After reviewing a few HP videos and reading numerous HP “answers” with no solution I came up with my own solution to this problem that I experienced recently.

The idea was that the internal drop-down rollers may be dirty, dusty or coated with paper fibers after a year’s use and probably need cleaning.

Photo 1

Photo 2 - Rollers in the up position

Photo 2 - Rollers in the down position

So, how to get to the rollers?

Simple. Let the rollers come to you.

One of the best cleaning solutions for electrical parts, or in this case rollers, is rubbing alcohol which you can buy at and CVS or Walgreens Pharmacy store in your area.

As you can see in Photo 2 (I used a small LED flashlight) the two rollers drop down as one unit and make contact on top of the copier paper spinning to advance the paper forward and up through the printer. You can watch this by holding down the CANCEL button and the OK button at the same time. This prints a test page.

1. Place and HOLD a sheet of paper towel (the more textured the better) on top of your small stack of copier paper, the rollers will drop down and leave a mark much like someone spinning their tires on the pavement.

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

5. Press and hold the CANCEL button and at the same time press the OK button. This will print a test page. As you hold onto the “combo” you can peer into the tray and watch the rollers drop down and spin around on the rubbing alcohol soaked paper towel as it cleans the rollers. You may want to repeat this a few times to clean the rollers.

6. Remove the “combo” from the tray and leave your stack of copier paper. Once again, press and hold the CANCEL button while you press the OK button. to test if the rollers now grab and advance your paper.

It worked for me and hope this worked for you.

Drop me a line if this solution was helpful or not.

Let’s “Face” it, it’s getting to be more of a challenge every day to “stay in the loop” with the ever changing technology especially if you own a prepaid GMS cell phone such as Tracfone, myself included of course.

Let’s keep reminding ourselves we’re the rogue few saving money.

I am content with my Bluetooth LG600g. I receive a call, I make a call as well as texting. If I want to surf the web I bring along my iPod Touch and once again I have no bills to pay for using it as well.

The Tracfone we use is far and wide from being a Smartphone but you can teach it to do a lot more than what you thought capable. You can read more of, “Your Prepaid Tracfone is smarter than you think!” here at my Blog site on what your Tracfone can do!.

One of many tricks I’ll guide you through here is how to interact with Facebook, update your status, send a Post to a friends Wall, “Like” someone and more!

1. Log in to your Facebook Account from your computer
2. Goto your Account Settings
- it’s located at the top Menu Bar all the way to the right next to Home with a small down arrow
3. Click on Mobile - located on the left side of the screen menu
- This will take you to the Mobile Settings page
4. Click on +Add a Phone
5. A popup menu will appear.
- Choose your Country and Mobile Carrier (in my case T-Mobile)
- Below this is a Confirmation code box but first…
5. Send a Text message, with only the letter F, to 32665
- (32665 is a short code for FBOOK)
-Facebook will send a code back to your Tracfone such as abcdef
6. Type your code in the Confirmation code box and check or uncheck the following boxes:
- Share my phone number with my friends and
- Allow friends to text me from Facebook
- Click Next
7. Facebook will send you another text message to your Tracfone -

Confirmed!
Text 32665 to set your status.
Turn off texts, reply “stop”
SMS charges may apply.
Reply “help” for other options

8. Go ahead and add the Facebook short code phone number 32665 as a New Contact to your Tracfone and name it, for now, Facebook Status

Now, choose what you want to do from the table below.

So, there you have it. We can still “save face” as well as “stay in the loop” with our technocratic smartphone friends and manage our “on-the-go” lifestyle.

You can also email Facebook friends! I show you how under my “Tracfone + Email” posting Categories!

You may be interested in another related Post here if you use “Twitter”. It’s listed under the Tracfone Categories, “Twacfone”. How Tweet it is.

No, I’m not talking about getting Bumped by your favorite Airline at the airport.

Instead, I’m referring to Smartphone users who Bump their phones together to exchange contact information, photos, and other objects between phones.

It’s happening all the time, everywhere and, once again, leaving Tracfone user’s out in cyberspace. Or, does it?

We may not be able to Bump into our Smartphone friends but we can connect with them by scanning instead!

Here’s how!

1. Create your own personal Mobile TAG, also referred to as a QR Code (Quick Response code) image, at one of many Mobile Tag sites*. For this demonstration we’ll use the the AT&T Create-a-Code web site.
- include your information such as name, phone number, etc. and choose Create

* Alternate QR code/Mobile Tag web sites
- TAG.CX
- KAYWA QR Code

2. Download, Copy or Drag your coded image to your computer
- Rename it for quick recognition such as, My Contact Tag, My Website Tag or My Blog SIte Tag etc., depending on how you create your Mobile Tag

3. Using Bluetooth, on both both your computer and Tracfone, SEND the image to your Tracfone.
- It will save it automatically to your Grahics folder on your Tracfone

4. Open your Graphics folder, on your Tracfone, and scroll to the coded image

5. Select VIEW to see your coded image on your Tracfone screen

Now here’s the great part where your Tracfone reaches out for the cutting edge of high tech.

