Using Skype question

[xiphoid]

I recently started using Skype after reading that it is a good way to communicate and speed things along. However I wonder if there is a way to know that my messages are actually getting received and read?

[LAman]

try using viber and WhatsApp and you will know. you even can send messages when person's phone is off, they will receive when phone is on which is 99% of time.

[Nightwish]

I recently started using Skype after reading that it is a good way to communicate and speed things along. However I wonder if there is a way to know that my messages are actually getting received and read?

and to answer your question.. No, not in Skype

[Trenchcoat]

I recently started using Skype after reading that it is a good way to communicate and speed things along. However I wonder if there is a way to know that my messages are actually getting received and read?

Generally when you get a message back (or if she's online it will tell you when she is typing out a message), if she is not messaging you back on any channel then it is time to move on. When people say Skype is a good way to communicate I'm sure they mean as in Video communication as you can talk and see the other person. Otherwise till that point all you have is a load of letters which in this day and age doesn't add up to much, you have no idea if the girl is real, it could be anyone sending you those messages. Different letters can have different qualities and give tell tell signs but when we see and communicate with them its a step on. That said I find Skype can be a pain, fun if you have the right girl, but I only like to use it when I know I could have a decent girl coming up. The setting up of meetings can take ages, then there is the awkwardness thing if her English isn't great or she's a poor communicator. The first girl I had up her English was supposed to be fluent, it was not, and her communication skills was worse than mine, huh. Personally I am moving more to the go out there and meet them, vm strategy. The whole Skype thing can be so time consuming. If I were you I would bring them up one at a time unless your free time is pretty free.

[HoundDaddyLee]

Generally when you get a message back (or if she's online it will tell you when she is typing out a message), if she is not messaging you back on any channel then it is time to move on. When people say Skype is a good way to communicate I'm sure they mean as in Video communication as you can talk and see the other person. Otherwise till that point all you have is a load of letters which in this day and age doesn't add up to much, you have no idea if the girl is real, it could be anyone sending you those messages. Different letters can have different qualities and give tell tell signs but when we see and communicate with them its a step on. That said I find Skype can be a pain, fun if you have the right girl, but I only like to use it when I know I could have a decent girl coming up. The setting up of meetings can take ages, then there is the awkwardness thing if her English isn't great or she's a poor communicator. The first girl I had up her English was supposed to be fluent, it was not, and her communication skills was worse than mine, huh. Personally I am moving more to the go out there and meet them, vm strategy. The whole Skype thing can be so time consuming. If I were you I would bring them up one at a time unless your free time is pretty free.

The latest version of Skype has translation built in (both written and verbal. Although verbal may be Windows only). There is not a way to tell if a message has been read as Skype works across all your devices (computer, phone, tablet) so the message shows up when you log in. It is rare to even see anyone "offline" in current versions. Usually, if your devices are shut off (while you are still logged into Skype) you will appear in "Yellow" which is away.


Trench is correct that while you are Skyping with someone you will see that they are typing something in. But Skype is primarily beneficial for video chats.  Not sure why Trench finds setting up SKype sessions "a pain". It could be that the woman is not into you. If you find a woman that wants to build something she will move mountains to see you on Skype.


HDL

[southernX]

If you find a woman that wants to build something she will move mountains to see you on Skype.

totally spot on , ime

SX

[msmob]

Just a small point .. do NOT rely on the second tick ( read ) being accurate.  It is possible for the recipient to open the page - but not READ the msg - if they are flicking through programs.

Don't assume that tick actually means she read it or even saw the message.

I'm my experience, if things are going well, moving to video chats will happen, swiftly

[Trenchcoat]

The latest version of Skype has translation built in (both written and verbal. Although verbal may be Windows only). There is not a way to tell if a message has been read as Skype works across all your devices.

HDL

HDL, when you say the latest version has verbal translation, how does that work? Does the person speak and the text of what that person says appears in the other language?

