zeds for Jane!

(tele)grid-free!

kirk!

“What’s that number, Bob?!”

hope you, Kobe, and company had good beaches today…

(and waves far smaller than the monster surf here this weekend…. yikes!)

i use it to talk to my mom in mexico. the quality isn’t great, but it works.

I can vouch for the crystal clarity of Jane’s conversation today … it was spot on! and much better than the cell during which I would always lose the punchline …

looks like we’ll have to skype here too … never did get into the vonage thing which sits somewhere in my closet …

btw – does anyone use satellite net service? I’m tired of service issues here with comcast but can’t decide on which alternative and have no desire to add a landline bill just to get a net connection (plus I miss the odd channels on dishtv)

Hi Jane– my cousin uses Skype from Scandinavia to call me and it is clear as a bell.

All these new fangle gadgets. What’s a low tech guy like me to think? ;)

Pouring down cold wintery rain here on the central CA coast – how’s the coastal weather up there in neighboring Oregon Jane?

Used Skype while in Paris this September. Worked great but the headset is a must because of the slight delay and noise.

The possibiilty for using it for online phonebanking is probably good too down the line, but since it’s free until the end of the year and you can try it for the cost of a headset it may be worth it. (I don’t get any $$ on this, I just thought it was worth mentioning.)

Hmmmm… Sounds interesting! : )

Hi, Jane!
Hi, everyone!

I looked into Skype last night, but my computer is too old and doesn’t have a fast enough processor to use the service. It’s a good excuse to buy a new one, isn’t it? ;)

Good to know the service lives up to it’s promise. Any idea what it will cost next year?

Jacqrat @
4

“What’s that number, Bob?!”

“what’s the frequency, Kenneth?”

Oklahoma kiddo @
9

All these new fangle gadgets. What’s a low tech guy like me to think? ;)

Ummm….

That you’re missing out? :)

VOIP rules! So many things you can do with it in so many ways. Skype’s a good one but there are so many more options too. As far as phone banking goes, just about every major Cable Modem ISP offers a Digital Phone service now for a monthly flat rate with no long distance charges. PERFECT for phone banking. In Hawaii I had a Mobi PCS cell phone. Again a flat rate of $50 per month for unlimited long distance calling (no more minute counting). It was awesome for phone banking for Ned from 6,000 miles away.

There are a bunch of the same popping up around the US now like the MetroPCS service offered here in Sacramento.

By 2008, the concept of “Long Distance” charges on phone bills will only be for those who haven’t grabbed the new toys yet.

FWIW, I’ve spoken to a songwriting collaborator in Australia three or four times and the audio quality was as good or better than my land line. If you and a person you want to talk to both have Skype, you don’t need to use phone numbers. You can call that person for free using their Skype name provided they are online, have Skype running and are accepting calls. This service remains free even after the first of the year.

“This is a public service announcement
With guitar
Know your Skypes
all three of them”

off to google mobi pcs …

and check the Nola results which are starting to come in!

OT: follow Lousiana runoff election returns here

(returns are starting to trickle in)

Okay I just called Jacqrat, who says the quality wasn’t so great, so maybe it’s only the people who are used to talking to me with crappy cell phone reception who think it’s great.

I can certainly hear better, though.

Although I spoke to Siun earlier today, and she said it was good.

It was good – but then Jacqrat is a radio person so her standards may be high?

Packet8 is better for phonebanking purposes – they don’t cap usage or bandwidth — in fact, don’t keep a record of who’s been called, so there are no nasty charges when they realize how enthusiastically you’re using their service — which I know has burned IP phonebank locations in the past.

punaise @ 14

Jacqrat @
4

“What’s that number, Bob?!”

“what’s the frequency, Kenneth?”

“Excuse me, is this your bar of soap?”

Thanks for this post Jane

I can loves me some technology, yes I sure can.

Jane Hamsher @ 20

Okay I just called Jacqrat, who says the quality wasn’t so great, so maybe it’s only the people who are used to talking to me with crappy cell phone reception who think it’s great.

I can certainly hear better, though.

I heard breaking up and such – but my issue was perhaps she was speaking too closely to the mic – got a lot of “FUZZ”.

But she sounded reasonably intelligent, so there you go. Well worth the price!

Siun @ 22

It was good – but then Jacqrat is a radio person so her standards may be high?

Just very demanding, in general. And high-strung. So YMMV. :D Oh, and Jane hit the “Mute” button on me for a moment, so there was that confusion.

Hi Jane,

Pam’s son Jim and his wife (who is French) use it all the time to talk to the folks in France.

Pretty cool!

punaise @ 19

OT: follow Lousiana runoff election returns here

(returns are starting to trickle in)

Thanks, punaise. ; )

Hiya, Steve! LTNS. Nice to talk at you.

LOL Jacqrat!

Hey Jacqrat!

U.S. REP., 2nd DISTRICT 20 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 1181 56%
William Jefferson (D) 940 44%

btw – does anyone use satellite net service? I’m tired of service issues here with comcast but can’t decide on which alternative and have no desire to add a landline bill just to get a net connection (plus I miss the odd channels on dishtv)

I use the Hughes satellite system to connect to the web, way better than dial up, my only other choice. I live in the boonies. Speeds are not as good as with a cable modem. I haven’t tried VOIP because my forum pals say Hughes is not good for it, but I can live with that.

I have Dish TV, but don’t have it bundled with the internet link.

This is my third sat system. The cost for hardware is about $500, per month fees for me are around $80. Just ran a speed test, got download speed of 421 Kbps, upload of 80. Speeds during prime time use (like now) are slower. Non peak times run 750/120.

Skype is also great because there is plenty of free software available that will record your conversations (be sure to know the laws in the states you’re calling from/to). Helps me a bunch with interviews for articles and with archiving Skype’d-interview podcasts.

