Still using Skype for VoIP calls? Oh my god, that is so 2006 (or earlier, even). You don"t need to have the extra application wasting precious system resources any more because for many months now PC-to-Phone calling is already there on your desktop, baked into Windows Live Messenger.
Tests have proven that the sound quality of Windows Live Call is at least as good as Skype"s, but maybe you want to put that to the test yourself. You can, and thanks to Verizon it will cost you absolutely nothing. All users of the Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom or the United States are offered two free calls lasting three minutes maximum to almost any fixed line or mobile number in the world. Just click the little telephone icon in your dashboard and you"re off.
Here are some suggestions from the source for what to do with your free 3-minute calls:
- Order a pizza with 195 toppings or -if you"re not that hungry- order a pizza with 25 toppings but spell each of them out.
- Call a friend and try to explain Einstein"s theory of relativity in less than 500 words.
- Order 47 different dishes at the Chinese takeaway (you can probably order twice as much if you hang up before they start to repeat your order).
- Call a random person and sing the complete lyrics to Sir Mix-A-Lot"s Baby got Back (ask a friend or family member to beatbox in the background).
- Call your local pub and ask for Mike Rotch, Amanda Huggenkiss, Homer Sexual, Ivanna Tinkle, G.I. Manidiot, Eura Snotball, Oliver Clothesoff, Maya Buttreeks, Jacques Strappe, I.P. Freely, Heywood U. Cuddleme, Al Coholic, Seymour Butz, Anita Bath and Bea O"Problem. (Do these names sound familiar to you?)