A Problem with Mint Mobile

I am a Mint Mobile customer. I really like them, and they are reasonably priced. I have a plan that is $205/year which is very affordable. Considering that the Big 3 in the United States starts their plans at around $60/month, the less than $20/month I pay with Mint is a blessing for my meager financial resources. Yes, my plan only gives me 5GB of data per month, but I am in a trusted Wifi Network much of the time, and the data provided by Mint is more than sufficient with my lifestyle, and resources needed. I also have good international rates, although I have yet to need to call an international number, so the money I added for international calls has yet to be used. Read more “A Problem with Mint Mobile”

iPhone 16 – A Want

Well, this is a predicament. A couple of years ago, I bought an iPhone 14 Pro Max. The phone works just fine, and that would be a part of the problem. Today, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 lineup, and with that will come a number of features that my 14 Pro Max doesn’t have. However, at $1,200USD – I would need to draw on a credit card to pay for it. This will mean that I will be paying interest as long as I carry a balance. This will mean that my $1,200 phone will cost more than $1,200. Obviously, I will perform the same tactic that I would always do with debt and that would be to attack it with a vengeance. This will mean to throw ALL of my discretionary spending at the debt. With all of this in mind, and the fact that my iPhone 14 still works just fine, and expected to work just fine with the iOS 18 updates (except the higher features), there is no way I can justify buying a brand new phone that starts at $900, and only go up from there. So what are the features that would be something I will look forward to? Here they are: Read more “iPhone 16 – A Want”

Dropped Skype

I have finally decided to completely drop the usage of Skype. There were only 2 people that had any sort of communication with me, and I notified both of them that I will be dropping Skype. I also gave them my IM Resource Site (https://im.fsp.contact) for other options in communicating with me. Neither of them have as of yet decided to reach out to me. Even if they don’t want to provide their telephone number to me, I support Telegram which can be used without disclosing your telephone number.

The reason I dropped Skype was because I was getting too many scammers trying to waste my time with “I Love You – give me money” scams. So far, the SPAM in Telegram has been minimal. I do not miss Skype, and it has not been a good application for the past few years. With that said, I will likely not go back to Skype ever again – considering it as a service that continues to degrade as time goes on. I am guessing there are many legitimate people who are thinking the same way as I do. With that vicious cycle, I don’t see Skype ever recovering.

Why I’ll Never Use TextNow!

For those outside of the US, you might not know what TextNow is. To keep things simple, it is an app/service. You get a free US number that must be used at least once a month. They can also send you a SIM card to get “essential” data for free. So, in some degree, you can get a free phone number, and free cellular service. So why won’t I ever use it? Well, there are a couple of reasons.

No eSIM

There is no eSIM capabilities. Most mid-range or better phones are dual SIM with a nano-SIM, and an eSIM. Let’s assume that you have a work cellular line, and you have to use your physical SIM card slot for the work line. Well, this will mean you would have to have another phone. Now, I am not in favor of having your “work” and “personal” lines in one phone, but that is not the belief for everyone. Some people just want to carry one phone especially if that phone is a higher end phone. I have the iPhone 14 Pro Max (US Version). So what does that mean – no SIM slot at all. Both of my SIMs are eSIM only. There is no nano-SIM option. This started with all iPhones 14+ (US Model). Because of that, anyone with an iPhone 14 or better simply can not use TextNow. Read more “Why I’ll Never Use TextNow!”

Soon to Drop Skype

I have been a glutton for punishment. I have used Skype off and on for years, and every time I use it, it has been a disappointment. Almost everyone that contacted me were scammers, or otherwise insincere people. There is one person which I known for years on Skype, but I rarely communicate with her any longer. This is disappointing as Skype used to be a good service. However, as you can see, my perception of Skype has changed dramatically. I do have Skype installed on my PC, and on my phone. The app on the phone is just to let me know if someone sent me a message. When I reply, it is exclusively on the PC.
Read more “Soon to Drop Skype”

Switching to LibreOffice

On 24th of January, 2024, I have chosen to switch to LibreOffice. The choice for this is pretty simple, and that is cross platform compatibility. Any document that I would be writing and editing on a regular basis will be saved as an .odt file. Files that will not be edited in the future (such as letters to correspondences) will be exported to .pdf file. With that being said, LibreOffice seems to make it easy for exporting to .pdf files. I have yet to try this out, but will do so later in the day. Read more “Switching to LibreOffice”

Apple to Support RCS

A number of tech blogs has reported that Apple will support RCS sometime in 2024. I am guessing this will be about the time they will roll out the iPhone 16 lineup. This is a good thing, and wished they would do so sooner. With Apple supporting RCS, this can encourage carriers to drop SMS/MMS services as these are very legacy services, and been around since 2G services. I would imagine that even though many of the features found in iMessage is also in RCS, that Apple will still make SMS/RCS messages with a green bubble, therefore keeping the “Blue Bubble” for iOS users. Read more “Apple to Support RCS”