[msmob]

TC

http://www.skype.com/en/features/skype-translator/

[Trenchcoat]

Thanks for that Moby & HDL it will come in handy as got a Skype on the horizon with a girl who speaks little English. I know it's going against all I said about my requirement of needing an English speaking girl but it just came about. Needless to say I am not expecting an easy time of it. I always get a bit anxious before a Skype particularly if I've had good correspondence with girl up to that stage as even a good penpal can feel like a bit of a loss if it doesn't go well. That and person can be different to how you imagined though nothing bad on my side of it as yet. Still if a relationship is going to move forward then its kind of essential I guess.

[HoundDaddyLee]

Thanks for that Moby & HDL it will come in handy as got a Skype on the horizon with a girl who speaks little English. I know it's going against all I said about my requirement of needing an English speaking girl but it just came about. Needless to say I am not expecting an easy time of it. I always get a bit anxious before a Skype particularly if I've had good correspondence with girl up to that stage as even a good penpal can feel like a bit of a loss if it doesn't go well. That and person can be different to how you imagined though nothing bad on my side of it as yet. Still if a relationship is going to move forward then its kind of essential I guess.

Trenchcoat,


No need to be nervous. It is just a conversation. I really don't know how to help you over your social shyness. We have a group here in the US called "Toastmasters". It is an organization mostly to help people with their presentation skills. Maybe there is a UK equivalent organization. When I was younger I was shy. But after doing technical presentations for over 25 years to not only small groups <10, but at large conferences > 1000 people, I am just comfortable talking to people. As I have send in your previous threads, I travel, A LOT! I talk to people sitting at the gate, I speak to my seat mates on the plane. It is a learned skill. We are not asking you to hit a 100mph fastball. Just go to your local pub and start speaking to people. Push yourself.


Others have suggested a wing man. A wing man may get you in the door, but your personality is what will win the lady over. There are three things that will get you lady, good looks, money and big personality. I am not rich, but make a good living, I don't look like George Clooney, but I have a great personality.


Let me give you an example from just yesterday. Due to my work load I was unable to fly to Nashville this week to meet with one of our largest customers, as well folks from one of our partners. My email blew up at 11 am yesterday when the meetings started. People were unhappy that I was not there. They were looking forward to meeting me in person. Realize my only interaction with these people has been over conference calls. They were to a man/woman disappointed that I was not there. I just got off my weekly call with my boss, who was there. He said you need to go there in the next month.


Now, I am not Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerburg. Why would people from two different Fortune 500 corporations want to meet me? I won them over with my ability to communicate over the phone or on conferencing software (GoToMeeting, Skype For Business). Meeting women is the same thing. At this point you have nothing to lose. PM me and I will get on Skype with you and give you pointers. You need to get out of your own head.


Good luck,
HDL

[2tallbill]

I recently started using Skype after reading that it is a good way to communicate and speed things along. However I wonder if there is a way to know that my messages are actually getting received and read?

You should set up a time and meet the girl on webcam and talk to her at length.
Look into her eyes, listen to her voice, watch her smile. That's why skype was
invented, using Skype as an occasional text messaging program isn't it's best
use. It's like using your smart phone to send smoke signals.

If the girl won't meet you on webcam then dump her.

[Anotherkiwi]

We have a group here in the US called "Toastmasters". It is an organization mostly to help people with their presentation skills. Maybe there is a UK equivalent organization.

Toastmasters is a worldwide organisation, which began in Santa Ana, California, in 1924.  My mother was a member here for many years.

[Trenchcoat]

Trenchcoat,


No need to be nervous. It is just a conversation. I really don't know how to help you over your social shyness. We have a group here in the US called "Toastmasters". It is an organization mostly to help people with their presentation skills. Maybe there is a UK equivalent organization. When I was younger I was shy. But after doing technical presentations for over 25 years to not only small groups <10, but at large conferences > 1000 people, I am just comfortable talking to people. As I have send in your previous threads, I travel, A LOT! I talk to people sitting at the gate, I speak to my seat mates on the plane. It is a learned skill. We are not asking you to hit a 100mph fastball. Just go to your local pub and start speaking to people. Push yourself.


