TOPIC:
SKYPE (Free phone calls and video conferencing via your Mac)
ATTENDING: Tom B, Nancy C, Jerry
L, Bob G, Don H, Mrs. H
About Skype: Skype is a little program for making free calls over the
internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It’s free and easy to download
and use, and works with most computers running MacOS, Windows or Linux. Now
it also supports video conferencing over the net. Skype is a proprietary peer-to-peer
Internet telephony (VoIP) network, founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström
and Janus Friis, the creators of KaZaA and competing against established open
VoIP protocols like SIP, IAX, or H.323. The Skype Group is headquartered in
Luxembourg with offices also in London and Tallinn. The system has a reputation
for working across different types of network connections (including firewalls
and NAT) because voice packets are routed by the combined users of the free
desktop software application. Skype users can speak to other Skype users for
free. Skype also has paid services allowing users to call traditional telephone
numbers (SkypeOut), receive calls from traditional phones (SkypeIn), and receive
voicemail messages.
How to Set Up Skype on your Mac - Tom gave a step-by-step
demo of how to download and install the latest
version of Skype for Mac (34mb), create a Skype account (see screenshots),
and set it up to begin using it on a MacBook with built-in iSight camera.
After test-calling ourselves to check out connection, we rang up our friend
Don in Florida to see how the weather was there - it was much warmer (70's)
- compared to the sub-freezing temps in Hammondsport. If no image appears, be
sure to click small camera icon at bottom of call window.
On a 2nd computer (PowerBook Titanium G4/400) using an inexpensive IceCam2,
we experimented with conferencing three computers but didn't quite get it all
figured out. Another possible cam with much higher resolution is an external
Apple iSight Cam (Firewire) currently selling on eBay
for @ $100-125. Another possibility is to use a digital Video cam with Firewire
as your input camera.
IceCam2 - inexpensive USB webcam/mic ($28 from OWC)
- see more pictures.
Tip: During Skype transmission, still images can be captured from the
video window by using the mac keyboard shortcut Command
Shift 4 + Spacebar
- hover the camera over window to be captured & click.
Older versions of
SKYPE can be found here.
These may work better on older computers or earlier OS systems, at least for
audio transmission.
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Hammondsport Mac Users Group
- Hammondsport, NY 14840 - www.hportmug.com
About Skype: Skype is a little program for making free calls over the
internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It’s free and easy to download
and use, and works with most computers running MacOS, Windows or Linux. Now
it also supports video conferencing over the net. Skype is a proprietary peer-to-peer
Internet telephony (VoIP) network, founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström
and Janus Friis, the creators of KaZaA and competing against established open
VoIP protocols like SIP, IAX, or H.323. The Skype Group is headquartered in
Luxembourg with offices also in London and Tallinn. The system has a reputation
for working across different types of network connections (including firewalls
and NAT) because voice packets are routed by the combined users of the free
desktop software application. Skype users can speak to other Skype users for
free. Skype also has paid services allowing users to call traditional telephone
numbers (SkypeOut), receive calls from traditional phones (SkypeIn), and receive
voicemail messages. 
How to Set Up Skype on your Mac - Tom gave a 
After test-calling ourselves to check out connection, we rang up our friend
Don in Florida to see how the weather was there - it was much warmer (70's)
- compared to the sub-freezing temps in Hammondsport. If no image appears, be
sure to click small camera icon at bottom of call window.
On a 2nd computer (PowerBook Titanium G4/400) using an inexpensive IceCam2,
we experimented with conferencing three computers but didn't quite get it all
figured out. Another possible cam with much higher resolution is an external
IceCam2 - inexpensive USB webcam/mic ($28 from 
Tip: During Skype transmission, still images can be captured from the
video window by using the mac keyboard shortcut Command
Shift 4 + Spacebar
- hover the camera over window to be captured & click.
Command+Shift+A - keyboard shortcut instantly opens Applications
folder on your Mac