… while I do look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ’s coming for His church … Maranatha! … this post is not about the rapture. It _is_ about living in the Internet cloud.
We have just moved into a new house, which means means new utility providers. I decided to try something new. No phone lines and no TV/DishTV. The only thing I have is Internet. (Yes, I do also have a Blockbuster subscription).
And so, we are using Skype with unlimited calling to the US and Skype-In and Skype voice mail. All for about $5/mn. That’s a savings of $65/mn.
And so, we are using Hulu.com and other Internet video sites to provide our “entertainment”. So far so good. One _bad_ thing is I had to install iTunes so I could purchase eposides of Stargate Atlantis. Shocking I know! The next I’ll be doing is buying a Mac — I hope NOT! All for about $0/mn. That’s a savings of $60/mn (DishTV).
My Internet costs are about the same, so no different there. All-in-all, I figure I am saving about $120/mn just on those two items alone.
Now to figure out how to conviently schedule shows to watch — from one interface.
…. and my wife and I are leaving Outlook and using Google Mail’s web interface. This way we do not have to be tethered to just one computer. With four computers in the house (and growing) it is nice to be able to walk up to any of them and check your email.
… and we are also giving up Microsoft Office. I have begun using Google Docs more and more. Now that I can store PDFs in Google Docs, I am compiling a library of PDF manuals for all my applicances and electronic devices. I still need to purchase a good page scanner so that all my bills and other documents can easily be “PDF’d” and placed in Google Docs. It would be nice if they could be encrypted _before_ I upload them. Need to keep the Google Hive out of my personal documents.
And that’s it … for now.