conversation will seem oddly “one-sided.”

Playback and Extra Options

Playing conversations back after you’re done recording is as simple as clicking on the “Player” tab.

When you click on the Player button, you’ll see a list of all of the conversations you’ve had. As I mentioned above, the saved recordings are displayed by who the conversation was with. If you accumulate a lot of conversations over time, there’s also a search feature available (this is where your description and keywords will come in handy).

There are a couple of cool extra features with HotRecorder, and one of them is an answering machine. Personally, I don’t use this feature – but I have to admit I like the fact that unlike your typical answering machine, HotRecorder will record the message that your caller leaves, attach the file to an email, and send off the email to any email address you like. You can be anywhere in the world and never miss a phone message again as long as you have Internet access to check your email.

If you run a podcast or a radio show, another cool feature are the “emotisounds,” which let you embed various sound effects into the conversation. This can get really hilarious if you play it right. Whenever someone says something that you don’t like, just click “boo” or if they’re boring you to death just click on “Snore” – you’ll have your listeners in stitches.

If you use HotRecorder the way that I do – that is, recording phonecalls for later playback and transcription to text, the free version is more than enough. I don’t care what format the file is stored in and I really don’t care about the advertisement panel at the top. However if you want to convert your files over to MP3 or WAV format so you can use them anywhere, you’ll need the inexpensive premium version that comes with an embedded AudioConverter.

You might also want to check out earlier Simon’s article that lists a couple of alternative programs to record Skype calls.

How do you use Skype to do interviews? Do you have your own solution for recording VoIP calls? Share them with the MUO readers in the comments section below!

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• Record Your Skype Calls On Windows and Mac (12)
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Yet even the great Skype cannot escape privacy and security issues that befall other IM applications and many new users often ask, “Is Skype Safe?” Skype’s philosophy is to allow the user to quickly see their call and chat records so that they can go back and remember what they had done or who they talked to. This approach is useful in office work where everything needs to be recorded for easy reference. But anyone who knows how to use Skype can always see what you are up to. And surely there are things in there that you do not want others to see.

Here’s how you can configure things to keep Skype safe and constantly on guard.

Tweak Your Privacy Settings To Make Skype Safe

One of the first things that you should do when you install Skype is to tweak your privacy settings from the Options windows. To get to the Options window, Go to Tools –> Options, then select the Privacy tab to bring up Skype’s Privacy Settings.

You can set your Privacy Settings to if you want only your Skype buddies to contact you. Click the advanced options to tweak your call, video, and IM settings. I personally set my calls and video to only the people on my contact list and set my IM settings to “anyone”. This protects me from unwanted calls and video chat while still being accessible through IM conversations.

Skype also allows you to clear your cookies and history from the Privacy tab.

Delete Your Skype Call History Automatically

I feel secure when I delete my history after I use Skype. But deleting my history every time is inconvenient especially for someone who uses Skype all the time. Since Skype’s Privacy Tab only deletes IM conversations, I’d have to go in and pick apart the program to delete my call history.

Thankfully, Privacy Controls 2.0 automatically deletes all your Skype chat history log and recent calls with one click. Privacy Controls also deletes your file transfer history, voice mail history, and stored files received through Skype.

Best of all, Privacy Controls runs in the background and automatically deletes your history with scheduled scans. This way, you never have to remind yourself to delete your call and chat history.

Privacy Controls also delete history and files created by P2P applications such as Kazaa and Limewire, IM apps like Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, and Windows Live, media players like VLC, DivX and Quicktime, internet browsers, desktop search utilities, and even unwanted history items from Adobe Acrobat and Flash.

And yes, Privacy Controls is freeware – although you have to register to get a Free license key.

View The Log Files Created By Skype

When it comes to privacy, a good offense is your best defense. You will not know if there is anything “unusual” going on with your Skype unless you see for yourself. SkypeLogView from Nirsoft reads the log files created by Skype and displays all the details of your activity – incoming/outgoing calls, IM conversations, and file transfer made from/to another Skype account. You can also select and copy items from the log or export them into HTML, CSV, TXT, XML.

SkypeLogView is a very light program – there is no installation process or additional dll files involved. You just need to run the .exe file to start using it.

SkypeLogView is also a great way to troubleshoot your Skype. For example, you can find out which Skype user is causing problems during file transfers, or know the hours of the day when your Skype reception is poor.

Encrypt Your Chat

CryptoChat 4 is an encryption software made especially for Skype and is one of the most effective ways to make Skype extremely safe. CryptoChat is useful if you are working on a confidential project and want the added layer of security for you and your Skype buddies. Cryptochat encrypts your conversations with 1024 bit asymmetric RSA keys for ultimate privacy. Just install the program and select the contact that you want to have encrypted chats with.

CryptoChat is very useful against hackers forcing their way into your conversation history and protects your IM conversations not only on your end, but also on your contact’s end in case there are snoopers on their computer.

These are just some suggestion on how to keep your Skype safe and primed against snoopers. Hit us with your comments and suggestions to keep our Skype snoop-free!

Image Credit : Malthe

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Within just a few years of the advent of Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol, Skype emerged as a leader in the industry. The reason Skype became the leader was because, at least in the U.S., you could install Skype on your Internet-connected home PC and make completely free phone calls to any phone number in the U.S.

Today, the structure of the VoIP industry has evolved to meet the demands of increased infrastructure costs to support such a large VoIP user base, as well as to compete with the frightened but savvy telecommunications industry. In addition to becoming public enemy number one in the eyes of the big telecom companies, Skype also finds itself faced with a plethora of VoIP competitors. Today, we’re going to focus on one particular competitor – the emergence of an application called Gizmo. The following head-to-head VoIP review compares the features and costs of Skype Vs. Gizmo so that you can decide if Gizmo might be worth a try.

A Skype Vs. Gizmo Comparison Reveals Features and Flaws of Both

If you’ve used Skype, then understanding Gizmo is easy because it’s practically a perfect clone. In a few areas, the application is a bit too much like Skype, to be quite honest. With that said, there are some benefits to Gizmo that deserve mentioning, so this Skype vs. Gizmo feature will lay out those features side-by-side with Skype. At the end, we’ll review whether or not Gizmo has a chance of outpacing Skype in capturing VoIP customers.

This particular review is focused on the PC-based application, but it should be noted that each service, both Skype and Gizmo, offers a very useful application for your mobile phone that can save a great deal of money in both calling minutes and text messaging.

The first, basic part of any application to consider is the main page. In this respect, Gizmo has figured out how to make the navigation and control of the communication software much more clean and straightforward compared to Skype. In Skype, I’ve often spent a fair amount of time trying to remember how to get to the dialing pad or how to view message history.

