"Destroy All Robopests"

Sentry Call Blocker

Let me start out by saying that I am one of those (perhaps dwindling few) who still retain an old-school "landline" phone. And God willing, I will do so for the rest of my life. I do not like cell phones. My old ears cannot tolerate the crappy audio and satellite delays that are characteristic of cell phones.

I have a clamshell cell (from Tracfone), but I rarely use it. It's basically for emergencies.

Of course, restricting myself to a landline means that i'll be bombarded with sales solicitations, "surveys", and out-and-out scams designed to extract personal info and/or money. On really bad days, my phone will ring 10 times and 9 of them will be crap calls. Mrs. Muse and I have had the same phone number for as long as we've been married (30+ years), so I'm sure it must be on quite a lot of lists by now.

We tried putting our number on that stupid "no call" list set up during the Bush administration, and I will admit the number of crap calls did go down to almost zero -- for about a year. And then the number of crap calls/month started to creep back up, and now it's worse than ever.

And oh, by the way:

Q: If I register my number, will ALL unwanted calls stop?

A: No, the Do Not Call Registry prohibits sales calls. You still may receive political calls, charitable calls, debt collection calls, informational calls, and telephone survey calls.

Note that political parties can still call you up and pester you for money all the damn day. So what our betters in Washington DC did was pass a law which they themselves are exempt from.

Also "informational" calls are exempt. So the robopests sometimes lead off their crap call with "Here is the information you requested on our lace wigs" when you know damned well you didn't ask anybody about lace wigs. It's just a figleaf they use to pretend to be legal.

Also, a "prior business relationship" entitles the robopests to harass you 24/7, so the scammers will try to get around this with out-and-out lies such as "Since you have previously stayed at one of our resorts, you'll eligible for this special deal on lace wigs..."

All of these exceptions and loopholes render the federal no-call list practically worthless, so eff 'em all. Besides, I'm a conservative, which means I do not like relying on government to solve a problem for me and keep it solved.

So I did a bit of research to see if there are any devices available that will help with this. It turns out that there are a number of call blocking devices on the market.

Most are based on the idea of a "blacklist" i.e. a database of numbers that the call blocker will automatically reject. One particular blocker comes with 5,000 pre-programmed crap numbers and the ability to add up to 1,500 more. But despite the high ratings this device has received, I was still a bit skeptical. Because when my phone gets crap calls, it's hardly ever the same number twice. So I'd have to answer the phone and hit the 'Block' button on each crap call I received, and I don't want to have to do this. 90% of the crap calls I get are from numbers we've never seen before, and never see again. The crap callers can spoof any number they want, and they generally do.

Then I found a call blocker, the Tel-Sentry 3.1, that the more I read about it, the more I liked it. The Sentry's design is based on a "whitelist", a database of known good numbers that you can add to. All other numbers get provisionally blocked. There's also a blacklist, but it's not all that important. Here is the programming logic:

With the Sentry installed, a call comes in, and your phone will ring once. If the number is on the Sentry's whitelist, it gets passed through and the phone continues to ring. That's how you know it's a call you want to answer.

If the number is on the Sentry's blacklist, it will be dropped after the first ring.

If the number is not on either list, the caller will hear the Sentry's answering voice message to eff off if it's a crap call, or press '0' and leave a message after the beep. If the '0' is pressed, the Sentry will ring its own distinctive ring. At that point, I can pick up and talk to whoever called. If not, the caller can leave a message on the Sentry which I can retrieve later. And whether I answer or no, the number will have already been added to the whitelist.

So I ordered it directly from the manufacturer's site, received a 10% discount, so I paid $71 total. It arrived about a week ago and installing it was a snap. You can install it in "series" between your phone and the wall jack, or you can set up a "parallel" connection using a 'Y' splitter, which is what I did. It needs 3 'AAA' batteries, which must be changed every six months or so.

As soon as I installed it, I manually entered a number of our friends and family phone numbers into the whitelist.

Is it fool-proof? Of course not. There's always the possibility of a false positive, i.e. a scammer ignoring the "eff off, scammers" message and pressing '0' to get through. But this hasn't happened yet. We think the chances of it happening are remote. Most of the crap calls are robopests that can't press '0', so the call gets dropped. If the crap call is a live crap call, the dialing is done by some automated system, and by the time the crap call is connected to a live person at a crap call center, it has already been dropped.

And any number that's a false positive can be deleted from the whitelist. If it's a repeat call from the same number, it's easy to transfer it to the blacklist.

Over time, the call routing gets more and more accurate. By adding numbers selectively to the Sentry's whitelist, you're in effect training it to distinguish between good and bad calls.

So far, it has worked great for us. When the phone rings, Mrs. Muse and I just sit there until we hear the second ring before we bestir ourselves to pick up.

Is Sentry the perfect solution for everybody? No, it won't work with cell phones and it's apparently problematic with VOIP products such as MagicJack. And a friend of ours is paid by her company to use her phone to take customer service calls, which means she receives calls from strange new numbers all of the time, so the Sentry is pretty much useless for her situation. But for those of us old pharts with landline phones, it has provided us with blessed relief from the robopests.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 05:31 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1st

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:25 PM (FZYNt)

2 Hiya !

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:25 PM (x33H9)

3 i like answering calls for surveys or sales pitches.

I let them go through their pitch and then ask them to repeat the whole thing again. After the 3rd time repeating it they usually hang up or get mad.

I once had one foreign guy ask me if i liked wasting his time. You called me buddy...

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:27 PM (FZYNt)

4 There is a federal NO Call List use it.

Also, now everyone knows what a Dirty Sanchez is.

Posted by: J. Sessions at March 22, 2018 05:27 PM (r9UYA)

5 I'm installing Sentry Barrel Blocker. Now I can leave as many open tags as I want. Bwahahahahaha

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:27 PM (EzdLW)

6 Trace-Buster-Buster-Buster!

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:28 PM (NWiLs)

7 th amendment

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:28 PM (EzdLW)

8 I've found you can do some nice damage with a referee's whistle right by the phone.

Posted by: Orson at March 22, 2018 05:28 PM (GvSho)

9 "Note that political parties can still call you up and pester you for
money all the damn day. So what our betters in Washington DC did was
pass a law which they themselves are exempt from."

Oh stop, thats just crazy talk...like thats gotta be illegal or something.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (o7tuA)

10 Just got rid of our landline last week.

Yes, spammers are bad, but my mother-in-law is worse.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (oVJmc)

11 Answering machine seems to block all the pest calls well enough.

Posted by: steevy at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (LiyEm)

12 LOL Voice over LTE has better sound fidelity than a landline fwiw

It sounds like the person is standing next to you while speaking.

Posted by: Defenestratus at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (yG6Vk)

13 This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: A Telemarketer at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (WTo7q)

14 Caller ID is one of the great inventions of our time. If somebody calls with a number and no name associated with it I'll never answer it.

Posted by: tu3031 at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (O5Q3r)

15 What we need is a device that sends hostile code back to the robocalling system and fucks it up.

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (NWiLs)

16 We signed up my Mom for the nomorobo service...has worked pretty well for her

Posted by: RedDish on the table...err tablet at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (Qk+aA)

17 I have a land line also. But I carry a cell flip phone when I drive for emergencies.

Posted by: wth at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (HgMAr)

18 Try Nomorobo. It's free for landlines. It blocks about 99 percent of crap calls. The crap calls will ring once, then get blocked. New ones will get thru. If so, report them on Nomorobo website. It has worked very well. And it's free.

Posted by: Bruce at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (8ikIW)

19 Trace-Buster-Buster-Buster!

Posted by: Insomniac

Are you starting a singing career ?

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (x33H9)

20 We have a land line and a rotary dial phone on the kitchen wall. It has high quality audio. There is a answering machine attached to our other land line phone so we never answer without using that as a filter.

Cells are for road trips, only.

Posted by: colfax mingo at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (vCsxo)

21 We have a landline 'cause we live in hurricane country (Houston). Our phone has a button to push to block numbers. A week after we bought it, our phone became remarkably quiet. Nice.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (MX7xj)

22 Somehow my land lines are a mess, no matter what phone is connected to the phone jack it id difficult to hear clearly yet if I take that phone and connect it to the incoming box its sounds fine. I may need to rerun the lines to see if its something interfering

Posted by: Skip at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (aC6Sd)

23 "Here is the information you requested on our lace wigs" when you know damned well you didn't ask anybody about lace wigs.

Who among us here has not asked about lace wigs?

Posted by: @JRandomMoron at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (ctuyM)

24 My call blocker is simple; I don't answer the phone.

Posted by: dantesed at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (88xKn)

25 why is this hard?

turn the ringer off.

leave your cell phone on.

should someone need to get you in an emergency have them call your cell phone.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (MTjB1)

26 My old ears cannot tolerate the crappy audio and satellite delays that are characteristic of cell phones.
-------------

I despise the damn things. I sometimes wonder if Millenials even realize that audio quality used to be superior. Not a little better, but hugely better.

The engineers at Bell and Western Electric busted their butts improving audio quality. Recall the Sprint ads, 'So quiet you can hear a pin drop'.

Half the the time now, what I hear is a combination of static and gargling.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (y3sT9)

27 Ditto on the landline and the barebones flip phone for emergencies only. I rarely get calls from people I want to talk to.

