I'm familiar with synaptic package manager and have used it often. Some Linux distros install it as a standard package, but most others do not. The expectations was that I somehow knew there was such a thing as synaptic and that I knew what to do with it when I discovered I needed it. APT is another example of complexity that presumes prior knowledge in order to get the most out of it. I suppose if you are a dedicated Linux fan you know all about those things and enjoy trying to navigate the catacombs of various Linux repositories. While that is fine and good, I was irked by it all because all those Linux cheer leaders were telling me to abandon Windows, which just works, and come on over to the better side. Well, as you have seen me write a few times in these forums, I have yet to find that better quality of Linux.
I was shocked yesterday when my WIndows 10 Insider Preview update turned out to be Windows 11. It downloaded, installed, and runs flawlessly. Well, flawlessly as an experimental Windows OS can run. The surprise was that Microsoft allowed me to install and run the software they claimed would not run on a system without a TPM 2.0 module installed. I did the command line check a few days ago to see if I had that module and neither of my machines seem to have it active. However, I know I disabled it in the laptop which is why it showed up as missing. I don't know if it exists on the ASUS tower mobo, which is fine with me. I'll keep Windows 7 there until it doesn't function anymore.
So what is up with this TPM requirement, but it works on my computer regardless? If I look in the right places in the settings I will see a warning about my computer not being compatible. I will not have a problem until Windows 11 becomes "generally available" which I think could be as early as this fall but more likely next spring. At that point if I didn't upgrade my computer, I will have to do a clean install of Windows 10; so says Microsoft. I also read in their blog this morning that some folks will receive a dispensation and not need to have the TPM module. They would have to get permission from Microsoft first and be an OEM or a few other special type installers. So, the bottom line is that Windows 11 will work without the module, if Microsoft allows it. Or, if a hacker finds a work around.
The emphasis on security these days is why Microsoft is attempting to bulletproof Windows. I read an interesting statistic a couple weeks ago which claims that something like 83% of the attacks on enterprise computers involve the firmware, i.e. BIOS. Microsoft's requirement to have a TPM module is a solution to that particular attack vector. If the software signature is not correct , the system will not boot and thus deny the bad guys access to the firmware. TPM is what verifies all those encrypted signatures. A while back when I was learning about UEFI booting, I discovered that Linux had a widespread problem with secure booting. They simply avoided it for a long time which is why I had to disable it in order to install Linux on the laptop which came off the shelf with secure booting enabled. My current plan is to try and find what I turned off and turn it back on. Then I will try booting into the two Linux OS's on the laptop to see what happens. One of the OS's is Mageia which I would expect to be OK, but the other is Ubuntu which is one of the Linux OS's I had problems with in EFI booting. Hopefully the Linux community has it all figured out so that I can still run Windows and Linux on the same machines. If that is not possible, it's going to be a very hard choice for me. Windows 11 or Linux, but not both on the same machine.
No, I don't expect you to ever be bothered by Windows again. I can't think of a good reason why you would want to go back.
Reeading on Easter Morning
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Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
It just sounds to me like Windows is trying their best to keep hold of the desktop market and making it even harder for any other competition.
Seems to me, it would be up to the board manufacturers to make their bios programs more hackproof, if that is where hackers are getting in now.
Although any OS can be hacked, personally, I think LInux did a better job of protecting from virus and malware than Windows had, simply because everyone can see the source code, and those in the know about such things watch over it with an eagle eye.
Another question might be, Why did Windows leave so many open doors for the hackers to get into their system so easily?
Seems to me, it would be up to the board manufacturers to make their bios programs more hackproof, if that is where hackers are getting in now.
Although any OS can be hacked, personally, I think LInux did a better job of protecting from virus and malware than Windows had, simply because everyone can see the source code, and those in the know about such things watch over it with an eagle eye.
Another question might be, Why did Windows leave so many open doors for the hackers to get into their system so easily?
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
The success of any malicious computer attack is not dependent upon the manufacturer of the motherboard. The reason for that is that the mobo is a shell upon which components are placed in order to create a computer. Think of it in terms of the discussions we had about the Linux kernel. That kernel is a Linux shell upon which all manner of software and firmware can be added. By itself it's pretty much useless. So it is with motherboards. Typically they don't even have a CPU; that needs to be added after memory and expansion cards are decided upon. EFI/BIOS firmware does typically come with the board, but that too is a shell into which bootloaders and other things are embedded. EFI in fact has no protection at all against intrusion. That kind of thing is provided by operating system vendors and CPU manufacturers. The last component, and last line of defense, is the operating system. That's the last thing to come to life after you apply power to the motherboard.
