Wind / Solar Powered Phone Masts

Around 2 months back Vodafone announced that they have switched on the first self powering mobile phone mast in Eglwyswrw [Wales]. The power comes from a mix of wind and solar power, and there's also a battery which I presume stores up the power generated. Vodafone's plan is to help the UK and themselves get to net zero operations. 

Their other selling point is to supply remote areas of the UK with 4G connectivity. It all sounds very good, doesn't it. Very positive. Almost like all they want to do is help out the environment and the the unfortunate people in areas where the Internet and phone coverage has been very poor. But, thinking logically about the motivations behind this trial, and it sure starts looking like they are just trying to save money on energy costs for themselves by switching to alternative power sources.

Drone Video: The Solar Cell Tower in Eglwyswrw, Wales, UK

Because the real question is, do these new phone masts emit any less radiation than a phone mast that runs off the usual power source, which is the electricity grid. The answer is no. And I'll tell you why. The more strength a connection has or needs, the more power the phone mast has to push out.

So, more power equals more radiation being pushed out. And overall 4G is quite fast. This translates to the phone mast having to emit a high level of radiation in order to reach 4G. So yeah, it sounds very good, doesn't it. 

Save the environment, use natural energy etc, but what about the people, animals, insects and tree / plant kingdom that will now be blanketed in radiation frequencies from phone masts. Were they even thought of. Well, no they weren't. There is no mention of them anywhere in the announcement by Vodafone. It appears they, or we, the public, are expendable.

Phone Mast Health Concerns

The residents of Eglwyswrw should be monitored very carefully to see if there is an increase in illnesses that may be the result of their new Trojan horse being installed. It can not be ignored that there are clusters of serious illnesses popping up more and more at locations where phone masts have been installed.

Wouldn't it be great if, just for once, these huge telecom companies actually put health first. All they seem to do is deflect any concerns raised and try to quell legitimate negative health patterns with in-house "tests" that prove nothing because they have huge conflicts of interest so can not be trusted whatsoever. 

All of the independent studies on radiation levels emitted by phone masts has shown they are very dangerous to not only human health but to wildlife also.

As a side-note. If this trial is deemed a success and gets the go-ahead in other areas of the United Kingdom, what an eyesore these metal monstrosities will be. Phone towers in every direction will no doubt taint the look and feel of some of the nicest, most idyllic areas of the UK.

Get a Free Giffgaff SIM With £10 credit

How to get a free GiffGaff SIM with £10 free credit. There is a special deal going on at the moment where if a new customer signs up to GiffGaff by ordering a free SIM card they get £10 free credit once they activate their SIM. Normally its £5. This deal is valid throughout the whole month of August 2022. It's a good time to join.

What do I have to do

All you need to do is join GiffGaff. It's free. If you want £10 for joining instead of £5, sign up here.

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GiffGaff recently announced a cut to their European free roaming data allowance for UK customers, from 20GB to 5GB. So this new offer of more free credit for a limited time should, hopefully, counteract that loss a bit. At least for new customers.

 

Can I keep my old number if I join

 

Yes. You can keep your normal phone number when you make the switch over. All you need to do is contact you current mobile network provider and ask them for your PAC number. The PAC [Porting Authorisation Code] number can then be used in your account on the Giffgaff website to request your phone number be transferred over. This process shouldn't take long. For most people it will take between 1 - 3 days.

Google Pixel 6a Comparison Video

Should you buy the new Google Pixel 6a. There is lot's of hype surrounding this new release. But is it the right phone for your needs. The comparison video compares two other Smartphones of a fairly similar price and specification next to the 6a. Those are: The Nothing Phone 1 and the Samsung Galaxy A53 [5G].

Phones compared in the video are available below:

Google Pixel 6a [United Kingdom]

The Nothing Phone 1

Samsung Galaxy A53 [5G]
 

Many people are clambering over each other trying to get their orders in early, pre-ordering etc. But really, there is no rush. This model is set to be more widely available than the previous model, so it shouldn't be too hard to purchase a 6a after the initial hype has eased down a little.

