The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread 36

[cardgame]

Look up Google Voice, that might do it.

 

[Synobun]

Look up Google Voice, that might do it.

Doesn't work in Canada.

I used Fongo back during the days of no phone service. If you have spotty wifi it's going to be miserable, but it... works...

Of course, that's assuming you have a smartphone.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

No, unfortunately. That's one of the things that came up when I searched myself, and I was rather disappointed.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

have you considered WhatsApp wifi calls?

 

[Synobun]

No, unfortunately. That's one of the things that came up when I searched myself, and I was rather disappointed.

If you can manage to hide money away from your mother for long enough (I know how hard this can be, so don't worry about telling me it's not possible), 7-11 in Canada sells really cheap smartphones and SIM cards. $150 altogether, possibly a bit cheaper. They also recently increased their minutes expiration to a year instead of 30 days. Their flip phones are cheaper but they're not smart so you won't have access to apps and you'd be fully reliant on the Pay-As-You-Go SIM.

 

[peter grimes]

I know there's online services that let you make phone calls to landlines. Does anyone know of one that's free and works in Canada?

Doesn't Google Voice allow this? Or maybe I'm not understand your question entirely...

 

[Synobun]

Doesn't Google Voice allow this? Or maybe I'm not understand your question entirely...

Doesn't work in Canada.

 

[sophie]

Is paintball or airsoft gun battles a thing outside the US?

Apparently airsoft is a thing. There are butloads of videos on youtube of this genre:

IIRC this guy's airsoft group runs out of The Netherlands/Belgium

 

[Silurian]

Is paintball or airsoft gun battles a thing outside the US?

There are four places near me used to be five, but I do live in a holiday area.

 

[peter grimes]

VPN location services to US?

 

[Synobun]

VPN location services to US?

The issue is less geolocation and more access. To get Google Voice and activate its wifi features you need a US phone number for verification. That can be circumventable if you have American friends or a functional US presence. Most of the time, though, if you're in a position to get that sorted, you're probably also in a position to just get normal Canadian phone service.

 

[Takhisis]

savage

Well, it's true, I tend to test the features of the forum more than others do.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

The Google Voice thing seems kind of silly even for Americans, if the reason you're using it is because you don't have a phone.

 

[Synobun]

The Google Voice thing seems kind of silly even for Americans, if the reason you're using it is because you don't have a phone.

You can still use it to contact other Voice numbers without verification, IIRC.

 

[cardgame]

I would be that American friend, but my number's already linked.

 

[Samez]

Skype allows calls for really cheap. Calling to the US is $2.99 a month.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

New question: I have a personal PayPal account that's connected to the joint bank account that I share with my mother. If I disconnect it from that and connect it to a new personal account, will there be any way for her to detect that?

 

[Takhisis]

Presumably there might be a notification? I don't have a PayPal account.

 

[Synobun]

Not unless she uses your PayPal account.

It may be best to just make another PayPal account, though, once you have a phone number of your own to attach to it. Just to be on the safe side.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

No, she doesn't have access; I changed the password to be on the safe side. I only use it once in a while to buy a game on Steam.