Pointing a finger at Microsoft for being lax with security is shortsighted because their operating system is only one of several components in the total system that is vulnerable to attack. Way back in the last century your observation about Linux being intrinsically less vulnerable to virus attacks when compared to Windows might have had some truth to it. That is no longer the case. For one thing the attackers have long ago evolved beyond traditional virus attacks. The methods and tools available on the dark web equal and surpass that which state actors (governments) have developed and used in secret. The use of artificial intelligence is not just a game anymore. It's being used to create cyber infections that humble what COVID is doing to the physical world. When you read about database intrusions and government agencies being taken down by ransomware, how often do you see a Windows server involved? I can't recall any either. My point here is that the bad actors in today's world of computers are not stopped by anybody's operating system.
As I noted previously, I have seen Microsoft attempt to deal with security issues in ways that the Linux community has been slow to implement. One of the developers I talked to in the past was put out by the fact that making his version of Linux as a secure boot system involved paying Microsoft for a security code, and he was in no way going to do that. His bias against Microsoft, justified or not, make his product vulnerable and put all the people who used his OS at risk. I'm not saying the entire Linux development community thinks along those lines. But Microsoft with Windows 11 is being proactive about security. I've not had to look into what Linux is doing in that area, but I have a feeling I will be on another adventure in the not too distant future learning about secure booting of operating systems.
Pointing a finger at Microsoft for being lax with security is shortsighted because their operating system is only one of several components in the total system that is vulnerable to attack. Way back in the last century your observation about Linux being intrinsically less vulnerable to virus attacks when compared to Windows might have had some truth to it. That is no longer the case. For one thing the attackers have long ago evolved beyond traditional virus attacks. The methods and tools available on the dark web equal and surpass that which state actors (governments) have developed and used in secret. The use of artificial intelligence is not just a game anymore. It's being used to create cyber infections that humble what COVID is doing to the physical world. When you read about database intrusions and government agencies being taken down by ransomware, how often do you see a Windows server involved? I can't recall any either. My point here is that the bad actors in today's world of computers are not stopped by anybody's operating system.
As I noted previously, I have seen Microsoft attempt to deal with security issues in ways that the Linux community has been slow to implement. One of the developers I talked to in the past was put out by the fact that making his version of Linux as a secure boot system involved paying Microsoft for a security code, and he was in no way going to do that. His bias against Microsoft, justified or not, make his product vulnerable and put all the people who used his OS at risk. I'm not saying the entire Linux development community thinks along those lines. But Microsoft with Windows 11 is being proactive about security. I've not had to look into what Linux is doing in that area, but I have a feeling I will be on another adventure in the not too distant future learning about secure booting of operating systems.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I do know that hackers hit Windows machines simply because there are so many of them out there in use, compared to only a few Linux based machines.
All of my Linux machines use three passwords. One for Root, one for Admin, and one for User. While Windows always only had one password. Plus Windows put files helter skelter all over the hard drives, where Linux is limited to where you can put things, and in most cases, it is all somewhere in your home directory. Unless a particular program needs Admin privileges for something it uses for the program, even then it still needs permission to put it there. I know, that annoys some folks, hi hi.
As an aside, man is it windy here right now, strong enough to tip over the picnic table on the deck, ouch, glad it didn't break.
I'm just waiting for the day a large limb takes out my wiring between the garage and the house. Some is underground, but the LAN, Phone, Ethernet, and some lighting switches are all overhead.
All of my Linux machines use three passwords. One for Root, one for Admin, and one for User. While Windows always only had one password. Plus Windows put files helter skelter all over the hard drives, where Linux is limited to where you can put things, and in most cases, it is all somewhere in your home directory. Unless a particular program needs Admin privileges for something it uses for the program, even then it still needs permission to put it there. I know, that annoys some folks, hi hi.
As an aside, man is it windy here right now, strong enough to tip over the picnic table on the deck, ouch, glad it didn't break.
I'm just waiting for the day a large limb takes out my wiring between the garage and the house. Some is underground, but the LAN, Phone, Ethernet, and some lighting switches are all overhead.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
The heated discussions about what exactly is Microsoft up to has only just begun. What appears to be the practice of planned obsolescence by Microsoft is nothing less than a conspiracy theory. The justification for this hardware security requirement is in response to what the current generation of bad actors are up to. Networks are being taken down, government offices are being shut down, hospitals are losing access to their computers, and on top of all that the data that is being stolen is also being published. The old way of dealing with these attacks simply does not work anymore. At the moment the guys in the White Hats are still in charge of the show. But if all the maliciousness is allowed to continue unchallenged, chaos is the end result. Microsoft isn't going to stop the attacks, but they are taking steps to make it more difficult. My gut feeling is that once the repercussions of what Microsoft is forcing on us becomes better known and understood, there will be an uprising. Folks can't just move over to Linux either because the same bad actors attacking Windows are attacking Linux systems. Plus you end up buying new hardware either way.
We've been on the edge of stormy weather for more than a week now. Some of those thunder storms produced a lot of wind here too, but so far we have not lost anything. The table on the deck has been blown to one side, but it has not tipped over yet. I've watched some of the trees bend when a front comes rolling through, and I am amazed that they are all still standing. Trees are way more flexible than I ever suspected. The best news of all is the power has not gone out. The lights do flicker during violent storms, but so far my UPS is doing what UPS's are supposed to do.
