The Daily Ping

A year ago I made a trip to San Francisco. I didn’t have a phone card and felt like I should have one on me in case of an emergency, but I didn’t want to get ripped off by buying one of those ones at 7-11 with all the hidden charges. So I went to the Net and I was very pleased with what I found.

PhoneHog is similar to MyPoints/BonusMail/CyberGold in that you accumulate “units” for visiting web sites, registering, etc. The difference is that these units are actually minutes on a free phone card. You call Phone Hog’s 1-800 number and use your specialized PIN and you’re good to go. No charges whatsoever. From state-to-state, one credit = one minute with a two unit surcharge if you call from a payphone. Not bad. Perfect for the occasional trip out of town.

Since Huyen was heading out of town and I wanted her to call me when she got in, I logged back onto Phone Hog, surfed a few more sites, and accumulated an extra 20 minutes worth of calling time.

Incidentally, I used a throw-away freebee e-mail address, since Phone Hog may or may not sell your address.

Fortunately, The End of Free hasn’t yet hit PhoneHog. -ram