I’m on vacation in Israel with Miss Ellie’s family, in Jerusalem at present.  Israel is a fascinating, varied and complex country, and I feel blessed to experience it on this visit.

Today, being on vacation anywhere in the world does not mean we are out of touch.  There is email, of course, and we can usually connect to the Web, but a free service I have written about before, Skype (www.Skype.com), provides extra benefits, as I have found on this trip.

Yesterday, I connected via Skype to a real estate agent here in Jerusalem (a potential CyberStar(tm) candidate) and with my son in Japan.  Miss Ellie and I met the agent by accident while touring the Old City of Jerusalem.  We had asked him for directions.  Like any good agent, he mentioned that he was in real estate after giving us the directions.  I took his card, on which was his Skype address.  Later, I Skyped him from the hotel, and we had a pleasant chat about his joining the CyberStars(tm), each seeing the other via Web cam (mine is built into my travel notebook).

My daughter and her family are visiting my son in Japan.  We connected via Skype later in the day and caught up with each other by voice and by video.

This morning, CyberStar(tm) Ira Serkes of Berkeley, CA, noticed that my computer was on and Skyped me.  Again, a pleasant chat, and it sounded as if we were on a local telephone line although we were half a world apart.

Here’s why I’m sharing this: you NEED Skype, both for business and personal reasons.  Nothing to it, and it opens up a whole new world of communication, both business and personal, for you.  The Skype download is free.  Skype-to-Skype calls are free.  How can you not have this valuable, near-miraculous tool in your technology arsenal?

Take a tip from the agent here in Israel who has Skype and who lists his Skype address on his business card and Web site.  Take a tip from the many CyberStars(tm) who use Skype to communicate with family and business clients world wide.  Get Skype today…you’ll be glad you did!

It’s a beautiful (hot!) day here in Jerusalem…hope it’s a great day wherever you are, too!

Regards,

Allen

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