coxy's profile

You may recall that a few posts back I asked whether you Wengo or not. Since then I have used the software (version 2.1.1) to an extent where I believe I'm in a position to give a good opinion on what it's like - whether it's reliable, how it handles and whether it's better than a suitable alternative to Skype.

I originally found WengoPhone through searching for a messenger client that could handle more than one service; and Wengo carries this out successfully. At work I'm running MSN, ICQ, AIM and Yahoo! through WengoPhone along with the Wengo service itself, that of which is comparable to popular VoIP service, Skype. At home, I choose to continue using Pidgin for MSN, ICQ, AIM and Yahoo! and keep VoIP clients Wengo and Skype stand-alone.

Running 'third-party' services through WengoPhone works reasonably well. I expected the experience to be largely buggy and incomplete; but the basics of what you need (ie, the ability to instant message each other, complete with emoticons) is there and works well. The only problems I experience is that MSN occasionally disconnects (but I think that's MSN's servers, as opposed to a fault in Wengo) and file transfers don't seem to work (which is great as far as I'm concerned; MSN file transfers are slow and crap. There's nothing wrong with services such as senduit).

Since downloading the software, I'd found that the Wengo service is based in France - methods of discovery included wengo.com having only English and Francais language options and making a test call to hear the instructions read to me in English, followed by French. However, the majority of the application is English based with only a few voice-based error messages in French (such as 'this number cannot be recognised', etc) - this means that the application is still perfectly usable if you're not fluent in French.

The calling aspect of the application is undoubtedly one that's essential to any VoIP service, and also the feature I was dreading most. Aside from PC-to-PC calls, I'd not really tried voice calls before. After plugging in my IPEVO Free-1 USB Phone (which works as a mic / speaker) and trying the test call, everything appeared to be working fine; so proceeded to spend some cash on Wengo Credits.

One of the reasons I started to look into using Wengo's VoIP service over Skype is because with it's popularity, Skype's application has become bombarded with promotional guff. Like Windows Live Messenger, there's lots of additional tabs that do nothing but try and sell you additional services and although Skype's call prices seem to have settled on a flat rate (good), they seem to have increased overall (bad). With Wengo, I have found call prices to be cheap and very reasonable.

With 10 EUR of credits purchased, I was ready to make my call to a Republic of Ireland land-line; unfortunately, my WengoPhone software wasn't. Problems ensued whereby I was able to dial out but neither hear the person I was calling, or be heard myself. I posted in the Support Forums and resorted to adding credits to my Skype account to make the much-needed call that day. Skype 1 - 0 WengoPhone.

Once I'd got the software working as it should (read this thread for more info), and having tried both Skype and WengoPhone VoIP services out, I can account for Wengo being crisper, clearer and of a better quality to my Skype call.

All-in-all, I'm quite impressed with Wengo. Although I did run into problems with the voice calling at first, it was good to find that the quality over numerous calls was better than Skype, and cheaper too. The fact that you're able to integrate MSN, ICQ, AIM and Yahoo! services into the application is a big bonus and whilst I'm aware there's been features of the application I'm yet to try out (PC-to-PC calling and Video Calls) I'd still, with my bias to open-source, love to rely solely on Wengo and rid my machine of Skype.

Unfortunately, with a brand name being stronger than saving a penny-per-minute on calls, I feel it's going to be much easier for the software to co-exist and have Wengo serve up my VoIP calling services whilst Skype deal with my PC-to-PC needs, than convince my Skype Friends List that this wacky French alternative is a good thing.

Its been too long since I posted on my blog. I did tell myself that I was going to keep it up-to-date as possible, and I am, really. Only, not as much as I'd like. I find myself wanting to post, but not ramble on about iname crap - which is what I'll probably be doing now. Brace yourself.


Film And Cinema

Today I got home from work and after eating dinner was debating whether or not I should go watch a DVD. See, the other week, I bought a bunch of movies. Many of the movies I'd bought, I hadn't seen. In fact, out of them all; I'd only seen one - but missed the ending - so whatever my choice I was going to be sitting down to something new.

That didn't happen though... Hassan called me and asked if I wanted to go and see Flightplan. So I went to the cinema with Hassan and Hocine instead. I'd heard a movie review on BBC 6 Music which basically said that whilst the film was captivating throughout, it lacked satisfaction towards the end, giving the sense that 'I could've wrote a better ending' as leaving the cinema - so I was quite worried that it was going to be crap.

However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think hearing the slightly negative review seen me going into the film thinking 'but the ending is going to be crap' - but come the end, it didn't come across that way.

I'd certainly recommend you see it, but I'm not sure whether its worth paying cinema prices nowadays. You might as well wait until its released on DVD and rent it. I'm not a big fan of Jodie Foster, but she was alright in this.


Video Games

Over the past few days I've been enjoying Sonic Rush on the Nintendo DS, but today (being the 2nd December 2005) the Xbox 360 is set to be released here in the UK.

A while ago, I put my pre-order down and paid a deposit, so will hopefully be able to pop in-store tomorrow and pick up a console. However, they are in high demand, and short stock. With it coming upto Christmas everyone will be wanting one.

Since that's the case, I'm planning to use it to my advantage. When I pick up my Xbox 360 in the morning, I won't be opening it and playing with it like I did with the original Xbox, but will be taking it home sealed, and putting it up for sale on eBay.co.uk - where they're fetching £500+ per unit. Not a bad profit considering the RRP is only £279.

With the money I make, I'll be buying Mario Kart DS for myself and will probably use the rest for Christmas presents. Huzzah!


The Rest

Okay, well, that's about it. There's not too much more going on, and that needs explaining, in the world of Matthew Cox - but I will give a quick mention to the following;

I had a review / interview at work today with out newly appointed Head of Department (HoD). It was quite productive. We discussed what I'm doing now, what I should be doing now, and where I should be aiming in future. Exciting stuff, I assure you.

I started to write Christmas cards yesterday. If you get one, consider yourself lucky. See, I've only sent out to people that I think would care. There's a whole group of people that I usually send cards to that probably wouldn't care less if they received one or not. Not because they're evil; but just because I haven't seen or spoken to them in a long while.

Speaking of writing; I wrote Amanda a letter last night, but forgot to post it this morning. I'm missing her terribly, and so thought I'd write her a letter - which just got me down even more. Ah well. I guess I'll see her soon enough.

As much as I'd love to get to know the girl who I currently have my eye on better; I don't think I will. Not only do I lack confidence at these kind of things, but I don't think she's interested. I seen her today, and whilst she may not have done it intentionally, it did appear that she was avoiding me. Women.

I think its time for bed.

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