In Gizmo, every major feature is clearly outlined in a tabular format at the top, and the most common actions, such as sending a text message to mobile users, adding a contact, or sending a message to other IM users, are clearly identified as large icons at the bottom.

Basic Features – Dialing Landlines and Adding Contacts

For the most part, if you do a Skype vs. Gizmo comparison on the dialing feature alone, they almost come neck and neck. Skype’s dialpad is a bit more aesthetically pleasing with blue stylized buttons with large white numbers on the keypad. Gizmo, on the other hand, features a somewhat boring, standard gray keypad with black letters.

But what it lacks in style, it makes up for with functionality by adding the ability to send various sound effects during your phone call. If you can picture how your friend would react when you click on the “BOO” button after they say something you disagree with, I’m sure you can imagine how funny some of these would be.

When it comes to adding a contact, Gizmo scores a point over Skype. As you can see below, Skype allows you to add other Skype users to your contact list. The one other IM app that Skype is integrated with is MySpaceIM. On the other hand, Gizmo offers users the ability to add contacts from GoogleTalk, Jabber, MSN, AIM and other major IM networks.

The one thing any communications company should understand is that not all users are every going to be using the same applications, and expecting everyone to adopt your application isn’t realistic. Interoperability is a key element to success.

Advanced Features – Sending/Receiving SMS and Voice Conferencing

Once you start getting into the more advanced features, you’re more likely to discover fees or you may need to purchase the “pro” version of the application for it to work. Comparing Skype versus Gizmo on these terms reveals that in both cases the applications offer some very cool and useful features – but if you want it to work you’re going to need to be willing to pay some small fees of one form or another.

One of the most valuable features that I’ve found all of these VoIP applications have been adding over the past few years is the ability to send text messages to mobile users. While this is a feature that’s just sort of “neat” when you’re using it as a desktop application, when you consider that these applications have a mobile version, the value becomes much more clear. You can even disable text messaging on your mobile plan, and just use your Internet connection to send and receive SMS. Both services, Gizmo and Skype, offer this feature.

Another valuable feature is the ability to set up conference calls. In both cases, Skype and Gizmo allow this feature for free among their own users, but if you want to have a landline conference call, expect to pay for it in some way – either through the landline pricing or a fixed fee.

Conferences are easier to set up in Skype, where you simply add users or phone numbers (who you call out to first). In Gizmo you need to go through setting up a conference call number that everyone can connection to. This is an extra step in Gizmo, but it does create the convenience of everyone having a central number to call in to.

Another interesting and valuable option for both Gizmo and Skype is the option to have a voicemail box. In the case of Skype, the voicemail feature isn’t available unless you pay for the upgrade to Skype Pro. For Gizmo, the voicemail feature doesn’t make it clear whether there are any charges or fees applied, however the feature itself does appear enabled in the free version of the software.

Advanced Options and Configuration

Finally, each application has a whole series of screens where you can configure your PC audio and microphone settings, videocam options and all of the other specific features of the software.

This is the one area of the Gizmo software that really raised my eyebrows. If you look closely, you can see how Gizmo developers apparently just reverse-engineered the options menus and screens from Skype. This section of the Gizmo software makes it painfully obvious that, at least in this area, Gizmo is very much a clone of Skype’s application. With that said, the additional features that Gizmo offers beyond the Skype features make up for this – but not by much.

Ultimately, my own summation of this Skype vs. Gizmo comparison is that Gizmo simply does not offer enough additional free features or services to effectively compete with Skype.

Have you ever used any VoIP software other than Skype? Which ones are your favorites? Share your own opinion in the comments area below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Whereas as little as five years ago, most people still had to rely on obscenely expensive mobile and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone) networks to carry their voice over short and long distances. Today, everyone seems to be using in one way or another VoIP.

As a reader of MakeUseOf and probably a geek, you must have asked yourself at some point – how does Skype work?

Skype, one of the most comprehensive multi-platform VoIP applications, running on a Macintosh

VoIP owes its versatility to another fantastic technology, the Internet. Instead of sending signals via a PSTN network, be it analog or digital, a VoIP application usually uses SIP (a variation of the standard TCP/IP protocols) to create data packets, and sends them on the same network you use for email and web surfing.

By using data packets, the technology can be used to carry more than the standard mono voice your old telephone does; VoIP can carry text, images, live video and high quality stereo sound as well as ’screen sharing’, depending on the speed and reliability of your internet connection.

With the continually expanding broadband users market, more people are able to use VoIP without investing in a separate physical connection or contracts.

A Tesco VoIP phone designated for home use. It connects to an ethernet port on the router and the landline for emergency calls.

The journey starts at the receiver, which can range from specialized hardware appliances like the ‘Skype-phones’ and Cisco VoIP phones to software applications installed on other mobile terminals or computers. All devices must be capable to send and receive data packets via an IPv4 network. Your voice is captured and transcoded from the analog format that the microphone captures, into a digital format, then passed on to a compressor that minimizes the size of the audio stream enabling transfer on slow connections.

An VoIP enabled phone disguised as an old-style PSTN machine. These are becoming more common in businesses as a simple measure to reduce costs of long distance calls and provide improved security via encryption protocols.

The audio stream is then divided into small pieces, each small enough to fit in a packet, which is stamped with the destination address and sent through the network.  Since VoIP uses SIP as the means to spread, it is inherently prone to its negative sides, which are quite a few, since it was never engineered to support live conversations; VoIP is susceptible to stutter and latency.

Gizmo, a multi-platform VoIP application, a worthy competitor to Skype.

The receiving end must reconstruct the packets sequentially for ideal reproduction, which does not happen on most public networks, which are prone to congestions during peak hours. Latency and packet loss can render the receiving end to be unable to reconstruct the complete audio stream resulting in blank audio space for short periods.

Although it’s much more versatile than traditional PSTN communications, VoIP has been criticized by many as being unreliable, especially in emergency situations where electrical power is absent or intermittent. Supporting hardware such as wireless routers need electricity at all times to function properly. Most people in the United States still keep a landline for emergency situations, which can provide enough direct current to power most analog phones without any additional power sources.

Emergency services have strongly objected to the use of VoIP for emergency calls due to the inability to locate the caller within a reasonable area. For example, a user connected to the office VPN network would appear to be in the server building instead of the real location.

A Skype-phone, like the one pictured above, will connect to any available WiFi access point to access the internet. Similar applications will run on select SIP-enabled mobile phones, like the Nokia N70 (it can also use the native mobile carrier data network if available).

