OT and Personal

"Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)" wrote in
:

"Thad Floryan" wrote in message
om...

What I did back in 1998 is a bit more sophisticated using a $70 CID
device which interfaces to a computer. Long story short, the phone
never EVER
rings
at home if it's a telemarketer spammer who's immediately sent to
answering machine (and, of course, never leaves a message). Over
5,000+ such calls (since 1998) and I've never even aware they've
called (unless I peruse the computer records as I just did :-)

5,000? That's what, about 3 a day?

I guess I don't worry to much about telemarketers since we never got
nearly that many. Not even before the NYS Do Not Call list.

Wow.

It would actually be a bit low for Houston. Typically, I come home from
work and see at least two "UNAVAILABLE" IDs on the Caller ID log. And I
can count on at least two more before I go to bed. I never answer them, of
course. Caller ID is the second most important invention for keeping
Houston habitable, behind air conditioning.

It will be interesting to see the effect of the national "no-call" list
this autumn.

--
JRF

Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail,
check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and
think one step ahead of IBM.

Mike Speegle said:
One *great* trick I learned is to say "Wait, uh, can you excuse me,
there's someone at the door. Hold on." And set the phone down. IQ's
are then inversely proportional to the amount of time before the phone
starts squealing at you. I've gone 5 minutes on 2 occasions. tee hee

I learned how to read by reading MAD magazine. One of the first issues
I read had exactly this technique. The graphic showed a phone off the
hook and a kitchen blackboard listing the length of time before various
telemarketers (did that word exist back then?) would finally hang up.
--
Kevin Willoughby lid

We'd spend the remaining time trying to fix the engine.
-- Neil Armstrong

In news:Kevin Willoughby typed:
Mike Speegle said:
One *great* trick I learned is to say "Wait, uh, can you excuse
me, there's someone at the door. Hold on." And set the phone
down. IQ's are then inversely proportional to the amount of time
before the phone starts squealing at you. I've gone 5 minutes on 2
occasions. tee hee

I learned how to read by reading MAD magazine. One of the first issues
I read had exactly this technique. The graphic showed a phone off the
hook and a kitchen blackboard listing the length of time before
various telemarketers (did that word exist back then?) would finally
hang up.

Then that's probably where the guy I heard it from got it. Nice to
know that good ideas have staying power, regardless of the source. ;-)
--
Mike
__________________________________________________ ______
"Colorado Ski Country, USA" Come often, Ski hard,
Spend *lots* of money, Then leave as quickly as you can.

On 13 Jul 2003 01:08:32 GMT, "Jorge R. Frank"
wrote:

It will be interesting to see the effect of the national "no-call" list
this autumn.

....What *should* happen is that it should go automatically to the
extreme. Ergo, every phone number in the country is automatically on
the no-call list, and the only way a telemarketer can call a number is
if they opt-in. And since the odds of anyone doing that voluntarily is
about the same as the Maxsons leaving here on their own two feet,
telemarketing would be virtually extinct within two months of a
complete no-call list going into effect.

....Of course, one thing I've personally noted is that since the list
signup site went online, the number of telemarketer calls I've gotten
has quintupled. I think they're attempting to get in as many calls as
they can before they go out of business.

Personally, I all hope they go to Hell, don't pass "go", and don't
collect $200....


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

"Dave Kenworthy" wrote in message ...
"Scott Lowther" wrote in message
...

That, and just setting the phone down and walking away. Or even
better... let 'em go through their whole spiel, with you going "uh-huh"
for as long as possible... take up as much of their time as you can.

Best of all: try to sell THEM something. Ronco turnip twadlers, or some
such.


A friend of mine has a nice routine - the exchange would be along the lines
of:

"Yes, I'm very interested indeed in your product, but I've just got home
from work. What time do you work 'til tonight?"

"I'm here until 10pm Mr Smith"

"Fine - I'll give you time to get home, relax, grab something to eat...how
about I call you at about midnight...what's your home number?"