We've been on the edge of stormy weather for more than a week now. Some of those thunder storms produced a lot of wind here too, but so far we have not lost anything. The table on the deck has been blown to one side, but it has not tipped over yet. I've watched some of the trees bend when a front comes rolling through, and I am amazed that they are all still standing. Trees are way more flexible than I ever suspected. The best news of all is the power has not gone out. The lights do flicker during violent storms, but so far my UPS is doing what UPS's are supposed to do.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Since nearly anything at all that can mess up our computers comes over the Internet. To me it seems the best way to approach the problem is to address it on the transmission end of system.
Rather than have 6 million people buy new equipment, why not have the Internet hosting companies install equipment to test each bit of data that goes through for problems and stop them at the source. This way you can catch the people doing it as they put data into the transmission system. Seems to me that would be the best and most logical way to address the problem.
After all, if they can go after the distribution companies like Farcebook for people putting child trafficing and porn on their website, and they have the means to double check this before it becomes public, then by heck they can sure check for malware and other things and block it, and they would also know who added it to send the government after them too.
I have no control over who can view my website, but my host provider does!
Our electric used to go out all the time, for every little thing.
Now it has been doing pretty good, and our cable internet is out more often than our electric.
Comcast has been having serious problems for quite a while now, but they won't admit it.
I think they have way to many subscribers for their infrastructure, and they keep adding things that make heavy use of their cables, such as streaming TV services to television sets.
I can't count the number of times a show we wanted to watch that came over the internet instead of over the dish would stop to reload its buffer for the next few minutes. With our remote, we can have it show the buffer at the bottom of the screen, much like you see on on-line videos if you move your mouse over the control area.
Normally, the buffer is filling up while the show is on, so the darker play bar never catches up to the end of the lighter bar.
But for about the past few months, the buffer is very slow to fill, and even if you wait for a bit before hitting the play button, it will play up to the end of the buffer before reloading more into the buffer.
On a computer you would see Waiting On Farcebook, or Waiting On the Sending Site. We don't see that on a TV set.
Rather than have 6 million people buy new equipment, why not have the Internet hosting companies install equipment to test each bit of data that goes through for problems and stop them at the source. This way you can catch the people doing it as they put data into the transmission system. Seems to me that would be the best and most logical way to address the problem.
After all, if they can go after the distribution companies like Farcebook for people putting child trafficing and porn on their website, and they have the means to double check this before it becomes public, then by heck they can sure check for malware and other things and block it, and they would also know who added it to send the government after them too.
I have no control over who can view my website, but my host provider does!
Our electric used to go out all the time, for every little thing.
Now it has been doing pretty good, and our cable internet is out more often than our electric.
Comcast has been having serious problems for quite a while now, but they won't admit it.
I think they have way to many subscribers for their infrastructure, and they keep adding things that make heavy use of their cables, such as streaming TV services to television sets.
I can't count the number of times a show we wanted to watch that came over the internet instead of over the dish would stop to reload its buffer for the next few minutes. With our remote, we can have it show the buffer at the bottom of the screen, much like you see on on-line videos if you move your mouse over the control area.
Normally, the buffer is filling up while the show is on, so the darker play bar never catches up to the end of the lighter bar.
But for about the past few months, the buffer is very slow to fill, and even if you wait for a bit before hitting the play button, it will play up to the end of the buffer before reloading more into the buffer.
On a computer you would see Waiting On Farcebook, or Waiting On the Sending Site. We don't see that on a TV set.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
One of the reasons why hardware needs to change periodically is exactly due to the "buffering" problem you describe. The demand for greater bandwidth performance is increasing exponentially and that requires an investment in better equipment on the part of the provider. Like us regular people some providers are better at managing their budgets than others. When the demand is there but the equipment can't send it out fast enough, those buffer problems appear. On top of that the service providers typically want to level load their servers so that there is a lot of throttling going on. The way around that is to buy more servers and not just update the ones you have. There are a lot of lame excuses why companies don't upgrade, but typically it boils down to somebody's budget not being adequate.
In this country it's illegal for the government to examine the contents of private information being broadcast on the public networks -- seems like an oxymoron doesn't it. That's why court orders and warrants were invented. Even if it were possible, and it's not, to monitor all the traffic on all the networks connected to this country, it would take a massive effort to stop incoming attacks. And then there is the situation where the malicious attack does not appear to be malicious; Trojan Horses for example. Separating the good from the bad is impossible to do in most cases, which is why zero day viruses exist. You don't know about those things until it's too late. The most practical way to go about security is at the end user's entry point. In effect each computer user becomes a monitor instead of a cyber sniffing agency of the government that is ill trained and understaffed. Few people have computers that are capable of sniffing out BIOS attacks before they occur, but that is about to change. Fortunately it will be painless going forward, but it will also be an expense if you are not currently prepared.
