Posted on October 6, 2017
Tuesday Tip: How to text from your computer
There are times when it’s quite useful to send a text message from your computer to a cell phone. Maybe you’ve lost your own phone, you’re over your text limit for the month or you’re at some exotic island that has internet but no cell service.
One option is to use one of the many websites out there that offer this service. But these tend to require registration, ask you for your email address and sell your information. If you’re wondering how to text from your computer, try one of these three simple methods.
How to send a text message from your computer
1. Use your email
You can send a text message straight from your email account. All you need is the phone number of the recipient and the name of their mobile carrier. Don’t know the carrier? If you know the phone number, you can find the carrier at CarrierLookup.com.
Type out your text as you would a normal email. Then, in the address bar, put the phone number, followed by the carrier’s domain. For example, @vtext.com (Verizon) or @messaging.sprintpcs.com (Sprint).
So say you’re sending a text to a friend whose phone number is 123-456-7890 and carrier is Verizon. In the address bar, you’d put 123-456-7890@vtext.com. T-Mobile numbers require a 1 in front of the phone number.
When your friend replies, the message will arrive in your email inbox. You can send the same text to multiple people by adding multiple recipients in the address bar.
We’ve compiled a list of carrier domains below. Take note: there are different domains for regular texts (SMS) and texts that include photos (MMS). Also take note: If you send a text longer than 160 characters, it will arrive as an MMS, and you’ll need to use the MMS domain to send it, not the SMS domain.
2. Use MightyText or Pushbullet
These are free apps that let you send and receive Android SMS and MMS text messages from your computer screen. They’re intended less for the occasional PC-to-phone texter and more for the serious multitasker who has no time for distractions.
With these apps, whenever you get a text or notification, it appears in a window on your desktop at the same time as your phone. So if you’re working at your computer and your phone dings, you can read the text and reply without even looking up. There are many other features as well.
You can download the apps from Google Play or from their respective websites. Here’s MightyText. And here’s Pushbullet.
Free versions of the apps come with a cap on the number of texts you can send per month. Pro versions of the apps cost around $5 a month.
3. Use iMessage (iOS and MacOS)
Later versions of Apple’s operating system include an option designed for forwarding SMS messages directly to your Mac or other iOS device. Once you’ve set it up, you can also send text messages from your Apple computer to any phone number using the Messages app on your desktop – without ever picking up your phone.
First, go to the main Settings menu and tap Messages. Then toggle on iMessage and make sure you’re logged into the same iCloud account as all other devices using Messages. Make sure all your devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Then tap Text Message Forwarding and toggle the switch directly to the right of the Apple device to which you want to send SMS messages. Enter the 6-digit confirmation code displayed on the device. This will confirm that you want to send and receive messages on your Mac and confirm that you own the machine.
The message limit is 160 characters. You can send messages to other iOS and MacOS users for free, as long as they’re also using Messages. We hope you found this guide helpful to learn how to text from your computer.
Posted on October 6, 2017
Update: CREDO fights for your privacy in the face of government intrusion
Protecting privacy is a core value for CREDO and a hallmark of our promise to our customers. We value your privacy, and we will fight to defend it.
Last year, after we successfully fought a federal government gag order, we were able to let you know about CREDO’s involvement in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of National Security Letters (NSLs). NSLs are tools the federal government can use to secretly demand information about our customers. The lawsuit involves one NSL we received from the FBI in 2011 and two NSLs we received in 2013. When we received the NSLs, the government prevented us from notifying our customers or the public of the letters’ existence. In fact, even after we won the right to talk about the 2013 NSLs and our participation in the case, we still weren’t allowed to disclose that CREDO had received the 2011 NSL until earlier this year.
In 2013, when our participation in the case was still secret, we received a groundbreaking decision in the district court for the Northern District of California declaring that NSLs and their gag orders violated the First Amendment. But this July, after many procedural twists and turns in our case, as well as a congressional amendment to NSL law, the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco upheld the revised version of the NSL statute against our First Amendment challenge.
So, earlier this month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who is representing CREDO and our co-challenger, Cloudflare, in this lawsuit, petitioned to have the larger en banc Ninth Circuit rehear the case.
According to EFF, the circuit court ruling was flawed and should be reconsidered:
The court ruled that the FBI is entitled to significant deference in its decision to issue NSLs and gag electronic service providers like our clients from telling anyone about these requests for customer records.
Notably, the court’s opinion made little effort to fit the NSL statute into the body of First Amendment law regarding prior restraints—government gag orders that prevent speech in advance. As our petition explains, the decision “departs from previously undisputed Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent on a doctrine of fundamental constitutional importance: the First Amendment’s near-total prohibition on prior restraints.”
You can read more about the lawsuit on EFF’s website.
Posted on October 4, 2017
As CREDO fights for civil rights, AT&T stands with Trump’s bigotry
Recently, in response to Donald Trump’s vile and racist comments about professional athletes, hundreds of National Football League (NFL) players kneeled and linked arms during the national anthem in a tremendous show of unity with their fellow players who are protesting inequality and police violence against people of color. We at CREDO roundly praised these players’ continued demonstrations for civil rights.
