---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <7643F1F8-810C-474F-85E6-76DA5AAF0917@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 20:42:00 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: The Rise and Fall of Yik Yak, the Anonymous Messaging App The Rise and Fall of Yik Yak, the Anonymous Messaging App By VALERIYA SAFRONOVA The app, which shut down in April, was plagued by bad press from the beginning, earning itself a reputation as a place for racism, sexism, bullying and bomb threats. This month, two feminist groups and several former students filed a federal complaint accusing the University of Mary Washington in Virginia and its former president, Richard Hurley, of failing to protect the female plaintiffs from cyber harassment and threats of physical and sexual violence during their time at the university. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/style/yik-yak-bullying-mary-washington.html ------------------------------ Message-ID: <1ssn95ng78hjk$.4bwp4wmkz9i5.dlg@40tude.net> Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 19:13:07 -0400 From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> Subject: Re: Cancel Non-Published Service on landline? On Sat, 27 May 2017 12:35:19 -0500, Anonymous Contributor wrote: > Hello, > > I'm debating if I should cancel the Non-Published Service on my AT&T > landline. > ... > ... I'm wondering if it makes sense to save the $3.45, or if my junk > calls will spike if I do so? ... Your phone number, no matter whether published or unpublished, *will* get itself called in due course by any autodialer worth its salt, dialling (in sequence) all eligible(*) phone numbers among the 10,000 available for your exchange in your area code. They're not really searching for "the phone line of Anonymous Contributor", they're just trying to reach every phone line, yours included. So claw back that $3.45/mo fee, I seriously doubt it can hurt. Cheers, -- tlvp ========= (*) Eligible: lines *not* known to be fax or data lines, or out of service. -- Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP. ------------------------------ Message-ID: <E45B9F63-5888-488C-8A5A-0E934D538E95@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 19:57:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Republicans want to leave you more voicemail - without ever ringing your cellphone Republicans want to leave you more voicemail - without ever ringing your cellphone It's part of a push by groups, including the U.S. Chamber, to relax the FCC's robocalling rules. By Tony Romm For years, consumers have warred with telemarketers for ringing their landline phones at all hours of the day. Pretty soon, though, they might find their mobile voicemail under the same sort of assault - that is, if the U.S. Republican Party and others have their way. https://www.recode.net/2017/5/23/15681158/political-campaign-robocall-ringless-voicemail-without-ringing-cellphone-republican ------------------------------ Message-ID: <4D4B76E9-675F-40E0-A197-D4752EAB8768@REMOVE-THIS.remove- this.wb4aej.com> Date: Mon, 29 May 2017 08:06:36 -0700 From: "Fred Atkinson, WB4AEJ" <fred@REMOVE-THIS.wb4aej.com> Subject: Re: Cancel Non-Published Service on landline I've been reading these posts. I am shocked to hear about the telemarketing calls since I almost never get one. It doesn't seem to matter if my number(s) were listed or not. I've kept my numbers on the national do not call (DNC) lists since the DNC list began. My local number (which is forwarded to my cell phone), my cell number, and even my residential toll-free number are all listed there. I discussed listing the toll-free number with the FTC. They confirmed to me that toll-free numbers may be listed in the DNC database so long as they are residential toll-free numbers. When I get a local number in a new state, I get it added to the DNC list right away. My toll-free number always follows me from state to state. That one has been listed since the DNC list began. I kept it renewed even when renewing it every five years was required. It is my understanding that they no longer remove the numbers from the DNC database unless you cancel the number or your number is disconnected for non-payment. In the case you are disconnected for non-payment and subsequently have your service restored, you have to list it with DNC again. Though I rarely get a telemarketing call, I just tell them to put me on their do not call list when I do receive one. When I get surveys, I just tell them that I do not answer surveys and request that they do not call me again. Even so, I rarely get those calls, either. Regretfully, the DNC list does not apply to surveys as long as they aren't making a sales pitch. I rarely get political fundraising calls. The DNC list doesn't apply here, either. I just tell them not to call me again. This was true even when I had my numbers listed in directory assistance. To my knowledge, my current numbers are not published there any more. When I moved to New Mexico about ten years ago, DEX (the phone book that was published by a third party) would not accept residential foreign listings (I do use VOIP service for my local numbers so this was how I listed them) even though the local phone companies are required to list them (I had foreign listings through the local phone companies in NC, SC, and GA). I guess DEX got past that rule since they weren't owned by a phone company. They were only a telephone book publisher. When they refused to accept my residential foreign listing, I pursued getting it listed with DEX through both the NM PUC and the FCC [without success]. I lived in Las Cruces, NM for over eight years. I successfully got my residential VOIP numbers listed in the local phone books and directory assistance in GA, NC, and SC. But I had to make a complaint with each respective PUC to get it as none of the business offices seemed to know what a foreign listing was or how to make a foreign listing. Many of them told me it could not be done yet I subsequently had it done. Each PUC I used on the east coast got someone from the business office [who knew how to make one] call me and get it done for me. The charge