If you want to see something interesting, take a look at this website: https://www.imperva.com/cyber-threat-attack-map/
This is a live view of where the cyber attacks originate. It makes a good visual argument against trying to stop the sources.
In this country it's illegal for the government to examine the contents of private information being broadcast on the public networks -- seems like an oxymoron doesn't it. That's why court orders and warrants were invented. Even if it were possible, and it's not, to monitor all the traffic on all the networks connected to this country, it would take a massive effort to stop incoming attacks. And then there is the situation where the malicious attack does not appear to be malicious; Trojan Horses for example. Separating the good from the bad is impossible to do in most cases, which is why zero day viruses exist. You don't know about those things until it's too late. The most practical way to go about security is at the end user's entry point. In effect each computer user becomes a monitor instead of a cyber sniffing agency of the government that is ill trained and understaffed. Few people have computers that are capable of sniffing out BIOS attacks before they occur, but that is about to change. Fortunately it will be painless going forward, but it will also be an expense if you are not currently prepared.
If you want to see something interesting, take a look at this website: https://www.imperva.com/cyber-threat-attack-map/
This is a live view of where the cyber attacks originate. It makes a good visual argument against trying to stop the sources.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I'm not smart enough to understand how they can lay blame on a company for what passes through their servers.
But that is what they are trying to do to Farcebook, by making them liable for things other people put on their platform. I'm sure they can spot some of it and take it down, but with 6 million posts being made every minute, how could they possibly check them all? Maybe they can is why the government wants to hold them liable for same.
In a way, they are not and ISP where things just pass through, they are a platform where things land and stay for all to view.
I read a documentary a month or so ago about the thousands of Russian hackers who spend all day every day trying to break into systems in the U.S. of A. Some of the offices doing that have to be part of the government, who else would be paying 300 employee's and providing all the equipment.
I don't see our government as helpful about many things. Like, why don't they do something about the caller ID system to make it work properly. Not allow all the false info displayed on them. Yeah, there are laws, but they don't enforce them out of the country, like Nigeria and India where most of these spam call originate.
Debi used to work with a lady who's husband owned a small telemarketing company. Now he was on the up and up as far as being legal goes. He only called verified accounts provided by those he was making the calls for. But then who says all those lists he gets from them are actually verified or not. He had to take their word for it in most cases.
He had like 8 gals who worked for him, typing in the names, addresses, and phone numbers from those lists into his databases.
His computers would call those numbers and read the ad spiel requested by the company who contracted his services.
Out of about every 2000 calls, they may have one person punch through to speak to one of his gals. Who after less than a minute of listening would tell them they would transfer their call to the order desk, and all they did was forward the call to the company they were working for at the time.
But that wasn't the end of it.
All of that data they had entered and saved on the database was divided up by what type of business it was that used their services. He had several categories he maintained, and after the calling contracts ran out, he would then sell those organized lists to other companies for a fairly high price. And that is where and how he made most of his money.
For them doing the actual calling for a client was costly and time consuming. But selling a list was easy and turned over an excellent profit. What he sold was already organized in such a way that it allowed the buyer to utilize their automated equipment, namely their computers to put the right info on the caller ID screen that got people to pick up the call. So his lists sold for more than most other straight telemarketing lists.
He sold his company and he and his wife retired and moved to Florida about 5 or 6 years ago.
But that is what they are trying to do to Farcebook, by making them liable for things other people put on their platform. I'm sure they can spot some of it and take it down, but with 6 million posts being made every minute, how could they possibly check them all? Maybe they can is why the government wants to hold them liable for same.
In a way, they are not and ISP where things just pass through, they are a platform where things land and stay for all to view.
I read a documentary a month or so ago about the thousands of Russian hackers who spend all day every day trying to break into systems in the U.S. of A. Some of the offices doing that have to be part of the government, who else would be paying 300 employee's and providing all the equipment.
I don't see our government as helpful about many things. Like, why don't they do something about the caller ID system to make it work properly. Not allow all the false info displayed on them. Yeah, there are laws, but they don't enforce them out of the country, like Nigeria and India where most of these spam call originate.
Debi used to work with a lady who's husband owned a small telemarketing company. Now he was on the up and up as far as being legal goes. He only called verified accounts provided by those he was making the calls for. But then who says all those lists he gets from them are actually verified or not. He had to take their word for it in most cases.
He had like 8 gals who worked for him, typing in the names, addresses, and phone numbers from those lists into his databases.
His computers would call those numbers and read the ad spiel requested by the company who contracted his services.
Out of about every 2000 calls, they may have one person punch through to speak to one of his gals. Who after less than a minute of listening would tell them they would transfer their call to the order desk, and all they did was forward the call to the company they were working for at the time.
But that wasn't the end of it.
All of that data they had entered and saved on the database was divided up by what type of business it was that used their services. He had several categories he maintained, and after the calling contracts ran out, he would then sell those organized lists to other companies for a fairly high price. And that is where and how he made most of his money.