I only have a cell phone cuz my family insisted on it after some health scares and other issues in the family.

Posted by: SMOD Keeper at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (3v+B0)

28 11 Answering machine seems to block all the pest calls well enough.
Posted by: steevy at March 22, 2018 05:29 PM (LiyEm)

The robocallers sometimes will leave entertaining messages in my experience.

Posted by: Surfperch at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (WTo7q)

29 What we need is a device that sends hostile code back to the robocalling system and fucks it up.

Posted by: Insomniac

Or an MX missile.

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (x33H9)

30 I like to fuck with them, ask lots of questions the sign up for the service as Michael Hunt.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (/mFQ3)

31 18
Try Nomorobo. It's free for landlines. It blocks about 99 percent of
crap calls. The crap calls will ring once, then get blocked. New ones
will get thru. If so, report them on Nomorobo website. It has worked
very well. And it's free.

Posted by: Bruce at March 22, 2018 05:30 PM (8ikIW)

Hey!

Posted by: Russian robobot at March 22, 2018 05:32 PM (o7tuA)

32
I have 1 rule -- never answer the phone if it's not a number I recognize. I later punch the number into the computer and find out if it's legit, or scammer. If scammer, it goes to blocked.

Real people leave messages, scammers never do.

Posted by: Forgot My Nic at March 22, 2018 05:32 PM (LOgQ4)

33 I use VOIP and the number of junk calls dropped to zero after I started using it. A few have crept in but I can quickly blacklist them through the interface I use for the service.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 22, 2018 05:32 PM (4ErVI)

34 29 What we need is a device that sends hostile code back to the robocalling system and fucks it up.

Posted by: Insomniac

Or an MX missile.
Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (x33H9)

Sure, that works too. Or a Reaper drone that locates the source of the call and send a Hellfire into it.

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (NWiLs)

35 Just answer the phone and there won't be any... trouble.

Posted by: RoboCaller at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (djCea)

36 Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (MTjB1)

Is the Cannonball Run idea still floating around, or has it died the sane fiery death as my love life?

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (TI1a/)

37 The FTC maintains the National No Call List. Like most other Federal government agencies, it has been an abject failure. I wonder how much we spend on this bullshit every year.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (r9UYA)

38 No landline. Cell phone only.
If you ain't in my contacts list, leave a voicemail.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (TUUTu)

39 Real people leave messages, scammers never do.

Posted by: Forgot My Nic at March 22, 2018 05:32 PM (LOgQ4)

There's a nifty app called Hiya that I use for my cell. If a strange number calls, I put it in the app, it identifies the caller, and gives me the option to block it.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (MX7xj)

40 joe, ya nailed it towards the end of the previous thread.

Posted by: stupid conspiracy theorist who just wants someone to blame for his lack of success at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (ZCD4H)

41 Sure, that works too. Or a Reaper drone that locates the source of the call and send a Hellfire into it.

Posted by: Insomniac

That's even better

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (x33H9)

42 some spammer from "Marriott" keeps robo calling my cell.

Posted by: Boulder terlit hobo at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (dQsCC)

43 My answering machine message was recorded by my grandson when he was 4.
"LEAVE A MESSAGE" beep.
Discourages people I don't know. They are like: "What the...*click*

Posted by: wth at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (HgMAr)

44 34 29 What we need is a device that sends hostile code back to the robocalling system and fucks it up.

Posted by: Insomniac

Or an MX missile.
Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:31 PM (x33H9)

Sure, that works too. Or a Reaper drone that locates the source of the call and send a Hellfire into it.
Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man

A-10

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (FZYNt)

45 Geez, OM. When was the last time you talked on a cell phone? They have come a long way since the Motorola brick.

Posted by: Soona at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (Fs5vw)

46 Is the Cannonball Run idea still floating around, or has it died the sane fiery death as my love life?
Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March

well, as far as I am concerned it is. should you be listed in the "all in" column in my spreadsheet?

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (MTjB1)

47 >>>3 i like answering calls for surveys or sales pitches.

I let them go through their pitch and then ask them to repeat the whole thing again. After the 3rd time repeating it they usually hang up or get mad.

I once had one foreign guy ask me if i liked wasting his time. You called me buddy...
Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:27 PM (FZYNt)

What do you say, exactly? "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"?

Posted by: m at March 22, 2018 05:35 PM (U6XUk)

48 I have Hillary's cackle as my VM announcement.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 22, 2018 05:35 PM (r9UYA)

49 What a good idea! Thanks.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Live from the gulag! at March 22, 2018 05:36 PM (LISuA)

50 Yes on NoMoRobo.com. It works. Though like facebook, I figure I'm the product somehow.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:36 PM (QQ+il)

51 The FTC maintains the National No Call List. Like most other Federal government agencies, it has been an abject failure. I wonder how much we spend on this bullshit every year.

Posted by: Under Fire

They've done a better job than my state Do Not

Call List

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:36 PM (x33H9)

52 Mr. Number is an app for blocking suspected spam calls.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:37 PM (TUUTu)

53 If I don't recognize a number I don't answer the phone.

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:37 PM (NWiLs)

54 I once had one foreign guy ask me if i liked wasting his time. You called me buddy...
Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:27 PM (FZYNt)

What do you say, exactly? "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"?
Posted by: m

In Spanish.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:37 PM (TUUTu)

55
My old ears cannot tolerate the crappy audio and satellite delays that are characteristic of cell phones.

Cell "phone" is kind of a misnomer, when there's so many using the device for lots of things other than phone calls. I'm referring to smart phones, that is. They're used for taking selfies, texting, playing Candy Crush, music, and ~~collecting data about people's personal lives, preferences, spending, geolocation and selling the aggregated info to marketers~~ other services.

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:37 PM (EzdLW)

56 We use one of the callblockers with the big red BLOCK button from Amazon. It's great, but some dsl callers will still get through occasionally.

For our Android phones we use Mr number. Also great. I really like that you can tell it block everyone who isn't in your contacts.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:37 PM (ks6bw)

57 Bless you for posting this. I work a lot at home and am constantly irritated by such calls.

I have the competition CPR Callblocker v. 5000. It does reduces the hassles and is relatively easy to use but now the ip spoofers are using caller id indicating govt. calls or even spoofing real people.
I regrettably answered one of these calls on Saturday and immediately have received 4-5 spam calls a day this week.

I thwack them with the block and they call back under new numbers. It takes about 1-2 weeks to knock it down to 1-2 robocalls a day. Govt can and should resolve this by making spoofing caller id illegal and give telephone providers incentives to block out of country spam centers that do this sort of thing. They did it for business faxes in the day and they can do it for ordinary people.

Posted by: whig at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (acrHV)

58 Pfff! In my house we only use semaphore!

Posted by: More Curmudgeonly Than You! at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (2835Q)

59 Geez, OM. When was the last time you talked on a cell phone? They have come a long way since the Motorola brick.
Posted by: Soona

Bag phone bitchez!

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (TUUTu)

60 Sometimes, if it's a number I don't know and I'm not busy I will answer, but then say nothing. If no response after about 8 seconds, I know it's a machine.

Bye!

Posted by: Texican robocaller at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (CjE8v)

61
What do you say, exactly? "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"?
Posted by: m

you just have to play dumb.

last week someone called with a survey on a casino.

what's a casino? i asked,

it's where you go to gamble.

What's gambling?

Ok Goodbye was her response.

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (FZYNt)

62 A-10

Posted by: Rick in SK

I don't have a pilot's license

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (x33H9)

63 I only answer the phone if the call is within 10 miles of my home.

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (EzdLW)

64 Heh.

Corker will vote against Omnibus. We live in strange times.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (/mFQ3)

65 I think nomorobo is only available for certain carriers. I tried to get it and couldn't.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (tpDAe)

66 THEN WHO WAS PHONE?!

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (NWiLs)

67 One thing to remember cell phone onlys is in the hours after 9/11 cell phones became so jammed they didn't work. We had co-workers just a couple of miles into Jersey from NYC and we couldn't get through to them.

Posted by: Skip at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (aC6Sd)

68 The FTC maintains the National No Call List. Like most other Federal government agencies, it has been an abject failure. I wonder how much we spend on this bullshit every year

-

I think they made political calls exempt, too.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (ks6bw)

69 58
Pfff! In my house we only use semaphore!

Posted by: More Curmudgeonly Than You! at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (2835Q)

Smoke signals here, of course.

Posted by: Liz Warren at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (djCea)

70 Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (FZYNt)

That's very funny.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (tpDAe)

71 For our Android phones we use Mr number. Also great. I really like that you can tell it block everyone who isn't in your contacts.
Posted by: Moron Robbie

*fistbump

iPhone too.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (TUUTu)

72 I just screw with the people when they call. Like speaking with a thick Japanese accent when some unwanted towel head calls me, wanting to kelp me with my Medicare. I don't get nearly as many as I used to. Pretty sure I'm on a "do not fuck with" list. My favorite people were bill collectors calling me to collect a debt that my ex owed from 20 years ago. We've been divorced for 30 years. I can't believe people fall for this crap.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (VWsDy)

73 I only answer the phone if the call is within 10 miles of my home.

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (EzdLW)
..........

You have good ears and run fast!

Posted by: wth at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (HgMAr)

74 Pfff! In my house we only use semaphore!
Posted by: More Curmudgeonly Than You! at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM

Pffffft. In my teepee, only use smoke signals.