For Windows, use: Solicall

For Mac, AudioHijackPro will do 10 minutes at a time for free.

* all volunteer information — spreadin the free open-source goodies for democracy!

SteveAudio @ 28

Hi Jane,

Pam’s son Jim and his wife (who is French) use it all the time to talk to the folks in France.

Pretty cool!

hey Steve Audio, long time…

we should do this with the in-laws in France, but they’re somewhat technophobic…

Thanks so much for the info Jane. Since I live in the boonies far beyond cel reception and (finally) a competitor to huges net sat. internet will be available any day now. I want to drop my AT&T big brother bill asap. Sat. internet will have three speeds available, dsl equivalent speed will cost about seventy-five bucks a month. (about the same as a land line and earthlink cost now)

This news seals the deal. I can’t wait! I don’t think I have logged twenty hours on high speed in total so I will be like a kid on x-mas for awhile.

oh the music…

Bluetooth-powered Skype conferencing, Klingon style

this offer void in India ****

Yo punaise,

And don’t ever, ever try it with the built in mic and speakers on a Mac laptop of iMac, feedback & squelching like crazy.

Gotta use headphones at least, or a whole headset.

SteveAudio @ 32

Hey Jacqrat!

Hi Steve!

Yes I think it might have been a mic issue, I was wearing a headset and perhaps was speaking too close.

And I did hit the “mute” button trying to adjust the volume.

I am sadly no better at techno stuff than I ever have been (which is why I call STEVE AUDIO first with all these questions).

HOLLER????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

(italics closed)

Hey Steve Audio! Get down from adjusting that track-lighting and do something about these italics, Please!

Update:

Karen Carter (D) 2063 49%
William Jefferson (D) 2158 51%

48 of 492 precincts reporting

Jane Hamsher @ 40

SteveAudio @ 32

Hey Jacqrat!

Hi Steve!

Yes I think it might have been a mic issue, I was wearing a headset and perhaps was speaking too close.

And I did hit the “mute” button trying to adjust the volume.

I am sadly no better at techno stuff than I ever have been (which is why I call STEVE AUDIO first with all these questions).

You’re too kind!

And obviously, I’m SteveAudio on Skype, too. I just downlaoded the latest version.

TheOtherWA @
13

I looked into Skype last night, but my computer is too old and doesn’t have a fast enough processor to use the service. It’s a good excuse to buy a new one, isn’t it? ;)

Good to know the service lives up to it’s promise. Any idea what it will cost next year?

I was looking around trying to figure that out but I couldn’t.

I use my cell phone for almost everything but some places just don’t get good reception, like here on the Oregon coast or when I was at the blogger house in CT. Nice to be able to call folks wherever you can get high speed internet, although the incoming number does not show up as the outgoing number and so the Caller ID issue is a bit weird, I don’t know how to fix it (or if it’s fixable).

Curious about satellite. That it is more secure? Really? Like, NSA-proof?

It does seem like a natural for conference call, too, instead of the fee-based conference call services so popular now.

SteveAudio @ 45

Jane Hamsher @ 40

SteveAudio @ 32

Hey Jacqrat!

Hi Steve!

Yes I think it might have been a mic issue, I was wearing a headset and perhaps was speaking too close.

And I did hit the “mute” button trying to adjust the volume.

I am sadly no better at techno stuff than I ever have been (which is why I call STEVE AUDIO first with all these questions).

You’re too kind!

And obviously, I’m SteveAudio on Skype, too. I just downlaoded the latest version.

Good to know.

SteveAudio @ 48

It does seem like a natural for conference call, too, instead of the fee-based conference call services so popular now.

Yes because you still pay a long distance toll fee for those conference call services. It would be nice to know what kind of quality you get.

GEEKATHON!!

Does skype show an incomming caller id on the computer screen?

Jane Hamsher @ 50

SteveAudio @ 48

It does seem like a natural for conference call, too, instead of the fee-based conference call services so popular now.

Yes because you still pay a long distance toll fee for those conference call services. It would be nice to know what kind of quality you get.

Well, I sense a test FDL conference all in the works.

If Patrick is still in Europe touring, we can include him, see how that works too.

PaTRex is home now….)

Eureka Springs, AR @ 52

Does skype show an incomming caller id on the computer screen?

a weird one: like, who do *you* know in the “000″ area code?

Eureka Springs, AR @ 54

PaTRex is home now….)

Cool, I hadn’t talked to him in a while.

Try Howie in Argentina. He popped in late on the BA thread today.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 57

Try Howie in Argentina. He poped in late on the BA thread today.

Yes, Howie!

Eureka Springs, AR @ 57

Try Howie in Argentina. He poped in late on the BA thread today.

That;s right, he told me he was going down there.

Crazy.

Yeah – the area code was “000″ which was weird and kinda cool …

and Howie is having fun and sent an email with some mention of aligators … he’s gonna show us all pictures when he comes back!

NOLA update:

62 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 2178 47%
William Jefferson (D) 2431 53%

steve – aroungtheworld.blogspot.com for a good read on Howies trip. The hunt for bushies Paraguay ranch…)

I often get Skype’d at work by diplomats abroad — the callerID (when they call my cell) will be something weird like 0000001111236.

Yeah — the irony is that you don’t need Mac’s cheezy ass videoconferencing promo thing to be able to have real-time tele/video-conferences (also can do w/ Yahoo! msngr) — would be sweet if you conducted interviews for the book reviews, etc and archive for discussion. geek on.