Others have suggested a wing man. A wing man may get you in the door, but your personality is what will win the lady over. There are three things that will get you lady, good looks, money and big personality. I am not rich, but make a good living, I don't look like George Clooney, but I have a great personality.


Let me give you an example from just yesterday. Due to my work load I was unable to fly to Nashville this week to meet with one of our largest customers, as well folks from one of our partners. My email blew up at 11 am yesterday when the meetings started. People were unhappy that I was not there. They were looking forward to meeting me in person. Realize my only interaction with these people has been over conference calls. They were to a man/woman disappointed that I was not there. I just got off my weekly call with my boss, who was there. He said you need to go there in the next month.


Now, I am not Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerburg. Why would people from two different Fortune 500 corporations want to meet me? I won them over with my ability to communicate over the phone or on conferencing software (GoToMeeting, Skype For Business). Meeting women is the same thing. At this point you have nothing to lose. PM me and I will get on Skype with you and give you pointers. You need to get out of your own head.


Good luck,
HDL

Thanks HDL, but I don't have social shyness, I am just not very socially able, not socially inept just not as able socially as some people such as yourself. When I was in my mid teens I was not very good at public speaking, nervous in particular. Now though I don't get nervous at all public speaking and can even be quite good at it so I don't now have a problem with public speaking. Like I said in previous thread I think some people have overreacted when I said I am not that good socially. I can't do skype with you as prefer to stay anonymous but thank you for the offer anyway. When asking about stuff on here its merely because its a different situation over in the FSU to here so just trying to figure out how best to play it. I'm not personally based over there (not yet anyway, lol) so I don't want to spend years and loads of trips if it can b=get done a lot quicker. I think even tootallbill spent 9 years before he found someone and I get the impression he is quite socially skilled.

I think your right on the above, I think I probably do quite well looks wise (depending on the woman of course) not so well on  the personality aspect. Money, women in this country would not rate me highly even though I do decently enough and think it will improve even more in the near future. Women in the FSU will rate me pretty high though in comparison to themselves. I'm no millionaire but could provide a comfortable living. So probably decent marks on that one. Myself I'm thinking with the right girl from the FSU this will probably be enough.

[HoundDaddyLee]

Toastmasters is a worldwide organisation, which began in Santa Ana, California, in 1924.  My mother was a member here for many years.

Thanks Kiwi. Cool that your Mom was a member. I would love to join the local chapter, but I travel too much for my current job.


Take care,
HDL

[Bounder]

What I've always found the hardest with skype is poor connection issues.  So besides the accent and broken English (if you are lucky to have those), you are dealing with audio problems, video problems, etc.  I've found that technology often makes life more stressful - so while all you want to do is have a nice chat with a girl that you've been nervous about seeing in skype for the first time, you end up dealing with technical failings.

I have found this to be an issue in general wherever I've been.  I know it was worse at my previous post and I won't deny it, but in general I find skype regularly throws issues at you when you want to be focused on the girl.  I suspect my new wifi connection in Moscow is much better than some of the things I have experienced back in Canada, but then I don't need to skype here.  I can just go meet them in person which is way cooler still.

TC - I understand what you are saying about social ability.  Actually, I don't because you haven't really spelled it out clearly but not everyone is running on a thousand volts of confidence, and it doesn't help when skype if fcuking you around.  From what I've seen in Moscow so far, people are extremely modest about their English skills, but if you meet in person you can bumble it out and have a lot of fun.  Google translator definitely helps!

Lee's a good bloke and I believe his offer was sincere if you are tempted to take him up on it.  It could be quite helpful and if not, sounds like you'd get to "meet" a cool dude.  So go for it, I'd say!