In ideal situations, where a broadband connection and electricity are available at all times, VoIP technology provides an incredibly cheap and comprehensive way to communicate, mitigating roaming charges that traditional service providers require for long distance calls. Many consumer VoIP service providers offer free calls within their user base of Internet connected clients (computer-computer, skype-phones and other terminals). They also offer to interconnect with traditional networks for low fees. Some, like Skype, even offer standard telephone numbers than can be dialed from any telephone and which redirect to your Skype enabled device.

There are many VoIP service providers, and reviewing the capabilities of each would take an entire article. Besides Skype and Gizmo, you should also check out Vonage and this comparison list.

Don’t forget to share your favorite applications and services in the comments. You should also check out How To Make Skype a Portable App, How To Get A Skype-In Phone Number For Free and Instant Conference Calling With Gizmo5.

Image Credits : fsse8info, Chung Huang, fsse8info, icherche

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New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Tokbox & Etherpad: Potential Google Wave Competitors, Available Now (11)
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• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)

If you pay for Skype credit, you can call out from Skype on your computer to normal phones (wireless or landline) at a discounted rate. Also, for an additional cost, you may get a “Skype-In” phone number, which is essentially a Skype number disguised as a local land line, so that all calls to that number will be forwarded to your Skype account, allowing you to take the call anywhere and on any computer with Skype installed. This benefits the caller — if Skype is not available, he/she can always contact you simply by dialing a local number.

It’s a cool thing to have, but outside of this site’s staff I don’t have much use for the service (many of my friends are still using AIM for goodness’ sake). That changed today when I signed up for phone numbers to forward calls to my Skype account, and unlike the Skype-In service, they didn’t cost me a thing.

So, how to get a Skype phone number?

If you don’t have a Skype account, please be sure to set one up first. You’ll need to provide your Skype ID when you register at Ring2Skype.com, which is where you get your free “Skype-In” numbers. There are a lot of countries to choose from, and you may register multiple numbers. For example, I’ve registered numbers in Windsor, Canada and London, UK as well as a US (New York City) number. My friend in Manhattan can call me up as if I lived there. Co-workers in London and Canada can now call me without ringing up international charges.

Here in the US, we have but a few choices as to our number’s calling area. I could get a number (with a three-digit extension) in California, Florida, Maine or New York. Japan’s numbers are limited to Tokyo, and Israel to Tel Aviv. It’s going to be a bit odd giving friends in Louisville my Manhattan number, but these days when long-distance and local calling are often the same price, it shouldn’t be too big a stretch.

There really is no catch. Call quality for me was as good as a regular Skype, Gizmo or Mobile Phone call. I plan on giving these numbers out to business contacts, and once Google Voice (which I hope to review for you soon) allows forwarding my GV number to extensions, I plan on using this service with friends and family as well.

While you’re here, you might like 30 free tips and tricks to improve Skype which Kaly wrote some time ago.

Do you have s Skype-In number? Are you aware if any alternative way to get a Skype phone number? How do you plan on using your Ring2Skype numbers? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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This should be done for the same reasons as keeping letters, even though they’re a dying practice. Two main reasons, actually.

The first one is emotional, as a keepsake. There are few people who wouldn’t enjoy going through some personal conversations from a few months, or even years ago. It’s interesting to look back upon situations, and to analyze your past self.

The second reason is also referance, but in a more serious way. It can support you, as an information source, to look up spoken dates and facts. In an even more serious way, these call recordings become even more crucial, as they can have great legal value. Of course you could also just be a paranoid dweep like me – great fun.

Whatever reason you’re doing it for, microphones and tape recorders are kind of old fashioned. Instead we’ll go with the flow and head the software way. Read on to see how Pamela and SCR will provide you with all the tools you need. Macintosh users might want to scroll even further down, to see what they’ll need to do.

Windows is, for now, still the dominating operating system. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that it is more supported by a wide variety of applications. There are workarounds on the other operation systems, but no free dedicated software like on Windows. There are tons of suites available, but we’re going to skip the ‘extensive ones‘ with all their superfluous buttons and functions, and focus on one simple application that does all you really need.

Record Skype Calls on Windows

Skype Call Recorder is a smart and minimalistic application, a perfect example of ‘name says it all’.

It can be hidden in your system tray, and automatically starts recording any incoming or outgoing calls to an mp3 file. It supports multiple conversations at once (e.g. one active, the others on hold), and records each to its own file.

For the amateur private detectives here, it’s also an easy way to place a tap on someone’s phone. Mind you, that’s pretty illegal in most countries.

Record Skype Calls on Mac

Sadly for the Mac users amongst you, the above app is Windows-only. Although there are no free dedicated applications for the platform, there are several workaround ways to record your Skype calls with your Mac.

Audio Hijack Pro is probably easiest to use. This cool utility will record the sound output of any application to an AIFF file, including Skype. No automatic recording, I’m afraid, but still as simple as clicking the button. The free version can record up to ten minutes, so don’t take too long. If you’re a really big chatter, refer to the alternative solution.

If you have GarageBand, there’s another workaround you could give a shot. No limitations this time. You’ll also need the free LineIn and Soundflower applications. Read the set-up instructions here.

We hope this will help you with your personal surveillance. Any questions or comments about the above, or related applications can be directed to the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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How about a full blown free screen sharing application that includes file transfer and remote control?

This is cross platform and works on Windows and Macs. The presenter simply downloads the 1.3MB Windows installer file and runs it on the machine that they want to share.

(You can also grab Mikogo’s Mac installer here).

You do need to sign up for a free account as well – but the person you are sharing your screen with does not.

You can download the application first or set up your account first – it does not matter. Either which way after you have an account password (it will be emailed to you) and the program running in your system tray you can go ahead and click on ’settings’.

There are 4 basic pages to Mikogo’s settings. The only thing you REALLY need to fill out is the user name, password and your display name in the first page as seen below.

The second page is how you can define what is shared. If you want to share everything you do not have to worry about these options. If you want any applications opened after the connection not to be shared simply un-check the box at the top to ‘Show new applications’.

The third page is self explanatory and just has settings for what is displayed if you pause the meeting and a storage path to record your meeting. There is also a box to apply a password to your meeting.

The last settings page allows you to setup your proxy or connection. If you have a normal setup you can safely bypass these settings.

When you are done with your settings you can choose ’start a meeting’ from your system tray. You will see the following screen and then the confirmation that the meeting has started.

You will then be given your meeting ID number and basic information on how to get your participants to connect to your session.

Then you instruct your user to go to the Mikogo website and click ‘Join a meeting’. They will download a small file and then will see this screen. Have them type in your meeting ID as well as a display name for them.

That’s it – they now see your screen. You can also give them control of your mouse and keyboard as well as initiate a file transfer.