Animals: (Skype, I Lot)

Eureka Springs, AR @ 62

steve – aroungtheworld.blogspot.com for a good read on Howies trip. The hunt for bushies Paraguay ranch…)

Cool, thanks!

steve – correction

http://aroundtheworldblog.blogspot.com/

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Sorry OT..Bush thinks he is Harry Truman..I don’t think the country can ride it out for two more years.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/…..198013.htm

Jane — we used it for phonebanking in my neck of the woods.

Had 5 PC’s set up on a small router running 1MB DSL service, no problems at all with service. Made thousands of phonecalls from Aug-Nov at NO cost, only had to pay for a plain vanilla phoneline that came bundled with DSL service.

We had a range of machines to use, from older Compaq Presario 5000’s, a Dell 2Ghz desktop, as well as laptops brought in on the fly. I will say that we found Skype’s technical specs for minimum requirements to be absolutely spot-on, there is little-to-no wiggle room on processor speed. We also found a problem with a screen saver app that caused an entire system to hang, affecting calls as well as any other applications running in the background.

Cheapest source of headphones I’ve found is Staples, at a little under $17.00 a set with standard mic/audio jacks. (USB headsets are much more expensive, couldn’t find any in store under $40, although you can buy one that has a USB adapter bundled with it for that much). RadioShack runs a couple of bucks more than Staples for headsets; sorry, didn’t check OfficeMax or Office Depot.

NOLA update:

U.S. REP., 2nd DISTRICT 72 of 492 precincts reporting

Karen Carter (D) 2740 52%
William Jefferson (D) 2546 48%

rumi @
67

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Any for MAC?

Steve @
68

Sorry OT..Bush thinks he is Harry Truman..I don’t think the country can ride it out for two more years.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/…..198013.htm

Reminds me of a story…

I was hanging out with pretty high powered recording types, waiting for a meeting to start among producers and engineers, they were all waiting for one guy to get off the phone to start. Guy was kind of a jerk.

One said “He has delusions of grandeur to keep us waiting”.

Another said “He has delusions of adequacy!”

Ba-dump!

Well I certainly got educated tonight. Shows you have to pay attention all the time, or go to FDL for important brush-ups. Satellite sounds wild I must learn more.

ES AR @ 66..Howie’s travel blog has been interesting reading. I think the summary of Howie’s search for the Bush ranch is: If it exists, you can’t get there from here and if you try you will be killed. Howie, being very smart, moved on back to Argentina.

yeah – Steve, I think Kevin Drum was all over that last night – not sure if same article http://www.washingtonmonthly.c…..010362.php

which reminds me — did anyone here see PBS’ Democracy on Deadline?

Dana Priest, Millbank, even Politkovskaya in it — pretty phenomenal.

http://www.pbs.org/independent…..ndeadline/

Jane – please forgive this momentary digression. I found this by way of Raw Story:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/a…..69,00.html

Secret American talks with insurgents break down

Hala Jaber, Amman

SECRET talks in which senior American officials came face-to-face with some of their most bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, rebel commanders have disclosed.

The meetings, hosted by Iyad Allawi, Iraq’s former prime minister, brought insurgent commanders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq, together for the first time.

After months of delicate negotiations Allawi, a former Ba’athist and a secular Shi’ite, persuaded three rebel leaders to travel to his villa in Amman, the Jordanian capital, to see Khalilzad in January.

“The meetings came about after persistent requests from the Americans. It wasn’t because they loved us but because they didn’t have a choice,” said a rebel leader who took part.

Last week the long-awaited report of the Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by James Baker, the former secretary of state, and Lee Hamilton, a former congressman, called for America to seek to engage with all parties in Iraq, with the exception of Al-Qaeda.

However, the insurgents’ account of the hushed-up meetings reveals that concerted attempts to engage them in negotiations had already failed earlier this year.

(snip)

Jane Hamsher @ 71

rumi @
67

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Any for MAC?

They talk about Macs in the article, Jane. Scroll down to the second or third paragraph.

To avoid feedback (and an echo of your own voice), you can mute the mic in the playback options. It will still be unmuted for recording so the person at the other end will still hear you.

In Windows, you can typically do this by clicking on the little speaker icon at the bottom right near the clock. There should be a checkbox labelled “mute” below the mic volume slider. If the checkbox says “select” instead of “mute” you are in the recording options rather than the playback options.

NOLA:

90 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 3043 48%
William Jefferson (D) 3357 52%

Jacqrat @ 77

Jane Hamsher @ 71

rumi @
67

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Any for MAC?

They talk about Macs in the article, Jane. Scroll down to the second or third paragraph.

Actually, they’re talking about MAC addressing, which is not specifically a Macintosh thing, but a networking thing. I can’t ever remember what the acronym stands for.

Brownandserve @
78

To avoid feedback (and an echo of your own voice), you can mute the mic in the playback options. It will still be unmuted for recording so the person at the other end will still hear you.

In Windows, you can typically do this by clicking on the little speaker icon at the bottom right near the clock. There should be a checkbox labelled “mute” below the mic volume slider. I the checkbox says “select” instead of “mute” you are in the recording options rather than the playback options.

Mac?

I was pretty appauled by the rookie Web-jock they must have had manning the Post last night. From http://www.fair.org/index.php?…..ew_id=8207

The Washington Post website early on December 9 featured three headlines that committed the same journalistic error: They treated as fact things that are revealed in the articles that they link to as disputable claims. In each case the effect is to treat as reality assertions made by U.S. government officials.

One headline is “Officials Not Liable for Detainee Torture.” When you click on it, you find the more accurate headline “U.S. Denies Liability in Torture Case: Attorney Urges Dismissal of Detainee Suit Against Officials.” In other words, officials say they don’t want to be liable for detainee torture. The judge hearing the case has yet to decide whether the officials can in fact be held liable.

