With oil prices reaching an all-time high, it sometimes gets lost in the ether when something actually gets cheaper. Skype has announced unlimited calling to about 34 countries for $10/month. This includes most of Europe and some of Asia and the South Pacific. Right now there's a special where you can get a third off the price if you buy a subscription before June 1.

Skype started as a VoIP service that appealed to techies. eBay bought Skype because they thought it would facilitate international auctions. But it turned out sellers didn't want to take calls from buyers! So eBay turned things around by positioning Skype as a competitor to traditional long distance.

Finally, Skype also has a new service launching in about 8 countries that will allow people to make ultra-cheap calls back to the United States. The price? Try about 2-4 cents per minute. In the future, we'll likely have free global calling. That's a little bit of good news amid all the bad.