I’ve just loaded Skype up but being a ‘Billy No Mates’ I don’t have anyone to test it with. If any Skype users can help out with a brief test I’d be very grateful!
If you can help out, either reply here or send me a PM.
PS. If you’re wondering what Skype is go to http://www.skype.com
If you’re a broadband user it could be very useful. Even if you’re a dial-up user you could make Skype calls around the globe for the cost of a local phone call.
cool, i will download it. I should check and see if I can get my microphone to working first :oops:
I am Vergil83 
It works 
I’ve just had a 10+ minute chat with vergil83…thanks Chris. The quality was good, but a little hissy at times. It was definitely good enough to have a decent conversation though and at least equivalent to a normal land-line phone call.
It was a bit weird talking to someone that you’ve only ever communicated with via text…and I don’t mean weird because it was vergil83! At the same time it was interesting to talk in real-time to a forum user…something I’ve never done on this forum.
And I’ve just spoken to Brian. 1p per minute calling from the UK to NZ isn’t bad and if Brian loads up the Skype software it’s freeeeeeeeee
By the way, it’s not true that he’s a robot that works 24 hours per day…or if he is, then he’s got pretty good voice synthesis circuits 
This will conference - right? I see the first worldwide WD convention coming up
It will conference, but only up to 4 or 5 users (I’m not sure if 4 includes the originator). So perhaps a mini-conference of WD users?
This will conference - right? I see the first worldwide WD convention coming up :P:twisted:
it ws funny
amelia, the eldest, 6, answered the phone, then came running phone in hand looking a bit worried…LOL
and there I was talking to the administrator!!
but i was stuffing my face with dinner at the time, so we didnt talk for long , LOL
Call me paranoid but is it safe to open the door to this service?
http://gigaom.com/archives/2004/06/22/skype-a-security-risk-for-corporate-networks
To put the above in context the network on which I live is yet again in trouble, this time caused by a “fast mutating virus” which caused the removal of 60,465 emails with viruses on Wednesday 
Call me paranoid
Hello paranoid
I’ve read the article and I’m no clearer on understanding how an attack could be mounted against any chosen user just because of the way Skype works.
I find it interesting that the ‘major risk’ has been highlighted on one web site which has then been referred to by dozens of others. Even more interesting is that all the talk of the ‘major risk’ that I could find just happens to have come from a company who claim not to be, but appear to me to be, a competitor of Skype. This company are also suggesting they will be adding ‘firewall bypass’ techology as an option to their product in the future.
For there to be a problem, you need an attack vector and an attack tool. I’ve not seem any evidence of an attack tool, even though the ‘competitor’ seems to think it would take minutes to do. If it was so easy, then with over 16 million potential user (and nearly 400,000 on line when I looked last night) you’d think the hackers would have tried something by now!
As far as an attack vector is concerned, the article is suggesting that because Skype opens various ports it can allow data onto my network. I guess I’d better stop using the Internet, because a lot of things I use open up extra ports, especially on a shared NAT firewall! I try to use firewalls with stateful inspection so that the firewall only allows in things that need to get in. Even then, if someone manages to force data into the Skype port, they would need to find a vulnerability in Skype to attack. I don’t doubt that there are vulnerabilities in the product…much like any other product that uses the Internet. To be safe…
…
The article makes a big play of CERN banning Skype. If you look at their web site CERN ban all forms of P2P networking. We do the same at work…not really for security reasons…it’s more to stop people downloading terabytes of material with dubious copyright history and wasting their day playing instead of working. It also avoid dozens of unknown/untested P2P software packages from appearing on the network and conserves our expensive bandwidth!
downloaded and registered 
as weatherdisplay
bit i need to get my speakers/mircophone conencted…cant remember where i put the mircophone after the house shift…
I agree with you Chris, that article is definitely on the FUD side. It is kinda scary that (if I read it correctly) it’s designed to run a server that bypasses firewalls - how can that be? I’m not sure I care to find myself being a “supernode” either…
zonealarm detected it accessing the internet,and asked if you i wanted it to,and if i wanted to allow it to act as a server
so it does not bypass zonealarm!
I'm not sure I care to find myself being a "supernode" either...enough people either do, or don't care. On many p2p networks, users with mucho bandwidth are used as "hosts" to allow people on slow connections better access.
I think I am already getting telemarketing calls, someone called(I wasn’t here) and I don’t know who they are? Unless there are reading this right now :lol:
It is kinda scary that (if I read it correctly) it's designed to run a server that bypasses firewalls - how can that be
UDP Hole Punching seems to be at the heart of the scary stories. I don’t have time to read all this in detail right now, but there is some useful info about ‘UDP Hole Punching’ at http://midcom-p2p.sourceforge.net/ and also by following the link to the Internet Draft. These articles suggest that other P2P software and games use the same technique, so the issue isn’t specific to Skype.
I’m still heartened by the fact that there have been over 16 million downloads of Skype with hundreds of thousands of people on-line at any one time, yet I can’t find any evidence of any exploits against it. Hackers like to hit big targets and I think Skype is probably big enough now to have warranted some interest.