Another home-page headline is “No Laws Broken in Page Case” (with a blurb reading, “Committee report speculates then-Rep. Foley’s behavior was ignored for political expedience”). The headline over the actual story is the quite different “Committee Says GOP Left Foley Unchecked: Ethics Panel Faults Many, Punishes None.” The article doesn’t actually say anything about whether or not laws or broken, instead quoting the ethics committee as saying that it hadn’t established that any House rules were broken.

The third headline is “U.S.-Led Forces Kill 20 Insurgents in Iraq“; this is also the headline over the actual article. The lead of the article, however, does not present the supposed insurgent deaths as fact; it says that “the U.S. military said” that coalition forces had “killed 20 suspected insurgents.” What’s more, the third paragraph, citing the leader of the town where the deaths took place, makes clear that this claim is disputed:

Amir Alwan, mayor of Ishaqi, disputed the military’s account, saying that 10 men, 4 women and 10 children in his village were killed. News agencies published what they said were photos of dead children at the site. The military denied that civilians and children were killed.

The headline writers at the Post, however, apparently somehow know that the mayor is lying and the U.S. military is telling the truth.

Welcome back Jane. 60 F today. Wet for the 10 day forcast and the coast for certain.

Steve – aren’t router settings the same PC or Mac – we run both here but the router works for all.

I love the type of solo travel Howie is on. Although I do chuckle a bit at his preference for Sheratons. I like family owned local flavor in lodging as well as cuisine. He’s a trooper.

No confirmation of the US base or any Bush ranch.
He doesn’t souind completely convinced, imo.

Where there are bushiesw or Moonies, tin foil hats can’t be far away.

Jane – I’ve been wondering all along about the union between your dynamic self and your spot on the Oregon coast. Any thoughts of moving closer to an airport and better phone reception ?

Siun @ 84

Steve – aren’t router settings the same PC or Mac – we run both here but the router works for all.

Yes, basically it’s all IP based, but there is a thing called a MAC address, can’t remember the use, however, that has nothing to do with Mac computers.

Now I’m exposing a shortcoming in my networking education, sadly.

Siun @ 79

NOLA:

90 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 3043 48%
William Jefferson (D) 3357 52%

Damn, what a Horserace this is! back and forth!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address

SteveAudio @ 87

Siun @ 84

Steve – aren’t router settings the same PC or Mac – we run both here but the router works for all.

Yes, basically it’s all IP based, but there is a thing called a MAC address, can’t remember the use, however, that has nothing to do with Mac computers.

Now I’m exposing a shortcoming in my networking education, sadly.

I, on the other hand, never had any tech education whatsoever, so do I get a pass? :)

Ditto what Andy (63) said; remember that the caller ID will be odd. The number on our displays at home showed 0123456 when I called from our phonebank. Keep this in mind when you are phonebanking; if folks are home, they often don’t pickup calls from numbers they don’t recognize. It was a standard practice anytime a machine picked up to be sure and state the name of the organization and a call back number so that the folks would associate the caller ID with the organization; they would pick up subsequent calls.

NOTE: Skype calls placed computer-to-computer between Skype callers are FREE, always have been and will remain free after the first of the year. Only outcalling (Skype calls from computer-to-regular-phone-number) will be charged, although long distance will be considerably cheaper than regular telephone service.

Siun @ 84

Steve – aren’t router settings the same PC or Mac – we run both here but the router works for all.

They are the same — Only in the past month has Skype become especially competitive for Macintosh. Anyway — here from the .gov is how to find your MAC address and tweak router, etc:

http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/index.html

Jacqrat @ 90

SteveAudio @ 87

Siun @ 84

Steve – aren’t router settings the same PC or Mac – we run both here but the router works for all.

Yes, basically it’s all IP based, but there is a thing called a MAC address, can’t remember the use, however, that has nothing to do with Mac computers.

Now I’m exposing a shortcoming in my networking education, sadly.

I, on the other hand, never had any tech education whatsoever, so do I get a pass? :)

Hell yes!

SteveAudio @
80

Jacqrat @ 77

Jane Hamsher @ 71

rumi @
67

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Any for MAC?

They talk about Macs in the article, Jane. Scroll down to the second or third paragraph.

Actually, they’re talking about MAC addressing, which is not specifically a Macintosh thing, but a networking thing. I can’t ever remember what the acronym stands for.

According to Wikipedia, the acronym stands for Media Access Control.

Jane Hamsher @
81

Brownandserve @
78

To avoid feedback (and an echo of your own voice), you can mute the mic in the playback options. It will still be unmuted for recording so the person at the other end will still hear you.

In Windows, you can typically do this by clicking on the little speaker icon at the bottom right near the clock. There should be a checkbox labelled “mute” below the mic volume slider. I the checkbox says “select” instead of “mute” you are in the recording options rather than the playback options.

Mac?

I found this which might help. I don’t have a mac to test it on.
http://www.experts-exchange.co…..20108.html

Jacqrat @ 77

Jane Hamsher @ 71

rumi @
67

Technical diagram of Skype router configuration for optimal performance…caution – geekified schematic and complicated instructions made simple

How to optimize your router for Skype calls: by means of port forwarding.

Any for MAC?

They talk about Macs in the article, Jane. Scroll down to the second or third paragraph.

Is there any particular brand of router in use? Do you have a wireless router in the hookup?

SteveAudio @ 6:53 pm – I didn’t see your comment 89 until after I posted my 6:55 pm comment.

Laura’s Bush Job Approval Rating is almost exactly double her husband’s..

Great- what’s the job she’s doin so well?

Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 97

SteveAudio @ 6:53 pm – I didn’t see your comment 89 until after I posted my 6:55 pm comment.

That’s cool.

Now…what about Skype conferencing?

That’s one thing I haven’t tried yet, been wanting to do it, believe there’s whiteboard capability, too.

How many folks are up for trying it?

