Category Archives: Gadget Watch

To all my family, friends and co-workers:

Please download Skype, buy a microphone for your computer, and use Skype for both free voice phone calls and for instant messaging.

40 million people worldwide have downloaded Skype, but in the Skype directory I can only find a few dozen from Utah.

Like fax machines, the value of the Skype network grows exponentially as more people use it.

I want to use this free service, but I\’m limited in my ability to fully utilize it because most of the people I know don\’t yet have Skype.

My sister told me that she recently customized her Yahoo desktop so that all of my latest blogs would show up. So I did the same thing. It\’s amazing to see my posts show up on My Yahoo right next to CBS Marketwatch news and Reuters Internet news. (I wish I knew how to post images to my blog–I\’d show you a screenshot.) I\’ll be adding my other favorite bloggers (besides me!) to My Yahoo soon.

Skype strikes again. They have introduced an API for developers that will allow software and web sites to offer integrated Skype functionality (free long distance calling to other Skype users). It\’s free for non-commercial applications; there will be some licensing fees for commercial uses.

Here\’s an interesting article on how Legoland Denmark is using RFID on wristbands to help parents keep track of their children. In the next few years companies will spend billions on RFID for supply chain management, potentially saving hundreds of billions of dollars in costs, according to the Yankee Group.

More than 28 million people have downloaded Skype, the free voice over IP service from the makers of KaZaA. I use it to talk with web developers and business partners. We haven\’t yet used the free conference calling service (up to 5 people simultaneously). For that we use www.freeconferencecall.com. There is no added fee for this service–every participant just pays a normal long distance rate. This is a super convenient service.

From Forbes:

. . . researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have used spinach to harness a plant\’s ability to convert sunlight into energy for the first time, creating a device that may one day power laptops, mobile phones and more.

A few weeks ago I read about the bacteria that can convert sugar into electricity, and now scientists are capturing the power of photosynthesis to create electricty which may some day power portable electronic devices, with no waste.

Both technologies are years away from application. Cool stuff.

I\’m an efficiency freak. I take great pleasure in learning a new Windows or Internet Explorer shortcut that might save me a few seconds a few hundred times a year. In my working hours, I try to pack as much communication and research in as possible. I type emails as fast as I can. I get headline news and stock quotes on my MSN Direct Watch. I get my daily news from the best aggregators, like www.newslinx.com, and MyYahoo. I take a book or magazine with me wherever I go, so that I can steal a few glances whenever I have a moment. I\’m an Audible subscribers and listen to audio books that can keep me sharp. (I only wish I could listen in "fast-motion.") I use Google News Alerts to notify me of breaking news on all the topics and companies that I track.