Some factual spec hashtags for the 6a: #andriod12 #6gbRAM #128GBstoragespace #4410mAhbattery #8megapixelfrontcamera #6.1-inchscreen #dualrear12.2megapixelcameras #sonycamerasensors #tensorchip #AI #2internalspeakers #bluetooth5.2 #wifi6 wifi6e #titanM2 #NOwirelesscharging

#review #trade-in #exchange #orderfromamazon #4a #5a #5g #sage #carbon #chalk #uk #usa #notsodumb

Do BT Still Maintain Their Phone Boxes

Phone boxes were usually in a manky state even when they were at the height of their popularity. But these days, with them hardly making any money at most locations, do BT still maintain their Phone Boxes in the UK. Looks like most of them have been left to rot and haven't been cleaned for years. If BT are going to leave some phone boxes in service, they should have a duty of care to the public, making sure they are in a clean and useable condition.

#payphone #emergencycalls #britishtelecom #vandalised #dirty #2022 #phonecards #callbox

Changes To GiffGaff EU Roaming

European roaming is set to take a hit soon with GiffGaff announcing they will be cutting their usual 20GB free roaming for UK users down to 5GB. This is due to "interconnect costs" and will come into force on 9th August 2022.

5GB is still better than nothing, and if users monitor their data more carefully, going on GiffGaff's claim that in 2019 90% of their users gobbled up less than 5GB when roaming in the EU on a monthly basis, the majority of people should still remain below the free limit. Any usage over the free 5GB will be charged at 10 Pence for each extra MegaByte used.

Other providers have done the same. Tesco are also going to be charging users for EU roaming, which comes into force in January 2023. And Sky Mobile's EU roaming charges for UK customers are already in force since May 2022.

Punkt Alternative Light Phone 2 Update

The Punkt "Dumb Phones", which cost just as much as a good Smartphone to buy now have some decent alternatives. Punkt are terrible anyway. If you're not aware, there are quite a few different types of expensive minimalistic hip-style dumb phones now available for sale to cater for those who just can't bring themselves to go all the way and use a normal old school basic phone like a Nokia 3310 or Nokia 8210.

One of those is the Light Phone. The model talked about below is the second generation more reliable Light Phone 2. It has recently been updated. The key areas the update focused on are as follows. New storage options, copy and paste, spell check capability, several alarms, directions improvements and hotspot as a tool.

While I am against spending a big chunk of money on any hyped up dumb phone because a normal basic phone will do the job, the updated Light Phone 2 isn't actually that bad. However, the price tag is definitely on the steep side. And with a battery life of just one to two days, for such a minimal "light" phone, wow, that is extremely bad. Head SAR level is also high @ 1.20 W/kg. Save some money and get yourself  something else, like a Samsung B2100 Tough phone. That's what I use.

It's got a good torch, makes and receives calls + texts, has 5 alarms, a countdown timer, stopwatch, SD slot and the battery life is excellent. What more do you need if you're looking to do a cold turkey from your Smartphone addiction. I know there's a lot of people from the UK who want to know where they can find the Light Phone 2 for sale. Amazon does not appear to stock this model at this time.

There are two main places. Those are eBay UK and the official Light Phone website [thelightphone.com]. eBay is your best bet in the UK, but do make sure the seller and the phone is located in the UK to avoid having to pay import taxes and to get the correct phone model etc.

All light phone II's going through eBay auctions get a lot of attention, so be prepared to bid quite high, even for phones that are slightly faulty. The official website ships to the United Kingdom, but due to the company shipping from the USA, or direct from their manufacturer, this may come with sales tax, VAT, and customs or duty charges.

Also be aware of their returns policy. It's not very flexible. At this time thelightphone.com only accept returns for items with manufacturer defects.

People located in the UK will need the Light Phone 2 International model [TLP202]. The International model works with Vodafone, Three, BT and GiffGaff. Sadly O2 and EE [That would most probably mean Orange and T-Mobile] are not compatible. However you may be able to get the phone unlocked to all networks, but there is no guarantee.

If that doesn't work and you really want the phone, you can always just transfer your phone number [SIM] to another mobile network carrier [listed above] that is compatible with the Light Phone 2 International model. Note: This phone takes a Nano size SIM card.

Should Towns And Smaller Cities Get 5G?