Do you have another free screen sharing tool? Is it better than Mikogo? Let us know in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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But if your email intake is moderate or if you tend to be away from the computer a lot when important emails arrive then this might be just the very thing for you. GSN SMS Notifier is basically a small free application that allows you to get email alerts on mobile via SMS. It sits on your computer and monitors your inbox for incoming emails. When one arrives, it sends a SMS to your mobile phone, notifying you of the sender, the subject and the first one to two lines of the email.

What’s very useful about it is that it is not confined to just checking desktop POP3 inboxes. It also checks online Gmail accounts too. So when I was testing this, I had it monitor my Gmail account. It also sends SMS messages to any phone anywhere in the world. It sends the messages through either ICQ (free of charge) or through Skype (with Skype credit). You have to have one of these apps installed on your computer and if it’s Skype, you need to have enough credit on your Skype account (it costs the same as sending a normal SMS message in your country).

So, let’s set it up.

Once you’ve installed it, let’s dive into the configuration section.

The first thing you need to specify is the length of time GSN should check your account and the mobile phone number it should send SMS notifications to. When noting down the mobile phone number, remember the international dialling code

You also need to specify who should send your SMS’s – ICQ or Skype. But remember, the chosen app needs to be installed on your computer.

Next up, specify what email account it should check. You can choose between an online Gmail account or a desktop POP3 account. Then enter your account details. You can also specify labels it should check instead of the actual inbox.

I left the rules one alone so the last one for me was the SMS template. I also left this one alone but you might want to fiddle with this one if you want to customise what the SMS message says.

Then close the box. It will then ask you if you want to save the changes. Say yes and everything will save. The app will minimise to the taskbar and that’s you ready to go.

So when an email hits my inbox (a fake email that I sent to a dummy test account), the SMS arrives at my mobile phone :

If you have internet access enabled on your phone (such as the iPhone, Blackberry or Windows Mobile), you can, if you want, go to your inbox straight away to see the full text of the email. Otherwise, the SMS would just serve as a confirmation that an email has definately arrived from a certain person and you would have to read it later when you returned to your computer.

It’s good for me because I have a Gmail account but for those who don’t have Gmail accounts, it kind of sucks a bit. It would be nice if the developer would extend this service to other email services such as Yahoo and Hotmail. Also, I’m trying to think if there are any other reliable SMS providers other than ICQ and Skype to try and cut down on SMS costs that I could suggest to the developer – any ideas?

What do you think of this service? Would you use it? Can you think of possible useful uses for it? What are the pros and cons of using it in your opinion? Any other good email sms notifier apps? Let us know what you think in the comments!

There were also a couple of relevant posts on MakeUseof earlier:

- How To Setup Gmail SMS Alerts For Urgent Emails
- How To Send Email To Any Cell Phone

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Read on to find out how to make skype portable. It’s extremely easy.

1. The first step is to make the folder on your USB stick where it will all stay. So call it whatever you want. Let’s call it “Portable Skype” for example. But you can give it whatever name you want (it can be ’skype portable version’ or just skype, doesn’t matter).

2. Now go to the installed Skype app on your computer (normally located at C:\Program Files\Skype) and look for a file called Skype.exe

Right-click and copy that file. Do not move it anywhere. Just right-click and copy.

3. Now go to the “Portable Skype” folder and insert that copied “Skype.exe” file into the “Portable Skype” folder.

4. In the “Portable Skype” folder, make a new sub-folder called data

5. Inside the “data” folder, make a new text document using Notepad or something similar.   Name the file skype.bat

6. Open this file up and insert the following line: skype.exe /datapath:”Data” /removable

7. Save and close the file. That’s it. You’re done. You now have a portable version of Skype.

I tested this by moving the whole lot onto a USB stick and then launching it from there. It launched immediately but the firewall asked me if I wanted to let it pass. So you would need to configure the firewall of the computer you would be using the portable Skype on to allow the app through.

There is an interesting thread on PortableApps about what should be put on the skype.bat file. If you want to fine-tune the file, you might want to read the thread.

This is just a “rough and ready” hack to put Skype on your USB stick and how to make skype portable app. Please note, future releases of Skype may cause this hack to stop working. I am hoping that Skype will eventually bring out an official portable version that works for ALL portable USB sticks, not just the U3.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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That’s why I’m still on Windows Mobile, along with a massive portion of the rest of the world. Windows Mobile is one of the most-used mobile operating systems, but it’s been largely pushed aside as the iPhone has become more popular. The iPhone has all its great applications, but there are a number of fantastic, useful, fun and plain cool Windows Mobile apps as well.

Here are five free applications for Windows Mobile, many of which have iPhone counterparts, but that do their job at least as well as they do on that Apple-thing.

Evernote

My favorite “external brain”, Evernote helps you remember everything. With Evernote for Windows Mobile, all you’ll need on you is your cell phone. Just fire up the app, and you can create notes from pictures, text or voice. Search and browse your notes, share and edit them, and manage your head right from your Windows Mobile phone.

Unlike the iPhone (as best as I could tell), there’s also a link to upload a file, which means you’re able to send files to and from your Windows Mobile phone. It’s perfect for when you need to remember to buy something, how much something costs, something you need to do, or just about anything that comes into your head that you’d rather not fly right out.

Fring

Fring is the mobile IM client to end all mobile IM clients. It connects to most major instant messaging networks- AIM, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and the like. If you’ve got a Wi-Fi enabled phone, there’s even another killer feature- Skype. You can make VOIP calls with your cell phone, using Fring’s Skype support, and not use your minutes or plan, but simply by picking up a wireless signal.

Even without Wi-Fi, though, Fring’s a killer application for instant messaging, and can even update your Twitter status for you.

Tiny Twitter

Even though Fring can update Twitter for you, odds are Twitter users will want a bit more. That’s where Tiny Twitter comes in. It’s a Twitter cleint for Windows Mobile that also works on any Java-enabled device which covers some serious ground. Using Tiny Twitter, you can tweet without hitting your SMS bill (though you will incur some data charges without a data plan).

Tiny Twitter allows full access to your Twitter timeline, makes replying and messaging easy, and the “Inbox” view gives you a simple way to see and respond to tweets directed at you. Tiny Twitter’s the perfect Windows Mobile app for tweeting on the go, and is actually better than anything I’ve found for the iPhone.

The Core Pocket Media Player

TCPMP, as The Core Pocket Media Player is known, is the best way to watch movies and listen to music on a Windows Mobile phone. You can use it to stream media (again, watch the data charges), or to play a huge variety of formats of both video and audio. It’s a no-frills application with a small memory footprint that’s dead simple to use, and one road warriors won’t want to be without. Especially when you add the use of a memory card, TCPMP works with your phone to make it a killer media player- small screen or no small screen.

Kevtris

What fun is a phone you can’t play with? The iPhone has a ton of great games, but let’s be honest – there’s never been a game as wonderful as Tetris. The blocks, the twisting, the narrow misses that leave you tearing your hair out – it’s just glorious.