[Trenchcoat]

quote author=Bounder link=topic=21714.msg458153#msg458153 date=1488498069]
What I've always found the hardest with skype is poor connection issues.  So besides the accent and broken English (if you are lucky to have those), you are dealing with audio problems, video problems, etc.  I've found that technology often makes life more stressful - so while all you want to do is have a nice chat with a girl that you've been nervous about seeing in skype for the first time, you end up dealing with technical failings.

I have found this to be an issue in general wherever I've been.  I know it was worse at my previous post and I won't deny it, but in general I find skype regularly throws issues at you when you want to be focused on the girl.  I suspect my new wifi connection in Moscow is much better than some of the things I have experienced back in Canada, but then I don't need to skype here.  I can just go meet them in person which is way cooler still.

TC - I understand what you are saying about social ability.  Actually, I don't because you haven't really spelled it out clearly but not everyone is running on a thousand volts of confidence, and it doesn't help when skype if fcuking you around.  From what I've seen in Moscow so far, people are extremely modest about their English skills, but if you meet in person you can bumble it out and have a lot of fun.  Google translator definitely helps!

Lee's a good bloke and I believe his offer was sincere if you are tempted to take him up on it.  It could be quite helpful and if not, sounds like you'd get to "meet" a cool dude.  So go for it, I'd say!
[/quote]

This is exactly what I am getting at Bounder in saying that Skype can be a pain. Its kind of a pain when you get the broken audio/video every so often and you and end up with the, 'er, what's that' type of dialogue it just can't come across well and messes up the smoothness/vibe of a conversation. If its in a relationship building phase you can come across badly. If the girl is understanding it helps but it still interrupts the flow of the conversation just when you may be making a real connection. I mean Skype is not real bad on quality, with a good video cam its a hell of a lot better than back in the day, but the regular interference however brief/slight is still a real pain. Add to that if the girls English is not too good and if she's not great of the social/conversation front and you've got your work cut out. This was how it was on the first girl I had on Skype early last year, she was supposed to be fluent in English, she was not, I would say just good at best, I then tried to talk to her about all sorts of different subjects, most fell flat, one word answers and the like. The only time I did get into any sort of conversation flow was when her cat walked into the room. Other than that she did not seem to want to talk about anything. For example she said she collected perfume but when asked what she had/type she didn't seem to say much/know much, I suspected bs. End of the day I don't care what a woman does so long as its something she can talk about and not leave me searching with stuff to say and awkward pauses developing. Second girl who I ended up visiting for first trip thank heavens was much, much better, she only described her English as good but was definitely fluent.

But yes, that is what is drawing me to saying stuff Skype, I'll just visit Moscow or St.Petersburg and set up meetings once there. I just want to get past all the process and bs and just get to the heart of it all. I know some women don't like it when a guy is treating them as one of many I can see that. I had a woman contact me recently who wanted to meet up in London, I had not even messaged her before, her profile looks genuine but she's not really my type. So its a case of really being tactful so its not a case of 'hey I'm interviewing a load of people want to be another of that number' which was essentially how this woman came across. Long messaging gets a pain as well, it can be good with the right woman but I often find pre skype phase that women often do not give full attention to all of the messages sent all of the time as to them you're just another profile they are interested in but still have no real connection with. Anyway Bounder sounds like it is going well and you're enjoying yourself Well done. 

[tfcrew]

Some computers are just not powerful enough.....

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2879646/solving-the-5-biggest-skype-annoyances.html

[Trenchcoat]

Some computers are just not powerful enough.....

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2879646/solving-the-5-biggest-skype-annoyances.html

Mine is pretty powerful and reasonably up to date (last 3 years). I have good broadband speed and up to date router through Virgin, fibre optic connection. I think odds are that the FSW will have poorer quality gear. Not real bad as apparently it's quite good out that way for a poor country but not real good either. That said glitches can happen even with up to date more expensive/quality gear. I think the distance may play a part in interuptions also. It's not real bad like you used to get just the break in audio or visual smoothness every so often.