Anyone with a Smartphone, such as the iPhone or Android, iPad or iPod Touch, can scan this coded image from your Tracfone screen and viola! they now have your contact information which is automatically added to their Address Book!

Alternatively, your coded image could also lead them to your web site to be bookmarked for future reference.

This leads us to the question then, why keep one coded image in your Tracfone Graphics folder when in fact you could have more! One coded image for your Contact information, another for your Blog site and yet another for your Website to show prospective clients you meet at your next social gathering.

So, there you go! Don’t Bump. Scan instead!

What was used for this demo -
Bluetooth LG600g Tracfone
iPod Touch (4th generation) IOS 5.0

Mobile Tag Web site -
AT&T Create-a-Code

Scanner apps used on the iPod Touch -
AT&T Code Scanner
Mobile Tag

Smartphone/Device users can download these apps from -
iTunes app store –

NOTE: You cannot scan with a Tracfone!

I think you’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on behind the scene, or, as in the classic B&W movie, the Wizard of OZ, the man behind the curtain.

The following instructions and information vary between Tracfone models and PC operating systems, but the principles here may be applied to most models and PC operating systems.

1. Tracfone SIM Card
2. Contacts and vCards Explained
3. SIM Card Memory vs. Phone Memory
4. Copy Contact(s) to Phone Memory
5. Contact Backup Program(s)
6. Bluetooth
7. Transferring
8. Operating System and Hardware Used

Tracfone SIM Card

One of the most asked about question and sought after answer concerning Tracfone’s SIM Card is:

Can I copy, transfer, interchange or swap-out, my Tracfone SIM Card or SIM Card Phone Book to another Tracfone model or to another Carrier’s Cell Phone as you can with other Cell Phone’s?

Answer: No

Why?

The SIM Card** is proprietary paired to your particular Tracfone only. Another way to put this is your SIM Card, on your Tracfone, will work only with your phone. Period.

Sigh, well, sort-of.

It’s really a double edged sword question and answer.

Again, NO you can not copy the SIM Card or Phone Book per se BUT YES you can copy individual * contacts to another Bluetooth enabled Tracfone or any other Bluetooth enabled cell phone or to your computer for use with one of many phone book backup program’s [1} and vise-versa!

* On the Tracfone, there is no multi-select or select-all when copying Contact's.

** A SIM card or Subscriber Identity Module is a portable memory chip that stores information such as personal settings, cell phone numbers, phone book, text messages and other data.

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Your Contacts are really vCard’s. A file format standard for electronic business cards with a file extension of .vcf

They can contain name and address information, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, URLs, logos, photographs, and audio clips.

* Not all cell phones support all vCard formats and information though most do accept the vCard 2.1 format standard
Source:wikipedia.org

The following is an example of a vCard file containing information for one person:
Format – vCard 2.1 Unicode (UTF-8)

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:2.1
N:Doe;John;;;
FN:John Doe
TEL;MOBILE:1234567890
TEL;HOME:3217654321
TEL;WORK:3121234567
TEL;FAX:8001234567
ADR;HOME:;;123 Maple Ave;Anytown;IL;12345;
EMAIL;INTERNET:johndoe@gmail.com
END:VCARD

You can create and edit a vCard by using any one of the computer application programs such as Apple’s Address Book, Microsofts Outlook for the PC or a simple Text editor* to name a few.

* Make sure you save it with the filename extension .vcf

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It’s helpful to understand the difference between SIM Card Memory and Phone Memory on your Tracfone.

Basically ALL of your contacts are stored on the SIM Card. But, did you know you can copy your Contacts from the SIM Card to the Phone or Phone Memory and visa-versa*.

But why would you?

An individual Contact on the SIM Card can only store one name and one number.

On the other hand the Contact that resides on the Phone, or in Phone Memory outside the SIM card, will not only hold one name but four phone numbers, each individual phone number having it’s own icon symbol such as, Home, Mobile, Work and Fax PLUS an email address**.

* If you copy a Contact, from Phone memory, that has four phone numbers plus an email address to the SIM Card, it will store only the contact name and only one general phone number on the SIM Card.

** To see the difference between the two go to your Contacts List
- The SIM Card contact has a small SIM Card icon symbol next to your Contact
- The Phone contact has a small Cell Phone icon symbol next to your Contact

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So, you have a Contact on the SIM Card with a name and one phone number.

But, now you need to add a Work, Home and FAX number plus an email address*.

* Remember, you can have a total of four phone numbers plus an email address in your contacts that reside only in Phone Memory and not in SIM Card memory.

For this example either create a New Contact or choose one from your Contact List.

Go to -
1. Menu/Contacts/Contact List/
2. Highlight your Contact (it has a small SIM Card icon symbol next to it)
3. Choose Options/Copy to Phone/
4. It will ask you if you want to Keep or Delete Original
– For now go ahead and choose Keep Original so you can see the difference between the two
5. It will ask you Yes or No. Choose Yes
6. It will ask you Copy? and once again choose, Yes

To see the difference between the two, go back to your Contacts List

Once again, the contact in SIM Card memory has a small SIM Card icon symbol and the new contact in Phone Memory has a small Cell Phone icon symbol.

