Volume 01 – Phones: SIM card & payphone hacking. Learn how a SIM card works (the small card inside GSM cell phones) make a SIM card reader, view deleted messages, phone book entries and clone/crack a SIM card. Modify a “retired” payphone so it can be used as a home telephone and for VoIP (Skype). Then learn how to modify the hacked payphone so it accepts quarters – and lastly, use a Redbox to make “free phone” calls from the modified coin-accepting payphone. Citizen Engineer is an online video series about open source hardware, electronics, art and hacking by Limor (Ladyada) Fried of Adafruit Industries & Phillip (pt) Torrone of MAKE magazine. The first video debuts at “The Last HOPE” conference in New York City.

Online Calling Card: How It Works

Are you tired of searching for a payphone? An online calling card may be the answer to all of your calling needs. Learn how an online calling card works and see if it is right for you. First, you must know that an online calling card is not the same as a calling card provided by your local or long distance phone company. An online calling card is paid for before you make any calls.

With the online calling card you know exactly what you are spending and you will not accidentally go over on your minutes as you are talking. Your online calling card works by purchasing a specific dollar amount of long distance phone service. You will get an access phone number and a (PIN) personal identification number. If you purchase an online calling card online you may not get a card at all. Instead you will get the access phone number and the PIN.

How To Use The Online Calling Card

You will enter the toll-free access number to make your long distance call. You will be asked to enter the PIN then the phone number you want to call.  You are able to check and see how many minutes are left on the card. A recorded message indicated what is left on the card each time you use your card.

When the card is almost used up you will receive a warning message during your phone call when you have only one minute of talk time left on the card. You will be disconnected when you use up the prepaid value. The price of an online calling card is usually competitive to the rates you would receive with a long distance carrier. But many online calling cards have a cheaper international rate than you get with a basic rate long distance plan.

Online calling cards are great as a gift to other people. Encourage a family member to call more often by buying them a prepaid online calling card. They are great for college students who parents pay the phone bill. They know up front how much they are going to spend for long distance calls. Prepaid online calling cards are also good for people who travel because you don’t have to pay with change at a phone booth, or pay high hotel phone rates. Weigh your options and decide if you will benefit from an online calling card. It may be a great benefit to you.

by Thomas Hawk

Question by whosgotthekitty: Where can I buy a calling card to use with a payphone within the US?
I’m going to basic training, and I need to buy a calling card to use with the payphone there to call my parents back home. I know absolutely nothing about calling cards. I don’t even know how they work exactly. Can someone help me out and maybe tell me what kind of card I need or even give some suggestions? I am willing to buy online or go to a store…whatever. This is for calls WITHIN the US, not international.

Best answer:

Answer by Carl N
For our hospitality customers, we used to get them from Wal-Mart/Sams Club. They are AT&T branded and come in sizes like 300 500 1000 2000 minutes. A call from a payphone usually adds a surcharge of some number of minutes to offset the charge that you must give back to the payphone provider for dialing a toll free number. Trust me, it will eat up minutes like there’s no tomorrow If you get a calling card, try to use anybody’s landline to do your calling. It will save your minutes. The last time I remember, the surcharge was something like 28 or 35 cents, it may be up to 50 cents now. On a calling card that costs you about 3 cents a minute, you just used up 9-12 minutes of your time just calling the toll free number from the payphone!

Of course, once you get the basic calling card, you can recharge it, usually for less than what you initially paid for the card and you can pick the number of minutes for the recharge.

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by Lance Cheung

Question by cherie: I need help with a long distance calling card?
I am in california and have someone in new zealand who wants to call me with a calling card. Id prefer to use my cell phone (service: TMobile), but will I get charged for this call, although THEY are calling ME with a prepaid calling card? And which would be best and cheapest for this call? (Landline, cell, payphone..)

Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by Pol D
If they call you you will just use your minutes (cell), you can call them http://www.telthreeadvantage.com No fee at all, no tax, bonus minutes

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