I love Skype, I’m considering abandonment of my Vonage service for it. Vonage is too glitchy and drops calls worse than any cell provider I’ve ever had. I am gonna miss the free calls to regular numbers though.

Eureka Springs – but Sheratons have the most awesome beds – really! with all the travelling I’ve been doing, I’ve been surveying the beds at each …

also, the Holiday Inn Express in that weird town near you is the ultimate pits …just sayin’! (was there for 12 hours and hated every one!)

Rayne @ 100

Now…what about Skype conferencing?

That’s one thing I haven’t tried yet, been wanting to do it, believe there’s whiteboard capability, too.

How many folks are up for trying it?

I’m down for that experiment, I’ve been wanting to try that out too.

NOLA:

U.S. REP., 2nd DISTRICT 115 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 3838 40%
William Jefferson (D) 5744 60%

Siun @ 104

NOLA:

U.S. REP., 2nd DISTRICT 115 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 3838 40%
William Jefferson (D) 5744 60%

Goddamit!

(sheesh, I used to be so bleeding edge geek and these days I am soooo far behind!)

Steve – the returns are definitely faster from one parish than the other so I suspect the results will flip around a lot as they both come in.

Rayne @ 100

Now…what about Skype conferencing?

That’s one thing I haven’t tried yet, been wanting to do it, believe there’s whiteboard capability, too.

How many folks are up for trying it?

I’m willing to try if you like. My Skype name is ljmonty.

Muzzy @
86

Jane – I’ve been wondering all along about the union between your dynamic self and your spot on the Oregon coast. Any thoughts of moving closer to an airport and better phone reception ?

That’s why I was in SF for the election. May not be able to reconcile living here and my needs for travel much longer, but through the end of the year it will be quite cozy. Not planning on going anywhere.

Here’s a good page for setup IF a router is involved.

PortForward.com help setting up router or firewall.

MAC is the number assigned to hardware device to identify it on a network. It never changes like an IP address can. It’s similar to a serial number and most systems/applications will find that automatically.

The Skype application might be different in setting up on a Mac…but it should all be found in networking, telephony?(maybe) but mostly through the Skype software interface.

ignore me if this has already been posted. Y’all firepups move fast here.

No reason to go all overboard w/ the geek tactics. Skype isn’t perfect, it still sounds pretty digitized — but as long as you’re not behind a firewall, you’re fine with any decent hi-speed conx, be it wireless, or whatever.

Personally, I just got a skype-in # to use as a voice mail ( recording device) for an investigation I’m doing on the shady EULAs that are out there. (The Small Print Project).

Brownandserve @
95

Jane Hamsher @
81

Brownandserve @
78

To avoid feedback (and an echo of your own voice), you can mute the mic in the playback options. It will still be unmuted for recording so the person at the other end will still hear you.

In Windows, you can typically do this by clicking on the little speaker icon at the bottom right near the clock. There should be a checkbox labelled “mute” below the mic volume slider. I the checkbox says “select” instead of “mute” you are in the recording options rather than the playback options.

Mac?

I found this which might help. I don’t have a mac to test it on.
http://www.experts-exchange.co…..20108.html

Siun @ 102

Eureka Springs – but Sheratons have the most awesome beds – really! with all the travelling I’ve been doing, I’ve been surveying the beds at each …

also, the Holiday Inn Express in that weird town near you is the ultimate pits …just sayin’! (was there for 12 hours and hated every one!)

Oh travel for work or when in a hurry through a big city is a whole different requirement.
You deserve the Fairmont…want all of us to write your boss? *s*

Muzzy @
86

Jane – I’ve been wondering all along about the union between your dynamic self and your spot on the Oregon coast. Any thoughts of moving closer to an airport and better phone reception ?

i bet Kobe would put his foot down…er, paw

Siun @ 107

Steve – the returns are definitely faster from one parish than the other so I suspect the results will flip around a lot as they both come in.

That’s comforting, thanks.

Fini FiniTOOBZ! @
101

I love Skype, I’m considering abandonment of my Vonage service for it. Vonage is too glitchy and drops calls worse than any cell provider I’ve ever had. I am gonna miss the free calls to regular numbers though.

Many have asked in Skype forums re: free calls in ‘07 and there has yet to be a definitive response.

It’s like any other telco promotion — thank God no contract though! I’m sure they’ve been banking on being bought out and perhaps something is still in the works w/ a Goog or Yahoo.

Eureka – I use a car service in that town south of you and this last trip we started plotting a trek to your town … seems the driver who is a very sweet guy loves ES! Now if I can just arrange a weekend there to explore … also met the mayor of Fayetteville who was wonderful and has me intrigued about his town. (but the Chicago style cold is a real bummer!)

The cell phone reception sucks, but The Oregon Coast is beautiful.

Hang up, take a walk, and enjoy (but watch out for sneaker waves). Heck throw the phone into the ocean. Oh yeah, wear rain gear.

Tigaris is reporting that one of the tv stations called the race for Jefferson …but the results seem all over the place.

I think ebay owns skype phone now.

Jane:

Pam & I are heading out the the San Fernando Valley’s Best Mexican Restaurant, about 2 blocks from the house, so TTYL.

We’ll take you there next time you’re down this way.

Later, all.

I stand corrected. yes indeed eBay acquired Skype over a year ago (and I thought I knew my shit!)

http://about.skype.com/skypeebay.html

Eureka Springs, AR @
37

Thanks so much for the info Jane. Since I live in the boonies far beyond cel reception and (finally) a competitor to huges net sat. internet will be available any day now. I want to drop my AT&T big brother bill asap. Sat. internet will have three speeds available, dsl equivalent speed will cost about seventy-five bucks a month. (about the same as a land line and earthlink cost now)

This news seals the deal. I can’t wait! I don’t think I have logged twenty hours on high speed in total so I will be like a kid on x-mas for awhile.

oh the music…

Someone here (Mary I think?) mentioned http://www.pandora.com . Make your own “radio stations” and listen to what you like. I have stations called Joe Cocker, Desmond Dekker, Freddie Fender, Low Sparks of High-Heeled Boys, etc.

rwcole @ 98

Laura’s Bush Job Approval Rating is almost exactly double her husband’s..

