Here's how to run Skype from your iPod

Already have a name for it: Skypepod." 

On O'Reilly's Makezine Forums, poster ablaka offers a thread with an eight-step process on how to run Skype from your iPod via Windows XP.

The post gets a "nice work" thumbs up from MAKE magazine's well-respected and authoratative associate editor Phillip Torrone.  

OK, here's what ablaka recommends:

1. Download a stable version of Skype that doesn't need to be installed on a PC first. Version 1.4.14.84 from the U3.com site works well for that purpose and supports /datapath /removable parameters to be passed to the app:
   http://software.u3.com/Product_Details.aspx?ProductId=56
   
2. Rename the downloaded file .u3p (which is as a matter of fact, a zip file) to .zip and extract it to a folder.
3. Enable disk/manual mode in iTunes- so the iPod doesn't try to sync and enables disk mode ( iPod Options > manually manage ... ). The experience reported here is with an iPod mini 4GB (2nd generation model), which actually has a Hitachi MicroDrive inside, not flash memory; this might be the better choice for using Skype in conjunction with portable storage devices, given the fact that the app itself accesses the storage device several times per minute ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype) and flash is known to have limited re-write capability.
4. Create a folder (such as) "skype14" on the iPod.
   
5. Copy the Skype.exe file from the "host" folder (located in the downloaded/extracted folder) to the "skype14" folder on the iPod.
   
6. Copy the "data" folder (located in the downloaded/extracted folder) to the "skype14" folder on the iPod.
   
7. Create the following 2 lines in a batchfile "StartSkype.bat" with Notepad:@echo off start Skype.exe /datapath:"data" /removable (save as StartSkype.bat to "skype14" folder on the iPod).

Next, ablaka offers what he terms "optional cosmetics":

In "skype14" create a shortcut of StartSkype.bat and move it to where you'd like to have it, e.g., on the desktop. Rename to something like "StartSkype" from "Shortcut to StartSkype.bat". In Right mouse click > Properties: Change Run to Minimized (so you don't see the command promt) and click Change Icon to select something appropriate like the little telephone icon.

After you get done with all that, ablaka says you'll be ready.

"Click on the little icon and run Skype from your iPod!," he writes.