For them doing the actual calling for a client was costly and time consuming. But selling a list was easy and turned over an excellent profit. What he sold was already organized in such a way that it allowed the buyer to utilize their automated equipment, namely their computers to put the right info on the caller ID screen that got people to pick up the call. So his lists sold for more than most other straight telemarketing lists.
He sold his company and he and his wife retired and moved to Florida about 5 or 6 years ago.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Perhaps you are not aware of the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN caller identification framework. This is a system where the carriers must verify that the source/location of the call is truly what is being displayed in your caller ID window. It has been in place for a long time on Google services, but last Thursday was the deadline for everybody else to get on board. https://fox4kc.com/news/problem-solvers ... -thursday/ So, as it seems, the government is trying to do something.
This website is not much different than Facebook as far as responsibility for what is published here is concerned. There are laws in place that protect the provider, me and Mark Zuckerberg, from any liability associated with what is posted here or on Facebook. You might recall how pissed the former president was when it was discovered that there was some anti-conservative bias going on in places like, but not limited to, Facebook - Twitter, for example. In his inimical style of governing that former president encouraged the Justice Department to look into eliminating those protections. Not only that, but the same president initiated investigations and law suits claiming those same big social networks are monopolies. I personally have more than Zuckerberg's political bias against him, but you can thank past presidents for the massive legal mess involving what is posted on social networks these days.
Speaking of Farcebook, you no doubt know by now that their prime source of revenue are the lists of people with verified interests that they sell to marketers. You are the commodity over at Farcebook and your market profile is no doubt in the hands of more than one robot caller thanks to what Zuckerberg is doing. I know you think ad blockers are wonderful things, but like the Russian hackers Farcebook cannot be stopped ... easily.
This website is not much different than Facebook as far as responsibility for what is published here is concerned. There are laws in place that protect the provider, me and Mark Zuckerberg, from any liability associated with what is posted here or on Facebook. You might recall how pissed the former president was when it was discovered that there was some anti-conservative bias going on in places like, but not limited to, Facebook - Twitter, for example. In his inimical style of governing that former president encouraged the Justice Department to look into eliminating those protections. Not only that, but the same president initiated investigations and law suits claiming those same big social networks are monopolies. I personally have more than Zuckerberg's political bias against him, but you can thank past presidents for the massive legal mess involving what is posted on social networks these days.
Speaking of Farcebook, you no doubt know by now that their prime source of revenue are the lists of people with verified interests that they sell to marketers. You are the commodity over at Farcebook and your market profile is no doubt in the hands of more than one robot caller thanks to what Zuckerberg is doing. I know you think ad blockers are wonderful things, but like the Russian hackers Farcebook cannot be stopped ... easily.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
My call block list holds 1,221 caller ID's.
It is full, so I remove the oldest of them to add more.
99% of the robocallers I get are using someone's real phone number, but not one they have.
A few even use my own phone number to call people, and a few have returned the call complaining about bothering them. I tell them, it was not me, but some illegal company using my number to display in your caller ID.
I get some from business phone numbers also, and a couple of them I have recognized and knew it was a spam call from Nigeria or India, hi hi.
I even have my own phone number blocked if it appears as the number calling me, hi hi.
You can't call your own phone, hi hi.
Yeppers. When I'm researching things for books I was writing, all of a sudden I would get ads for those things appearing on Farcebook, so I know Googles sells that info to Farcebook, hi hi. I just hide all ads now that are not in the main feed.
I don't think our government has any control over what Nigerian and India based telemarketers or robocallers are putting in the Caller ID display.
It is full, so I remove the oldest of them to add more.
99% of the robocallers I get are using someone's real phone number, but not one they have.
A few even use my own phone number to call people, and a few have returned the call complaining about bothering them. I tell them, it was not me, but some illegal company using my number to display in your caller ID.
I get some from business phone numbers also, and a couple of them I have recognized and knew it was a spam call from Nigeria or India, hi hi.
I even have my own phone number blocked if it appears as the number calling me, hi hi.
You can't call your own phone, hi hi.
Yeppers. When I'm researching things for books I was writing, all of a sudden I would get ads for those things appearing on Farcebook, so I know Googles sells that info to Farcebook, hi hi. I just hide all ads now that are not in the main feed.
I don't think our government has any control over what Nigerian and India based telemarketers or robocallers are putting in the Caller ID display.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
You give the perfect description of spoofing a caller ID. A lot of that is still going on even after the deadline for filtering those calls has passed. All I can suggest is that the phone service providers in your neighborhood are not implementing the mandated FCC standards. I still get a few spam calls but the phone never rings when they come in. They are logged in my caller list and labeled as "possible spam." Android, Google, and T-mobile are on top of things here in O'Fallon.