If you have a Windows Mobile phone, you needn’t ever be without Tetris again. It’s a free download called Kevtris, and is a blast to play. There are three levels of play, and several different games you can play as well – all similar to Tetris. It’s a fantastic time-waster, and a game I like better than anything the iPhone’s thrown at me.

I’ve been a Windows Mobile user for a while now, and thanks to these applications and more, I don’t plan on changing anytime soon. There are applications to do everything that I need, for free, and plus – I just love having an actual keyboard.

Are you a Windows Mobile user? What applications do you have, and which do you envy of the iPhone?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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So here are the contents of the Mark Pack. Due to the nature of my job, the contents of the Mark Pack are always changing as I discover new stuff. But here’s what it contains right now. This is part one of the article, part two is tomorrow.

1. Mozilla Firefox

Obviously! (you didn’t think I was going to say Internet Exploder now did you?!) Although I have to say I have been flirting with the idea of going over to Google Chrome for a while now but I am put off by the things it lacks and especially its lack of privacy. Firefox has been rather unstable for me recently with constant crashes and this is not good in my line of work.   Thank God for its session saver feature otherwise I would keep losing all those porn sites I keep finding. Oops, did I really say that out loud? Damn, damn, damn…..

So to quote Darth Vader, “come with me to the Dark Side”. But right now, I am still doing my impersonation of Luke Skywalker on the Death Star in front of the Emperor resisting with all his might. At the moment, Firefox is still my browser of choice but it really needs to get the stability issues fixed if I am to resist Darth Google and his overtures (“the force is strong in this one”)

2. Pidgin Skype

I put these two together because I use them together as my daily online communication tools. I tried using Digsby for a while but it just didn’t click with me for some reason. So I went back to Pidgin. The only thing that annoys me about Pidgin is the very small message window that can’t be resized. It used to be much bigger but when they brought out an upgrade, they shrunk it down (no dirty jokes please!). I am hoping they will reverse that and soon. I don’t like typing in a microscopic window.

What I really love about Pidgin are all the plugins that are available for it. I’ve previously wrote about Bot Sentry which nuked all the IM spam instantly and there is also gSMS which sends you SMS’s whenever someone tries to contact you on Pidgin (although this one is apparently a bit unstable for some people).

Skype is just wonderful (despite all the spam that comes through it). I do a lot of my phoning from it, especially my international calls, saving myself a ton of money in the process. The video calls are just sweet and I surprised my grandparents on Christmas Day with a webcam call (even though they didn’t understand how it all worked!).

I also like the tweaks and upgrades that the Skype team have brought out recently – the improved audio and picture quality, the tighter interface (including the ability once again to separate the contact list from the chat window – which is a huge plus).

But the thing that makes Skype totally invaluable is the ability to assign a phone number to it (giving yourself a business phone number) and also being able to forward calls to a mobile phone.   So if you have to go out, you can forward all your Skype calls to your mobile phone and then take off to Starbucks for that double latte. Meanwhile, your Skype callers are none the wiser where you are.

3. Winamp

I’ve tried a LOT of audio and media players over the time. Windows Media Player, CrystalPlayer, VLC Player, you name it, I’ve tried it. But I have ALWAYS come back in the end to Winamp. It’s like an old lover that I can’t stay away from. I tell her I’m leaving her and she says “yeah right, you’ll be back you good-for-nothing S.O.B!” and she’s right. I’ll flirt with another media player but a couple of months later, I’m back at Winamp’s door, begging her to take me back.

What do I like about Winamp? Well you can minimise it to the top of the monitor as a thin bar (as you can see above). So you can surf and type and do whatever and still have your music playing. You don’t have a media player in the middle of the screen in the way of things. There are also LOTS of colours to choose from so if blue is not your thing then choose whatever colour floats your boat (although I think bright pink is going just a LITTLE too far!).

I also use Winamp as my default video player. The picture quality on Winamp is fantastic. Below is a screenshot of “Family Guy” on Winamp :

4. Launchy

We’ve covered Launchy many times before on MakeUseOf and if you haven’t got it installed yet on your computer, I strongly recommend you do so right now. It’s one of those things that you don’t realise its full worth until you actually have it installed and you start using it.

I used to be a big mouse person, using it for EVERYTHING, but Launchy has made me realise that I can get a lot more done with just using the keyboard. By bringing up the app, I can just type in the first few letters of an app and Launchy will then….well, launch it for me. No need for a mouse, no need for clicking, no need for lots of links and shortcuts on the desktop and shortcut menu.   Everything can be started and done with a few types of the keyboard.

5.  WinPatrol

I wrote about this previously on MakeUseOf and I think this is a valuable addition to any computer. WinPatrol basically monitors your computer for any covert and sneaky additions to your computer and then warns you about them.

When you install a program or upgrade a program, some of them try to hijack your system by taking over your system preferences. Big example – iTunes. Every time I upgrade that program, it tries to override Winamp and take control of all my MP3 files and video files. If I didn’t have WinPatrol, it would succeed and later I would have to tediously change all my file associations back to Winamp.

But thanks to WinPatrol, as soon as iTunes tries to do anything like this, I get a big warning sign flash up on my screen asking me if I approve of what iTunes is trying to do along with a YES and NO button.   By clicking NO, WinPatrol will immediately block iTunes from changing anything.

WinPatrol also allows me to easily control my startup menu options so my computer boots up faster.

This is a MUST-HAVE program for everyone. The pro version of the program gives you a few more features but the free version is more than enough I think.

6. FileZilla

If you have a website domain and you need to do regular file transfers from your computer to your domain (or vice versa) then FileZilla is the app to do it. No other FTP client comes near FileZilla in terms of ease of use and speed.

The FileZilla team also bring out regular new beta releases of the app so this is very much a constant work in progress.

That’s the end of Part One. Part Two of the Mark Pack will be tomorrow. In the meantime, why not tell me what is in your pack? What essential apps are on your computer? Are any of the apps on this page in your pack? If not, why not?  If not, what equivalents do you have instead and why?

Make sure and come back tomorrow to see what other apps made it into the Mark Pack!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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I say “more or less” because there are a few start up flaws. When you first install it, it doesn’t import all of your Facebook contacts right away. In fact when I installed the plug-in for the first time, NOTHING HAPPENED!! It was only a hour later that the Facebook contacts slowly began to appear in my contact list and even then it was only a few at a time. I have about 25 people in my Facebook friends list and only 12 are appearing right now in my Pidgin contact list several days later. Why the others are not showing up, I don’t know.