Posted by: Elizabeth H. Warren at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (ctuyM)

75 I have a land line in my home as well. Business purposes. So there's two of us.

Posted by: shibumi at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (9oJYp)

76 we all have cell phones and get spam

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (/ikqi)

77 think nomorobo is only available for certain carriers. I tried to get it and couldn't.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

I think you need a VoIP phone service

Posted by: Bruce at March 22, 2018 05:40 PM (8ikIW)

78 Corker will vote against Omnibus. We live in strange times.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:39 PM (/mFQ3)

Dick-Head must not have received his customary cut of the action.

I'm telling you ... when you start looking at Republicans and Democrats as Two Crime Families ... everything starts making an incredible amount of sense.

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (fiGNd)

79 i'm ready to go to two tin cans and twine.

now if i can just find a decent lineman.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (/ikqi)

80 No landline. Cell phone only.
If you ain't in my contacts list, leave a voicemail.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:33 PM (TUUTu)

Same here, except that I never check voicemail. They can leave me a text.

I had it worked out perfectly where my voicemail was filled up so people couldn't even try that, but then the pricks at Verizon decided that they were going to do me a favor and clear out my voice mail box for me. Douchebags.

But if I don't recognize a number I don't answer - I generally push "ignore".

I've had a rash of spam calls coming with the same exact prefix as mine, but pretty much every other number in that prefix. They came in bunches. Lots and lots of them. Constantly changing the number but keeping my prefix.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (8gDQu)

81 If I'm in a good mood I like to answer like a little kid, ask what a lot, and then pretend to start crying and screaming "daddy! Daddy! He told me to suck his" and then they always hang up.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (ks6bw)

82 For mobile: hiya app, available for iOS and Android. Free. Does not require provider network cooperation (I use Ting mobile on the Sprint network). When the phone rings, it checks the number against a crowdsourced database of numbers and tells you what it likely is on the incoming call screen (if people flag it as scam or spam or debt collector or whatever, you see that). You can selectively send classes of calls straight to VM or whatever. It also flags that "same NPA/NXX as my number" scam so 123-456-wxyz where the area and exchange matches yours is flagged unless it's in your contact list.

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (y87Qq)

83
145 Congressional Republicans voted for the Cronybus.

111 dems voted for it.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (r9UYA)

84 No, it won't work with cell phones"

Well, shit, and here I was getting excited about this.

I got rid of my landline about 4 years ago because the only time I used it was to call my cell when I couldn't find it.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (H80UQ)

85 Hmm.

I do wonder how many "land lines" aren't. As in they're VOIP instead of twisted pairs...

Many newish 'hoods aren't wired for "traditional" land lines.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (7LY+6)

86 now if i can just find a decent lineman.
Posted by: willow

call me

Posted by: The Wichita Lineman at March 22, 2018 05:42 PM (FZYNt)

87 Not sure what phones you all use but any phone 5 years or newer has sound as good or better than a land line.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:42 PM (/mFQ3)

88 I'm going back to landline. I hate the quality of cell phones.

The plots of most old movies wouldn't work if cell phones existed.

Posted by: x at March 22, 2018 05:42 PM (nFwvY)

89 we have way more phone numbers than anyone needs, not sure why. when you were able to port your number we always kept every number and would get new numbers when we moved to another city.

some people have every number we have in case of emergency.

have mentioned before, some relative stumbled on to our secret stash of numbers that my grandmother had. she copied them all down then made the mistake of giving us a ring on one of our "batphone" numbers. Slightly awkward conversation because my first question, asked out of surprise, was "how did you get this number?" Her answer was "your mom gave it to me." No she didn't

My mom was the one who puzzled out how the number was compromised. My grandmother kept her phone numbers on a big sheet in readers digest senior edition size print next to her phone. Our relative had been over right before she called and apparently swiped everyone's number.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:42 PM (MTjB1)

90 call me
Posted by: The Wichita Lineman"

He's dead, Jim.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (7LY+6)

91 now if i can just find a decent lineman.
Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM

I wish I could.

Posted by: zombie Glen Campbell at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (ctuyM)

92 I get more wrong numbers on my cell but do get spam calls but probably only 1 a month. Been getting some text messages lately

Posted by: Skip at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (aC6Sd)

93 I've had a rash of spam calls coming with the same exact prefix as mine, but pretty much every other number in that prefix. They came in bunches. Lots and lots of them. Constantly changing the number but keeping my prefix.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair

Mr. Number & Hiya! grab those.
Been getting a bunch of those.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (TUUTu)

94 I would like to know what the hell was the idea behind letting people spoof their phone numbers? What conceivable reason is there for allowing this?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (QQ+il)

95 Robbie lol, back in the day i would be at a store with a stalker type, i would tell my teen (funnay kid) to call out 'Oh daddy where have you been" to the guy following me .
(ok only used that twice) still what fun!

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (/ikqi)

96 Why even build that ability into the system?

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (QQ+il)

97 I just screw with the people when they call. Like speaking with a thick Japanese accent

-

I don't get them anymore but the "your computer has a virus" followed by instructions to go to a website were lots of fun. I'd press buttons on the microwave and eventually ask if it should be on defrost.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (ks6bw)

98 I never bothered setting up my voice mail. If I miss a call, I see that as a missed call. Or, my family will text me. If I don't recognize the number it is imply ignored.

Haven't had a land line on over a decade. Not even my parents have a land line.

Posted by: Pug Mahon in the Upside Down at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (xPJvm)

99 The plots of most old movies wouldn't work if cell phones existed."

Casablanca?

Snort.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 22, 2018 05:43 PM (7LY+6)

100 well, as far as I am concerned it is. should you be listed in the "all in" column in my spreadsheet?
Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:34 PM (MTjB1)

Yes.

One of these days I'll out myself to you.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 22, 2018 05:44 PM (TI1a/)

101
We switched over to a internet service, cheap it is, but still same phone number just because we want 911 calls if needed. This post is humorous because we never answer it for 99 out of 100 calls. I wonder if we messing up our kids sometimes by just ignoring calls.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at March 22, 2018 05:44 PM (r+sAi)

102 THEN WHO WAS PHONE?!

Posted by: Insomniac

NOPE ! He's the guy on first !

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:44 PM (x33H9)

103 102 THEN WHO WAS PHONE?!

Posted by: Insomniac

NOPE ! He's the guy on first !
Posted by: JT

3rd base!

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:44 PM (FZYNt)

104 you can't get land lines in lower manhattan anymore, not copper anyway. they were all flooded during the hurricane and verizon simply abandoned them in place.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (MTjB1)

105 I have Vonage as my "land line". Wife wants it in case cell service ever is lost. Sound quality is really good. Pretty cheap too $30 a month with free long distance to the us, canada and most of Europe.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (/mFQ3)

106 I too am devoted to a land line - don't know how much longer I can keep it up. One of the worst ones I've gotten as of late is a robo-call saying it's Apple, and they've detected a virus on one or more of my devices.

B.S.

To make matters far, far worse - the number says it's my actual Apple store! After about a half dozen calls a day - sometimes days in a row over the course of a few weeks, the calls stopped. Only to start up again using a different Apple store phone number! You'd think Apple would be all over this, but they seemed to have little interest and were "aware of the problem". Gee, thanks ya jerks! So they're cloning the phone number to deceive people into I would assume vital information. My ex would have easily fallen for such a thing.

I would have put this in as a blocked number, but I've actually had to have dealings with the Genius Bar at the nearby Apple store, so I might actually want a call coming in if say, my iPhone was in for repairs.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (RHEDC)

107 So I ordered it directly from the manufacturer's site, received a 10% discount, so I paid $71 total.

++++

Amazon has it for $60 + $5 shipping. It's weird that companies will charge you more if you get it directly from them. But, they cut in Amazon for some of the profits and the price goes down.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (pvjTE)

108 I got an Obamapho and all I get are calls from the Nation of Islam.

Posted by: wth at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (HgMAr)

109
now if i can just find a decent lineman.
Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM

The secret to Tom Brady's success

Posted by: Hands at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (EzdLW)

110 yankee, i'm surprised there aren't a million illegals tearing that wire out for free !

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (/ikqi)

111 I dropped my land line and have gone to cell phone only. I am getting spam calls now on my cell phone. If you give your phone number out to some businesses they cell your number to marketers for this crap.

Since I got out of the hospital the number of spam calls I get has gone up dramatically I am am thinking the hospital has sold my number to one of these outfits.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (mpXpK)

112 No landlines in the kim hause for several years now....I get spam calls on my cell every now and then. I dont answer unless I know the incoming #... If not I check voice mail every few days.

Posted by: USNtakim prfoundly deplorable! at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (0OmEj)

113 I've had a rash of spam calls coming with the same exact prefix as mine, but pretty much every other number in that prefix. They came in bunches. Lots and lots of them. Constantly changing the number but keeping my prefix.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (8gDQu)

I've been getting those too. I've also gotten a call or two from people who've received these calls ostensibly from my number.

I suspect it's a scheme to robo-search for active cell phone #'s that they can then turn around and spoof for their crap spam calls later.