I think that 1221 blocked phone numbers is impressive. However, I doubt that it's effective given that phone spam is a lot like e-mail and webpage spam. The IP addresses/phone numbers are only used once. Then the sender changes everything to thwart anybody who might be keeping track. Having said that, when I first moved down here to Missouiri I changed cell phones and got a new number. I was shocked to see two or three spam callers discovered where I am and what my new number is. That only lasted a few months because that's when Google and T-Mobile started to get serious about blocking bogus robocallers. I never did get many calls in the first place, but now I'm getting even less.
You are correct to point out that our government cannot control what is coming out of other countries. That is not only the case for telemarketing but also those cyber attacks we have talked about elsewhere. All that can be identified, but no retaliatory response is legal yet. However, I think that may be about to change.
Facebook has thousands of business partners with whom they share private information of their members and users. Of course that information being shared is not done freely. Money is exchanged in both directions.
I think that 1221 blocked phone numbers is impressive. However, I doubt that it's effective given that phone spam is a lot like e-mail and webpage spam. The IP addresses/phone numbers are only used once. Then the sender changes everything to thwart anybody who might be keeping track. Having said that, when I first moved down here to Missouiri I changed cell phones and got a new number. I was shocked to see two or three spam callers discovered where I am and what my new number is. That only lasted a few months because that's when Google and T-Mobile started to get serious about blocking bogus robocallers. I never did get many calls in the first place, but now I'm getting even less.
You are correct to point out that our government cannot control what is coming out of other countries. That is not only the case for telemarketing but also those cyber attacks we have talked about elsewhere. All that can be identified, but no retaliatory response is legal yet. However, I think that may be about to change.
Facebook has thousands of business partners with whom they share private information of their members and users. Of course that information being shared is not done freely. Money is exchanged in both directions.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I pay 9 bucks a month extra on my landline VOIP phone to have the option of blocking calls that are not already blocked by three different services like NoMoRoBo and others.
Before I did that, we received upwards of 30 Spam calls per day. Now it is down to about 4 to 6 per day and I block each one.
I have the system set to continuous ring on numbers I've blocked, and on numbers from the provided lists.
I figure if I use a blocked message they would just load a different phone number in the ID and try again.
I did have a business phone for a while that required the caller to listen to options and then select one to get through.
If you know your parties extension you can dial it now. To Place an Order press 1, To speak to the Billing Office press 2, To speak to Customer Service press 3. No matter which number they pressed, it just said Please Hold while your call is directed.
No matter which number they pressed, it would still ring my phone, and I would answer with my company name just like I still do now. I had #5 set to ring through immediately, so family members knew once my machine answered they didn't have to listen to all the malarky, just press 5 and the message would stop and my phone would ring right away.
While I had that system, I only got one spam call per month that managed to get through, and it was a persistent telemarketer.
Unfortunately I cannot afford a business service anymore, leastwise not with those options, hi hi.
They need to revamp the caller ID system so it displays the REAL number the call is coming from and the owner of that number.
They should also do away with the Don't Call List too. If you put your number on it, that List gets sent to all telemarketing companies for free. So now they have a list of known working numbers, hi hi.
Before I did that, we received upwards of 30 Spam calls per day. Now it is down to about 4 to 6 per day and I block each one.
I have the system set to continuous ring on numbers I've blocked, and on numbers from the provided lists.
I figure if I use a blocked message they would just load a different phone number in the ID and try again.
I did have a business phone for a while that required the caller to listen to options and then select one to get through.
If you know your parties extension you can dial it now. To Place an Order press 1, To speak to the Billing Office press 2, To speak to Customer Service press 3. No matter which number they pressed, it just said Please Hold while your call is directed.
No matter which number they pressed, it would still ring my phone, and I would answer with my company name just like I still do now. I had #5 set to ring through immediately, so family members knew once my machine answered they didn't have to listen to all the malarky, just press 5 and the message would stop and my phone would ring right away.
While I had that system, I only got one spam call per month that managed to get through, and it was a persistent telemarketer.
Unfortunately I cannot afford a business service anymore, leastwise not with those options, hi hi.
They need to revamp the caller ID system so it displays the REAL number the call is coming from and the owner of that number.
They should also do away with the Don't Call List too. If you put your number on it, that List gets sent to all telemarketing companies for free. So now they have a list of known working numbers, hi hi.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
My landline is part of the service I get from Spectrum. We got that mainly as a backup communication path and only answer the phone if we recognize the number. A while back Spectrum notified us that they were going to start filtering known spam and I could go to their website and select a bunch of related options. There is no doubt in my mind that they did this because of the FCC dictate. They never would add a service for free. Even though I did set up the options, which I don't recall now what they are, we still don't answer unless the ID is in our contact list and we know who it is.
