John Borwick's blog

January 14, 2010

How I use Google Voice with a pay-per-minute cell phone

Filed under: Uncategorized — John @ 2:54 pm

Since last April or so, I have used a pay-as-you-go Tracfone as my sole cell phone.  The phone itself cost $10 including some cell phone minutes.  The good things about this phone include

  • Incredibly cheap–with a special deal, I just paid $30 for 90 days and 300 minutes (120 minute card * double minutes for my cell + 60 minute bonus )
  • Has three games (“Rebels”, “Crazy”, and “Soccer”)
  • Reasonably good cell phone coverage
  • Small
  • Text messages cost 0.30 minutes each, and you can delete unread text messages without being charged for them

However, the phone has a few limitations:

  • No internet
  • No keyboard so you’re text messaging like it’s 1999
  • Does not use any technology invented since 2000, such as cell phone keyboards
  • May get picked on for owning this phone

Despite the limitations, this phone has worked out well for me.  Here’s how I use it:

  • I have a Google Voice account and Google Voice phone number
  • I don’t know my Tracfone cell phone number–only Google Voice knows
  • I pay for a Skype incoming phone number, $60/year.  This number is hooked up to my Google Voice phone number.  I never make outgoing calls with Skype–I use Google Voice’s web site to place my Skype calls, which will call Skype and then call the other party.
  • When someone rings my Google Voice number, all my phones ring.  I only use my Tracfone if I’m not around another phone.
  • When someone texts my Google Voice number, I check it on-line via Google Voice if possible.  Then I can delete the text without reading it from the Tracfone.  I almost always wait and respond to text messages via the web because it is so horrible to text with the Tracfone.

Using the 80/20 rule, we can guess that 20% of your conversations take up 80% of your cell phone minutes.  I almost always have these long conversations on my home phone or work phone–the only exceptions over the last year have been when I’m at conferences, and I can now use Google Voice plus my Skype number to talk on my computer at conferences.

My only issue with this setup is that, when I do text or call from my Tracfone, my caller ID shows up.  I have been thinking about whether I should block the caller ID.

January 7, 2010

Fred licks his lips

Filed under: Uncategorized — flickr @ 9:08 am



Fred licks his lips

Originally uploaded by borwick


I happened to take a picture of Fred yesterday while he was licking his lips!

December 30, 2009

Toy cars

Filed under: Uncategorized — flickr @ 11:29 pm


Toy cars, originally uploaded by borwick.

This is the first flash picture I’ve taken that I kind of like.

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