Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro Just a few words about... everything :) Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:24:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en It’s time to blog http://www.tamashenning.ro/2009/02/20/it%e2%80%99s-time-to-blog/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2009/02/20/it%e2%80%99s-time-to-blog/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:24:23 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2009/02/20/it%e2%80%99s-time-to-blog/ It has been a really long time since I last had the time to actually write about something that has happened with me. So the nutshell then, moving on to less serious stuff:

  • Skype passed the 15th and 16th million marks… Party :)
  • Skype released 4.0 Gold :)
  • I finished my midterms (even bigger Party)
  • I went to Tallinn/Tartu (yes, again and starting it again) – Now this was one of my best business trips I had in my life… little more on this later.
  • College started (again…)

So let’s move on to the story telling… I had to go to Tallinn last week for our annual company meeting which was held in Tartu. I’m not going to go into the corporate boredom because I don’t want too, but it was one of the best times I’ve had since a long time. Going out with friends, meeting new people, catching up with old colleagues and staying in the very fancy Swissotel. Who could ask for more? Even though the company cut my work period in half I managed to get so many things solved and still had time free that I amazed myself. But the most shocker for me was when I went to the Skype office in Tallinn on Monday. It was cramped with people from all over. Plus the 2nd floor is a building site and it was already cramped as it was. Oh well, I managed to find a spot to sit on the 3rd floor, but not really stayed there much as my laptop and it’s charger were always in my hands no matter where I went (one exception of course :D)

There was only one downside to my trip. The trip back home killed me. I had a 5 hour wait in Prague, but fortunately I had company for a while since one of my colleagues was also waiting for about 4 hours so we talked a lot, but still it was a long wait. During my wait I a man who was so drunk when he stood up from the chair he started going around the place and finally crash landed on the table breaking everything in his path. Everyone remained stunned how drunk someone could get just before a flight… Not sure though he took a flight that day in such conditions.

Anyways, need to run to do stuff… hopefully next time it won’t take so long to blog again :D

P.S. Don’t even ask what the picture is about and why I posted it because I’m not telling :P

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2009/02/20/it%e2%80%99s-time-to-blog/feed/ Privacy breached??? http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/10/04/privacy-breached/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/10/04/privacy-breached/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:12:58 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/10/04/privacy-breached/ As many of you already know, there has been a reporting going around about the Tom-Skype software developed in a joint venture between TOM Online and Skype which is dedicated to the users in China. So I’m not really going to talk about that report since already a lot of people wrote about it.

Instead I would like to write a few lines about a new blog post by Skype CEO Josh Silverman (which can be found here). The blog post answers a few very commonly asked questions about this situation. Like for instance “Is Skype secure???” The one word answer for this is YES. But I’ll elaborate a bit more on this. As stated before, the privacy breach has been only detected in the TOM-Skype version, while the standard version you can download from skype.com is complete safe. I know some users might doubt how safe the standard client can be, if the TOM-Skype version is already doing this… But for those skeptics I only have one question: do you have a mobile phone?

I don’t blame TOM Online for doing this maneuver since doing business implies following the law, and if the law forces you to do things your chose is the following: Do it or pull out. It’s not easy to do business in today’s world, but are we sure that China is the only country spying on their people? I for one am not so sure. Security and personal safety has been a serious problem over the past decade and who knows what things could’ve happened if certain people weren’t wiretapped. I only can imagine where we would be today. I accept the fact that I may be monitored by some agency or what not because what do I have to hide that they wouldn’t find out if they wanted to? I only would have a problem if my personal life would get public through these agency otherwise I couldn’t care less… let them listen I don’t have anything to hide. This is just my personal opinion and not everyone has to accept it.

Just a quick summary, be assured if you’re using the standard Skype version downloadable from skype.com everything is ok.

Is Skype secure?
Yes. Skype-to-Skype conversations are among the most secure and private forms of communication publicly available today.

(Quote by Josh Silverman, Skype CEO)

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/10/04/privacy-breached/feed/ Only if a day was longer http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/09/07/only-if-a-day-was-longer/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/09/07/only-if-a-day-was-longer/#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:43:38 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/09/07/only-if-a-day-was-longer/ As the title says I’m really swamped with work and my personal life and college and everything. I really know I have been mistreating my blog and I really wasn’t writing about anything but I promise to write more often since the interesting part of 2008 is just beginning. A few days back I did a quick calculation of how many times I was abroad this year alone and I got petrified how busy I was. And still the year isn’t over. Currently for September I have two trips abroad planned but more on that a little later. I will only say that I’ll be in Greece from the 16th of September. That trip promises to be an interesting one. But again I need to run but I do promise I will write more about what has happened when the time is right. :) And that will be very soon.