Next let’s edit this new contact, that’s sitting in Phone memory with only one phone number and name, and let’s add an additional three phone numbers (remember you can have a total of four) and an email address -

Go to -
1. Menu/Contacts/Contact List/ and choose your newly copied duplicate.
2. Choose Options/Edit/

If all went as planned you should see the Contact name in the first box, a Mobile number in the second box, a Blank number in the third box, with a standard telephone icon symbol associated with it, and a Blank box for an email address.

Put your phone cursor in the third box, with the standard telephone icon symbol above it, and choose Type on your screen.

When you choose Type you have the option of choosing between the following – Mobile, Home, Work, Fax or Other for this field.

For now -
3. Choose – Home and click Set on your screen.
4. Type in a Home phone number.
5. Scroll down and another new phone box/field should appear. Choose Type/Work and type in a Work phone number.
6. Scroll down once again and another new phone box/field should appear. Choose Type/Fax* and type in a Fax phone number.

* If you choose Type/Other it would indicate a General number with the standard telephone icon symbol above the blank box/field.

7. Scroll down to the blank email address box and type in an email address.
NOTE: To use the @ symbol, choose the * (asterisk or star) key on your keyboard/keypad.
8. Click Save/OK/

From your Contacts List look at your newly created Contact that now resides in Phone Memory.

You’ll notice it now has five icon symbols associated with it! Mobile, Home Work, Fax and email!

When you scroll left or right over each of these, each individual number and email address appears.

Keep this new duplicate contact in your Contacts List and rename it for now, Transfer contact to computer.

We’ll refer to it again in Transferring.

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What would you do if, suddenly, the SIM Card was somehow corrupted?

What would happen if suddenly you discover you’ve lost your Cell Phone?

What if you bought another Tracfone or another phone from one of the other mobile carrier’s how would you transfer those 50 – 300 contacts over to the new SIM?

All of those Contacts vanishing into the Cloud. And I don’t mean the Cloud as we know it for storing your data, contacts, etc. like Smartphones can.

I keep reading over and over and post after post of someone who purchased a new Tracfone model and wants to transfer the SIM Card from the old Tracfone, that now has grown to well over 300-500 contacts, to the new SIM Card.

Once again…you can’t.

As I reiterate, only by copying individual contacts one at a time from your Tracfone to a backup program, or phonebook, on your computer, and vise-versa, is this possible.

You just can’t add a new contact on your cell phone and maintain the phonebook from the phone itself.

I believe insanity is described as repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Hmmmm…

You need a backup plan! You need a backup program to maintain all of your Contacts.

It can be Apple’s Address Book, Microsoft’s Entourage, Outlook or simply an Excel spreadsheet.

I encourage you to use any one of the above programs to update and maintain your Tracfone, or any Cell Phone for that matter, before it’s too late.

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When using Bluetooth we need to Pair the Computer and Tracfone. Simply put, they need to communicate with each other.

1. From your computer (this will vary between Mac’s and PC’s) -
– Open System Preferences and click on Bluetooth.
– Make sure it’s set to Discoverable.

Why?

When you turn Bluetooth ON, from your Tracfone, you want it to Discover/Find/Search for your computer and visa-verse. This is what Pairing is referred to as.

2. From your Tracfone go to -
– Settings/Bluetooth/Bluetooth On/
– Settings/Bluetooth/Settings/My device Visibility/Visible/

Get out of Settings, on the Tracfone, and Return/Click back to Bluetooth and go to -
3. Bluetooth/Paired Devices/Options/New Device/ (it’s going to search for your Bluetooth enabled computer or it could be another Bluetooth device such as a cell phone, headset, mouse, etc.)

If all went as planned, your computer’s name should now appear on your Tracfone screen such as, (ex) mkescomputer.

3. Click ADD
– An alert screen should now appear on your Tracfone with something like, Enter Passcode.

Usually these Passcodes or Passkeys have default settings such as 1234 or 0000. For this demo lets use 1234. Type it in and click OK.
– Your computer should now respond and show an alert pop-up screen such as – Pairing Request from LG LG600G Please enter a passkey to use with this device. Type in 1234, as you did on the Tracfone.
4. Click on Pair.

If successful your computer’s name, (ex) mikescomputer should now appear on your Tracfone screen.

You’re now setup properly and ready to transfer files or, in this case, your Phone Book Contacts.

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Now that you know your Contacts are really just vCard’s and know how to copy from the SIM Card memory to the Phone memory and vise-versa, let’s now copy your Contacts to the computer to be imported into a Phone Book backup program*.

Once again, you can only copy one contact at a time from your Tracfone.

Why?

Simply put there’s no multi-select or select-all option available.

But, if you’ve maintained a Phone Book backup on your computer all along and you’ve added just a few new contacts on your phone, you’re ahead of the game!

Oh, did I mention, you can select and copy up to five Contacts at a time from your computer TO your Tracfone?!

This is possible because you do have the multi-select option when copying from the computer.