Great- what’s the job she’s doin so well?

Laura vs. Hillary in ‘08!

Cozy is good. Pumpkin loaves and romping in sandy surf is Kobe bliss.

ah well, new horizons await :)

Fini Fini, do check the cost of calling with Skype; it may be cheaper to simply go to Skype than continue to use Vonage.

I personally couldn’t understand why Vonage went public, what with Skype having been purchased by eBay to support its online vendors. There are also other systems out there to try besides Skype — GizmoProject, for one. The problem with Gizmo will be its subscriber base, don’t know whether Gizmo users can call free to Skype users — and vice versa. Might only be able to do so with purchased number (like SkypeIn or SkypeOut). Skype will have the critical mass (via eBay) to dictate market, tend to believe they will set the pace for rest of VoIP providers.

Hey, what about the 911 problems with Vonage? Does Skype have those problems too? As I recall, the Vonage system couldn’t tell the 911 operator where you were when you called the 911. Being a city lad, I like to be able to call the 911. In case I can’t tell the 911 operator what’s up, I’d like them to know where I am.

This has not always been the case for me, but times change.

Rayne @ 124

Fini Fini, do check the cost of calling with Skype; it may be cheaper to simply go to Skype than continue to use Vonage.

I personally couldn’t understand why Vonage went public, what with Skype having been purchased by eBay to support its online vendors. There are also other systems out there to try besides Skype — GizmoProject, for one. The problem with Gizmo will be its subscriber base, don’t know whether Gizmo users can call free to Skype users — and vice versa. Might only be able to do so with purchased number (like SkypeIn or SkypeOut). Skype will have the critical mass (via eBay) to dictate market, tend to believe they will set the pace for rest of VoIP providers.

If they are cheaper than what I pay for Vonage you can guarantee I will switch. My only concerns are about 911 calling and the fact that I just recently ran into an issue of losing phone service when the power got cut by a storm because no power to the cable modem. I suppose I need to look into backup power for the modem as well.

andy @ 115

Fini FiniTOOBZ! @
101

I love Skype, I’m considering abandonment of my Vonage service for it. Vonage is too glitchy and drops calls worse than any cell provider I’ve ever had. I am gonna miss the free calls to regular numbers though.

Many have asked in Skype forums re: free calls in ‘07 and there has yet to be a definitive response.

It’s like any other telco promotion — thank God no contract though! I’m sure they’ve been banking on being bought out and perhaps something is still in the works w/ a Goog or Yahoo.

I think I saw it was bought by Ebay

…Either way, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is surfing an unstoppable wave. iSkoot, along with eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), which owns Skype, appears to me well waxed and ready for the curl. Put this one on the IPO watch list, Fool….

The Motley Fool

Siun @ 116

Eureka – I use a car service in that town south of you and this last trip we started plotting a trek to your town … seems the driver who is a very sweet guy loves ES! Now if I can just arrange a weekend there to explore … also met the mayor of Fayetteville who was wonderful and has me intrigued about his town. (but the Chicago style cold is a real bummer!)

Fayetteville and ES are my favorites in NW AR. Beautiful scenery, lots of art. Saw Dave Brubeck Quartet with Ramsey Lewis Trio just last week! It will be in the sixties tomorrow. All four seasons are roughly three months long here. I like to leave in Jan., Feb., July, Aug. when scheduling allows. Arrange your weekend outside of the four months mentioned if possible but I think you will like it here any time.

NOLA

Note: this page reloads with the latest results every two minutes
U.S. REP., 2nd DISTRICT of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 5423 36%
William Jefferson (D) 9483 64%

Karen Carter (D) 5423 36%
William Jefferson (D) 9483 64%

Teddy – not sure about Skype but Vonage was setting up a thing so you can register your address for 911.

TeddySanFran @ 125

Hey, what about the 911 problems with Vonage? Does Skype have those problems too? As I recall, the Vonage system couldn’t tell the 911 operator where you were when you called the 911. Being a city lad, I like to be able to call the 911. In case I can’t tell the 911 operator what’s up, I’d like them to know where I am.

This has not always been the case for me, but times change.

Vonage has taken care of that issue, but not everyone knows you have to setup your 911 profile and activate it on your Vonage line. If you forget to do this when you setup the router they wont know where your call is coming from. If Skype has a similar deal I’m good to go. I’ve had occasional incidents with my diabetes that demands I have 911 access.

TeddySanFran @
126

Hey, what about the 911 problems with Vonage? Does Skype have those problems too? As I recall, the Vonage system couldn’t tell the 911 operator where you were when you called the 911. Being a city lad, I like to be able to call the 911. In case I can’t tell the 911 operator what’s up, I’d like them to know where I am.

This has not always been the case for me, but times change.

YOU CANNOT USE SKYPE to dial 911.

Apologies for the obnoxious CAPS and bold, but it’s important to know that skype is not a replacement for your home phone and dialing “911″ will not hook you into your local emergency services. I believe Vonage WILL hook you in.

Anyway, deeper background on the issue is here:

http://electronics.howstuffwor…..vonage.htm

well, if the NOLA numbers are accurate, only about 15,000 will vote? or am I estimating all wrong?

Margo – Thanks so much for the pandora link. I nearly had a hissy fit on dial up when FDL discovered youtube this Summer!

