(DISCLAIMER: This blog is not affiliated with Skype in any manner whatsoever.) Skype is now offering free videoconferencing, free calls to anyone using Skype, and unlimited calling to anywhere in the US and Canada for $3 a month. Landline providers regularly charge $40 a month or more for equivalent service; minimal cellphone plans usually start at $30 a month. I haven’t done a survey of other VoIP providers, but their costs are probably similar to Skype’s, and if they aren’t, they soon will be due to price competition. I am, quite frankly, amazed that otherwise technically literate people (including myself, until recently) are unaware of this. One of the classic hallmarks of “the future” in Hollywood is that everyone can videoconference from anywhere on the planet; didn’t they get the memo?