Skype

[tomkinson]

Fibs players are part of a large but loose community held together by a love of backgammon.  This may seem obvious but sometimes, like in all communities, there appears to be both a distinct lack of love and sense of community.

That, in part, relates to how we communicate.  However, there are now better ways to do this other than postings and talking part in some of the online discussions where we all Shout at each other.

I refer to Skype which is a free on-line Voice Over IP system.  It is free and very easy to use and allows 2 (or more) players to actually talk to each other at any time but in particular when they are actually playing.

Obviously language can be a difficulty but English is pretty widely spoken.  

I would like to advocate Skype to other Fibs users and offer my Skype ID which is tomkinsonmd so that any other user can contact me when online for discussion and hopefully friendship in the spirit of backgammon.

I emphasise that Skype is free when used computer to computer.  It is easily downloaded from the Skype site.


Thoughts please would be welcome.

Cheers

Mike T    

[Noah]

You can download Skype here

http://www.skype.com/

and it works fine on Mac Os X too.

If anyone is interested to talk while playing my Skypenick is: hoffelijk2

[webrunner]

Good idea !

Although i am not keen on my opponent hearing me swear on those f*cking fibs dice      

[Tomawaky]

You can maybe add this ID in the Fibsboard's profil ?

[tomkinson]

A great idea

Mike T

[NIHILIST]

Another way to cheat, fast too.


NIHI

[Shades]

Another way to cheat, fast too.


NIHI

.... giving lessons...??  

[tomkinson]

Go on then - how can talking to an opponent be a method of cheating?

[NIHILIST]

Even you dolts ought to be able to figure it out.

An important match, you have a crony watch, he talks you thru the plays.


NIHI

[dorbel]

I believe the invention of the telephone may already have provided those who wish to cheat in that way with the means to do so, but why would one bother? If there was a fibs match that one desperately wanted to win and a you knew a brilliant but crooked player who would help you, they would just log in as you and play for you wouldn't they? In these circumstances the introduction of skype to fibs is as relevant to cheats as the purchase of a shed full of carrier pigeons.
However, we must applaud Mr Nihilist for taking the trouble to write to us from the Sunnyside Home for Retired Gentlefolk. His ceaseless mission to rid fibs of cheats is to be admired.

[tomkinson]

Exactly Dorbel - why bother.  At the end of the day you would still be nothing more than a cheat.  Albeit with a few more points.

My original suggestion, which a number of players have responded favourably towards, had nothing to do with cheating and everything to do with a sense of community which insults from Nihilist does nothing to diminish.

Unfortunately thare are no consequenses to insulting anyone in cyberspace - everyone can hear you scream.  A few more people actually talking might not be a bad thing.

[webrunner]

OK, i added the Skype ID field to the Userprofile of Fibsboard.
Have fun!    

[resh_lakish]

I skype with my family in israel and run my webcam through yahoo messenger.

[gogogiz]

hiya all

I have had skype for a while now but hadly ever use it because of the amount of outgoing connections it makes when starting up....
it seems to want to connect to everywhere using every port on my computer.

does anybody else notice this

 

[NIHILIST]

Dorbel's comment is particularly amusing, coming as it does from the person who routinely accuses at least one FIBSter of cheating by using GNUBG. Why does anyone cheat ? To prove he can do it.

This is merely another potential way to do it, free of telephone charges.


NIHI

[tomkinson]

Ok - let's turn this round the other way.  Why would a better player (and you have to be by definition) help an inferior player cheat against a worse player?

In that case there should be no need.

If the better player was helping an inferior player against another better player then again the questionhas to be why bother?  Why do you need to get someone else involved as a proxy?

Nihilist is wrong, people do not only cheat to prove that the can but to gain an advantage.  I maintain that at the end of the day they are still cheats and in his scenario not only are they cheats but they have let someone else know.  

All that being said I did not advocate Skype as a method of cheating.  It was merely to allow players to talk to each other wjile playing.

I still advocate this and thanks to Webrunner you can now ad the id to your profile.

[inim]

In the night  of new years eve 2004/2005 we had a fun conference call using Skype. Up to 5 fibsters (4 participiants and one moderator) can take part. It worked worked amazingly well even over an antiquated analog modem line. Nevertheless, the moderator should have a Pentium 4 class machine and a DSL connection.

The ideal gear to use is, of course, a headset. Not all users may have one at hand, but microphone and loudspeakers work fine as well. However, they can lead to echos. If several conference participants produce echos the effect can be pretty psycedelic.

This electroaccoustic effect can be minimized if you take some minutes to you set up your equipment before joining a conference. First of all, turn down the loudspeaker volume as much as possible or use earphones. Try not to direct the microphone into the loudspeaker's direction. The usual stuff, just as any sound engineer would do it.  

When set, it's easy to test your sound quality using Skype's own test robot (user ID echo123). It records 10 seconds of your input and sends back the recording. It's  really worthwhile to fiddle with your sound quality, especially because the robot has such a lovely russian accent.  

inim

[diane]

Would that be my

antiquated analog modem line.

Yes - it was a heap of fun - and certainly added a lot of fun to the matches played!!  I look forward to doing it more often - now I worked out how it all works!

[diane]

OK - we are growing in number - even Kari_Grandi joined us     I am off the antiquated modem now - and it is all much better.  As Kari put it - sounds like I am under his table  This is a heap of fun - adding yet another dimension to fibs - try it folks.  Follow the link in Noahs post for download details - get it, register and join us - you wont regret it

[tomkinson]

I think Diane is trying to advocate Skype (even with the threat of her being under your table) but it is good fun and we have had a few conference calls with up to 5 people taking part.

You can add your Skype id to your auto greeting like I have done so that people will know you are willing to talk.

The program is completly free and all you need is a cheap mic (although beware of feedback from speakers) of a cheap headset with a built in mic.

You can set yourself away with Skype so that others will know when tyou are not willing to talk (presumably because you are so busy concentrating on beating your opponent).

Give it a go.

Mike T