Fortunately BBC radio (hat tip siun) works surprisingly well on dial up.

Good to know Andy, thanks for that info. If they DO launch a paid service I’m sure they will address the issue. You can’t go touting yourself as a home phone replacement without 911 access.

Teddy — I think if you have an existing landline and are concerned about 911, you should keep the landline. What you might want to do is strip it down to virtually nothing in the way of services in order to save costs, then use other providers (VoIP, Cell) for the bulk of your most expensive calls. Think of the expense of the landline as a form of insurance policy.

A cell phone might work instead for 911, but there’s always the chance in an emergency that the battery might go dead and recharging is not possible, or in the event of sunstorms, service might be poor.

Fini FiniTOOBZ! @ 136

Good to know Andy, thanks for that info. If they DO launch a paid service I’m sure they will address the issue. You can’t go touting yourself as a home phone replacement without 911 access.

That said, 911 is an issue in most major cities as it is. If I had diabetes, or any condition that may unexpectedly require emergency services, I’d probably be at city council meetings each week demanding a DIRECT LINE to an emergency services operator.

TeddyinSF — I hope that you have found 911 to be adequate up there, down in LA I know people who have been put on hold for over 10 minutes before they’re even spoken to.

/digression

Eureka Springs – glad you like the BBC radio feed … it’s good stuff and so nicely configured.

143 of 492 precincts reporting
Candidate Number of votes Percentage of votes
Karen Carter (D) 5423 36%
William Jefferson (D) 9483 64%

Not sure how precincts are sized, but one might presume this is about 30% of precincts reporting (143/492). If precincts are equally sized it looks like about 50,000 might vote.

Our 911 services in Indy are horrible. They just did an investigative piece on a local TV station that showed it is understaffed by half and that some people have had to hold as long as 18 minutes! Average hold time, AVERAGE hold time is 4 minutes. Completely unacceptable and it is an issue that has a lot of folks up in arms. Unfortunately for me, my city is run by some DLC Dems who are cronies of Evan Bayh and Julia Carson, our Dem rep in Congress. She’s great on issues but Julia has a real nepotism and cronyism problem in Indianapolis that constantly embarasses Dems like myself.

Oh, and our Democrat elected Coroner fired his staff and now autopsies as of this week are being done in Terre Haute, IN and Dayton, OH. Another crony of Julia Carson named Dennis Ackles, a chiropractor who contributed heavily to her campaigns and got picked to run for the office I guess out of a hat. More reasons of why I warn people away from moving here and why I plan to vacate within two years to warmer climates.

I’ve been using Skype daily for about a year now with my business partner in New York. We first used it about a year ago when he went to Taiwan on business. It was FREE then out of country, VOIP. I don’t know if it still is. Then as now though, the sound quality is like speaking a few feet away in person ; )

Live tv from NOLA:

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcon…..8;live=yes

Ha-ha, Deb Howell does a column on WaPo diversity by the numbers, then concludes:

The point is not to toss excellent white male columnists; the point is to add more and lively voices to The Post.

BTW, FirePups, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that has the telecom companies running hard, running scared on the issue of Net Neutrality.

We are talking about reducing their business model to providing access only, removing their ability to make money on telecommunications.

This is why they want to charge for tiered service, based on the kind of data that is being transported over the telecom network. It’s not just video, but competing voice transmission technologies, even though they cannot offer a competing service except as ISP’s.

Cozumel @ 143

I’ve been using Skype daily for about a year now with my business partner in New York. We first used it about a year ago when he went to Taiwan on business. It was FREE then out of country, VOIP. I don’t know if it still is. Then as now though, the sound quality is like speaking a few feet away in person ; )

It’s still (and will remain) free for computer to computer calls (you connect using Skype names – there are no phone numbers involved). In my experience these computer to computer calls actually sound better than normal land line calls.

very weird watching 3 white reporters on NOLA tv channel discuss race as an election issue …

TeddySanFran @ 145

Ha-ha, Deb Howell does a column on WaPo diversity by the numbers, then concludes:

The point is not to toss excellent white male columnists; the point is to add more and lively voices to The Post.

I thought tossing the columnists’ salads was part of Debbie’s job description.

All this time she’s been doing it gratis?

Siun @
148

very weird watching 3 white reporters on NOLA tv channel discuss race as an election issue …

well, it’s not like there were white candidates in the runoff, right?

Geography test

Teddy – exactly …

right now they’re discussing white support for Carter and saying that many blacks felt Jefferson was set up.

100% vote in in Jefferson Parish and Jefferson won 70-30 … Orleans not all in yet but they say there are not enough votes left to move the win back to Carter.

Interviewing head of CWA local who supported Jefferson.

from nola.com:

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Carter camp dejected, amazed by Jefferson lead
From the ABC26 newsroom:

ABC26’s Glynn Boyd says a hush has fallen over Carter’s camp as supporters and campaign aides examine the returns. According to Boyd, Carter’s people say they’re simply amazed that a candidate with $90,000 in marked money can win reelection. In short: they think it’s over. Carter has not yet arrived.

Rayne @ 138

Teddy — I think if you have an existing landline and are concerned about 911, you should keep the landline. What you might want to do is strip it down to virtually nothing in the way of services in order to save costs, then use other providers (VoIP, Cell) for the bulk of your most expensive calls. Think of the expense of the landline as a form of insurance policy.

A cell phone might work instead for 911, but there’s always the chance in an emergency that the battery might go dead and recharging is not possible, or in the event of sunstorms, service might be poor.

What Rayne Said!

There are so many options out there now for communications that having a redundant system makes complete sense. Nowadays with Universal Messaging, having a couple of lines of communications working with each other from the basics of Internet connection just makes more sense and costs less in the overall. Not to mention making it easy to juggle heavy communications loads.

