I think I’m finally ready to go. I didn’t go to work, so that I could actually pack before leaving. That seems to be a good thing to do.

Registration for ApacheCon is at about 330, and there’s always a few that register onsite, so it’s going to be a good crowd. You should come.

This morning I tried Skype which is free VOIP. I talked with Eddie, and there was a little static, but mostly it was very clear. Might be good for talking to certain people in Haiti and Paraguay, although it seemed to be using a lot of bandwidth, so I’m not sure how it will work over dialup.

I’m a little perplexed as to their business model, which concerns me a little bit. The software is very slick, but if they can’t make any money at it, I’m not sure how they’ll stay above water, and then the service would go away. OTOH, something like this, I might be willing to pay for, so perhaps other people would too.

The connections are secure (encrypted) and the audio quality is good. And, more importantly, it Just Works. I didn’t have to monkey with anything, tinker with settings, or whatever. It Just Worked. Well, apart from plugging the speaker into the microphone jack and vice versa. But that’s a little hard to blame on the software.

So, go get Skype, and give me a call. I’m ‘rbowen2000’.