Posted by: filbert at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (953wK)

114 I've had a rash of spam calls coming with the same exact prefix as mine, but pretty much every other number in that prefix. They came in bunches. Lots and lots of them. Constantly changing the number but keeping my prefix.
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (8gDQu)

For the curious, the scam for those is usually to buzz your number just long enough to trip the 'missed call' thing, then you call back to find out who called you; after all, they must be local. Then the spoofed number gets trunked to a premium (900-type) number offshore, and it's on your dime because you called it.

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (y87Qq)

115 Yes.

One of these days I'll out myself to you.
Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March

Didn't we email the other day?

Would you be more interested in something of a classic rally or just more of a balls to the wall NYC to LA race?

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (MTjB1)

116 Pffffft. In my teepee, only use smoke signals.

Posted by: Elizabeth H. Warren

So, if you light a fart, you're really mad ?

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (x33H9)

117 Seinfeld episodes wouldnt have worked in a cell phone world.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (/mFQ3)

118 yankee, i'm surprised there aren't a million illegals tearing that wire out for free !
Posted by: willow at March

lol. were I in college I would do it myself.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:47 PM (MTjB1)

119 i do the sneaky wife thing for my spouses spam calls, I call back as his mad at hell wife asking why the "woman" is calling his phone.

click.

tee hee.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:47 PM (/ikqi)

120 The reason I have a land line is that Verizon requires it for DSL hookup. Our betters in our town have been working on broadband procurement for 3 years. Nitwits all. And ATT is the only wireless that works here. They should put on the town limit signs "Welcome to the 18th century" I pay $25 for 3 months with a clamshell and always have at least $5 left.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 05:47 PM (VWsDy)

121

Would you check the directory and see if Amber in Las Vegas is listed? Asking for a friend...

Posted by: In Vino Veritits at March 22, 2018 05:48 PM (qul7b)

122 have Vonage as my "land line". Wife wants it in case cell service ever is lost. Sound quality is really good. Pretty cheap too $30 a month with free long distance to the us, canada and most of Europe.
Posted by: #neverskankles at March

pretty good chance that if cell service is lost your internet will go out also.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:48 PM (MTjB1)

123
I think its funny when they spoof your own number, as if you are calling your own phone from INSIDE YOUR HOUSE.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at March 22, 2018 05:48 PM (r+sAi)

124 I get a lot of these calls that spoof a local number. I've had my caller ID say it was the local hospital when it was one of those resort scams. I also had a guy call me and claim that I had called him trying to sell him something. I assume my phone number had been spoofed into the other call.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 22, 2018 05:48 PM (IqV8l)

125
90 call me
Posted by: The Wichita Lineman"

He's dead, Jim.

END OF LINE(man)

Posted by: MCP at March 22, 2018 05:49 PM (sGtp+)

126 Since I got out of the hospital the number of spam calls I get has gone up dramatically I am am thinking the hospital has sold my number to one of these outfits.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (mpXpK)

That would be highly illegal if they did.

Posted by: Insomniac - Nowhere Man at March 22, 2018 05:49 PM (NWiLs)

127 we used to split our mobile service between att and nextel because of nextel's ptt service. not much point any more because ptt is not a separate system just an app.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:49 PM (MTjB1)

128 I recently ported my landline to MagicJack. It works as well for $35 a year as the AT&T VOIP did for $35 a month.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:49 PM (QQ+il)

129 I got rid of my landline about 4 years ago because the only time I used it was to call my cell when I couldn't find it.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V at March 22, 2018 05:41 PM (H80UQ)

My home alarm and home business fax are linked to my landline as well, but to me, even without those, this is a reason to keep a landline! :-)

Posted by: Curmudgeon at March 22, 2018 05:50 PM (ujg0T)

130 So in summary, along with deleting the cache and re-booting the government from a backup Constitution, we need to destroy the entire phone system and start over, too.

Posted by: filbert at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (953wK)

131 we get a lot of car warranty calls,

as if we have a decent car still on a warranty.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (/ikqi)

132 Didn't we email the other day?

Would you be more interested in something of a classic rally or just more of a balls to the wall NYC to LA race?
Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 05:46 PM (MTjB1)

No, we did not.

Don't know what s classic rally is, so I only had the NY to LA kind in mind.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (TI1a/)

133 I do have to pay $20 a year for 911 service. I haven't figured out how to get around that.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (QQ+il)

134 oh and who can resist those caribbean cruises we won!

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (/ikqi)

135 122

Yep, I know. But it is the only option where I live, there is no copper service available.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (/mFQ3)

136 Would you check the directory and see if Amber in Las Vegas is listed? Asking for a friend...
Posted by: In Vino Veritits at March 22, 2018 05:48 PM

Her friend Jenny can give it to you: 702-867-5309

Posted by: Bob from NSA at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (ctuyM)

137 I just dont answer calls I don't recognize.

If I'm with friends, sometimes I'll fuck with them a bit. One time I cut a wrestling promo on a cold caller. Another time I said they had just interrupted my suicide attempt and tried to see if I could get them to talk me down.

Posted by: Broseidon Czar of the Brocean at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (0nxcW)

138 So my MagicJack really costs me $55 a year. Still better than AT&T.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (QQ+il)

139 >>>61
What do you say, exactly? "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"?
Posted by: m

you just have to play dumb.

last week someone called with a survey on a casino.

what's a casino? i asked,

it's where you go to gamble.

What's gambling?

Ok Goodbye was her response.
Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (FZYNt)

Cute.

Posted by: m at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (U6XUk)

140 One other thing to remember is that good and virtuous people of upstanding morals never get spam or scam calls, so if you're getting a lot of them, it's due to your own defects of character and moral failings.

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (y87Qq)

141 >>>60 Sometimes, if it's a number I don't know and I'm not busy I will answer, but then say nothing. If no response after about 8 seconds, I know it's a machine.

Bye!
Posted by: Texican robocaller at March 22, 2018 05:38 PM (CjE8v)

This is how I've answered the phone for years, now.

Posted by: m at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (U6XUk)

142 When they make a phone were you can actually reach through the line and slobberknock the dipshit on the other end, let me know. As long as it's under $10K, I'm in

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (VWsDy)

143 I'm getting a robocall lately saying I need to contact them regarding the tax fraud I've been hiding from the government. Weird.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 22, 2018 05:52 PM (TI1a/)

144 anyway i love cell service, less than a decade ago my spouse and i would call eachother on sprint land lines at at least 500 a mth. now it's 80

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (/ikqi)

145 If I'm with friends, sometimes I'll fuck with them a bit. One time I cut a wrestling promo on a cold caller. Another time I said they had just interrupted my suicide attempt and tried to see if I could get them to talk me down.
Posted by: Broseidon Czar of the Brocean at March 22, 2018 05:51 PM (0nxcW)

I've always wanted to go porn phone line on a spammer sometime.

"What are you wearing? Are you hard/wet yet?"

Posted by: filbert at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (953wK)

146 88 The plots of most old movies wouldn't work if cell phones existed.

It's fun to watch an episode of, say, Rockford Files and think about how short it would be if he had a smart phone in his pocket.

Posted by: Anachronda at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (v3pYe)

147 I recently was getting constant spoofed calls from the "US Federal Grant Agency" for the lady who had my number before me. No matter how often I told them it wasn't her number, they'd keep calling. 10 times a day, different numbers. Always heavy Indian accent and loud call center background.

I yelled and swore. No effect. But when I launched into a three minute racist tirade against India, with lots of "shithole" references, the calls immediately ceased.

Posted by: wooga at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (PnpIB)

148 Casablanca?

Snort.
Posted by: Anon a mouse

Rick would've swiped left

Posted by: x at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (nFwvY)

149 all time best was someone calling to offer me a deal on my long distance phone service. I told her I didn't have a phone.

she was silent. said "you don't have a phone?"

nope.

"then what are you talking to me on?"

what do you mean? I replied

aren't you talking to me on a phone?

You calling me a liar? I asked

she hung up

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (FZYNt)

150 One other thing to remember is that good and virtuous people of upstanding morals never get spam or scam calls, so if you're getting a lot of them, it's due to your own defects of character and moral failings.

Pish! I use my cell phone number on the porn sites yet the spammers call my landline.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (QQ+il)

151 So my MagicJack really costs me $55 a year. Still better than AT&T.

-

Do you still have to pay the taxes that gives The Poor internet service better than what most rural Americans pay $40 for?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (ks6bw)

152 hogmartin. er, well you're not telling me anything i don't already know.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:54 PM (/ikqi)

153 g'early evenin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at March 22, 2018 05:54 PM (KCxzN)

154 Why the hell would you want to talk to anyone on the phone anyway? Unless it's your birthday and they are telling you to expect a delivery from a pastry shop. But, even then, there is no reason to be using up our constantly hotter and hotter atmosphere by talking on a telephone. Just tell everyone to email you! Have them make an appointment if they can't resist wasting oxygen.

Posted by: goon at March 22, 2018 05:54 PM (EaQ6/)

155 I guess that could be on internet services, but I figured it was phones. Now I need to go check.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 05:54 PM (ks6bw)

156 You could beat someone to death with a Sam Spade era telephone handset.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 22, 2018 05:54 PM (IqV8l)

157 137 If I'm with friends, sometimes I'll fuck with them a bit.

Friend of mine would do that. Best one he did was when he said "I'm not interested in that, but I work for a headset manufacturer. Mind if I ask you a few questions?" and tied her up for half an hour chatting about her headset.