Dealing with telemarketers...Go he
http://www.bidstrup.com/phone.htm

Scroll down to this paragraph:

"One way to filter calls is to use a telephone answering machine to
answer the phone with a special recording..."

There is a link to the three-note tone you get when you dial a number
that is no longer in service. Record it onto your answering maching.
As soon as a telemarketer's dialer hears it, it will identify your
number as one that has been disconnected and remove it from the list.
There is a device that sells for some $70 that does the same thing
(Tele-Zapper?). Be sure to say something on your answering machine
immediately after the tone so that your friends will not think your
number's been changed.

Or you can do what I do (when I have time to waste). I keep the
fukkerz on the line as long as I can, asking stoopid questions about
their product/service until they get mad and ask if I'm just wasting
their time..."Why, yes! That's exactly what I'm doing," I tell them.
That will probably get your number taken off their list too.

"Doogie Hoosier" wrote in message
m...

Or you can do what I do (when I have time to waste). I keep the
fukkerz on the line as long as I can, asking stoopid questions about
their product/service until they get mad and ask if I'm just wasting
their time..."Why, yes! That's exactly what I'm doing," I tell them.
That will probably get your number taken off their list too.

I can't even imagine having that much empty time on my hands...

--
Terrell Miller


"We pay for love, but the hate comes free"
-Gordon Sumner

Giganews hosts/posts Bob Mosley's ongoing abuse for
Illuminati Online.

--
John Thomas Maxson, Retired Engineer (Aerospace)
Author, The Betrayal of Mission 51-L (www.mission51l.com)


OM om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org
wrote in message ...
On 13 Jul 2003 01:08:32 GMT,
"Jorge R. Frank" wrote:

It will be interesting to see the effect of the national "no-call" list
this autumn.

...What *should* happen is that it should go automatically to the
extreme. Ergo, every phone number in the country is automatically on
the no-call list, and the only way a telemarketer can call a number is
if they opt-in. And since the odds of anyone doing that voluntarily is
about the same as the Maxsons leaving here on their own two feet,
telemarketing would be virtually extinct within two months of a
complete no-call list going into effect.

...Of course, one thing I've personally noted is that since the list
signup site went online, the number of telemarketer calls I've gotten
has quintupled. I think they're attempting to get in as many calls as
they can before they go out of business.

Personally, I all hope they go to Hell, don't pass "go", and don't
collect $200....


OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

Doogie Hoosier said:
There is a device that sells for some $70 that does the same thing
(Tele-Zapper?).

Since Christmas, the price has dropped to half that. It works. It is
also built into some recent answering machines. Recording the beep on
the answering machine, however, cheaper still. Nice idea, whish I'd
thought of it.
--
Kevin Willoughby lid

We'd spend the remaining time trying to fix the engine.
-- Neil Armstrong

John, your son is in my prayers. I fervently hope that he and all of our
other men and women in the armed services around the world get the chance
to come home safe and sound, and enjoy a safer world.

--

It's not the pace of life I mind; | Doug Van Dorn
it's the sudden stop at the end... |

I was reading in the bathroom when I ran across an item written by
(Gene DiGennaro) on 13 Jul 2003 19:08:49
-0700, which said:

Hey guys and gals,
Here's something we can all agree on.

I wish! I've apparently (according to reports) drawn fire from one or
two assholes, but I expected to. That's one reason I made sure my
filters were good and tight. If I can't see them, they don't bother
me.

Let's all keep our hopes and
prayers up for a safe return for Beady's boy and for all our fighting
men and women. Let's not forget those of our allies too. My own two
boys( ages 6 and 9 ) made care packages at their summer camp last
week.

Hang in there man, we're all pulling for ya,

Thanks, to you and to all the others.

---------------
Beady's Corollary to Occam's Razor: "The likeliest explanation of any phenomenon is almost always the most boring."