For those of you who A) Love Skype and B) Hate Flash, well, don't read any further.

I've mentioned here how I'm part of an ongoing Skype Swarm with about ninety or so other people. The continuous connection allows for people from down the street and across the globe to have a real-time dialogue that - in effect - never ends. It is a powerful tool. I also use Skype's calling system to make long distance calls to regular telephones. At about one cent a minute almost anywhere, it is a terrific deal. I love Skype.

Well, Skype's lead in that market lasted about sixty days or so. Now there is a new service on the block that promises free international calling - yes free - paid for, of course, by advertising. It is called Gizmocall. That's where Flash enters the picture. Flash's small footprint and media-handling capabilities make it the ideal platform for advertising. Here is what investor Ed Sim of Beyond VC says about the service:

At Gizmocall, users can now use their web browser, yes web browser, to make free calls to any mobile, landline, or SIP-based network. With a simple Flash plugin, users get 5 minutes of free calling a day and 10 minutes if they register. Congratulations to Michael, Jason, and the team for continuing to strive to lower the friction to using our service. From a business model perspective, we clearly believe there is more to life than just minute stealing, so besides your usual upsell model for minutes and caller ID and other services, we plan on layering in some advertising.