Mobile is a whole new world, but they too are subject to FCC rules. Google, their Android OS, has always been ahead of the game in many ways. The first thing they did a couple years ago was to add a call filtering feature. When a call comes in I had an option on the display to answer it, or to play a prerecorded message set up by Google. The message told the caller that the call was being screened and that they could leave a message and state their business if they cared to. I would be able to hear that message live or read a transcript of it later on. If I recognized the caller during their leaving a message, I could step in and talk to them live. That was pretty neat, but it didn't address the root cause of the problem. Google then went one step further about the time the FCC came up with STIR/SHAKEN to verify the origin of the call and compare it to what is displayed in the caller ID. If the two did not match, the phone never rings and I get an entry into the call log telling me about what happened. If the source and the caller ID do match, then, and only then, will the phone ring. This was all incorporated into the base Android operating system.
Exactly at the same time Google was doing it's match routine, I was notified by T-Mobile that they too are not going to ring my phone if the number didn't pass the STIR/SHAKEN test. I don't know what options they offered with that, but all the screening I use is performed by Android. There was no charge for this T-Mobile improvement either, and that was due to it being an FCC directive. I'm sure they would never do such a thing on their own.
So, you see, something has in fact been done to contain those robot callers, and it's all free. I don't know how Ooma gets away with charging you for the service, but it's probably something above and beyond what the FCC has mandated.
I agree with you 110% regarding the uselessness of those DoNotCall listings services. I signed up the first year it was available but never did after that. I don't answer unrecognized calls for the same reason I don't subscribe to those lists. They are just aggregators of known good phone numbers that generate lists to sell to telemarketers. Now, if I could only find a way to filter e-mail ... LOL
Mobile is a whole new world, but they too are subject to FCC rules. Google, their Android OS, has always been ahead of the game in many ways. The first thing they did a couple years ago was to add a call filtering feature. When a call comes in I had an option on the display to answer it, or to play a prerecorded message set up by Google. The message told the caller that the call was being screened and that they could leave a message and state their business if they cared to. I would be able to hear that message live or read a transcript of it later on. If I recognized the caller during their leaving a message, I could step in and talk to them live. That was pretty neat, but it didn't address the root cause of the problem. Google then went one step further about the time the FCC came up with STIR/SHAKEN to verify the origin of the call and compare it to what is displayed in the caller ID. If the two did not match, the phone never rings and I get an entry into the call log telling me about what happened. If the source and the caller ID do match, then, and only then, will the phone ring. This was all incorporated into the base Android operating system.
Exactly at the same time Google was doing it's match routine, I was notified by T-Mobile that they too are not going to ring my phone if the number didn't pass the STIR/SHAKEN test. I don't know what options they offered with that, but all the screening I use is performed by Android. There was no charge for this T-Mobile improvement either, and that was due to it being an FCC directive. I'm sure they would never do such a thing on their own.
So, you see, something has in fact been done to contain those robot callers, and it's all free. I don't know how Ooma gets away with charging you for the service, but it's probably something above and beyond what the FCC has mandated.
I agree with you 110% regarding the uselessness of those DoNotCall listings services. I signed up the first year it was available but never did after that. I don't answer unrecognized calls for the same reason I don't subscribe to those lists. They are just aggregators of known good phone numbers that generate lists to sell to telemarketers. Now, if I could only find a way to filter e-mail ... LOL
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
I use Ooma because you only buy the equipment and it is free after that, except for the government taxes we all have to pay.
Mine usually runs around 3 to 5 bucks a month in taxes. The 9 bucks for added services is extra fee I can drop at any time.
Comcast want's to charge 19.99 per month for VOIP which sounds steep to me since it includes nothing, and you still pay a lease on the equipment or buy your own.
When the frau had an Android Schmartz-Fone, she never got a spam call. But now that we've switched to Consumer Cellular, we are getting a few of them again, not many though. I can block any that do come in though.
No, having Ooma is FREE except for the tax. There is an optional package that is 9 bucks a month that includes all kinds of things like call waiting, call forwarding, receive a new call while you are on a call, and set up a directory for two touch dialing, etc. lot's of things I would never use. But the ability to block a number with a message or other option to the caller is also part of the package. I think NoMoRobo and other call blocking services might be part of the original system and actually free.
Unfortunately, I have to answer my phone, because I get calls from new folks all the time, either customers who bought my product, other authors, friends I've not heard from in decades, etc. I only have people I call often in my phone dial list.
Mine usually runs around 3 to 5 bucks a month in taxes. The 9 bucks for added services is extra fee I can drop at any time.
Comcast want's to charge 19.99 per month for VOIP which sounds steep to me since it includes nothing, and you still pay a lease on the equipment or buy your own.
When the frau had an Android Schmartz-Fone, she never got a spam call. But now that we've switched to Consumer Cellular, we are getting a few of them again, not many though. I can block any that do come in though.
No, having Ooma is FREE except for the tax. There is an optional package that is 9 bucks a month that includes all kinds of things like call waiting, call forwarding, receive a new call while you are on a call, and set up a directory for two touch dialing, etc. lot's of things I would never use. But the ability to block a number with a message or other option to the caller is also part of the package. I think NoMoRobo and other call blocking services might be part of the original system and actually free.
