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This article explains that Microsoft's ever popular successful software application, Skype, is to hire 400 people in staff, to be able to expand it's presence in the UK and Europe. Skype has between 600-700 million users around the world, which comes close to Facebook's 850 million, and this video chat sensation is increasingly becoming more popular and interested by people of all ages using this newest form of technology for a variety of reasons. Skype has become a world wide hit and people of all ages are using in all places for various reasons from anywhere for travel or for just plain fun while communicating with friends. The fact that Skype is hiring more workers and staff members to expand their company just demonstrates how well and successful this software is doing, how far Microsoft's peer-to-peer network has become, and what Skype has for instore for us but also it's global effect on our world in the future. 

Microsoft this morning announced that it has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, a deal that was originally announced back in May. They even made an infographic to showcase the importance of the deal completion. /sarcasm Other than that, not much news to report. As previously announced, Skype becomes a new business division within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the new unit.

Microsoft this morning announced that it has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype, a deal that was originally announced back in May. They even made an infographic to showcase the importance of the deal completion.

With the popularity of social media growing rapidly everyday, so are the number of ways people are trying to steal your information. One such case is the Dorkbot or Ransomware worm that has previously attacked Facebook and Twitter has now began spreading through Skype. Criminals using Dorkbot infect it into computers through sending innocent-looking links to victims. Once a victim clicks the link, the worm blocks all files on the victim's computer from use  and uses these files as ransom for a set amount of money. Should the victim refuse to pay the ransom, all the files will be deleted.  This article shows that as easy as it is for our computer to collect data, it can just as easily have this data stolen, all it takes is a single opened link. It is always stressed to never open links that seem suspicious, yet many people will open links without any regard for their data. I think it's very low how online criminals will stop at nothing to find sneaky ways to steal other people's information and their money. Are they so lazy to make money on their own that they will just leach off of people who worked hard to make money to support themselves? People who don't take precautions while browsing the Internet are just as at fault as the criminals who plague the web. Since people are caring less about the safety of their data as the number of cyber criminals increases, it will be inevitable that web browsers will have to increase security or the government will have to make an effort to track down cyber criminals and set laws to punish cyber criminals more harshly.

So if your illegally downloading anything and have Skype, watch out because they found a way to fish you out to see if you are using torrents.

Even though Microsoft acquired Skype in May for a whopping $8.5 billion, an obscure application known as Tango will give power to video calls on several upcoming Windows Phone devices. Starting with coming preloaded on the Windows Phone 7.5, the Mango, sometime in the next few weeks. Are we seeing some competition for Skype? I think so, and it will be interesting to see the outcome of this battle.

For a service that had such an artificially high demand, the tech industry has not really capitalized on Video Chat. When Apple unveiled their video chat service 'FaceTime' in June of 2010, many thought that this would become the primary standardized service used by all. In practice, FaceTime is a clunky system that is evidently less productive and convenient than just vocal or text communication. So why hasn't video conferencing taken off as the industry had hoped? The answer is most likely because there is no standardized system and the market is too saturated; Polycom Inc. hopes to adress this issue by introducing a Universal Video Chat in early 2013. The product (called RealPresence CloudAxis) monetizes all of your contacts from Skype, Facebook, Google Talk and other apps into one place - all hosted on a web browser. This is a very ambitious task and if it delivers on what Polycom says (with the "same security and reliability as enterprise systems"), then there may be some validity to the video conference service. This relates to Privacy and Security because when monetizing a group of services, there is a chance for data leak and possible identity theft; Polycom promises to adress all security issues in order to make a safe and immersive experience for its users. This relates to eLifestyle because companies and their consumers have been trying for the past years to create a universal video chat service that actually worked in order to establish a multi-faceted social network: it might be too early to tell if Polycom has something that will fulfill the needs of consumers. This relates to ICS20 because as a class, we are no stranger to multiple accounts that often times serve the same purpose. As consumers, we hope for a streamlined service that can connect all of our multiple accounts into one place, preferably on a browser. It will be hard for Polycom, both legally and economically, to convince all of these pre-existing video chat developers to allow Polycom to

Following its $8.5 billion acquisition back in May, Microsoft has officially welcomed Skype into its family. The world's most popular VoIP service will become a new business division within Microsoft, and will remain focused on its goal of "connecting all people across all devices and accelerating both companies' efforts to transform real-time communications for consumers and enterprise customers."

The article, by Anita Li, is an infographic on the evolution of Windows Operating Systems from 1985 and Windows users, as well as popular technology and software at the time of each release. The 1985 description depicts a generic male figure hunching over the machine-block Windows 1.0, with the subtext "Won't it explode if I press this button?" This highlights what a large impact the first computers and operating systems might have had - people possibly were afraid of pressing any buttons in fear that the the hulking brick might explode. But as we know, technology advances, and people adapt. The infographic shows the housings becoming smaller as hardware becomes more compact, and OSs become more advanced. It also illustrates the "first Internet experience" along with Windows 98, Google with Windows 2000, Skype and Solitaire with Windows XP, Facebook and the XBox for Windows Vista, and Twitter for Windows 7. The users also change, where Windows was generally used by adults in offices, it is presently used by a younger age group of teenagers for social networking and the like. As it was made out to be, I find this infographic very interesting. It shows a stark contrast between the first computers and computers today. Not only does it show the evolution of Windows OSs and its  users, it also illustrates the evolution of technology and how society has developed around it. Computers have become much more portable with the laptop, and their versatility is unmatched. Ultimately this infographic is an advertisement for the 2012 release of Windows 8 (dubbed "Thinner. Lighter. Faster."), but it does generate some thought, letting the mind ponder about past, present, and future technologies, and how society has and will adapt to the constant change. 

In a sort of infographic craze.. : http://visual.ly/

this article is about a company announced its AudiOffice product at the 2012 Mobile World Congress this week. It's a dock equipped with speakers for Apple's iPhone, iPod and iPad. It plays music, makes calls and allows users to video chat with others.Since apps such as Skype and FaceTime are often used for business communication to help with web connectivity and control costs, AudiOffice allows users to use these programs without having to go through your computer.Don't have an iOS device? You can still connect a mobile phone to the system via its internal Bluetooth radio.

Pidgin is a open source messaging program that allows your to use many messenger services at once just with this one program. The program is free and all your have to do it download it. it supports 17 networks with favourites such as AOL MSN and many more.  Other chat clients such as skype and facebook can be used if you have the plugin.

Google has created its own social networking site called Google+. Google+ is like a combination of facebook and Skype. It is like facebook because you can update your status and post pictures with your friends. It is like Skype because you can call people and video chat, however in Google+, you are able to video chat with up to 10 people on the same conference.

New York City has decided on replacing most of their pay phones with 32 inch touchscreen phones. These phones would be used for anything like Skype and other video services, email, wi-fi access, and *11 numbers. Most people don't know how to react to this change. Tourists would find it very helpful, but regular pay phone users would be very confused. Something that they had been used to using for so many years would now be replaced by something more high-tech. Also, many people in nyc have smartphones, so they wouldn't have any use for them. If anything, one could say that this new installation would be more for the tourists than the residents of the city.