Maybe they (the contacts) have disabled Facebook Chat on their end – Facebook users do have the ability to opt out of the chat feature – or maybe they have to log into Facebook Chat for the first time before the plugin detects them? I don’t know. Either way, not everyone is there on Pidgin yet. But the people that ARE there can talk to me fine and I can talk to them. So the plugin works perfectly in that regard. So I feel I can recommend it to you and say it’s a plugin worth using and a plugin worth watching for the future. It’s clearly still a work in progress so I am confident that any existing bugs will soon be cleared up.

One of the Facebook plugin features that I really like is the ability to update your Facebook profile from inside Pidgin. When you go to the account management section of Pidgin, you will see a “Set Facebook Status” option and when you enter a status, this will automatically send that status to your account on the Facebook site.

The pros of using the plugin are obvious – all of your contacts are in the one place on Pidgin. There’s one less reason to log into Facebook and this in turn saves you time and makes you more productive. Pidgin also logs your conversations as text files which is useful if you want records of your conversations kept.

The cons of the service? Hmmmm…..you don’t get poked by using Pidgin? I guess if you like that sort of thing, using this plugin would be a bit of a bummer for you.

The developer, Eion Robb, has also made a Skype plugin for Pidgin, which I have also tried out and used for quite some time. I highly recommend it as well if you want to move all your Skype contacts onto Pidgin as well.

(By) Mark O’Neill is a blogger, professional freelance writer and the editor of Make Use Of. He drinks countless cups of tea a day, checks out countless websites a day – and does not like to be poked up the you-know-where on Facebook. Check out his personal blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Here’s a prime example of how Twitter has grown into something useful. Before writing this article, I sent a Twitter message saying that I was writing this and I asked people for opinions and input. In a matter of minutes, I was flooded with private direct messages with website links, ideas, tips and much more to consider for this piece.

Therein lies the beauty of Twitter – it is an instant messaging system on steroids. You can use it to promote blog posts (Make Use Of has one) and you can ask people for help, opinions, referrals, links and much more. I’ve even see people hiring consultants over Twitter so it’s now turning into an online recruitment area.

Here for your reference are the cream of the Twitter crop. Find out how to flag words, track phrases and use automated bots to simplify your life. We will also take a look at some of the third party apps out there that remove the need for you to even use the Twitter website.

THIRD PARTY APPS

Most people use the Twitter website or their mobile phones to update their status. But lots of third party apps are suddenly appearing, one of which I am using exclusively.

1. Using Twitter via your instant messaging program :

If you use Google Talk or Jabber, you can use Twitter on these apps by configuring the Twitter Devices page. Google Talk is a good one to use as your Tweets are instantly archived in your Gmail account.

All you need to do is configure the Devices page then add Twitter to your contact list. Then send it an instant message and your Twitter page is updated seconds later. You will also receive the IM updates of all the people you are following (unless you have this switched off).

Alternatively, you can Tweet using Skype. If you’re more of a Windows Live Messenger or ICQ user, you can Tweet using TwitterIM. Apple iPhone users can use PocketTweets. You can even Tweet from Microsoft Outlook. Or if you’re a mega-geek, you can even Tweet from the Windows Command Line.

I have been unable to find Twitter updating tools for Yahoo Messenger and AIM. If anyone can suggest any, please let us know in the comments.

2. TWhirl (Install Twitter on your desktop) :

TWhirl is my preferred Twitter app which can be installed on your PC as it runs on the Adobe AIR platform. Turquoise in colour, it has a very sleek interface and it only checks for new Tweets every 5 minutes which means you are not overwhelmed with new messages. You can also follow people and perform other Twitter functions.

Check out even more Twitter apps on the Twitter fan wiki.

TWITTER TIPS

3. Flag words with a hash :

If you are writing a message, you can highlight certain words with a # to mark them out as keywords that people can track. So if you write “I went to see #Spiderman last night at the cinema“, anyone tracking the word “Spiderman” will be able to find your post. Very useful for SEO and promoting certain words & phrases, especially that Twitter posts are now being indexed in Google and Technorati.

4. Track words or phrases :

Just as you would with Google Alerts, you can now be notified when a certain word or phrase pops up on Twitter. Just go to your Twitter page and write the word or phrase in your update box preceded by the word “track”. So if you wanted to track MakeUseOf, you would type in your Twitter update box : track makeuseof. You will get a confirmation message and you can stop tracking a word or phrase at any time by typing “untrack” and the word / phrase. So untrack makeuseof

This feature is good for monitoring what people on Twitter are saying about you, your business or any of your interests. As soon as anyone mentions your keywords, you’ll be the next to know about it.

BOTS

Not all the accounts on Twitter belong to real breathing humans. Some of them are useful bots that make Twitter even more useful.

5. Breaking News

Get the breaking news headlines. This bot has often scooped CNN and the BBC. In fact I first heard of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and Heath Ledger’s death on Twitter long before it appeared on CNN. Another good news-related person (a real person) is this guy who is a TV cameraman who is often assigned to the White House Press Corps. He tweets relentlessly about what’s going on and where he is.

6. GCal

This really cool bot allows you to update your Google Calendar via Twitter or your mobile phone to Twitter. I use this a lot when I am away from the computer and I need to update my calendar.

7. MakeUseOf – As I have mentioned above, you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too. Not only you can follow-up on MUO posts but also directory additions and stuff from Geeky Fun.

Other bots which have been recommended to me (but I haven’t tried them) include:

• forecast – for weather forecasts
• Timer – get reminder messages
• Stock – for stock prices
• RUWTbot – for sports scores and TV listings
• Wordbot – for cheating at word games

I have only begun to scratch the surface here so I am tempted to do a part two to this post soon with more that I have found. But if you have any favourite Twitter apps, bots, tips or tricks, please let us know in the comments. Why not also let us know your Twitter name? I am always looking for new people to stalk!

(By) Mark O’Neill is a blogger, English tutor and internet addict. Check out his private blog at www.betterthantherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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So I went looking for a free web-based tool, preferably a chat bot, that would send pre-selected RSS feeds to an IM program. After trying several that didn’t work as advertised (I won’t name any names), I finally ended up using ZapTXT – although the set-up didn’t exactly go too smoothly at first.

What I like about ZapTXT is that you can choose to have the RSS updates sent to either your email, an IM program or your mobile phone (although personally I was only interested in the IM option). The IM program options are particularly good – all the major networks are covered including Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Skype and GTalk / Jabber.

When you first set up your account, you have to set up your delivery options. I chose the IM program option and entered my GTalk details. You then have to add the ZapTXT bot to your contact list.