Vodafone asks the question: Shouldn’t towns and smaller cities benefit from full 5G? Until there is extensive independent testing [no conflicts of interest] on the safety of 5G, it's rollout should be halted immediately. That means stopped everywhere, not just in small towns and mini cities, but in all areas of the UK and the world. 

Do you know how much money has been spent by the big telecom companies on independent testing for 5G? The answer might shock you. Absolutely nothing. Not a penny. If 5G is so safe wouldn't companies like Vodafone be jumping at the chance to prove the technology they are forcing on the public is harmless.

Shouldn’t towns and smaller cities benefit from full #5G? 🏘️

We think so too!

Here’s what needs to happen to prevent the UK losing out on £7bn worth of economic benefits by 2030. ⏬https://t.co/7ykg3TnUkw#DigitalAmbition2030 #TogetherWeCan

— Vodafone UK News Centre (@vodafoneuknews) June 29, 2022

 

Snake Tongued Sales People - Selling You "The Welfare Of Humanity" Lie

Vodafone and the rest of the players who have huge vested interests in this rollout are always talking up "The benefits of full 5G" and how they want to help get more people in rural areas connected. But how many times do they address the health implications of this technology from the massive amounts of harmful radiation that's beamed out over the UK population from the phone masts.

Less Visibility Doesn't Necessarily Mean Less RF / EMF

 

Changes to UK planning laws by the Goverment may mean that less brand new phone masts will be needed to be installed. Instead, upgrades to existing infrastructure will be carried out, with no planning permission required. However, this is only beneficial in one way, and that is on the eyes. The visual impact. Less new phone masts means less of an eye sore, yes that's true. 

 

But sadly, less new phone towers does not mean less radiation. The upgrading of existing infrastructure [phone masts] means they will be made larger in size and have a much more powerful signal strength.  This means more, or the same amount of harmful radiation.

So, as a rough estimation this could mean one tower that's been super boosted to an extremely high signal strength so it can single-handedly cover a very large area is basically the same as having approximately 5 - 10 normal sized phone masts in different locations.

This is potentially even more dangerous for the people who live in close proximity to one of these "improved" super towers.

Dress It Up Nice: Whatever You Need To Hear

 

Hypothetically; would you live inside a microwave oven that gets turned on full blast 50 times a day if I told you that, potentially, inside the microwave you could get a download speed of 1TB a second free of charge. 

 

But there's one problem, you can't leave the microwave. There's no escape. That's the new home for you and your family. Don't worry its totally safe. I know you've read a few stories online that it could be dangerous, but trust me, I've been in the microwave oven industry for 30 years, the stories are fake. Written by conspiracy theory nutjobs.

Now, if you said yes to the deal of free 1TB internet / download speeds, would you still say yes if I told you the truth. That truth being, the download speed will be around 1TB per second as stated, but you or one of your family members will probably become extremely ill within say six - twelve months. And, it's possible that they may die.

Would you still go for the deal. Would you trade your family's or your own health for better connectivity. And what does it say about me if I sold you on the quick download speed, or any other selling point that I knew you would find hard to resist but never told you about the potential health risks, even though I was fully aware of them.

 

I even told you it was completely safe. Would you say I was a trustworthy man with good morals who had your best interests at heart.

#deliberateignorance #cognitivedisidance #plausibledeniability #conflicts of interest

Check If Your Phone Has Been Hacked

This check is by no means a certainty that your phone hasn't been hacked, as there are many stealthy and sophisticated methods used / developed by groups and organizations that have both some of the best hackers, vulnerability finders, the most advanced programs / software / hardware, and big budgets to play with. 

 

So some methods are harder to detect, and some are more than likely running right now on Smartphones or other devices of people deemed to be targets of interest but are so new and undetectable that no one even knows they exist yet other than the makers themselves and a few select people involved in the operation / project.

Pegasus

Take Pegasus for example, the spyware that was made by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group. That was successfully installed on many devices before it became known about. From journalists and actors to business men and politicians, Pegasus has hacked many devices and obtained information on Government officials and detractors alike. Even Jeff Bezos [founder of Amazon] was a victim.

Watch Out

Pegasus is still used today, although there are known methods out there on the Internet that can be used to detect its installation. One being WhatsApp, in which the NSO group was actually sued by WhatsApp's chief Will Cathcart for hacking the platform to gain backdoor access to users smartphones.