Confused? I’m just the messenger. Sigh…

I found that by sending more than five Contacts at a time, from the computer, would cause a ‘Request Fail’ on the Tracfone and from the computer, ‘The file transfer failed: the recipient has stopped or refused the transfer’

I can only speculate that this could be a memory problem or it simply times out on the Tracfone.

From Tracfone to the computer
1. On your Blurtooth Tracfone go to -
– Contacts/Contact List/ and highlight, do not click, your newly created Contact called. ‘Transfer contact to computer’.

Remember, this Contact resides in Phone Memory and not SIM Memory. We wanted to add more phone numbers and an email address and did this by editing it on the phone.

However, keep in mind that you can also transfer a Contact from SIM Memory as well to the Computer where you can edit and transfer it back to your Tracfone.

2. Once highlighted choose -
- Options/Send Via/Bluetooth/ and highlight your computer’s name (ex) mikescomputer
3, Click on -
- Options/Send/

Your computer will respond with an alert pop-up screen such as “LG LG600G is sending a file” and asking you to Accept or Decline.
4. – Click on Accept.

The contact should now appear on your desktop or a destination that you’ve setup where your files download to, as a vCard with an extension of .vcf .(ex) vcard#1.vcf

6. Rename your vCard#1.vcf to the original Contact name and copy, or import it, to your Phone Book backup program*.

From the Computer [2} to your Tracfone
1. - Create a new folder on your computer and, for now, call it "transfer contacts to phone"
2. - Export or drag your contact(s) from your Address Book* to this folder or use the Contact we've been using, Transfer contact to computer as a test transfer.
3. - Click on Bluetooth from the Tool Bar at the top of your Mac's screen.
This will vary if your using a PC operating system
4. - Choose Send File and Browse to your newly created folder with the Contact(s) to transfer
5. - Choose your Contact or multi-select up to five and click Send
6. - An alert pop-up screen should appear on your screen and ask you to Select Bluetooth Device click on your particular phone (ex) LG LG600G
7. - Click Send
8. - An alert pop-up screen will appear on your computer - Waiting for LG LG600G to accept item
9. - Your phone will now respond with Add to Phonebook? choose Yes
If you're sending five, for example, you will be prompted for each Contact to Add.

Go to your Contacts List on your phone and view the Contact(s) you just added.

* (ex) Apple's Address Book, Microsoft's Entourage, Outlook or simply an Excel spreadsheet

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Once again, these instructions and information vary between Tracfone models and PC operating systems, but the principles may be applied to all.

B. – Bluetooth Tracfone LG600g
Bluetooth enabled and paired to your computer

C. – A software application program* to edit, import and export your Contacts in a vCard Format 2.1 (UTF-8) – Once again DO NOT use 3.0
* (ex) Apples’s Address Book, Microsoft Entourage, Outlook, Excel or a simple Text editor

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First of all let me set the record straight.

No, Apple is not, or ever will, bring anything to Tracfone such as it has with AT&T or Verizon, period.

This blog is about using the iPod Touch in combination with your Tracfone.

Granted few of us want to carry around multiple devices, and there are a number of us out there that do, as witnessed first hand here in the Chicago area.

So, why the combo?

First, Verizon announced that with their new iPhone you will not be able to talk and surf the web at the same time as you can with AT&T’s iPhone.

And second, there was a news story about a guy who was so frustrated with using his iPhone and AT&T’s service that he ditched it, bought an iPod Touch and another economical phone with more reliable service.

Are we beginning to see a pattern playing out here?

It was this story that got me thinking and finally acting on this combo package. What a great idea!

The iPod Touch is a great must-have device. Think of it as a miniature iPad2.

With an iPod Touch you can download thousand’s of apps (99% of all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch apps are compatible), your iTune’s, games, maps, utilities, the apps list goes on and on and on.

Imagine sitting and enjoying your Starbucks 31 once “Trenta” and playing your favorite game on your iPod Touch while at the same time, with a bluetooth earphone tethered to your Tracfone, chatting with your friends at the same time.

It comes with FaceTime which allows you to not just say hello but smile at the same time.

You can shoot your up and coming viral HD Video and immediately upload it to YouTube.

Download your favorite movies and TV shows, play your mp3′s from iTunes, send and receive email and browse the internet with the Safari web browser.

The greatest feature the iPod Touch has to offer is AirPlay which allows you to stream wirelessly all of your music, photos, and video to your HDTV and speakers via the new Apple TV.

You can do all of this without paying for an expensive data plan. Just connect at any wifi ‘Hot-Spot’ or at home.

Here, in the Chicagoland area, you can walk from the John Hancock building all the way down Michican avenue to the Sear’s Tower (opps! the Willis Tower) and constantly be connected with a wifi connection.

This is due, in part, to all of the Starbuck’s, MacDonald’s, Tea House’s and Cafe HotSpot’s as you’re walking along!

I guess you can refer to this as, ‘HotSpot Hopping’.

We use to drive around searching for any open wifi connection referred to as, “Warchalking” the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open wifi wireless network.