Posted by: Anachronda at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (sGtp+)

158 'Roller Boogie' coming on ThisTV.

Suck that, cable.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (oVJmc)

159 I got a call from somein in "HR" congratulating me on my new job and they just need some info aboit me before I can start.

I rhought wow that is pretty clever, and bound to find some people who are job hunting that will fall for it.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (/mFQ3)

160 I've had a rash of spam calls coming with the same exact prefix as
mine, but pretty much every other number in that prefix. They came in
bunches. Lots and lots of them. Constantly changing the number but
keeping my prefix.

Yes, that's just started for me too. Not just the prefix - but the old "classic" prefix, and always changing. I've almost answered it more than once assuming it was family or other - only to notice it's not a number I recognize. Of course, no message.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (RHEDC)

161 https://nomorobo.com

Posted by: DeploraBOT at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (y3aQB)

162 Since I got out of the hospital the number of spam calls I get has gone up dramatically I am am thinking the hospital has sold my number to one of these outfits.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at March 22, 2018 05:45 PM (mpXpK)

That would be highly illegal if they did.

Posted by: Insomniac

But how could you prove it ?

I'm in a similar situation right now.

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (x33H9)

163 Do you still have to pay the taxes that gives The Poor internet service better than what most rural Americans pay $40 for?

I don't see how since it's only $35 a year and just that part was like $2.50 a month on my AT&T service.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (QQ+il)

164 158 Linda Blair take her top off in that?

Posted by: steevy at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (LiyEm)

165 I've gotten this call several times now. I'll answer "Hello" and a woman says my name. I say "Yes?" She says "(laughing) It's harder to get hold of you than it is to get my husband to make dinner, hahaha!" So weird.

I immediately knew it was a robocall. Robots are notoriously bad at humor.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (MX7xj)

166 we have basic ooma
don't want to upgrade to the extras that include blacklists

however, strangely our old answering machine manages to screen out robo calls
somehow they never know to wait for the tone - they just start talking over the message and get cut off when the tone sounds

real callers will realize what the tone means and start over

it's great

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (hMwEB)

167 ok this is a real question I've wondered about.

have you ever been talking on the phone about a srs matter to a whomever and have your computer start spamming you with a similar deal?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (/ikqi)

168 120 The reason I have a land line is that Verizon requires it for DSL hookup. Our betters in our town have been working on broadband procurement for 3 years. Nitwits all. And ATT is the only wireless that works here. They should put on the town limit signs "Welcome to the 18th century" I pay $25 for 3 months with a clamshell and always have at least $5 left.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 05:47 PM (VWsDy)

++++

Get a dry loop for your DSL. You can cancel the landline. I had one with AT&T back when. They made me sign a one year contract and pay a $50 installation fee, but it let me get out of their phone service.

https://itstillworks.com/verizon-dry-loop-8699212.html

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (pvjTE)

169 Problem is that most of the crap calls I receive are almost always spoofed, and claims to be from a local number.

Posted by: buzzion at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (lKs2v)

170 My wife wants me to mess with them in old chinese lady voice, I prefer to answer as US District Attorney's Office, how may I help you?

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at March 22, 2018 05:57 PM (r+sAi)

171 So ... while I rant pissed-off about all things political ... I'm cleaning an old Solingen knife. 3" blade, wood handle, eagle's head for the pommel.

Started with a baking soda paste, steel wool - scrubbed and scrubbed. Then, went with a vinegar soak.

Here's the deal - as the residual baking soda reacts with the vinegar ... I think it's lifting corrosion off the blade.

Cool.

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 05:57 PM (fiGNd)

172 my iPhone sometimes identifies robocallers
I got a call today with the id of "Scam Likely"

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 05:57 PM (hMwEB)

173 we'll never get that Spanish American War paid for if everyone dumps their landline!

Posted by: x at March 22, 2018 05:58 PM (nFwvY)

174 Posted by: wooga at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (PnpIB)

LOL. I was sure getting lots of weird calls for different people for a while. The person on the other end convinced they had the right number and the right person. They'd called here before.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at March 22, 2018 05:58 PM (RHEDC)

175 My wife usually grabs the phone away from me when I start doing n X rated shtick. Asking a woman how wide her ass is will usually get you a disconnect.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 05:58 PM (VWsDy)

176 I worked a late 2nd shift my whole life and grew to despise telemarketers. I got caller ID as soon as it came out and had all calls go to an answering machine with the ringers turned off.

Now I have VOIP and the ringers are off and all calls go to a voicemail which is sent to my email account. My cell phone is an old Nokia-brick which is strictly for emergency use on the road or during power failures. It's turned off otherwise and kept charged.

About a year ago I got an Android "smart-phone" and decided it was not for me. It seemed to want to get into everything in my life and like so many things that programers do now it assumed it knew what I wanted better than I did and made it hard or impossible to do what I wanted it to do. I cancelled it removed the battery and expect to use the thing as a target at some plinking session this summer.

Posted by: geoffb at March 22, 2018 05:58 PM (zOpu5)

177 The "ring once" thing doesn't solve my problem. That's the problem with most cell whitelisters as well.

I should probably have an answering service. But I do need emergency calls to come through immediately.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (wB8Tg)

178 Of course, the all-time classic in fucking with telemarketers is the guy who pretended to be at a crime scene and made the cold caller believe he was now a material witness in a murder investigation.

Posted by: Broseidon Czar of the Brocean at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (0nxcW)

179 I rhought wow that is pretty clever, and bound to find some people who are job hunting that will fall for it.
Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 05:55 PM (/mFQ3)

As if job hunting weren't already a stupendous pain in the ass, a staggering number of legit recruiters actually do call the number on my résumé like I'm some kind of GD caveman instead of pretending they're a primate with the fancy thumbs and sending me an email... which means I have to cringe and actually answer unknown calls all the time now

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (y87Qq)

180 171 I think about my knife.The only friend I have left.The only friend that won't be dead by dawn.(Seinfeld reference)

Posted by: steevy at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (LiyEm)

181 One other thing to remember is that good and virtuous people of upstanding morals never get spam or scam calls, so if you're getting a lot of them, it's due to your own defects

Jeez, I must be Public Enemy # 1 then.

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (x33H9)

182 scogg so much like cleaning a car battery?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (/ikqi)

183 My default ringtone on my cell phone (I have no landline) is thirty seconds of silence. It will vibrate, so if I feel like looking at the phone I can, but everyone who I know has a ringtone already (geek alert: for some of them, it is their first name in Morse code).

Posted by: Stephen Price. Blair at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (SWB1A)

184 No, we did not.

Don't know what s classic rally is, so I only had the NY to LA kind in mind.
Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March

huh? have to quit drinking during the day.

well the classic rally is more timed stages that you have to hit as close to the predetermined correct time as possible.

the cannonball run rally in the movie was just a couple of big stages where you went as fast as possible from one to the other. lowest total time wins.

then there are the guys that just go as fast as possible from one end to the other whoever gets there first wins.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:00 PM (MTjB1)

185 It's fun to watch an episode of, say, Rockford Files and think about how short it would be if he had a smart phone in his pocket.
Posted by: Anachronda

"Pull over so I can use a pay phone!"

WTF?

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 06:00 PM (TUUTu)

186 I've gotten this call several times now. I'll answer "Hello" and a woman says my name. I say "Yes?" She says "(laughing) It's harder to get hold of you than it is to get my husband to make dinner, hahaha!" So weird

-

I got that one the other day. While I was making dinner. No sh*t.

I hated that it wasn't a real woman so we could discuss it.

I also thought it was weird to offend half the population while ostensibly begging for money for some woman-centric cancer fundraiser.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 06:00 PM (ks6bw)

187 I have fun messing with these creeps. Leading them in circles with my old man with bad hearing routine is fun. They get tired before I do.

It must be rock bottom to turn to crooked phone solicitation. A step down from running a fixed game as a carny.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at March 22, 2018 06:01 PM (e1mEI)

188 Linda Blair take her top off in that?

Not on broadcast.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at March 22, 2018 06:01 PM (oVJmc)

189 Robots are notoriously bad at humor.

I don't get it.

Posted by: Germans at March 22, 2018 06:01 PM (fuK7c)

190 ok, once I got included in a group text message about someone I never heard of being in the hospital

it took a bit of persistence to get unincluded from that

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 06:01 PM (hMwEB)

191 then there are the guys that just go as fast as possible from one end to the other whoever gets there first wins.
Posted by: yankeefifth

Gumball Rally FTW!

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (TUUTu)

192 scogg so much like cleaning a car battery?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:59 PM (/ikqi)

I think so.

It's really cool. This old steel has grain, texture, pores - not like anything I've seen new. It's malleable - it's not particularly pretty - but my first few pulls with a sharpening stone were cool. I think it'll hold a nasty edge.

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (fiGNd)

193 Suck THAT, broadcast!

Posted by: Cable at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (AzW6q)

194 Get a dry loop for your DSL. You can cancel the landline. I had one with AT&T back when. They made me sign a one year contract and pay a $50 installation fee, but it let me get out of their phone service.

https://itstillworks.com/verizon-dry-loop-8699212.html
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (pvjTE)

Ir rook into it, arigato, kampai

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (VWsDy)

195 have you ever been talking on the phone about a srs matter to a whomever and have your computer start spamming you with a similar deal?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (/ikqi)

Cellphones like to listen and jump off keywords, even when you're not on the phone.