Once that is done, you have to then specify what feeds you want sent to you and how often (immediately, once a hour, once a day, and so on). A particularly good feature is the ability to also filter those feeds by keywords so you only get feed updates based on what you are looking for. If you don’t specify keywords then you will get everything that RSS feed produces. If it is a feed like Digg, then you will be buried underneath an IM avalanche! So if the feed produces a lot of updates, it might be best to decide which specific subjects you are going to follow and set up filters.

If you’re not sure of the exact feed address for a site, the ZapTXT engine will auto-detect all the RSS feeds on a domain that you specify and you can then choose which ones you want :

The difficulty I initially had was that the feeds didn’t kick in straight away, despite new posts being added to those sites. The ZapTXT bot also seems to have problems accepting Google Talk’s chat invitation so it took well over a hour for me to receive my first RSS updates. But once it starts, it works extremely well.

Here is what one of the RSS updates on Google Talk looks like :

You might be wondering at this point what the advantages are of using a service like this when you already have excellent RSS readers such as Google Reader. Well for me, some feeds are more important than others – in particular, the sites I write for, including Make Use Of. I don’t always have my Google Reader window open and so it is good for me to get a pop-up window from Google Talk whenever a post from one of my favourite sites is posted online. I also like to see my favourite feeds coming in on Google Talk if I am stuck for story ideas. Sometimes just seeing the headlines of my subscribed blogs is enough to spark an idea of my own.

Another benefit is if you are following a comment thread on a forum or a blog, sometimes seeing new comments coming in on your IM program allows you to respond faster.

Want another benefit? If you use Google Talk instead of one of the other IM programs, everything that comes in is logged in your Gmail account for future reference!

As Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration points out, ZapTXT is not meant to replace your RSS reader, only complement it. I have only been using ZapTXT for two days and already I am finding it indispensable.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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Home security systems are extremely expensive these days but a fairly rudimentary cheap but effective system can be set up using Skype and a webcam. It involves keeping your computer on so this may not work if you are away from home for an extended period of time (imagine the electricity bill!) but if you are just going to work for example, this would be a good solution to “do an E.T and call home”. You can also use this to check up on the kids while you are out (”those pesky kids are stealing my beer!”) or covertly check on the babysitter while you’re out to see if she’s necking her boyfriend on the couch or if she’s sleeping.

First, make a second Skype account as you will be using the second one to call the first one. But in this new account, make sure that some important features are enabled. First tell the Skype account to automatically answer the calls as soon as they come in and also make sure that the webcam features are enabled as soon as the call starts. You might also want to mute the ringtones for this account otherwise your covert snooping isn’t going to be so covert anymore! Then on the first Skype account (the one you’re going to phone), approve the new account on your contact list (while setting this up, you might want to take advantage of running two Skype accounts on your PC at the same time using this method).

Before going out, make sure the monitor is on, the webcam is switched on and Skype is switched on. I know, basic stuff but you never know with some computer users out there! (”Dear Mark, why is the monitor screen completely blank?”).

Then when you are out, go to another computer, log into Skype using the second account and call the first account. When the call goes through, it will be answered immediately (because you enabled that in the options) and the webcam will immediately kick in (again because you previously enabled it). Assuming the ringtones have been switched off, you can now covertly look at the webcam picture coming through to see what’s happening in the room (”hey, the wife’s having a secret lingerie party!”)

Obviously the view in the webcam window is going to be pretty limited so it might be a good idea (before leaving the house) to move the webcam around a bit to find the best possible angle. Plus you might want to slightly re-position the monitor so it isn’t so blatantly obvious that you’re calling. Another possible problem is that if the computer is being used by the person you’re trying to monitor, then it’s game over!

The author of the original eBay article that proposed this idea said he used this method to check on his dog while he was at work. He left the speakers on and when the call went through, he could see his dog on the webcam. Plus since the speakers were on, he could call out to the dog and the dog would come running up to the computer. So he apparently felt better leaving the dog alone at home because he felt he was now keeping the dog company over Skype.

Obviously the potential is there to abuse this idea by snooping on people whom you have no right to snoop on (which of course I don’t condone). But if you’re looking for a simple way to check your home while you’re away, then Skype and a webcam will suffice. No need for expensive alarm systems and security guards.

Also, as Lifehacker points out, you can also turn your webcam into a motion sensor using Yawcam. So you can use Skype and a webcam to watch to catch thieves in the act for example (”those pesky kids are raiding my Playboy collection!”). All that is needed now is a way to record the webcam images as video files. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Does anyone else have any unique uses for Skype? Or can you think of other uses for this method?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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But first a disclaimer – do NOT do this if you are not comfortable changing settings on your computer. MakeUseOf is not liable if you mess up your Skype application. Only proceed if you know what you are doing!

OK, go into your Skype folder (under “Documents and Settings”) and find a file called “config.xml”. Open that up and find the video section. It will start with <video>.

When you have found it, enter the following lines under <video> :

<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
<Device>enter the name of your webcam device here!</Device>
<Fps>25</Fps>

Once entered, save the document and close.

Next, install a program called ffdshow-tryout. The set-up is a little complicated but the main thing is to ensure that “Raw video” is set to “all supported”, and that the “Deinterlacing” checkbox is checked.

Now re-start Skype and call someone with a webcam. If you’ve done everything correctly, the screen should now be bigger and the quality much better!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• How To Power up your Skype even more (4)
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I can understand why some people are not even aware that there is an Extras Manager in Skype as it is obscurely tucked away in a drop-down sub-menu and not really placed or promoted prominently. If you are not aware of the Skype Extras Manager, you can find it by going to How to power up your Skype application even more

Tools—>Do More—>Organize Your Extras.

When the box opens, you’ll see a wide variety of Skype tools which are available to download and use. Some are completely useless but there are some real gems in there such as Unyte (remote desktop sharing), Talk and Write (collaborative file work), and of course my personal favourite – a chess game! OK, chess won’t make you productive but a little bit of fun and relaxation never did anyone any harm…

To download and install a plug-in, just click on the green arrow button and it will immediately download and install. But if it is not “Skype Approved” then you download it at your own risk.

All of these plug-ins in the Extras Manager have been designed by third-party developers using Skype’s API. So if you have a good idea for a Skype plug-in and you have the technical know-how then Skype allows you access to their application so you can develop your idea. Once made, it can then be added to the Extras Manager and some of these programs eventually obtain the “Skype Certified” status, which obviously enhances their standing.

But as with all plug-ins, the more you install, the slower the program. So unless you want to wait ages for Skype to open, choose and install your plug-ins wisely and sparingly!

By: Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader and blogger. Visit his blog at BetterThanTherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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So today, let’s take a look at my Skype and two of the features I have found useful.

