Google Fi, Duo and Voice

I've been a user of Google Fi for a few years now. I've also been a longtime user of Google Voice and Hangouts. Of late, I've been experimenting with Duo, Google's version of Skype meets Apple's Facetime. Like Skype, Duo let's you make outgoing calls, presenting your choice of numbers, much like Skype. Like Facetime … Read more

The MWC Hangover

Maybe it's being able to view Mobile World Congress from afar, but after getting past the 5G hype and "foldable" mobile phone news, for someone who has been around mobile and telecom for over 20 years it feels like a hangover where the bartender drank up what wasn't. For starters the news felt really lightweight. … Read more

Google and Sprint and 5G

Google and Sprint have a very interesting past when it comes to telecom, which is why the announcement about Google Fi and 5G via Sprint is really interesting. Looking back at history, Google and Sprint became friendlier when GoogleVoice numbers were first made usable as the primary mobile number on Sprint's wireless network. That ended … Read more

Your Should Ventoux Too

Wine makes people friends. For many years I have been a fan of the wines of the Ventoux. Chateau Pesquie was the first Ventoux wine I ever tasted back in the 90s, and then via my friendship with Nicole Rolet of Chene Bleu, the many visits to her family winery, and then our joint work … Read more

L’Effet Papillion Wines Are Best for Little Money

The 2017 L’Effet Papillion red and white wines may be the best sub $15.00 red and white wines on the market today. Ever since I discovered L’Effet Papillion, from the IGP Cotes Catalanes region and made in a cooperative by the winemaking team behind Roc des Anges in the Roussillion I have been buying these … Read more

Skype for Chromebooks-A Non-Starter

Skype is changing the way it works with Google Chrome, for what appears to be the better, or so you think. At the top of the browser window Skype is telling me: "Support for this version of Skype for Web is coming to an end. A new preview version is available now for Microsoft Edge … Read more

VoIPWatch Named Number One VoIP Blog

I woke up this morning to the news that VoIPWatch was selected by Feedspot as the number one blog for VoIP in their Top 25 Voice over IP Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters in 2019 (VoIP). Honors like this are nice to receive, especially when I see the rest of the blogs listed. Having been … Read more

The Current State of Wine Sales in The USA

Let's say you like wines from New Zealand, but the wines you want are from a producer whose wines are not available for sale in your state of residence. The reason this happens is more than likely due to the importer not signing on a distributor in that state. So while the wine sits in … Read more

2017 La Fruit Defendu by Domaine Magellan

About ten years or so I first met winemaker Domaine Magellan's Bruno Lafon, the Burgundian transplant to the town of Pezenas when visiting with Sylvain Fadat of Domaine d’Aupilhac. As a long time Languedoc wine hunter I was impressed with what I tried that I made note of his work and kept an eye out … Read more