Pegasus has been bought by Governments and agencies, including America's own FBI. Although the FBI claim to have not used it. For something that apparently cost them nine million dollars to buy, it seems like an expensive purchase for it to just sit there and never be used.

Quick Check

Moving on. With all that said above, this little check is still worth performing. It works on most mobile phones, both "dumb" and "smart" and works with the two most popular operating systems, Android and Apple iOS.

 

Pictured: The results from a smartphone on Android.

Performing The Check

From your phones main screen type *#21# [that's star, hash  2, 1, hash] and press call. After a few seconds a screen should pop up showing if any of your supposedly private information, such as SMS, voice calls, Sync, Data etc on your phone is being forwarded to anywhere else. The result you want is for all of them to read Not Forwarded.

There may be false, or true read outs of Forwarded if you yourself have set up a forwarder on any of the communications on the list. Forwarding your voice calls for example, so be aware of that.

Just for the fun of it, I would be interested to see the results of this check when Pegasus is known to be installed on a device. I would imagine all results would read Not Forwarded.

GiffGaff Refer A Friend Earnings Proof

In this post I will talk a bit about how GiffGaff refer a friend works, and show payment proof of my affiliate commissions received from GiffGaff. The earnings were fairly low, but this was my first payment, and I never really put much effort into promotion. Up went a few banners on my blog, wrote a post or two, and that was it.

 

Payback earnings in the affiliate dashboard

Moving forward, I will start to put more work into promoting GiffGaff and may post another earnings screenshot at some point in the future to show if the earnings increase or decrease. I will say, I think the affiliate program overall has great potential. The affiliate dashboard is easy to use, link generation is simple, and my first experience with getting paid was trouble free. The payment was sent out on time, and paid directly into Paypal. Nice and easy.

How To Refer a Friend

 

First off, to "refer a friend" you need to be a member of the GiffGaff network. This means you need to have an activated GiffGaff SIM card. If you're already with GiffGaff then that's great, you are basically all set to go. If not you will need to order a free SIM and activate it. You can do that here.

 

If you don't want to have to activate a SIM, there is another way to join. Membership can also be gained by joining one of the big affiliate networks that hold contracts with GiffGaff. Two that have GiffGaff on their promotion list are Viglink and Awin.com. However, these are little bit more harder to join as some require a website with a proven amount of traffic [visitors], or want to know exactly how you will be promoting the service etc.

Got the SIM?, joined Viglink and Awin - or already with GiffGaff? Excellent.

 

The only thing now required is for you to join their affiliate program. Add payment details and generate your unique affiliate link that associates any signups to you and that's it. Any new customers that sign up through your link, whether that be real life friends or just random people on the Internet who happened to click your sign up link will be associated to you.

Points = Pounds

And once they activate their SIM card [top up required] your affiliate account with be credited with a commission from the sale / activation. Minimum earnings per sign up is £5, but there is potential to actually earn more depending what your new sign up does, such as tops up more, or becomes an affiliate "refer a friend" partner themselves and makes their own referrals / sign ups.

Best countries to promote to are the UK and Europe as all the best deals and tariffs, such as normal and Golden Goodybags are fully useable. Countries like America and Canada can use the GiffGaff network but only in roaming mode [airtime]. Goodybags are not available.

 

Paid Into Paypal

 

 

How to get new sign ups

 

As well as referring your friends by sending them your unique affiliate link, you can also do the same online, and potentially make many more signups by posting the link on social media sites that allow affiliate links like Facebook and Twitter. You can also start a website or blog, write some posts and / or put up some banners. 

Paypal Payment Received

 

Online community forums can be a great way to get referrals. In this case phone related forums are great places to become a part of. Contribute in the forum replying to discussions and creating useful posts and place your link in your forum signature so its under every post you write.

Be sure to check the forum rules first to make sure this is allowed, as some forums do not allow affiliate links. Doing so will most probably get you banned. To get you started, a good website that definitely does allow GiffGaff affiliate links in signatures, is GiffGaff's own official forum.

If you have any questions about the affiliate program, let me know by posting a comment below and I'll do my best to answer them.