Now every open wifi connection is referred to as a ‘HotSpot’ and the once ‘drawing of symbols’, with chalk, has now been replaced with ‘branding symbols’ such as Starbuck’s, Caribou Coffee, MacDonald’s, etc..

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said of the iPod Touch, at the Apple Special Events on September 2010, “A lot of people call it an iPhone without the phone. It’s also an iPhone without the contract.”

Think about it. With both the iPod Touch and Tracfone your not paying for a data plan, the voice plans, the email allotment plans, the ‘penalty’ cost of going over any of your allotments, the dreaded two year contract and the anxiety of of paying a huge penalty to end that relationship.

Oh, and let’s not forget the monthly bill to mull over.

As you can see your still financially ahead with your prepaid Tracfone and now by adding an iPod Touch I think you have the best of both worlds as a smart economical combo.

Enjoy!

** FAQ – Three of the most asked questions for this post: **

1. Is there a “data plan” for Tracfone?
Answer: No.
Tracfone’s are GMS “cellular-analog-type mobile phones” and NOT “wifi” phones *

You cannot walk into a Starbuck’s or any wifi Hotspot brick-and-mortar building to connect to the internet with your Tracfone.

You can only connect* to the Internet through Tracfone’s cellular network and Tracfone’s built-in firmware Browser and not “wifi” per se.

Another way to think of accessing the Internet with a Tracfone could be compared to it as having a built-in-hardwired-analog-modem rather than “over-the-air wifi” as we have come to know wifi connections.

You will also use up your minutes very quickly. So, if you must use Tracfone’s Browser, it’s best to know what your searching for beforehand and quickly. I recommend “Googling” instead.

In fact you would be saving money, as well as minutes, by NOT accessing the internet with a Tracfone! Hence, the purpose of having the combo as described here in this posting!

You can read more information on how you can “Google” with your Tracfone, or any cell-phone, here at my Blog site, Read my posting under, “Tracfone + Google”.

I am no way knocking Tracfone’s Internet connection ability. I did not buy a Tracfone for this purpose.

Once again the idea behind purchasing a Tracfone is cost savings. To send and receive calls as well as Text messages, period.

2. Can you get a Tracfone plan for the 4th generation iPod Touch? -
Answer: No.
It is a wifi device and does not use cellular networks.

Steve Jobs described the iPod Touch as an iPhone without the phone.

What you CAN do -

If you’re in need of a constant data connection for the iPod Touch you will want to invest in a Mifi device.

Basically it’s a Hotspot device, in fact, your own personal Hotspot on-the-go! With a Mifi device you can share your connection with others (up to five) and you can data roam in more than 200 countries.

These Mifi devices are available through AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. I was offered one for free at Verizon, which had an inexpensive 2 year data plan attached with it, but gracefully declined preferring to use the free Hotspots provided by Starbucks, book stores, etc.. Your offer may vary.

3. Can you “Tether” an iPod Touch with your Tracfone?
Answer – No.

To describe Tethering would be – sharing the Internet connection of an Internet-capable mobile phone with other devices.

Tracfone does not meet the qualifications.

* Read Tracfone’s advertising copy as far as “connecting” to the Internet with “tongue-in-cheek”. There’s an old adage about choosing your words carefully. I think the word “access” would be a better word rather than “connect”.

It was bound to happen. It was barreling toward you faster than a Chicago Metra train at rush hour.

You suddenly find yourself on a collision course with, a…budget.

Ouch. That word itself…

No more Starbucks Venti, Hazelnut, Soy, Extra Foam, Latte.

Ah, Coffee poetry at its best. (sigh)

Yes! I'm a proud Tracfone User!

How you miss the ‘Starbucks speak’. Those intimidating adjectives used to describe that aromatic coffee that took you two weeks to memorize without embarrassingly stuttering through your order. And, God forbid, if you got those words out of order! Yes, there is a Starbucks protocol to your drink order. Cup Size. Syrups, Milk, Custom Modifiers, and finally… the Drink Name.

Now it’s simply, “Hi…a McCafe, please”. McCafe? hhmmmm… Is it coffee? Is it modern?

And, to add insult to injury, your plans to buy one of those uneconomical upscale 3G network smartphones just went out the window.

Can it get worst?

Stop it! Not so fast! Get a grip!

Why spend $40 – $90 on those monthly plans when a prepaid Tracfone can do a lot for you for around $9.99 a month.

There’s more to an economical prepaid Tracfone than just simply sending and receiving phone calls.

With your prepaid Tracfone -
You CAN:
- send and receive text/sms/mms messages from anyone including AIM (AOL), YaHoo! Messenger, iChat (Mac) and others!
You CAN:
- query Google for sports scores, stock updates, your flight status, movie showtimes, local weather and more without the added expense of a Wi-Fi subscription plan!
You CAN:
- send AND receive email from anyone including Gmail and YaHoo! Mail.
You CAN:
- also…update your Twiitter page in real time so your ‘Followers’ know what’s happening!

Yes! prepaid Tracfone users, unite! Say it loud, I’m a proud prepaid Tracfone user!