When we found out that AT&T, the parent company of DirecTV, was reportedly offering refunds of its NFL Sunday Ticket package to right-wing customers who were offended by black and brown football players protesting inequality and exercising their first amendment rights, we were disgusted.
But we weren’t surprised.
AT&T has a long history of funding Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda. AT&T was among one of the largest contributors to Trump’s inaugural committee slush fund, donating more than $2 million in cash and more than $80,000 in equipment and software.
The company has spent millions to lobby the Trump administration and Washington lawmakers and has donated heavily to Republicans to win favor for a dangerous mega-merger with Time Warner. More than 200,000 CREDO members have signed petitions to staunchly oppose this merger.
Now, AT&T is aligning itself with the racists and bigots fueling Trump’s hate by offering refunds to customers who presumably agree with Trump’s statements that any black NFL player who protests inequality during the anthem is a “son of a bitch” who should be fired.
Normally, NFL Sunday Ticket customers are not allowed to get their money back after canceling, yet AT&T is going out of its way, in a craven political business decision, to placate the most deplorable of its customer base. In fact, the only time we can recall AT&T offering customers a refund was when the Federal Trade Commission forced the company to rebate customers $88 million in illegal charges.
For more than 30 years, CREDO has been fighting for civil rights – through our activism, our progressive values, our business model and the causes we fund. Last year, we spoke up early in support of Colin Kaepernick, the first NFL player to sit out the national anthem to protest police violence, and urged our members to join us in a show of solidarity in the face of an ugly public backlash. And we’ve called on the NFL Players Association to speak out against NFL team owners who continue to blackball Colin Kaepernick because they disagree with his public and patriotic display of resistance.
So when we say we’re “the carrier with a conscience,” we’re not just paying lip service with a tag line, we actually walk the walk — and in this case, we #TakeAKnee.
Posted on October 2, 2017
5 Tips to Save Your Mobile Data
By Claire Rosenfeld
Most of us now use our smartphones to do stuff online: Check our email, read the news, or watch a video. And whenever we do, we’re using data—sometimes, a lot of it. How much? Here are a few common activities and the estimated amount of data each uses. Keep in mind that 1024 bytes = 1KB, 1024KB = 1MB and 1024MB = 1GB.
- Refreshing your Facebook feed: 50KB
- Sending 10–20 emails a day (no attachments): 20MB per month
- Streaming music or podcasts for two hours a day: 3.5GB per month
- Watching 60 minutes of standard-definition video a day: 8GB per month
Posted on October 2, 2017
Our September grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three amazing organizations. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund the fight to protect immigrant families, support campaigns to end racism and promote peace in the Middle East. Just last month, over 58,000 CREDO members voted to distribute our funds to America’s Voice, Color Of Change and J Street.
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our September grant recipients thank you.
America’s Voice
“On behalf of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, we thank CREDO members for enabling us to rally support with and for families facing deportation so that they may have a chance to be free and stay together in the country they call home.” To learn more, visit americasvoice.org.
Color Of Change
“We appreciate your continued support and partnership! CREDO members like you help Color Of Change empower our members to take action in the most crucial moments and on the most crucial issues that impact their lives and communities. Together, we help translate voices into power, and power into meaningful change.” To learn more, visit colorofchange.org.
Posted on October 1, 2017
Vote for these great causes in October
Each month, CREDO members help decide how we donate tens of thousands of dollars to three great nonprofit groups fighting for our progressive values. This month, you can help fund organizations fighting the climate crisis, for civil rights for disabled people and for global humanitarian aid by voting for 350.org, ADAPT and Mercy Corps. Learn more about each of these causes, and then cast your vote for one, two or all three by October 31.
350.org
350.org uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, take money out of the companies that are heating up the planet and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all.
While Trump and his climate-denying administration refuse to take action to slow the climate crisis, it’s more important than ever to find new and creative ways to stop fossil fuels from burning our planet. Support from CREDO will help 350.org keep fossil fuels in the ground by halting or delaying new fossil fuel infrastructure projects through resistance and legislative tactics, weaken the power of the fossil fuel industry through divestment campaigns and by removing access to financing, keep Trump from dismantling wins from the Obama administration and much more.
Posted on September 29, 2017
CREDO stands up to protect our precious public lands
Republicans’ longtime plan to hand over national parks, monuments and other public lands to developers and the fossil fuel industry has a very good friend in Donald Trump.
During his campaign, Trump made every indication he would be a close ally of polluters and the fossil fuel industry and no friend of public lands, saying that he was “very much into fracking and drilling” and would attempt to revive the coal industry and open up federal lands to drilling. In 2014, Trump even praised right-wing anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy, best known for an armed standoff with federal and state officials over the use of public land.
And since Trump began occupying the White House, he hasn’t let his friends and donors in the fossil fuel industry down. Trump and his administration have been working to dismantle decades of conservation and environmental progress by appointing anti-environmentalists and zealous climate deniers to head up critical posts, speeding up the permit approval process to allow polluters to drill on public lands, and signing executive orders to put two decades of public lands designations – including iconic national monuments – in jeopardy.