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/09/07/only-if-a-day-was-longer/feed/ Skype 4.0 is here, dawn of the video age? http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/06/18/skype-40-is-here-dawn-of-the-video-age/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/06/18/skype-40-is-here-dawn-of-the-video-age/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:05:59 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/06/18/skype-40-is-here-dawn-of-the-video-age/ Today Skype has launched a new major version of its client called Skype 4.0. For those who are used to the regular Skype user interface they will see a massive change since it’s now a full screen application. This isn’t necessary a bad thing especially when implementing this new version in a conference room. As a Skype beta tester I had the opportunity to test this version of Skype for a while now and its video features are incredible and very usable in a conference room scenario. However it was a bit hard to get used to initially since I usually have about 3 chat windows open with different people and sometimes it is important to see more than one chat at once. But this has radically changed after just using the client for day to day tasks and when I had to go back to 3.8 it was a bit odd to see the old client.

So I have to ask is the video age starting off today?

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/06/18/skype-40-is-here-dawn-of-the-video-age/feed/ Flip the switch http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/05/30/flip-the-switch/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/05/30/flip-the-switch/#comments Fri, 30 May 2008 09:37:05 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/05/30/flip-the-switch/ It has been ages since I last wrote something on my blog. Since my last post I have been to Tallinn twice again… work related of course and now I’m suffering with my midterms. The main problem is that I’m not on vacation and I work and study at the same time. It was my choice not to go on vacation but I don’t regret it… Maybe I will after the midterms???

Anyways, yesterday I flipped the switch on a new forum release at Skype :) Don’t yell at me that I forgot to blog about the main release but I was too busy getting things done. This release was just a hotfix that fixed some issues and brought some new features which people were asking for. (So we do listen…) But unfortunately some issues that were reported were in fact actual features. So the saying: “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature” popped into my head from my Skype t-shirt I got in Prague during the closed beta days. I agree that the forum still needs work, but nothing is perfect right? I’ve been working on this project since early August, 2007 so it has taken quiet some time to get to this stage. Am I happy with my work? Yes I am. After all the bumps we had in the road we finally managed to get everything in place at least in an early format. But what is still yet to come will truly turn the Skype forums into Skype Community.

I’ve read plenty of posts on the internet saying that the forum usage has gone down. Well from what I’ve seen as a moderator on the forum this isn’t true. Of course there has been a slight drop at the beginning but come on when you release something new this is to be expected. And from the numbers what I can see the normal usage trend remains. (Please note that this is not an official statistic just a personal opinion).

Anyways I have to end this post since I have a lot more studying to do :)

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/05/30/flip-the-switch/feed/ A little bit of Skype and more… http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/04/07/a-little-bit-of-skype-and-more%e2%80%a6/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/04/07/a-little-bit-of-skype-and-more%e2%80%a6/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:03:00 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/04/07/a-little-bit-of-skype-and-more%e2%80%a6/ This weekend was eventful for me. I had been invited to be part of the jury of a competition I used to attend for 4 years called “Media-Info” for the second time in a row. But this year there were two twists which I didn’t expect. The first one popped up when the organizer asked me and my fellow colleagues to help out on elaborating the subjects for the second day’s exam. This was a bit of a challenge for me especially since I had to leave the country for a short while during this stage. The second twist came just days before the competition itself when I learned my dad’s company is sponsoring the competition. This was a thrill for me. I finally felt like I can give something back to the competition that gave me so much during the four years I was able to compete in it myself. In the last minute I decided to top up the prizes a little with a small gift that made me feel even better. I was able to get Skype promotional vouchers for all those who won and including those who won the special prize. This meant twelve students received 1 hour calling worth of Skype credit so they can try out calling for free. Since I got more vouchers than I have asked for, I decided to give one to Szilard Toth as well who for 6 consecutive years has been organizing this event with great success. It was a fun weekend and I really hope I was able to give a little of Skype and a little bit of me to every contestant and winner of this competition but not only. Congratulations again to those who have won :)

P.S. Photo’s coming soon to the gallery :)

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/04/07/a-little-bit-of-skype-and-more%e2%80%a6/feed/ A little curiosity http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/03/15/a-little-curiosity/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/03/15/a-little-curiosity/#comments Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:01:58 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/03/15/a-little-curiosity/ Yesterday I started a poll on the Skype forum entitled In how many group chats are you participating in? This is really just to satisfy a personal curiosity since I believe that one of the best features in Skype is the group chat functionality. As I did on the poll (located here) I will start of with my numbers.