So, go ahead, You CAN hold your head high in those social circle networks right along with those technocratic smartphone users.

Follow me.

First, all of this assumes that you have a Twitter account and have configured your cell phone number under your Twitter ACCOUNT > SETTINGS > MOBILE with DEVICE UPDATES: set to ON

Want to send a DIRECT MESSAGE to someone at Twitter?
(Refered to as a FOLLOWER)

You’ll use d + thefollowersusername + message
(ex) d petemoss Spring is just around the corner!
(make sure there’s a space after ‘d’ and ‘thefollowersusername’)

Follow me.

You can also have DIRECT MESSAGE notifications you receive from your FOLLOWERS sent to your email address and your Tracfone!

Follow me.

Yes, “Twacfone”. How Tweet it is!

NOTE: This example was being demonstrated with the Tracfone Bluetooth LG600G. However, my test, which are inconclusive, indicate that ANY Tracfone is capable of these examples.

*You may be interested in another related Post here if you use “Facebook”. It’s listed under the Tracfone Categories, Tracfone + Facebook

In my previous Blog, Tracfone Email Know-how, I showed you how to send an email using, of all things, a Prepaid Tracfone and now, today, we’re upping the ante on how to, drum roll please…query Google without the added expense of using WiFi.

Yes! Prepaid Tracfone users, unite! Say it loud, I’m a PrePaid Tracfone user!

	There’s no need to sheepishly hang your head when standing around those snub-nose Smartphone technocrats who seem to exude self importance just by peering at their Smartphones. Do not despair. To quote a song title by the English rock band, Argent. “Hold Your Head High!” All of this happens thanks to, Google SMS. Simply send a query via SMS (TXT MSG).
Yes! I’m a Proud Tracfone user!

Here’s how…
(NOTE: This example is being demonstrated with the Tracfone Bluetooth LG600G. However, my test, which are inconclusive, indicate that ANY Tracfone is capable of using Google SMS)

Other query examples, and there are many more, for Google SMS are…

Once again, you can find more information about this unknown feature for your Tracfone at Google SMS.

Have fun and Google away!

*Be sure to check out my other Tracfone related post listed here, Tracfone Email Know-How, Tracfone SIM Card Contacts, and “Twacfone”. How Tweet it is!

(NOTE: The following example(s) will work with any email client including, Gmail, YaHoo! Mail, Facebook Mail, etc.)

Just because I own an economical prepaid cell phone, such as the TracFone Bluetooth LG600G, doesn’t mean I don’t have some of the premium features, like email, that the big service providers offer such as AT&T, Sprint, Verizone and US Cellular.

The problem is, there’s no documentation to be found anywhere on how to send or receive email on TracFone’s web site, period.

Add to that, there’s also no documented email addresses for sending email messages to or from a Tracfone.

Simply put, Tracfone partners with different carriers to provide their services.

Anyway, I like to push the envelope on most gadgets I have and this was a challenge waiting to be solved.

Here’s how to send and receive email messages using TracFone.

Keep in mind the 160 character limit rule.

First, we’re going to start by setting everything up and send a test email to your TracFone from your computer’s email application which includes the use of Gmail and YaHoo! Mail and then, at the end, we’ll send an email from your TracFone.

Yes! I am a Proud Tracfone User!

TracFone is using in your area. In the Chicago area, where I’m located, it’s T-Mobile.

By the way, TracFone usually rides on the back of T-Mobile or Verizon.

Here’s a list of USA Carriers you can try and test.

Read down the 1st column under ‘Carrier’. My Service Provider (Carrier) for my TracFone is, T-Mobile.

2. – You want to know what your ‘Email to SMS Gateway’ is. (SMS messages converted to e-mail.) Knowing that My Service Provider (Carrier) is T-Mobile from the 1st column, if I read across, and look under the 3rd column, I can see I will use – yourcellphonenumber@tmomail.net.
(THIS is your TracFone email address!)
(ex) 13121234567@tmomail.net
Keep and relay this email address to Business associates and friends who would want to send you an email to your Tracfone if your away from the office or on the road.

3. – You need to know what your ‘Email Gateway Number’ is. Your TracFone uses this number to SEND email from your TracFone. You won’t be able to send an email message from your TracFone without it!

This took a lot of “Googling” to find this information. I read and researched a lot of Blogs, Forums, etc., that said to use 36245. (which spells email) in the ‘Email Gateway’ of your cell phone. AT&T users would normally use this number.

I’m sure this may work on other Service Providers but not on the TracFone.

I found my ‘Email Gateway’ number at the same USA Carriers listing web site mentioned above.

It’s listed in the 5th column under ‘SMS to Email Gateway Number’. Scroll down the 1st column to ‘T-Mobile USA’ (my working example) and go across to the 5th column under ‘SMS to Email Gateway Number’ and find the number ‘500‘.

