Last night, Matt and I released the latest episode of The Skinny on Sports. This wasn’t the normal fastest 1o minutes on your iPod that everyone is used to, this was a special - The Skinnies.

What are The Skinnies you ask? They are the first ever podcasted awards show for sports. We had some great guests from the podcasting world along with some musical talent to present the awards. A highlight for me was having Mark Bryan of Hootie & the Blowfish present an award since I’ve been a long time fan of the band.

Head on over to The Skinny on Sports to check it out. You’ll even have a chance to win a 1 Gig iPod Shuffle or Etymotic 6i earphones (worth $150!) - don’t delay, listen and enter now!

There are some really new and interesting technologies making their way onto the internet these days. One of them that I think looks very promising is Skype. I’ve mentioned the word Skype to a few people lately and they haven’t really known what I’m talking about so I thought it was time to post about it. From their website:

“Skype is for calling other people on their computers or phones. Download Skype and start calling for free all over the world.”

If you’ve used an instant messenger program such as MSN, then the Skype interface will look very familiar to you. However, in addition to text chatting, you can also call the person and talk to them by using a microphone and your computer. When calling another Skype user, it’s completely free no matter where they are in the world!

Better still, Skype also has a service called “SkypeOut” which allows you to use Skype to call any number in the world at very good rates - just 1.7 Euro Cents per minute for most popular destinations including the US and Canada. They are also beta testing a service called “SkypeIn” that gives Skype users a phone number so that people that don’t have Skype can call them. Basically, this makes Skype the new phone company.

I’ve used Skype and I must say that the quality is very good. I was skeptical at first because some of these internet services in the past have been a bit buggy and choppy to say the least, but this one really works well. Another interesting feature that is also in beta is a voice mail feature so before long, it will be just like a regular phone. Skype also sells phones that look just like a regular phone but hook up to your internet connection so that you can use the power of Skype without feeling like you’re tied to a computer.

At any given moment, there are about 1.5 million Skype users online - so it is an idea that is catching on and could be the way all phone calls are made in the very near future. If you haven’t already, give Skype a try - let me know if you do and you can Skype Me!

There’s just something about listening to a Jack Johnson album that puts you in a relaxed mood. It’s the “surfer-dude” approach to the music takes that leaves you no choice but to be laid back while listening. Although Jack’s music is all basically the same style, the new album In Between Dreams still makes a good impression even the first time listening through the album. The first track Better Together is a great start to the album and the first single from the album, Sitting, Waiting, Wishing is very catchy. The leading candidate for my favourite song though is Banana Pancakes.

If you’ve liked Jack Johnson’s other two albums, you’ll likely enjoy the new album as well. If you really get into Jack’s music, there are also a ton of live concert recordings available on the internet as Jack has an open taper policy (gotta love musicians that do that!) Enjoy!