Today I received an unsolicited commercial pre-recorded message call on my cell phone (from 1-800-219-7425, which apparently belongs to a vehicle warranty telemarketer). I was away from the phone at the time and the pre-recorded message was left on my voicemail (well, part of it was: the voice mail prompt caused the first part of the message to be lost; the voice mail started partway through the pre-recorded message). According to the FCC, if you don't already have a "business relationship" with a company, it is illegal for them to call your wireless phone. REGARDLESS of whether you've listed it on the "do not call" registry (that's intended for your home phone, not your wireless phone). In fact, they (the FCC) have a list of "wireless phone blocks" - that is, prefixes that are associated with wireless numbers, so there's no excuse for an autodialer to call your mobile number. And it's illegal.
Anyway, I did a little research, and found this page which has some additional info and a "link" to the FCC online complaint site (the "link" doesn't work - you have to copy & paste it, and it's an outdated address that is forwarded to the correct site, here). This FCC link is for complaints about unsolicited commercial stuff. You can put your complaint in there - not that you'll get anything back (minutes, time, etc.), but at least the FCC can start compiling info and eventually go after the offender. You can also call your mobile carrier depending on the type of complaint (e.g., sometimes I get "unsolicited commercial e-mail" in the form of text messages on my phone; now, for me, it's simply a nuisance, since I have unlimited text messaging with my plan, but for some it's a chargeable thing since you get charged for every text message).
Just thought I'd share this info in the interest of the public good. Feel free to leave comments or otherwise contact me if you have any questions or anything... not that I necessarily have the answers, but I'll do my best to help.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Nerf (-like) fun for everyone!
I think I may have found a new hobby (as mentioned in this post): Nerf rifling. More specifically, foam-dart rifling, as my current weapon is a Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Rifle. I recently ran across a fun little blog: CSMacLaren's Nerf Intelligence Files.
Seems there are lots of places about Nerf Rifling... this is just one, which happens to do comparisons of various brand foam-dart rifles. I'm currently looking into the Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Refill clip/shell/dart sets, as a mere 6 shots is insufficient for a four-man game of two-hits-you're-out foam-dart-rifle-tag. Now, if we each had three loaded clips... well, for those of you who can't do multiplication, that's 18 shots each (with 3 simple clip-swap reloads). Might have to pick up some of the 20-shot motorized tommy-gun type rifles or some of the other pistols (single-shot or multi-capacity with the rotating chamber loaders) for backups. The advantage of some of the other styles is the loading of bare darts (as opposed to the cool-yet-cumbersome shell-dart-clip loading mechanism of the Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Rifle).
This is good exercise; I'm not just playing games. Really.
Oh, one more idea I had: getting the "velcro-tipped" darts (like the ones from Nerf Tag) and having everyone dress in flannel from head to toe (i.e., we'd all be running around in our PJs) so the darts would stick. Then you'd know if you'd been tagged!
Seems there are lots of places about Nerf Rifling... this is just one, which happens to do comparisons of various brand foam-dart rifles. I'm currently looking into the Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Refill clip/shell/dart sets, as a mere 6 shots is insufficient for a four-man game of two-hits-you're-out foam-dart-rifle-tag. Now, if we each had three loaded clips... well, for those of you who can't do multiplication, that's 18 shots each (with 3 simple clip-swap reloads). Might have to pick up some of the 20-shot motorized tommy-gun type rifles or some of the other pistols (single-shot or multi-capacity with the rotating chamber loaders) for backups. The advantage of some of the other styles is the loading of bare darts (as opposed to the cool-yet-cumbersome shell-dart-clip loading mechanism of the Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Rifle).
This is good exercise; I'm not just playing games. Really.
Oh, one more idea I had: getting the "velcro-tipped" darts (like the ones from Nerf Tag) and having everyone dress in flannel from head to toe (i.e., we'd all be running around in our PJs) so the darts would stick. Then you'd know if you'd been tagged!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Waste of Time
This video is ... um ... repetitive? Waste of 3 minutes of your life where you could be doing something more interesting? Good for people who are obsessive-compulsive? Is there any subliminal advertising in the background vocals?
You decide:
You decide:
Don't try this at home part 2!
This one is a bit more serious than the other post with this title.
Apparently people are now (illegally) using the Google brand name in advertising "get rich quick or easy" scams (e.g., on Facebook). Check out this blog article about the "Google Money Tree" scam. If you have a Facebook account, beware the little ads to the right that talk about part time jobs at $90/hour, etc. They are scams that will offer a free kit, only paying shipping and handling, and do their best to hide the fact that there is a recurring charge (e.g., the "Google Money Tree" monthly fee is something like $72!) that will be billed to the credit/debit card you use to pay for the free shipping if you don't call them to cancel your "free trial."
They'll make it sound like something other than what it is (such as "filling out surveys") - apparently the kits are really more like the standard, "here's how to advertise on eBay or Google, here's how to find drop-ship companies for your business, etc." information kits.
I like my friends and readers... these guys like your money. Don't let them have it!
Apparently people are now (illegally) using the Google brand name in advertising "get rich quick or easy" scams (e.g., on Facebook). Check out this blog article about the "Google Money Tree" scam. If you have a Facebook account, beware the little ads to the right that talk about part time jobs at $90/hour, etc. They are scams that will offer a free kit, only paying shipping and handling, and do their best to hide the fact that there is a recurring charge (e.g., the "Google Money Tree" monthly fee is something like $72!) that will be billed to the credit/debit card you use to pay for the free shipping if you don't call them to cancel your "free trial."
They'll make it sound like something other than what it is (such as "filling out surveys") - apparently the kits are really more like the standard, "here's how to advertise on eBay or Google, here's how to find drop-ship companies for your business, etc." information kits.
I like my friends and readers... these guys like your money. Don't let them have it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)