The reelection of Jefferson is such a step backwards for New Orleans. I think this is one more reminder of how abused those people feel. I will continue to pray for them.

334 of 492 Precincts
68%
William Jefferson (I)
23,978
59%
Karen Carter
16,985
41%

Congressman William Jefferson has been re-elected to Congress, according to WWL-TV election analyst Greg Rigamer.

With two-thirds of the vote counted, Jefferson had a 6,000-vote lead over challenger Karen Carter.

“I’m a little worried about what this is going to say to the nation,” said City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, a Carter supporter.

Jefferson was forced into the runoff against a fellow Democrat when he failed to win 50 percent of the vote in a crowded open multiparty primary. His opponent, state Rep. Karen Carter, is seeking to become the first black woman from Louisiana elected to Congress.

WWLTV.com

I suppose the 110th could refuse to seat Jefferson…

If Carter ends up losing to Jefferson in LA-02, I suppose I will be appalled if not surprised. The capacity of people in this city to tolerate graft and corruption in its elected officials seems to be boundless. I would go so far as to say dishonesty in elected officials is expected, and someone who is truly straight and uncorruptible would be (1) unelectable and (2) regarded as naive and foolish by most of the electorate. This place depresses me.

TeddySanFran @
145

Ha-ha, Deb Howell does a column on WaPo diversity by the numbers, then concludes:

The point is not to toss excellent white male columnists; […]

Well, assuming she’s not referring to the blog, e.g. DFroomkin, how could it be?

FWIW, me and the missus both voted for Karen Carter. On electronic voting machines.

I use the Internet-only version of Skype to talk to a friend in Rome. An hour-long conversation for free–what’s not to like? Or as Curly Howard would say, it’s poifect.

Newspaper companies are the modern equivalents of blacksmiths. Sure, blacksmithing still exists to this day, but in a very much smaller role in our business community as compared to 120 years ago.

Jeebus, this reminds me of Rep. Flood in Philly – he could have been re-elected from prison.

Talk about self-inflicted wounds.

Late Night’s up, and Pach’s opened the Ritual of The Airing of Grievances.

Brownandserve @ 147

Cozumel @ 143

I’ve been using Skype daily for about a year now with my business partner in New York. We first used it about a year ago when he went to Taiwan on business. It was FREE then out of country, VOIP. I don’t know if it still is. Then as now though, the sound quality is like speaking a few feet away in person ; )

It’s still (and will remain) free for computer to computer calls (you connect using Skype names – there are no phone numbers involved). In my experience these computer to computer calls actually sound better than normal land line calls.

The downside though is that if you use this in a business relationship like I do it can serve as a virtual time clock. As such, I don’t stay up as late and I get up than earlier than I used to, that sucks! LOL

Available and Away status etc

Beware! ; )

Skype is very useful and it’s cost effective especially if you’re overseas.

Otter Crest is so beautiful. We’ve spent a bunch of time at Yachats and camp at Devil’s Lake every year.

One often hears many voters justify votes for candidate like Jefferson or of course, Lieberman, who they know to be unsatisfactory in some way because of their supposed greater ability to deliver services to the home district. Certainly I heard some interviews of NOLA voters like this.

Does anybody know whether this bit of CW holds up? What kinds of home services do members of Congress with major legal or political issues nevertheless manage to deliver? On the other hand, are new members ineffective providers for extremely long times, or do they often learn how to do deals and get bills passed within their first terms? Since the only particular benefits to Jefferson’s levee failure-ravaged district of his service seem to be multiplier effects from his additional bribery income, this election might have been a good time to raise the question, though I suspect Jefferson’s situation will allow the matter to come up again fairly soon.

Mungen_Cakes @
166

Skype is very useful and it’s cost effective especially if you’re overseas.

Otter Crest is so beautiful. We’ve spent a bunch of time at Yachats and camp at Devil’s Lake every year.

I love that stretch of the Oregon Coast – since the first moment I saw it. Glad y’all get to enjoy it, too!

Yes, USB is well worth the money. If you get it, you will not regret it.

Skype is outstanding. We had two kids in S. Korea and one in Spain last year – computer-to-computer calling is free all of the time and is very clear if both parties have headsets. If only one party has a headset it’s still a clear connection but you might hear your own voice coming through the other person’s speaker when they don’t use a headset.

Skype initially allowed calls to landlines for free internationally as well and while it was supposed to go until the end of the year I suspect too many people started taking advantage of it so they changed it to the US/Canada only.

Land-line problems in my apartment building forced me to use my cell phone for expensive long-distance calls. I gladly switched to Skype as soon as I heard about it. Unfortunately my family can’t use the software on their computer. But the regular (non-promotion) rate for out-of-state calls is only 3 cents a minute–unbelievable savings compared to Cingular. Sound quality seems very good–I don’t use a headphone. I recommend Skype highly.

Meant to also say that I call through my iBook, with no problems.

Here’s what I need, Jane. Combination full purpose notebook with always on, detachable cell phone, single service provider for high speed wireless internet and phone. (Blackberry is not full service internet). So now all Skype needs to do is build that machine, or find a partner to do it.

Love your site and the work you, Christie, Watertiger, TRex and the others do but Jane. there are reasons why people go to the Oregon coast and being out of cell phone range is one of them – you should enjoy it while you can.

I’m a day late for the Skype discussion but hoping some of you might understand the details of the Skype User Agreement–specifically the part where Skype “may” reroute other users’ calls through your computer and that you “may” notice slowed down processor speed.

Since I use my home computer to connect with work over a secure VPN connection, I reluctantly declined to add Skype. Didn’t understand what I would be agreeing to and didn’t want to unwittingly create a security hole. Any comments would be appreciated.