Comments on: Tracfones and Terrorists http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/ Life. Liberty. Pursuit of Happiness. Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:42:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Standard Mischief http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-3167 Standard Mischief Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:24:53 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-3167 <blockquote>In fact, I have done it several times to take advantage of their (now ended) refer a friend minute program ? the phone was a cheaper manner of getting minutes than buying cards were.</blockquote> Yea, I looked into that. You buy a phone for $20 and set yourself up a disposable email address. You then refer yourself, and you get 200 minutes on each phone plus 2 extra months of activation. After 2 months, if you are really hardcore, you sell one of the phones on ebay, preferably unlocked as a generic GMS (value, roughly $35). Assuming you don't value your time at all, you could actually make a bit of scratch on this deal. That's probably why they yanked the 1100b and the Refer-a-friend off the market. I actually did a bit more digging. It seems that you can use the 1100b in other areas of the world that have their GMS on other frequencies. To convert the phone, you merely reflash the firmware and change out the bandpass filter. It gets even cheaper if you just use a jumper instead of the proper filter. You end up spewing out a bunch of interference, but at least the phone works. If people are willing to swap out the bandpass filter, then they easily can re-connect a few traces. I didn't know it at the time, but my phone has a critical trace cut on the circuit board. A little wire and some solder might fix it.

In fact, I have done it several times to take advantage of their (now ended) refer a friend minute program ? the phone was a cheaper manner of getting minutes than buying cards were.

Yea, I looked into that. You buy a phone for $20 and set yourself up a disposable email address. You then refer yourself, and you get 200 minutes on each phone plus 2 extra months of activation. After 2 months, if you are really hardcore, you sell one of the phones on ebay, preferably unlocked as a generic GMS (value, roughly $35). Assuming you don’t value your time at all, you could actually make a bit of scratch on this deal.

That’s probably why they yanked the 1100b and the Refer-a-friend off the market.

I actually did a bit more digging. It seems that you can use the 1100b in other areas of the world that have their GMS on other frequencies. To convert the phone, you merely reflash the firmware and change out the bandpass filter. It gets even cheaper if you just use a jumper instead of the proper filter. You end up spewing out a bunch of interference, but at least the phone works.

If people are willing to swap out the bandpass filter, then they easily can re-connect a few traces. I didn’t know it at the time, but my phone has a critical trace cut on the circuit board. A little wire and some solder might fix it.

]]> By: Matt http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-3146 Matt Sun, 08 Oct 2006 06:01:31 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-3146 Yes, you can "score" Tracfones easily. In fact, I have done it several times to take advantage of their (now ended) refer a friend minute program -- the phone was a cheaper manner of getting minutes than buying cards were. In fact, they still bundle phones and cards in a manner that makes taking advantage of these deals cheaper than buying cards at the local store. Check their website sometime. They are very convenient to have, many legitimate people use Tracfones, it is cheaper and easier than a contract phone for low volume users. Yes, you can “score” Tracfones easily. In fact, I have done it several times to
take advantage of their (now ended) refer a friend minute program — the phone
was a cheaper manner of getting minutes than buying cards were. In fact, they
still bundle phones and cards in a manner that makes taking advantage of these
deals cheaper than buying cards at the local store. Check their website sometime.
They are very convenient to have, many legitimate people use Tracfones, it is
cheaper and easier than a contract phone for low volume users.

]]> By: Standard Mischief»Blog Archive » The IBM Model M Keyboard, It’s all about the clicky http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-2916 Standard Mischief»Blog Archive » The IBM Model M Keyboard, It’s all about the clicky Sun, 24 Sep 2006 06:16:20 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-2916 [...] The other day I lamented about not daring to clean my sooper leet OmniKey/ULTRA keyboard, because I was afraid to mess with it while it’s working perfectly well. [...] [...] The other day I lamented about not daring to clean my sooper leet OmniKey/ULTRA keyboard, because I was afraid to mess with it while it’s working perfectly well. [...]

]]> By: Standard Mischief » Blog Archive » where Standard Mischief takes a real dollar and makes it into a “counterfeit” one http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-1974 Standard Mischief » Blog Archive » where Standard Mischief takes a real dollar and makes it into a “counterfeit” one Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:46:32 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-1974 [...] If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you should probably read this over at SayUncle’s and this here in my own blog. [...] [...] If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you should probably read this over at SayUncle’s and this here in my own blog. [...]

]]> By: SayUncle » More on phones and terror http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-1952 SayUncle » More on phones and terror Tue, 15 Aug 2006 12:41:50 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-1952 [...] SM has a lot more on potential uses for Tracfones. [...] [...] SM has a lot more on potential uses for Tracfones. [...]

]]> By: Standard Mischief » Blog Archive » more crap on TracFone http://standardmischief.com/blog/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/comment-page-1/#comment-1950 Standard Mischief » Blog Archive » more crap on TracFone Tue, 15 Aug 2006 04:09:56 +0000 http://standardmischief.com/2006/08/14/tracfones-and-terrorists/#comment-1950 [...] Standard Mischief Life. Liberty. Pursuit of Happiness. « Tracfones and Terrorists [...] [...] Standard Mischief Life. Liberty. Pursuit of Happiness. « Tracfones and Terrorists [...]

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