Please wait...
Of course, most bottom feeders don't even use predictive dialers anymore; they just use robocalls. Those are easy and fun to deal with.
At home do you answer calls that you don't recognize? My family doesn't. I will search the caller ID number, if it shows up on a list of websites known to be telemarketers I block the call.
If I don't know the number and I pick it up (perhaps because I don't know if someone I expect to call is calling), I don't say anything.
I just pick it up, and wait.
If I hear silence on the other end (no background noise at all), I hang up.
Heh. You got to the news before I did.
[ http://tinyurl.com/zwgfg55 ]
I am delighted. In fact, I am quasi-ecstatic. Facebook spent $150 millions in an attempt to assimilate millions of sub-Saharan Africans into its borg, and the satellite got blown up on the pad. I'm happy those poor Africans are saved from Facebook for a little longer. I'm happy Zuck is out $150 million, and I'm happy that he's unhappy.
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving ... well, let's not go *that* far :)
The video at [ http://tinyurl.com/hcpy3gy ] is a bit longer. I'm looking at all the smoke coming out of the vehicle before the explosion. I don't know enough about rocketry to identify it but it looks to me as if something may have been on fire inside the launch vehicle prior to the explosion.
$150 million... I think Zuck the **** makes that each day selling people's private into and internet viewing habits. I am sorry it happened to SpaceX
The "smoke" in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BgJEXQkjNQ I think is normal gasses, steam being released.
Will "Die in a car fire" be replaced by "May your 150 million dollar satellite get destroyed in a launch pad explosion"?
so I can't call you guys? because you can't identify my number (caller id doesn't seem to work for calls from Israel to most people)
I don't know a lot of people who actually like talking on the phone anyway.
An online chat is preferred. For people who are worth it, an in-person visit is even better.
So yeah, the facebook rocket explosion was awesome. The only thing that could have made it better would be for it to have crashed into a facebook data center before exploding.
Wow.
I just got a call from "Microsoft" (you know, the folks in India who tell you that your computer has a virus and helpfully walk you through the fix, which is actually enrollment in their botnet).
I had the guy convinced ... honestly ... that I couldn't start the computer right now because it's powered by a generator turned by a hamster in a wheel, and the hamster is sleeping. He's going to call back tomorrow.
Evidently these people are absolutely bottom of the barrel. They aren't afraid to curse at you and threaten you. I like messing with douchebags on the phone, but unless you're really dedicated you can only go so far with these guys, because they do have your phone number.
"Hi [IG],
Sorry I missed you. When can we schedule a time to have a call about [our product]? I see that you've visited our web site several times."
Ok, douchebag. Even if I had visited your web site, which I haven't, you wouldn't be able to know my real name and email address unless I actually signed up for something. Do these douchenozzles really think they can fool me into thinking I visited their web site, started an inquiry with them, and then forgot about it?
Even worse are the ones who use my first name in the subject line. But at least those can be deleted without reading because there is an almost 100% chance that if I see my name in the subject line, it's some douchecanoe who bought a mailing list.
I was recently at a client's office, when they received a call from a company that specialized in optimizing mobile phone contracts. The client passed me the phone and the guy on the other end introduced himself, stating he worked with all major mobile phone contractors in germany. He explicitly named 3 or 4, which I found odd, because they are rivals, usually.
He then continued that he would like to talk with us about the our phone contracts and that he sees a lot of potential for improving, saving costs, etc. He did that in a way that really gave me the feeling he knew about the company itself and the various contracts they have, like he was officially from some phone company. When I asked "which contract specifically" he said he wasn't allowed to disclose that for privacy reasons. That was when my spidy sense began tingling... He later sent an email where he stated that he needed the last three bills of every phone contract, the business certificate and some legal document that would show him who the owners of the business are. That was when I was absolutely certain that he is an asshole, instead of an official representative of anything.
We did not enter any business with them, I then searched the web for the reputation of the company and they seem to be a bunch of assholes that claim to improve service but actually worsen the situation. They charm you into signing a permission that they are allowed to change/create new phone contracts in your name and then they run amok. Like you end up with X new contracts that should replace your X old contracts and they forget to cancel your old ones.
I was a bit baffled as to how good the guy on the phone was, I am certain that they have a hit quote of over 50%, because he really seemed to already be in charge for the contracts. This particular client would have easily fallen for them, if I hadn't firewalled the scumbags.
When I review an audio message for someone matching my first name, when most people know me by my nickname, I know it's most likely a bottom feeder.
That's actually why I use my first name on most correspondence, etc, and use my nickname when talking with people. Since so many mechanical things require a name, and I use a name like 'Joseph' instead of 'fleeb' (note: not my usual nickname, as most of you know), then it provides extra screening for me.
You'd be surprised how well that works.
Just got a message in my corporate e-mail recently from a guy asking Joseph if he could forward to 'Pam' or somesuch in accounts payable about a bill that he created so he could stiff my company for services he never gave us.