My current phone is hard to root, so I haven't ripped that stuff out, I just leave it somewhere most of the time.

My next phone will be rooted and the spyware removed/replaced.

Most people really have no idea how little privacy they have.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (wB8Tg)

196
Gumball Rally FTW!
Posted by: rickb223 at March

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (MTjB1)

197 Our local telco plant here is so fucking aweful, Verizon sold it off to Frontier Telephone. Suckers they were.

Have not had wire line for 10 years.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (r9UYA)

198 Ooh, I like the crime scene one.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (ks6bw)

199
Clamshell Sal is an old timey stripper name

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (lKyWE)

200 scogg, when you are done a have a slew of kitchen knives that need work.

i find myself sawing the tomato's these days.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (/ikqi)

201 http://dailym.ai/2pvSmkK
------------
Clintons have 'at least a one-way open marriage', pollster says | Daily Mail Online

Posted by: DeploraBOT at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (y3aQB)

202 We haven't had a landline for 10 years. Don't miss it. Our cell phones are great, but maybe its just our ears tgat make the sound so good.

Posted by: Abby at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (4liHM)

203 I also thought it was weird to offend half the population while ostensibly begging for money for some woman-centric cancer fundraiser.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Bama's Boot Stomping on the Face of College Football Forever at March 22, 2018 06:00 PM (ks6bw)

It's bizarre, right? What wife begs her husband to make dinner? If you don't feel like cooking, ask him if he wants to, if not, order out. Problem solved.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (MX7xj)

204 Robots are harder to fuck with. Try this zinger - "001001111010101 0111100010101."

Mean, I know, but sometimes we can't pull punches.

Posted by: Broseidon Czar of the Brocean at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (0nxcW)

205 When they make a phone were you can actually reach through the line and slobberknock the dipshit on the other end, let me know. As long as it's under $10K, I'm in

Posted by: REDACTED

That would be great.

And they need to make a TV that you can reach in and SLAP the people in the commercials.

Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (x33H9)

206 well, the hard part about the rally would be getting the start and finish set in places that would be logistically convenient for everyone.

my thought would be to rent something fun and drop it off at the finish line and fly home.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (MTjB1)

207 The Clinton marriage is a sham? I had no idea.
- nobody

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (t3Jkl)

208 have you ever been talking on the phone about a srs matter to a whomever and have your computer start spamming you with a similar deal?

Yes. It's creepy.

I have no sense of privacy and have put very intimate things on the internet, but that creeps me out.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (fuK7c)

209 Clamshell Sal is an old timey stripper name
Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (lKyWE)

Tasty

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (VWsDy)

210 Most people really have no idea how little privacy they have.
Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at March 22, 2018 06:02 PM (wB8Tg)

i choked on my tea, I thought i was just paranoid and waiting for agreement.. And now i am believing it's really possible?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (/ikqi)

211 207 The Clinton marriage is a sham? I had no idea.
- nobody
Posted by: #neverskankles

next thing you are going to ask us to believe water is wet

Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (FZYNt)

212 I did nomorobo.com. Free, works pretty well. Need to do it with my cell phone.

Posted by: Dang at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (8b+oT)

213 NomoRobo for the win.

Very effective. As far as I can tell, it also blocks political spam, too. It's free, but if they hinted at taking tips, I'd gladly force them to take my money.

Posted by: AnonyBotymousDrivel at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (H8S+R)

214 I have calls forwarded to me from 2 businesses 24 hours a day. These businesses' numbers have existed for 30 years or so. I HAVE to answer every call, no matter the time of day or area code. I receive around 60 calls per day and about half are automated spam. Blocking numbers doesn't help since they use different ones each time, and I discovered that there's a limit to how many numbers you can block.

One thing that has helped a little: I set up a Google Voice line. The two businesses forward to that, and it forwards to me. Google Voice uses algorithms to automatically block unwanted calls. I've found that as the day goes on they become less frequent.

Oh and the Do-Not-Call list and the FTC reporting is completely useless.

I've resorted to pressing 1 and muting to waste the live peoples' time. Several entities have apparently blocked my number and will just disconnect when I enter their queue. The machines keep calling though.

Posted by: Johnny at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (kUotE)

215 have you ever been talking on the phone about a srs matter to a whomever and have your computer start spamming you with a similar deal?
Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (/ikqi)

Keep a little notepad in your pocket and make a tally mark every time it happens, and every time it doesn't happen. Like how you're always around to notice it when a street light burns out? Keep a running count of all the street lights that burn out when you're not around to notice too, then compare the lists.

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (y87Qq)

216 Bander, fgs, i was hoping you guys would just laugh at me. and i would think whew. straighten up.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (/ikqi)

217 Your hell begins when the tele-scammers spoof your phone number as the inbound caller id name and number.

Posted by: BluesFish at March 22, 2018 06:05 PM (kAsQ9)

218 I only have a landline with an answering machine and still have dial-up internet. I never answer the phone unless it rings with the code I give my customers.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 22, 2018 06:06 PM (ox1EL)

219 now Hogmartin has the answer i prefer, LOL

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:06 PM (/ikqi)

220 There is no such thing as sham marriages in politics

Posted by: Huma Wiener at March 22, 2018 06:06 PM (FZYNt)

221 I can impersonate a youngun so I've frequently used the "sorry, my parents aren't here" or the "I dunno, I'm just the babysitter" line on telemarketers .

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 06:06 PM (hMwEB)

222 Get a dry loop for your DSL. You can cancel the landline. I had one with AT&T back when. They made me sign a one year contract and pay a $50 installation fee, but it let me get out of their phone service.

https://itstillworks.com/verizon-dry-loop-8699212.html
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous a

Verizon ended dry loop 4 years ago. Also Verizon sold their land line service to Frontier 2 years ago.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 22, 2018 06:07 PM (KXVP7)

223 i find myself sawing the tomato's these days.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:03 PM (/ikqi)

I find the time spend sharpening knives, listening to stuff like Old Crow Medicine Show, and contemplating all those that piss me off ... soothing.

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 06:07 PM (fiGNd)

224 Here's the deal - as the residual baking soda reacts with the vinegar ... I think it's lifting corrosion off the blade.

Cool.
Posted by: ScoggDog

Just had an idea for a killer company name for a cleaning/polishing cloth embedded with cleaning compound: Rub One Out

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (TUUTu)

225 When I'd answer a telemarketer by mistake and they started I'd set the phone next to the radio and crank up the volume. It would usually happen in the afternoon so they'd get Limbaugh.

Posted by: geoffb at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (zOpu5)

226 I still have the answering machine message from a guy with an Indian accent who said his name was Steve Martin and he was calling from the Treasury Dept "intending your serious attention". I have a nearly identical message from "Dennis Quaid".

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (KxbBq)

227 or maybe i should give hogmartin the ole fisheye?

making tea and throwing some oil in it. and if it ends up a yeah.

hogmartin better watch out!

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (/ikqi)

228 I dont give a shit about a politician's marriage. He or she can fuck whomever they want. Problem is they always tend to fuck me the hardest.

Posted by: #neverskankles at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (t3Jkl)

229 197 Our local telco plant here is so fucking aweful, Verizon sold it off to Frontier Telephone

A) not sure whether typo or editorial comment.

B) IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE YOUR EAR'S NOT ON THE FRONT!!!

Posted by: Anachronda at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (sGtp+)

230 I can impersonate a youngun so I've frequently used the "sorry, my parents aren't here" or the "I dunno, I'm just the babysitter" line on telemarketers.

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 06:06 PM (hMwEB)

If someone I don't know asks for Mrs. Hobbitopoly (me) I'll just say "She's not here, can I take a message?" If it's a crap call, they don't leave one and just say they'll call back. Usually never do.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 06:09 PM (MX7xj)

231 Just had an idea for a killer company name for a cleaning/polishing cloth embedded with cleaning compound: Rub One Out

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (TUUTu)

Just begs for a cross-promotion with Sham-Wow.

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 06:09 PM (fiGNd)

232 And they need to make a TV that you can reach in and SLAP the people in the commercials.
Posted by: JT at March 22, 2018 06:04 PM (x33H9)

Have to get Shep and AC to do commercial for a gloryhole together. Sort of a gay PSA

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 06:10 PM (VWsDy)

233 There are several good makes out there - I have been using the Digitone Pro Series Call Blocker for about a year now, and it is one of the best pieces of tech I have ever bought! 59.95, but the programming capability made the extra price worth it to me.

I was about to get rid of my land line completely due to so many junk calls, but I use it for business as well as personal so I didn't want to have to do that. This was exactly what I needed.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 22, 2018 06:10 PM (k1TUh)

234 or maybe i should give hogmartin the ole fisheye?

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:08 PM (/ikqi)

o_0

I don't know what that is but I think I don't want one.

Posted by: hogmartin at March 22, 2018 06:11 PM (y87Qq)

235 I think my cell phone speaker is going, calls are not that clear to hear, but through my Bluetooth in my truck its fine, could be my hearing as well which I know is going downhill.

Posted by: Skip at March 22, 2018 06:11 PM (aC6Sd)

236 >>>149 all time best was someone calling to offer me a deal on my long distance phone service. I told her I didn't have a phone.

she was silent. said "you don't have a phone?"

nope.