CREDO has been a long-time supporter of public lands, and we have a history of fighting to protect them. During the Obama administration, we called on Pres. Obama to designate Bears Ears and Gold Butte as national monuments and pressured Congress not to block the designation of the Katahdin Woods and Water monument.
All three were major victories, but now these monuments, along with other important and fragile public lands, are under serious threat . In fact, the Washington Post recently reported that Ryan Zinke, Trump’s climate-denying interior secretary, will recommend that a number of national monuments designated by President Obama be shrunk and to allow drilling, mining or timber harvesting.
But we’re not backing down from this fight.
We’re organizing with our environmental allies nationwide to stop the Trump administration’s reckless giveaway to the fossil fuel industry. More than 125,000 CREDO members submitted public comments to the Department of the Interior urging the Trump administration to protect our national monuments. Just last week, CREDO launched a petition demanding Congress block the sale of public lands to developers, including in Utah’s Red Cliffs Conservation Area. You can sign that petition here.
Sept. 30 is National Public Lands Day, a day established to celebrate America’s public lands, where admission is free to all national parks and other public lands. We hope you will take advantage of this important day to enjoy our public lands – while remembering that it could only be a matter of time before right-wing politicians and corporate fossil fuel interests turn these protected areas into things of the past.
Posted on September 12, 2017
At CREDO, staying green is a core value
Here at CREDO, we live our progressive values every day, and one of our strongest values is doing business as sustainably as we can. That’s why we’ve implemented green practices throughout our company. Here are some of the ways we’re committed to staying green:
*We’re working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2 emissions. We offset the carbon emissions of the phones we sell through Carbonfund.org. This includes the carbon produced by the shipping of phones and the carbon produced by the electricity used to charge them throughout their lifespan.
*We empower grassroots environmental action. Our members’ activism has helped shut down coal-burning power plants, pressured organizations to divest from dirty fossil fuel companies, banned fracking in New York, stopped oil and gas pipelines from being built and protected public land from fossil fuel development. Learn more at CREDOaction.com.
Posted on September 12, 2017
How you can help those affected by Hurricane Irma
For the second time in just a few weeks, a massive and highly destructive hurricane — Hurricane Irma — hit the United States, causing untold damage, displacing millions, and killing dozens of people. Everyone here at CREDO has the victims of these disasters in their hearts and thoughts.
As always, CREDO Mobile and Long Distance have sought to protect its customers and have enacted a forgiveness policy during these recent disasters. For accounts in areas affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey, CREDO will not disconnect customers and will waive excess data and overage fees upon request.
Many people in Florida, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and surrounding areas are in desperate need of help. If you and your friends and family are looking for ways to help victims of Irma, here are some ways you can chip in:
- Volunteer Florida is the lead agency in Florida for volunteers and donations before, during, and after disasters. Volunteer Florida is mobilizing and deploying assistance for those responding to and recovering from Irma. You can sign up to volunteer or donate here.
- The New Florida Majority, a progressive organization in Florida working to increase the voting and political power of Florida’s low-income black and Latino communities, has helped to establish the Hurricane Irma Community Recovery Fund with their progressive allies in region. You can make a donation to this fund here.
- The Miami Workers Center is a leading progressive social change nonprofit organization that fights for social, racial, economic and gender justice in Miami who will be helping with the relief efforts for low-income communities, communities of color and LGBTQ communities during the aftermath of Irma. You can make a donation to help their important work here.
- Guakia Colectivo Agroecologico is a frontline environmental justice organization based in Puerto Rico. Donations to Guakia will go to supporting critical local relief efforts. You can make a donation by calling 787-414-9794 or emailing guakiapr@gmail.com.
- Make the Homeless Smile is on the ground in the Miami area providing food, supplies, and clothing for those impacted by Irma. You can contribute to their Make the Homeless Smile Irma Relief Fund here.
Posted on September 7, 2017
CREDO and OUR Walmart are standing up for workers’ rights
As the largest corporation in the world, Walmart has the resources to pay its all of its employees a living wage and give them access to consistent, full-time hours. Instead, the company reportedly continues to exploit workers, pay its employees poverty wages and fight its workers’ right to organize at every turn.
But dedicated advocates fighting for workers’ rights are pushing back. This August, CREDO was honored to host Andrea Dehlendorf and Tyfani Faulkner of OUR Walmart to talk about the organization’s new app, WorkIt, which helps people working in hourly jobs get answers to questions about workplace policies and rights from trusted and trained peer advisors. They also discussed their work around multiracial organizing and women’s economic stability.
Since 2014, CREDO members have voted to donate more than $150,000 to OUR Walmart, and funding from CREDO helped build their new app, WorkIt. CREDO has been proud to stand with OUR Walmart and Walmart workers in their fight for $15 an hour and full-time, consistent schedules.
In 2016, CREDO teamed up with OUR Walmart to co-sponsor a mobile billboard truck outside its corporate headquarters in Arkansas during a shareholder meeting with a sign reading “Walmart’s CEO earned $9,323/hr last year. Walmart can afford $15/hour and full time.” We also delivered petitions with more than 125,000 signatures by CREDO members in a strong show of solidarity with courageous Walmart workers.