Record your Skype calls with PowerGramo

After a disasterous experience with Pamela Recorder, I next turned to PowerGramo and I have never had any cause to be disappointed. PowerGramo is a small software program which you can use to record your Skype telephone conversations. Unlike Pamela, PowerGramo runs silently and automatically in the background and the person whom you’re speaking to will never know they’re being recorded.

Calls are initially recorded as “PGA” files (PowerGramo’s own file format) and from there, you can convert the audio file into MP3, OGG and WAV (although MP3 files need a “lame.dll” encoder file which I can give you a copy of if you like). The sound quality is also crystal clear.

Upgrading to the paid version, you can also record conference calls (the free version limits you to recording conversations with only one other person)

The only problem I have found with PG is that if you run several Skype programs at the same time (under different Windows accounts), PowerGramo crashes (maybe because you have to connect a specific Skype account to the program and if you run other Skype ID’s at the same time, the program doesn’t know what to do). I often run up to 4 Skype lines at the same time and during those times, I have had to shut down PowerGramo. I have reported the bug to the company but have not received an answer to date.

Another little niggly thing is that PGA files can be pretty big in size so converting it to another file format is a must. When I convert my audio files to mp3’s, they are often more than half the size of the original PGA file!

How PowerGramo has helped me: Since I partly use Skype for business calls, I’ve often found that keeping a recording of a phone call helps when chasing bad debts or negotiating agreements. In a “he says, she says” situation, having a MP3 file of the phone call can make the problem go away instantly or the call recording can be used in court as evidence if you’re collecting a bad debt. Which is why I like the fact that PowerGramo doesn’t warn the other person they’re being recorded, unlike Pamela Recorder, which broadcasts it far and wide.

Send faxes on Skype with PamFax

I was overjoyed when this feature was rolled out as I have never been able to afford a fax machine and I lost track of the number of times when business clients asked me to fax them something, and upon hearing I had no fax machine, they virtually asked me if I was an amateur or a professional. So PamFax comes as a welcome relief. OK, you can’t receive faxes with this service, you can only send them. But hey, it’s a step in the right direction.

You have to download a small program and from there, it’s an easy step-by-step process. The cost of sending the fax is taken out of your Skype credit, there are no up-front or recurring costs, and you can get a status report of your fax’s progress by Skype chat, SMS or email.

The only problem is that, as I have said, you can’t receive faxes through Pamfax so if you send a fax and the other person tries to fax you back, it will fail. Strictly one way.

How PamFax has helped me: Obtaining new business clients by being able to fax back important documents quickly such as signed contracts, completed work and confidentiality agreements. Being able to fax documents also makes you look a little more professional – that is unless they try to fax you back then the whole professionalism thing goes right out the window!

Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at some more ways to build up your Skype application, including taking a look at the Extras Manager and the programs being used by Skype API developers.

Mark O’Neill is a freelance writer, proofreader, editor and blogger. Check out his blog at http://www.betterthantherapy.net

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

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(1) SKYPE EXTRAS (Windows, Skype 3.0 or higher)

SAM – Answering Machine – cool voice answering machine for your Skype client. Takes voice message, records conversations, includes inbuilt lie-detector and lets you setup video greetings . [requirements: Win. Media Player]

Media Controller – nice extra that lets you auto-pause/stop/decrease volume of your media player (Winamp, WMP, iTunes) at the time of an incoming call. It’ll change the state back to normal as soon as the call ends. (Note: little heavy on memory usage)

TalkAndWrite – collaborate with your contacts on any document (doc, rtf, pdf, xls, ppt, png, webpage, etc.) side by side. Demo

uSeeToo – lets you share images, maps, play multi-player games and collaborate with your contacts.

KishKish Lie Detector – fun, real-time lie detector that monitors stress level of the person you talk with.

Tumara VC for Skype – search your Skype contacts using voice commands.

Fadeout Fun – free Skype soundeffects, i.e. phone rings, toilet flushes, etc. [Works on any platform]

Last.fm – integrates customized (based on your favorite artists), ad-free radio to your Skype client. Automatically fades out on incoming calls. [requirements: Flash 7 or higher]

(2) DESKTOP WIDGETS (both for Mac and Windows users)

Yahoo Widgets (?): SkypeContacts [Win] / Skyper TM4 [Win , Mac] – displays your Skype contacts and lets you contact them by using provided action buttons.

Google Gadgets (?): Skype Plugin [Google Desktop 4 or above] – displays your skype credit and contacts.

Mac Dashboard: Skype Widget [Mac OS X 10.4 or later] – dashboard widget that lets you make calls, look up country codes and check calling rates.

(3) ADDONS (For Browsers, Email Clients and Microsoft Office)

SkypeWebToolbar [Firefox / IE] – recognizes phone numbers and Skype names on webpages, and lets you initiate a Skype call with a single click.

SkypeEmailToolbar [Outlook, Oulook Exp. 6, Thunderbird(win)] – access Skype contacts from your email client, call Skype names and phone numbers listed in the emails, view status of your contacts, add a Skype Button to your email signature and more.

SkypeOfficeToolbar [Win] – lets you send the file you are currently working on via Skype. Also recognizes phone numbers within your documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and lets you call or SMS them.

Skype Sidebar [Firefox (1.5 – 2.0b1), Win] – handy addon that lets you call, add, find, check status, chat, voice mail and send files to your contacts right from your browser.

Callto: Linkify [Greasemonkey(?) script] – turns text phone numbers in webpages into ‘Skype Dial’ hyperlinks. When clicked it’ll initiate a Skype call to that number.

CustomizeSkypeAccount [Greasemonkey script] – integrates extra info to your ‘Skype Call list’ on your account page (skype.com), i.e total cost per month, total call time per month, etc.

(4) COOL TIPS

How To make a portable Skype phone from an old cordless phone.

Skype hack enables higher resolution video calls. For PC For Mac.

Router secrets that improve the quality of Skype phone calls. ‘HowTo’ video

Adding a ‘Skype Me’ button to your email as a signature

How To get Skype to work from your USB Drive. (aka portable(?) Skype)

(5) MORE STUFF

Anothr – simple and extremely easy to setup service that lets you use your Skype client as a notification tool for getting updates on your favorite blogs and feeds

SMS to Skype – allows GSM mobile phone users to send instant messages to any Skype user. (Note: Regular SMS rates apply)

JiWire Hotspot – helps you locate wireless hotspots anywhere in the world

Plusfax – fax paper documents from your fax Machine directly to any Skype user

KanTalk – free foreign language practice community for Skype users

SkypeMobile – install skype on your mobile for cheaper calling rates

Skype for Mac 2.6 (Beta) – newly released Skype version for Mac users with bunch of cool features, i.e. chat type indicator (i.e John is typing), call transfer (transfer your active call to anyone on your contact list) [requirements: Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or later]

Technorati Tags: skype, extras, tips

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