for a foreign residential listing was always very nominal. This is on a tangent, but when I called Centurylink in New Mexico to order ISDN for a customer my company contracted for, Centurylink's CSRs (yes, I did ask to speak to a supervisor who didn't know, either), they didn't know what ISDN was and denied that Centurylink provided it. They told me I would have to find out what company provided it and contact them. I called the ISDN support line for Centurylink and they initially didn't believe me when I told them their business office didn't know what ISDN was or how to order it. They subsequently called their business office and had the same experience. Sad that the Telcos do not train their CSRs better than this. Since our customer was a government agency, we contacted their Centurylink agent who ordered the ISDN service for us. Back to the original issue. Now I live in Arizona. I still don't have the problem. I haven't tried to get my Arizona number listed since no one uses phone books any more. They always look it up on the Internet. Since these methods do not appear to work for anyone else, I wonder what is different about my numbers over anyone else's? If anyone can figure it out and post it here, maybe it will help the others stop these calls. No matter where I lived, I did not have this issue. My experience demonstrates that it doesn't seem to matter whether your number is listed or not. It certainly has been a blessing to me. Fred ------------------------------ Message-ID: <6D269895-CD21-4200-9052-C35F0AC24768@roscom.com> Date: Mon, 29 May 2017 09:44:01 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: How to build your own VPN if you're (rightfully) wary of commercial options How to build your own VPN if you're (rightfully) wary of commercial options While not perfect, either, cloud hosting providers have a better customer data record. By Jim Salter In the wake of this spring's Senate ruling nixing FCC privacy regulations imposed on ISPs, you may be (even more) worried about how your data is used, misused, and abused. There have been a lot of opinions on this topic since, ranging from "the sky is falling" to "move along, citizen, nothing to see here." The fact is, ISPs tend to be pretty unscrupulous, sometimes even ruthless, about how they gather and use their customers' data. You may not be sure how it's a problem if your ISP gives advertisers more info to serve ads you'd like to see - but what about when your ISP literally edits your HTTP traffic, inserting more ads and possibly breaking webpages? With a Congress that has demonstrated its lack of interest in protecting you from your ISP, and ISPs that have repeatedly demonstrated a "whatever-we-can-get-away-with" attitude toward customers' data privacy and integrity, it may be time to look into how to get your data out from under your ISP's prying eyes and grubby fingers intact. To do that, you'll need a VPN. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/how-to-build-your-own-vpn-if-youre-rightfully-wary-of-commercial-options/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** This is one of those "modertor's privilege" posts: not only does it bring up the (very real) dangers of trusting sensitive data to your ISP, but it introduces readers to the "virtual server" world. I have a (personal) server at prgmr.com, and I highly recommend them: their motto is "We don't assume you are stupid." Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170531020240.GA30101@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 30 May 2017 22:02:40 -0400 From: Telecom Digest Moderator <telecomdigestsubmissions@remove- this.telecom.csail.mit.edu> Subject: A note of gratitude The Telecom Digest was offline yesterday due to unexpected problems at our email-processing site. My thanks to John Levine, who donates the site to us: he tackled the issue in the late evening and had it fixed prior to sunup here at Digest central. Bill P.S. The digest will be slightly backed up for a day or two. Please be patient. -- Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <60BA1776-6E2A-4D60-A73F-60A67FDF7E95@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 11:43:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Nokia 3310 review: No matter how much you think you want it, you don't want it Nokia 3310 review: No matter how much you think you want it, you don't want it Overpriced and underpowered, the Nokia 3310 is a feature phone for the hipster elite. By Mark Walton (UK) That the new HMD-made Nokia 3310 was the star of this year's Mobile World Congress says more about how dull smartphones have become than it does about the appeal of Nokia's chintzy slab of noughties nostalgia. Despite the retro appeal, the Nokia 3310 is little more than a Nokia 150 (a basic feature phone that sells for a mere UKP20 [$25.64 -Mod]) wrapped up in a curved glossy shell and sold for a millennial-gouging UKP50 [$64.11 - Mod]. It is, for all intents and purposes, a fashion statement - a phone for the beard-grooming, braces-wearing festival set that think tapping out texts on a T9 keyboard is the ultimate irony. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/nokia-3310-review/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <2CA8CCBE-EF26-4C8A-BAEC-C9232814D4A2@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 28 May 2017 11:31:05 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Republicans claim 1st Amendment right to send you robo- voicemails Republicans claim 1st Amendment right to send you robo-voicemails You might start getting many more voicemails if Republicans get their wish. A marketing company called All About the Message recently petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for a ruling that would prevent anti-robocall rules from being applied to "the delivery of a voice message directly to a voicemail box" without ringing the recipient's phone. These ringless voicemails are already happening, but their legal status is unclear. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/05/republicans-claim-1st-amendment-right-to-send-you-robo-voicemails/ ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 31 May 2017