[GQBlues]

Occasionally when we speak with my in-laws on Skype, the reception will either be sketchy, would freeze or altogether disappear. This happens I would say 2 out of 3 times we speak to them.

The in-laws attribute this on their own connection problems. We got them a fairly powerful laptop in addition to the desktop they already have. It would be the same scenario.

We don't have this problem with her other families in Europe and Canada.

[Maxx2]

My 2015 MacBook Air works great on calls to my daughter's 2014 MacPad and to landlines.

[Trenchcoat]

GQ sounds like it probably broadband problems at the FSU end. Considering most computer stuff these days will be of at least reasonable enough quality even if a bit old or a bit cheap in the FSU. I'm guessing they don't have the money to put into decent up to date cables for theit internet which can be very expensive. I remember when I was in Corfu about 6-7 years back I was looking for an Internet cafe in which to send some Architecture Portfolio stuff with large file sizes. Naturally this would require a reasonably fast internet speed to avoid it taking forever. The whole island though had real slow internet speed due to a dated network. They just didn't have the money to invest on a modern network. The guy in an Internet cafe I went in actually seem put out when I asked how fast the internet was no doubt seeing my disappointment at his answer. The FSU being a poor lot I'm guessing in most places it is much the same. Not sure many FSW will be able to afford Macbook Max,  lol.

[Maxx2]

I'm living in Tbilisi, Georgia of the FSU. My internet download speed is faster here than last year's in Minneapolis/Saint Paul Minnesota USA. Apparently the need for high speed internet is all it takes for those larger cities in the FSU to update to it.


They got "Apple" stores all over the place here in Tbilisi. The rumor has it they are stocked with Chinese Apple manufactures' "back door" products. Overflows of production that weren't reported to Apple. I bought a nice I-phone 4s here. I am not big into the latest smart phones. FYI, My high speed unlimited download internet costs me 45 Lari a month ($18) and my unlimited local calls cost me 25 Lari ($10) a month. Internationally I use Skype at about 2 cents minute.

[GQBlues]

GQ sounds like it probably broadband problems at the FSU end. Considering most computer stuff these days will be of at least reasonable enough quality even if a bit old or a bit cheap in the FSU. I'm guessing they don't have the money to put into decent up to date cables for theit internet which can be very expensive. I remember when I was in Corfu about 6-7 years back I was looking for an Internet cafe in which to send some Architecture Portfolio stuff with large file sizes. Naturally this would require a reasonably fast internet speed to avoid it taking forever. The whole island though had real slow internet speed due to a dated network. They just didn't have the money to invest on a modern network. The guy in an Internet cafe I went in actually seem put out when I asked how fast the internet was no doubt seeing my disappointment at his answer. The FSU being a poor lot I'm guessing in most places it is much the same. Not sure many FSW will be able to afford Macbook Max,  lol.

Yeah they assure us they subscribe to the fastest available connectivity. It isn't that the problem is prevalent during the entire conversation just spotty. Except when it altogether freezes and disconnects. They used to live in Novosibirsk and never had this problem. They moved closer west when they bought their new home (less snow), and the service isn't as good.

When MIL was here last, wifey had her use her iPad and she liked it so much, we got her two to take back with her for her and FIL.

[Maxx2]

Yeah they assure us they subscribe to the fastest available connectivity. It isn't that the problem is prevalent during the entire conversation just spotty. Except when it altogether freezes and disconnects. They used to live in Novosibirsk and never had this problem. They moved closer west when they bought their new home (less snow), and the service isn't as good.

When MIL was here last, wifey had her use her iPad and she liked it so much, we got her two to take back with her for her and FIL.

My mother learned to use a pad early last year and she really liked it. She was 87 then. She just past away January 3rd this year.