Since I use Skype for work and personal goals, on a daily basis I use over 10 chats and I’m currently subscribed (bookmarked) over 50 chats.

And to make things a little bit interesting I am also curious in one more thing. What is your personal guess on average a normal user has about how many group chats? I would guess between 2 and 5.

So what are your numbers?

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/03/15/a-little-curiosity/feed/ Lost in the big world http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/02/27/lost-in-the-big-world/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/02/27/lost-in-the-big-world/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:25:52 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/02/27/lost-in-the-big-world/ Yes, I know it has been a while since I wrote something here, but there is a very good reason for it. The title should say it all. I got my self lost in the big big world which actually means midterms and work. However this period while I was lost came with a good outcome. In the next few days I will be starting a new stage in my life, but I won’t go into details until it is not official yet. But I promise I will blog about it since it is a major change in my life.

So what else has happened with me? Not that much, I had a short trip to Tallinn Estonia in December, afterwards I had a break and stood home until 8th of February. A bit of a long vacation don’t you say? :) But I went away on a personal trip however I won’t detail that.

Keep your eyes peeled for the big change that will happen :)

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2008/02/27/lost-in-the-big-world/feed/ A long time no write… http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/11/27/a-long-time-no-write%e2%80%a6/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/11/27/a-long-time-no-write%e2%80%a6/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:39:26 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/11/27/a-long-time-no-write%e2%80%a6/ It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to write a blog entry. This has been caused by various reasons including school, work and a few problems I’ve had to solve over the past weeks. One major issue was that I managed to fry my old pc (blush) and had to buy a new one, however this one is a monster :) It’s an Intel Core 2 Quad with 4GB of RAM so you can guess it’s really hard to make the PC stall or freeze or just to eat all of the CPU.

Couple of things has happened which I think are worth mentioning.

  • Skype has launched Skype for Windows 3.6 with High Quality video. This doesn’t mean HD Video (like 720p or 1080i) but it means 640×480@(25-30)FPS which can be reached by a few Logitech cams with new Carl Zeiss lens. I’ve managed to get one of these cams and try out the HQ Video feature and I was amazed how the quality defers between a normal video call and a HQ Video call.
  • As I am still writing about video Skype has introduced video on a new platform: Linux!!! With Skype 2.0 (still beta) you can make video calls to either Linux, Windows or Mac users. Hopefully the next platform will be Windows Mobile :)
  • The London SkypeIN (otherwise known 0207 SI issue)… I have to agree this was a mistake Skype shouldn’t have made or should’ve advised users at least 3 months ago that this will happen. I don’t know the exact details of what has happened between Skype and GCI Telecom however I found this post (courtesy of Skype Journal) by Jim Courtney which explains a bit more in details what has really happened.

Well that’s about it for now… I promise I’ll try to write more and not to leave my blog all alone :) Bye for now :)

]]> http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/11/27/a-long-time-no-write%e2%80%a6/feed/ The phone is here http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/10/29/the-phone-is-here/ http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/10/29/the-phone-is-here/#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:46:29 +0000 Tamas Henning http://www.tamashenning.ro/2007/10/29/the-phone-is-here/ I would like to start my comeback to the blogging world with an excellent news. Skype along with Hutchinson’s 3 has launched a new sensational product to the mobile market: The 3Skypephone. So what is this? It’s a mobile phone and a Skype client all in one. Yes this means if your phone is turned on, you’re signed in and you have a 3 mobile signal (you know the UMTS signal) then you’re on Skype as well. So you can be called and you can call all of your Skype contacts right out of pocket while reading in the London subway. This is truly a revolutionary product which will rattle the mobile market for years to come. I will be rather curious to see the competitor’s reactions to this launch.

What does this launch actually mean? This means the following: free international calling. If I see my friend from the US that he’s online I can call him up and we don’t pay a dime. Or why not talk for free with your friends? You both get 3Skypephones and talk until your heart pleases. Oh and I forgot to mention another feature, chat’s. Yup you can chat for free as well via Skype.

It only has one downside to me at least. I can’t get it :( This product is only available in Hutchinson 3 network which is not present in the Romanian market, but maybe in a while this product will be available by more operators.

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