This is the number you’ll want to copy to your TracFone ‘Message Setup Settings’.
- Click on ‘Message’. Then, Scroll, or ‘Arrow Down’, to ‘Message Setting’
- Click ‘OK’. Click on ‘Text Message’. Scroll, or ‘Arrow Down’, to ‘Email Gateway’
- Click ‘OK’. Type in your ‘Email Gateway’ number and then click ‘Set’. (In my example it would be the number 500.)
(ex) Message > Message Setting > Text Message > Email Gateway > 500 > Set

4. – To test this out, open your computer’s email application and send a test email to your TracFone. In this example, my TracFone cell phone number. (ex) 13121234567@tmomail.net.

So, it would be –
TO: 13121234567@tmomail.net
SUBJECT: A test from my computer to my TracFone
(Then your actual message here…)

REMEMBER to keep the email message to 160 characters. The Subject Heading is included in the 160 character count. So if you need to have a Subject Heading keep it short.

After you send it to your TracFone, send back a REPLY to your computer’s email.

When you receive your REPLY message from TracFone, on your computer, look at the FROM: field. It will show you who your Service Provider Carrier is in your area.
(ex) From: 13121234567@mmst5.tracfone.com

If everything worked let’s move on to the TracFone itself.

To send an email from your TracFone

Remember that ‘Email Gateway Number’ (which is the number 500)? This is the magical number that allows your TracFone to SEND an email message out from the phone. That’s why you need it.

1. – Start a New Text Message and type in the person’s email address followed by a space. (ex) johndoe@gmail.com .
(We’re not using a Subject Heading for this example)

It should look like this when finished -
johndoe@gmail.com I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(Make sure you INCLUDE a space after .com )

2. – To include a Subject Heading in your email enclose the Subject Heading with the / or # character.
(ex. 1) Send to a regular email client such as Outlook, Apple’s Mail, etc -
Here we use the / character to enclose the subject heading -
petemoss@yardwaste.com/This morning’s meeting/I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(ex. 2) Send to Gmail -
Here we use the / character to enclose the subject heading -
johndoe@gmail.com/This morning’s meeting/I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(ex. 3) Send to YaHoo! Mail -
Here we use the # character to enclose the subject heading -
janedoe@yahoo.com#This morning’s meeting#I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(ex. 4) Send to Facebook Mail -
Here we use the # character to enclose the subject heading -
janedoe@facebook.com#This morning’s meeting#I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(ex. 4) Send to a Business email client -
Here we use the # character to enclose the subject heading -
jane.doe@bankusa.com#This morning’s meeting#I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP
(In these four examples DO NOT use a space after .com)

3. – When finished click on SEND TO and type in the ‘SMS to Email Gateway Number’, in this example it’s the number, 500. Think of it as a short code ‘phone number’.

4. – Click on OPTIONS > SEND

And, hopefully, off it goes!

On the recipient’s computer it would look like the following.

From: 13121234567@mmst5.tracfone.com (This is your Tracfone number)
Subject: This morning’s meeting
Date: February 11, 2010 7:53:39 PM CST
To: johndoe@gmail.com
I’m running 15 minutes behind due to traffic. Please start the meeting without me. – JP

Hope this helps everyone!

Listed below are a few helpful tips.

TIP 1. – To save time by not retyping an email address over and over and trying to remember the persons email address, store your most frequently email addresses as “Text Message’s” under “/MESSAGES/TEMPLATES/TEXT TEMPLATES” (which are predefined messages) and save them for use anytime you need them.
(ex) In “Templates” you would choose one of the following – john.doe@bankusa.com., janedoe@yahoo.com, or john@gmail.com etc.

- Then click on “Edit” and type your email message following the email address of the person
(ex) john.doe@bankusal.com running 30 minutes late start without me – Mike
- click on “Save”
- click on “Options”
- click on “Send Via”
- click on “Text Message”
- click on “Send To”
- click on “Contacts”
- choose “Send Email” from your Contacts List (remember we saved the Email Gateway number 500 as this New Contact)
- click on “Options”
- click “Send”

TIP 2. – In case you forget your Gateway number, create a NEW CONTACT (I use the name SEND EMAIL so I know what it’s for) with the ‘short code’ phone number 500 and add it to your CONTACTS LIST. (phonebook)

NOTE:
You can not check the status of your email account such as your Inbox or messages received with a Tracfone. You can only SEND and RECEIVE email messages.

1. – Enter the Calling Card 800 number (ex) 18001234567 followed by the PAUSE key-character. in my case I use the COMMA key ” , ” for my HP 2500 All-In-One Printer/FAX/Copier. Your PAUSE key-characters may be different, dependent on your particular FAX machine, but are usually the universal ” # ” (pound key) or ” * “ (star key).

This PAUSE key-character, which represents about a one-second pause, is used to represent how long it takes for any voice message(s) that occur’s such as “…please enter your AT&T Prepaid Phone card number”. So, I estimated about 3 seconds, thus 3 COMMA’S ” , , , “.
(ex) 18001234567,,,

2. – After the voice message is finished the modem then moves on to dial the next 
set of numbers, your PrePaid Calling Card Number ID. I have 12 numbers to enter.
(ex) 123456789012

So far everything should look like this – 18001234567,,,123456789012

3. – After the modem finishes dialing these set of numbers another voice message announces, ( “…you can dial now” ). Once again I estimated another 3 seconds for the modem to pause during this message. Add another 3 commas after the PrePaid Calling Card Number ID.
(ex) 18001234567,,,123456789012,,,

4. – Last, enter the FAX phone number you’re sending the FAX to, such as 1 + area code + FAX phone number.
(ex) 13121234567

The final sequence should now looks like this…
18001234567,,,123456789012,,,13121234567OR
 18001234567###123456789012###13121234567OR
18001234567***123456789012***13121234567

5. – In my case all I need to do now is hit the FAX button to send. Your final sequence may be to hit a SEND button.

