Back in the Saddle

Sorry I disappeared there. Becky came, her family came, we went to Washington and Baltimore, then everyone left. Now I'm trying to get back into my old schedule.

So I'm back. In my ever present quest to save money I was convinced there was a cheaper way to call Becky. The answer is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). Basically that's speaking over a computer line. There are several free options out there. Yahoo and Google both offer VOIP services as part of their IM software but both require Windows OS, which I don't have. So I gave Skype a chance. It runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows. The only hardware necessary is speaker and a microphone. Most laptops have both. We've tried it a couple of times and overall it works well. I just sit at my desk and talk towards my laptop. The really surprising thing is that it works with dial-up, although it tends to lag a bit. The only real catch is that both you and the person you're talking too have to have the program installed. FYI, it also works as IM software. So if you're cheap like me, check into it.