Tech The Style

I’m not one for talking on the phone, so when I read about Scott Jangro downloading Skype two years ago, I didn’t follow suit.  Until this week.

See, Andrew Wee wanted to interview me for a podcast yesterday and beings he’s 10,000 miles away in Singapore, he suggested Skype for the call.  So I went to Skype.com and took the plunge. 

But then what? I figured I would need a headset and that my son would have one I could use.  I figured wrong.  So the night before the call, I ran to Wallyworld and picked up an Altrec Lansing Stereo Headset with Mic for only $15. It had the Skype logo on the package, so I knew I was good to go.

I plugged my in “gold-plated connectors” (I could have sprung an extra $5 for a USB connection), and went to make my “test call”.  It didn’t work worth a hoot.  The English lady was too scratchy to make out.  Thinking at first my headphones were crap, I played around listening to everything else on my computer (ie iTunes), and I could hear everything else right on. WTF?

It was now past my bedtime, and my call was early the next morning with Andrew (late evening for him).  I ended up re-installing Skype on my laptop, and although the gal was still scratchy, I could at least make her out and record my own voice to hear.  I know no other friends that use Skype for me to test call them.  And I kept getting pop-up requests from strangers wanting to talk (and I didn’t put “desperate” in my profile, I swear), so I chose to go invisible and sleep on it.

So yesterday morning,  I grabbed my laptop while still lounging in bed (working in my pajamas at it’s finest), and Andrew did a test call with me first to make sure I had it all set up correctly.  I could hear him near perfectly! Andrew used Pamela for Skype to record the call. I am anxious to hear Andrew’s podcast due out this Friday to hear the quality and to see how much I screwed up the content.

I captured the pic above while still trying to figure out Skype on this computer.  Note, my daughter in the background writing a post for her blog, Tatym.com. Not sure I’ll keep it installed on here, mainly because I never got it to work, and the software automatically highlights every phone number on every webpage.  Here is the screenshot of my own work phone number.  Go ahead and call me if you wish, but I won’t answer, thanks to my new phone/fax machine. And don’t plan on any social calls via Skype anytime soon.

Ok, here is my second attempt at video-blogging.  It was a spur of the moment thing, so I didn’t write up a script to read or anything.  And I simply used my Logitech Quickcam perched on my monitor (that I usually use just for chatting) instead of the FlipCam.  In my minute of fame, I show off my new JVC HAFX33P Marshmallow In-Ear Stereo Headphones that I invested in for my iPod nano. I love ‘em and highly recommend them (in my favorite color of pink, of course) for people with deformed ear canals that can’t keep regular earbuds in place. Get yours while they’re on sale at Amazon!

Thanks to Patrick for noticing that I look at myself on the screen while recording instead of looking into the camera.  Patience Patrick, practice makes perfect. 

I tried to add some text (ie TechTheStyle.com) to the video, but my attempt obviously didn’t work. And how come youtube picks the dumbest frames for the stillshot?  My eyes are shut again.

Any guesses on what song I was listening to (or trying to listen to)?   It’s one of my favorites.

Andrew Wee, are you proud of me? (And I’m a poet, too.)

Patrick has done a lot of traveling and swears by his Sharper Image Noise-Cancellation Headphones.  So I thought I needed a pair as well for our trip to London.  But I didn’t want to pay the $150 he paid.  I found these Creative Noise-Cancelling Headphones for $59.99 from Buy.com and was satisfied.  I could still hear the lull of the jet in the background, but I could not hear anyone talking.  I was nervous of the commotion with all the lil rascals and babies on board, but “no worries”, I was able to watch 4 movies and sleep in peace.  I definitely got my money’s worth with these.

Philips HN110 Noise Cancelling Headphones NEW! US $25.00 (5 Bids) Auction Ends: Wednesday Aug-20-2008 22:09:18 PDT Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item

Samson NC900 Noise Canceling Cancelling Headphones NEW! US $48.00 Auction Ends: Wednesday Aug-20-2008 22:52:51 PDT Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item