Excuse me. There’s a Fax coming in!

This ‘How to’ Post solves four problems -
1. – How to send a FAX using the Mac Internal Modem
2. – How to FAX outside your area code with no long
distance service available
3. – How to FAX using a PrePaid Calling Card
4. – How to make use of the Pause key and it’s function when Faxing

I, unfortunately, had to cut back my landline phone service and drop long distance calling outside my area code. No big deal. No complaints. Times are tough for some of us.

On the bright side, I was one of the lucky ones, so far, to get an invitation to use Google Voice and I have my cell phone. Take that AT&T. Move back one space. Move forward one space.

My wish list for Google Voice is, provide a way to send FAXes.

So, you may want to think before you drop your landline or long distance service because what I suddenly discovered is, how can I send a FAX outside my area code?

Add another variable to the above problem. My HP 2500 All-In-One FAX/Printer/Copier was also malfunctioning.

There’s an adage that says, “When it rains, it pours”. [sigh] What to do. What to do.

After quietly staring at my computer desk I noticed an old Supra56i modem, literally collecting dust for who knows how long, that I used occasionally with my old Apple G3.

And then it hit me! There’s an Internal 56K Modem (v.90) inside my PowerBook G4 that I never have bothered to use or explore.

Here’s the work-around –

1. – Go to your SYTEM PREFERENCES and choose PRINT & FAX

2. – Click on the FAXING tab and input the following…

4. – Open any application that you would print from or FAX, such as, Excel, Entourage, iCal, Microsoft Word, or the simpler TextEdit application.

5. – Type your FAX message or prepare your document to print or FAX.

6. – When finished choose FILE > PRINT > PDF > FAX PDF

7. – In the pop-up window at the TO: box here’s where the magic begins:
Enter the Calling Card 800 number (ex) 18001234567 followed by the PAUSE key-character,
in my case I use the COMMA ” , ” (other PAUSE key-characters are the ” # ” or ” * “).

This PAUSE key-character, which represents about a one-second pause, is used to represent how long it takes for any voice message(s) that occur’s such as “…please enter your AT&T Prepaid Phone card number”. So, I estimated about 3 seconds, thus 3 COMMA’S ” , , , “.

8. – After the voice message is finished the modem then moves on to dial the next
set of numbers, your PrePaid Card Number ID. I have 12 numbers to enter.
(ex) 13121234567890

So far everything should look like this- 18001234567,,,123456789012

9. – After the modem dials these set of numbers another voice message announces, ( “…you can dial now” ). Once again I estimated another 3 seconds for the modem to pause during this message. Add another 3 commas after the PrePaid Phone Card Number ID.
(ex) 18001234567,,,123456789012,,,

10. – Last, enter the phone number such as 1 + area code + phone number.
(ex) 13121234567

The final sequence should now looks like this…

18001234567,,,123456789012,,,13121234567 OR
18001234567###123456789012###13121234567 OR
18001234567***123456789012***13121234567

11. – At the MODEM: box choose INTERNAL MODEM

12. – At the PRESETS: box you can use STANDARD

13. – FAX COVER PAGE is the default and you can check the box for USE COVER PAGE if needed.

14. – Finally, click on FAX!

ADDENDUM: There is no “app” per se that is included with the Internal Modem to view a FAX Log. However, thanks to Apple’s CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) you can! For the non-Techies, don’t worry about this. It all happens in the background. As the Wizard of OZ said, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”.

CUPS is a printer management system that uses a Web interface for administering Printers/FAX Printers. It keeps tabs of when you choose PRINT > PDF > FAX PDF from TextEdit, Microsoftword and other applications when sending a PDF FAX.

Copy or type this URL into your Browser’s Address Field -
http://127.0.0.1:631/printers/Internal_Modem?which_jobs=completed
This will show you a list of only the received FAXes, but not sent FAXes.

Copy or type this URL into your Browser’s Address Field -
http://127.0.0.1:631/jobs?which_jobs=completed
This will show you a list of print and FAX jobs completed.

Copy or type this URL into your Browser’s Address Field -
http://localhost:631/
To view local Printers and FAX Printers on the local network.

Copy or type this URL into your Browser’s Address Field -
http://localhost:631/printers/Internal_Modem
To see what FAX Printer is in on your local network such as the Internal Modem.

More information about CUPS -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUPS
http://www.cups.org/documentation.php

* Everything was executed using a PowerBook G4 Laptop – Mac OS 10.4.11 – Mac Internal Modem – Landline phone connection