"then what are you talking to me on?"

what do you mean? I replied

aren't you talking to me on a phone?

You calling me a liar? I asked

she hung up
Posted by: Rick in SK at March 22, 2018 05:53 PM (FZYNt)

Ha!

Posted by: m at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (U6XUk)

237 I still have a landline, and I leave my answering machine on all the time, even when I'm home. The phone is in the same room as my computer, so in the rare and unlikely event that someone I know calls me, I can pick up the phone when they start talking.

One thing that's interesting is that many of the junk calls terminate themselves when they hear my answering machine. If I get home from work and there are 5 calls on the machine, 3 or 4 of them are just "click".

Posted by: rickl at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (sdi6R)

238 you know, hanging around here makes me feel younger and younger.

Have severe fear that someone with polyester pants pants hiked up to their moobs is going to yell at me to get off his lawn and take my horseless carriage with me.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (MTjB1)

239 I just don't answer numbers I don't recognize. They'll leave a message if it's legit.

The rest can go hang.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, Abbot of St. Costello-on-the-Hurlingbone at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (AM1GF)

240
*robo dials skip*

Posted by: Google Hearing Aids at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (r+sAi)

241 Verizon ended dry loop 4 years ago. Also Verizon sold their land line service to Frontier 2 years ago.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 22, 2018 06:07 PM (KXVP7)

++++

So, I guess he doesn't have a landline with Verizon, he has it with Frontier? Seems odd that he doesn't know who he is sending money to every month.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (pvjTE)

242 The rest can go hang.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, Abbot of St. Costello-on-the-Hurlingbone at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (AM1GF)

Dude ... why won't you return my calls ?

Posted by: ScoggDog at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (fiGNd)

243 Verizon ended dry loop 4 years ago. Also Verizon sold their land line service to Frontier 2 years ago.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at March 22, 2018 06:07 PM (KXVP7)

Yeah, I called them and they told me no phone, no DSL. Since the choices are DSL or SAT hookup, no brainer. I'm sure they will get broadband here in about 25 years.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (VWsDy)

244

I have a Magic Jerk port on my laptop... a bit hard to clean, but man that is some sweet signal quality...

Posted by: In Vino Veritits at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (qul7b)

245 185 "Pull over so I can use a pay phone!"

There are two odd poles next to the entrance to the local grocery store. Rectangular, about 5'5" or so, round holds in odd places.

I puzzled and thought and eventually I realized that they are all that's left of the phone booths that used to be there.

Posted by: Anachronda at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (sGtp+)

246 worst part about having a landline is having to hold the ear piece while you yell into the wall mounted microphone.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (MTjB1)

247 If you get someone from India, ask him for a good curry recipe while he's on the line. That's always good for a laugh.

Posted by: josephistan at March 22, 2018 06:13 PM (ANIFC)

248 So, I guess he doesn't have a landline with Verizon, he has it with Frontier? Seems odd that he doesn't know who he is sending money to every month.
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at March 22, 2018 06:12 PM (pvjTE)

Anon has a point, I do pay Verizon every month for DSL and landline.

Posted by: REDACTED at March 22, 2018 06:14 PM (VWsDy)

249 sekrit nood

Posted by: votermom certified russian matryoshka bot at March 22, 2018 06:16 PM (hMwEB)

250 I love you, O'Muse. I maintain a landline too because I reside in hurricane country. My Panasonic phone blocks unwanted callers. Of course, most of the time I have the phone ringer turned off because I hate the phone.

Posted by: Locke Common at March 22, 2018 06:17 PM (VSJvY)

251 If you proclaim to love Capitalism, but you registered for the "Do Not Call" registry and bought this device that blocks capitalistic efforts, you're doing something wrong. Love them or hate them: salespeople make the world go-'round. Look no further than our White House for proof of that. Heck, the only reason you have a landline and are determined to keep it is because you were sold on the idea however many years it was back that you set it up. Cold-calling is in the bloodstream of Capitalism. I understand why libbies and leftardians buy this kind of crap: they love government impeding Capitalism. Just save us the post and vote Bernie next time.

Posted by: Lick Uh My Dong at March 22, 2018 06:17 PM (dXtf3)

252 I have no sense of privacy and have put very intimate things on the internet, but that creeps me out.

Posted by: Bandersnatch

That's okay, Dad. As long as you never tell people we're uncircumscribed.

Posted by: Your Kids at March 22, 2018 06:18 PM (LOgQ4)

253 The nice thing about living in BFE is that there will never be a telemarketer call originating from this area code. Block all other area codes, whitelist friends and relatives out of state, done.

Posted by: Neil deGrasse Tyson's rapey banana at March 22, 2018 06:19 PM (1L9V9)

254 worse than sales calls are the government mandated alerts that they jam through to everyone's phone.

Posted by: yankeefifth at March 22, 2018 06:19 PM (MTjB1)

255 worst part about having a landline is having to hold the ear piece while you yell into the wall mounted microphone.
Posted by: yankeefifth

That and having to ring up the operator and clear the party line.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 22, 2018 06:19 PM (TUUTu)

256 hogmartin similar to the evil eye but stinkier.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:19 PM (/ikqi)

257 I'm convinced that almost anyone could win the Presidency by promising to balance the Federal Budget on the backs of f*ckers who violate the do not call act.

Posted by: Hawkpilot at March 22, 2018 06:21 PM (fqHZs)

258 still reading the tea leaves .

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:21 PM (/ikqi)

259 Hawk, i'm thinking the "GOVT out of my bedroom" might actually work about now.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:22 PM (/ikqi)

260 WeaselWoman insists that we pay $40 per month for a land line that gets used maybe once per week. Other than that it rings all the time with nuisance calls and we ignore it. It's stupid and a waste of money and I hate it, but WW likes it for some unfathomable reason, so there it sits. I ignore all calls anyway because if I wanted to speak with someone, I'd be calling them.

Posted by: Weasel at March 22, 2018 06:22 PM (MVjcR)

261 OM, I like your approach about phones. We got rid of our landline a year ago. Just don't get enough non-BS calls to make it worth the expense. To my annoyance, even most of our older friends and family text us. Is it so hard to talk to someone? Or, God forbid, write a letter? There are times when a text messege is needed, emergencies or when they can't talk. That happens. But the non-verbal, non-writing trend is annoying.

An online friend recently used the phrase 'outlived my culture'. I know just how he feels.

Posted by: JTB at March 22, 2018 06:23 PM (V+03K)

262
Clintons have 'at least a one-way open marriage', pollster says | Daily Mail Online

Best part is the chart at the bottom:

'EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING HILLARY CLINTON HAS BLAMED FOR LOSING THE ELECTION - 42 AND COUNTING'

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at March 22, 2018 06:23 PM (oVJmc)

263
I've gotten this call several times now. I'll answer "Hello" and a woman says my name. I say "Yes?" She says "(laughing) It's harder to get hold of you than it is to get my husband to make dinner, hahaha!" So weird.

I immediately knew it was a robocall. Robots are notoriously bad at humor.
Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 22, 2018 05:56 PM (MX7xj)

*winces*

If you suspect that the call you answered is a scam, NEVER say "yes". One of the many scams is that they'll cut/paste your voice in agreeing to be billed for the long distance call that THEY just made to you. That's why they like to ask you yes/no questions, and they'll always try to maneuver you into uttering that word "yes".

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 22, 2018 06:24 PM (eXA4G)

264 goes back and reds bander again, ties his shoe laces together.

sorry i was wittling away at tomatoes while chiming in.

smack.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:26 PM (/ikqi)

265 fkn guys expecting dinner while pulling my pigtails.

pfft.

Posted by: willow at March 22, 2018 06:27 PM (/ikqi)

266 I'm cellular only now because the spammers made my landline unusable. Like most of the Horde, I don't answer numbers I don't recognize, and the Mr. Number app blocks the majority of the spamming population. Life is a lot better.

However...

I have this genius idea. See, spammers have ruined the telephone experience because robodialers are cheap -- I think the last time I looked, they can dial 1000 numbers for $10.00. There's almost no overhead in being a telemarketer. So, we create an overhead cost.

I want to create a subscriber telephone service. You buy service from me instead of from ATT or Sprint, and I give you a number. Your duty is to program your contact list. If someone on your contact list calls you, they're connected free of charge. If the caller isn't on your contact list, they need to deposit a dollar with a valid credit card or debit card.

If you pick up the call, or if you subsequently add the caller to your address book, the caller gets back $.75 of his dollar, and all his future calls to you are free, because he's now known to you.

Now the telemarketer has a problem - it's going to cost him something to try to sell you aluminum siding, or that weekend at his resort, or tell you that the IRS has an arrest warrant for you. One of two things will happen: either I'll drive the crank callers and telemarketers out of business, or I'll get very, very rich.

And then I can use the profits from that to do the same with emails.

Posted by: Qoheleth at March 22, 2018 06:27 PM (iIzG7)

267 http://dailym.ai/2pvSmkK
------------
Clintons have 'at least a one-way open marriage', pollster says | Daily Mail Online

Posted by: DeploraBOT
**********************

Thought it was an open and shut marriage.

Posted by: gNewt at March 22, 2018 06:27 PM (E3678)

268 In line with my comment at 261. If you took away their cell phones and handed them a typewriter or fountain pen, some stationery and a stamp most people wouldn't be able to communicate at all. And no more 120 decibel conversations in restaurants.

Posted by: JTB at March 22, 2018 06:30 PM (V+03K)

269 Our main number is also our business number so I have to answer everything. But If caller ID shows a toll-free number, I let the answering machine pick up and listen to the beginning of the call before deciding whether or not to pick it up and answer.

on our "personal" line, I ignore everything unless I recognize the number, including calls that I had identified from picking up earlier were political Polls and surveys. Too much trouble, I said. Then my wife reminded me that being part of a national survey usually meant you were one of a 1,000 or 1,500 people. And that Low Information Voters often made decisions based on what the polls were saying.

We get a political poll/survey call every 7-10 days. That seems like a lot to me, but maybe it's because they "know" we usually answer or maybe because they like our answers.

Posted by: Still John at March 22, 2018 06:32 PM (dLn0a)

270 "Clintons have 'at least a one-way open marriage', pollster says | Daily Mail Online"

The Clintons don't have a marriage at all, at least, not the way normal people understand marriage. Their relationship is strictly business. They're a limited-liability partnership, with a really ugly joint venture.

Posted by: Qoheleth at March 22, 2018 06:32 PM (iIzG7)

271 sign in

Posted by: andycanuck at March 22, 2018 06:32 PM (ewxPW)

272 Since he is replacing McMaster as National Security Adviser i see way there is a "hit" piece...

Posted by: It's me donna at March 22, 2018 06:34 PM (O2RFr)

273 what are the odds. Reading all the comments and my wife's cell phone rings with a number I don't recognize. I answered with a chineese accent and said " why you no speak Chinese, I no speak engrish"

Posted by: Cicero skip at March 22, 2018 06:34 PM (FIrEF)

274 I see from The Morning Report that more and more people are realizing that Mitch McConnell is a Commie.

Posted by: gNewt at March 22, 2018 06:37 PM (E3678)

275 I've had my Sentry for about a year now. Love it.

Posted by: Larry B Ahrens at March 22, 2018 06:38 PM (2xjn9)

276 It's simple, really, don't answer calls from a number you don't recognize. I know this is difficult for some, but you need to be disciplined. Slightly off topic but I told my mother-in-law, who was complaining about spam calls, "just don't answer calls you don't recognize" and she said, "what if it's a friend of mine calling from a number I don't recognize?".

Ah, I got nothin'.

Posted by: steve walsh at March 22, 2018 07:03 PM (uR9Yf)

277 twisted pair to tis house was horrible, always static. finally fiber came to my back yard so I jumped at it and ported the phone to 1-voip. selected the spam call blocker and now there are very few. Honestly the landline companies have given up or somehow are making a buck out of IRS scams

Posted by: mildly citrusy at March 22, 2018 07:30 PM (V+050)

278 I've three phone numbers. Number one is a POTS business line, that I call forward to my cell phone. So, I get to see the number calling...but, because of my business requires me to answer every call, I get a lot of unwanted calls. I always compliment the guys chasing leads with a compliment, a "no thank-you," and "have a nice day."

Line two is my personal line. That is connected to my fax machine. Which is only answered by my fax machine. This is also the POTS line that provides my DSL service. Do I still need a fax number? Well, yes. It's an expensive convenience. I don't use it for the purpose of sending or receiving faxes often. But when a client wants to fax me something, I need to be able to receive it.

Line three is my POTS Code Red line. Were there to be an emergency, a phone would be connected to the line as a back door to my business. There are a limited number of people--all involved in communications and/or emergency services, that have been given that number. If there's no emergency, use my main line. But if there are problems, the Red line will be answered. Given the fact that in over twenty years that phone line hasn't been answered must have given fits to phone scammers.

You always need to have a plan.
.

Posted by: OregonGuy at March 22, 2018 07:40 PM (3wqUt)

279 Yes, I could, indeed, simply not answer any number I do not recognize. That's what I used to do. But then the phone rings and rings and rings, then my answering machine picks up, then I hear the robocrap, then it disconnects and I have to delete the crap voice mail.

With the Sentry, it's one ring and then poof, gone. I like that much better.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Global Rethinker at March 22, 2018 07:42 PM (Fwyn7)

280 Problem with whitelists are that just about all of the robocallers/robospoofers, particularly the scam variety and those offshore, are faking the data sent. Generally, they'll take the first six digits matching your own number, then do something for the last 4 to make it look like a valid number from your area. And they'll often call multiple times through the day with the same ID if you don't pick up then and there, just to try and trick you.

And it's not limited to landlines. ZFG to how they contact you; they just keep trying their lists, over and over again, in hopes that they break through and scam that one person. Whether landline or cell line or a business phone.

Given that a work number used to be tied to some random FaceBooker (was getting text messages from FB that, sacre bleu! you could post a reply to and apparently apply it to their page), I'm guessing one possible source is FB being scraped into a big database of #'s, and it being passed along left and right for the scammers.

Posted by: Another Anon at March 22, 2018 07:44 PM (MTejJ)

281 Problem with whitelists are that just about all of the robocallers/robospoofers, particularly the scam variety and those offshore, are faking the data sent. Generally, they'll take the first six digits matching your own number, then do something for the last 4 to make it look like a valid number from your area. And they'll often call multiple times through the day with the same ID if you don't pick up then and there, just to try and trick you.

I've noticed that here, too. I get a lot of (XXX)-YYY-NNNN calls where the 'YYY' is my exchange. And it's no problem for the whitelist. If they ain't on it, they don't get through.

I wish the Sentry was more programmable. I would like to be able to block all calls from any number starting with (XXX)-YYY... and I can't do that.

I also have my own phone number entered into the Sentry's blacklist. Because I know any call that spoofs my own number is a crap call.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader & Global Rethinker at March 22, 2018 07:57 PM (Fwyn7)

282
Calls to our phones for which a human does not respond within five seconds of us saying "Hello?" go directly to time out - a nearby drawer within the phone left on. Similarly with non-solicited calls: "You're in time out - see ya!"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 22, 2018 08:00 PM (pNxlR)

283 Obviously you haven't used a modern "cell phone". A modern smartphone's audio (I've used iPhones for the last 7 years) is absolutely superb and does not experience "satellite delays". As a matter of fact, most "landline" phones cannot hold a candle in quality comparison.

You obviously have made up your mind regarding this and probably will not be swayed. I'm saying you are speaking from a vastly outdated experience base. Perhaps you should give it another look.

Posted by: Starman at March 22, 2018 08:05 PM (o1ByE)

284 Another user of Nomorobo here. We have a landline and it works pretty well. Note that you have to have a digital landline, not a copper analog one for it to work (at least with Verizon). Anyway, it works pretty well given that it is free.

Posted by: Isophorone at March 22, 2018 08:25 PM (g3KQm)

285 I have a Trac-Fone I hardly ever use. I have 2,317 minutes that I have no idea what to do with.

Posted by: RTW at March 22, 2018 09:59 PM (jJlJu)

286 Current people in my area are getting telemarketing calls that are from local numbers. In fact I am starting to get call that are spoofing local home numbers with actual Caller ID information from people locally that I know.

Posted by: Thoms M at March 23, 2018 03:17 AM (o7bvb)

287 I work from home and have too many valid yet unknown incoming calls. After trying several call blockers we finally bought an Ooma and went VOIP. Ooma has a feature that allows you to participate in a "community blacklist." If other Ooma users identify pest callers then you benefit from their blacklist as well as being able to add your own pests to the blacklist. There is no limit to the number of blocks that you can add.

We also have a Panasonic phone system that allows for one button blocking of 250 numbers or number patterns (800, 877, 866, etc., all count as one blocked number).

How this works is like this: 1) Ooma blacklisted callers don't even ring 2) Panasonic blocked numbers flash but don't ring 3) when any non-blacklisted number calls ("local" or not) I screen it. If it doesn't leave a message, I push the Call Block number on the Panasonic phone and they are added to the 250 list.

That's it. Every couple of months I log into Ooma and review the incoming call log and blacklist all calls that lasted

Nowadays I get maybe 1 or 2 unwanted calls per day. The longer you build your list the fewer crap calls you get.

Posted by: Lawrence Larson at March 23, 2018 09:09 AM (d/r2I)

288 I was getting eleven calls in a twelve hour day, not one and hour but some callers called three or four times an hour, sales calls but most from out of state that simply said "GOOD BYE" or hung up quietly.
I called my Phone provider @+ and + and told them they said there was nothing they could do and to QUOTE: "TURN OFF MY CELL PHONE" to stop it..........I asked "You mean I'll be paying for a service that you provide but will be unable to use it due to spam calls?" They said it's that or change your number which everyone important has and I will have to go to everyone to change it. My life becomes a confusing hassle due to spam calls?
I said, "If I have to turn off my phone or change the number I will change cell phone providers as well." so I told them my plan, "When ever I get a spam call I will call you and spam you with complaints. Which I did eleven times a day. Then they gave me a website where I can turn in these calls. Which I used eleven times a day spamming their network with complaints until the calls dwindled to one or two a day.
The spammers spam me and I spam my provider.
It's all about who spams who.

Posted by: obsidian at March 23, 2018 12:04 PM (ARK2U)

289 Spam calls to our land line can be blocked with a Star (*61) number push.

Posted by: obsidian at March 23, 2018 12:07 PM (ARK2U)

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