Unfortunately, I have to answer my phone, because I get calls from new folks all the time, either customers who bought my product, other authors, friends I've not heard from in decades, etc. I only have people I call often in my phone dial list.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
OK on the Ooma option package. My only direct experience with it is that my neighbor in my old house used it and every time I called him the service was not available. LOL He wasn't too happy either but apparently the cost was what he liked as well. Back in the old days I was in the same situation you are in where it was nearly a necessity to answer all calls. When I got a telemarketer I would simply put the receiver down on the desktop and let them talk to dead air. At times I would put them on hold, but they can generally tell when that happened. My thinking was that the more they talked to me (while I was not listening) the less they would be bothering somebody else. I recall one caller who was a female probably working out of her home. She obviously was new because she read the entire script she was programmed to read and never once stopped to see if I was responding. The phone laid on the desktop for at least 5 minutes. Sounds short, but when you are delivering a spam message that is an eternity. Usually the dial tone coming back was the cue that the caller hung up, but I heard no dial tone and was curious. Just before hanging up I listened and heard her still babbling. She finally did stop and all I said was , "Sorry, I'm not intereste." I would have loved to seen the expression on her face at that moment. 
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
There were things before Ooma, like Magic Jack and others that were downright horrible.
I have never been disappointed in my Ooma, and I have one of their early models, the new ones are even greater yet.
I used to put telemarketers, back when they were live, on speaker fone so I could make some type of response when they needed on. I could keep one of them going on for a long time, hi hi. Every once in a while I would get a really good one who knew how to respond to objections quite well.
My brother did something I thought was really cool for awhile. He had an old Delay Tape Machine from a small radio station.
It was a buffer between a phone caller and what was heard over the public airwaves. I think it was a 7 second delay, which gave them time to bleep out a foul word or two.
He used the old telephone modem cradle you set a telephone receiver in, and the machine copied what the person was saying, and then fed it back into the mouthpiece. This caused some of those telemarketing calls to go on for 15 minutes or more, hi hi.
I had an old answering machine that quit working, but would still activate and play the loop tape one cycle.
I made a recording of a comedian who said "Hey, Somebody's at the Door" and hooked it up to our doorbell.
It was loud too, probably could hear it outside. It got a lot of laughs from visitors, hi hi.
I have never been disappointed in my Ooma, and I have one of their early models, the new ones are even greater yet.
I used to put telemarketers, back when they were live, on speaker fone so I could make some type of response when they needed on. I could keep one of them going on for a long time, hi hi. Every once in a while I would get a really good one who knew how to respond to objections quite well.
My brother did something I thought was really cool for awhile. He had an old Delay Tape Machine from a small radio station.
It was a buffer between a phone caller and what was heard over the public airwaves. I think it was a 7 second delay, which gave them time to bleep out a foul word or two.
He used the old telephone modem cradle you set a telephone receiver in, and the machine copied what the person was saying, and then fed it back into the mouthpiece. This caused some of those telemarketing calls to go on for 15 minutes or more, hi hi.
I had an old answering machine that quit working, but would still activate and play the loop tape one cycle.
I made a recording of a comedian who said "Hey, Somebody's at the Door" and hooked it up to our doorbell.
It was loud too, probably could hear it outside. It got a lot of laughs from visitors, hi hi.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
VOIP services such as Oomla make one wonder why landline phone companies are still in business. Our phone is part of the Spectrum cable service and no dout it is digital and probably using VOIP technology. Whatever it is, it certainly isn't free as is your Oomla. As mentioned earlier that phone is only a backup and only two people we know call us regularly on that number. When I make outgoing calls it's typically on that line too. I guess I'm just old fashioned because most folks are using their smartphones exclusively. I like the touch and feel of a real receiver but that particular phone is just sitting on the side not being used. The cordless phone is the go-to device, and being portable is a plus. If it runs out of battery power, then I would switch to the desktop phone. I haven't bought one in many years, and I would not be surprised if they don't make them any more.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
Ooma works with Landline telephones, including cordless portables. And although I have two phone numbers, they are on the same phone line, so my two-line business phone only uses one of the lines now.
I have a desk phone here on my desk, and portable phones on each side of our bed at home.
Debi uses her Schmartz-Fone for nearly everything now too. I have a flip-fone in my back pocket, just got a new one in fact.
But when I make a call, it is usually from my desk phone here in the office.
It's a nice AT&T branded phone with a huge display and all kinds of features.
My original Ooma box I got on sale for like 99 bucks. Now they are 129 bucks I think.
I thought about buying their newer style for 129 bucks because it has some added features, like the ability to use LINK phones with it, and use it like an Echo device too. But since it sits on top of a book case down in Debi's office, I probably wouldn't use any of the free add-on features, hi hi. Debi can control our Schmartz devices from her Schmartz-Fone, so she rarely uses the Echo devices unless she's standing by one, and her phone is in another room. If she forgets which room she left her phone in, she can tell Alexa "call my phone" and it will ring her Schmartz-Fone, hi hi.
I have a desk phone here on my desk, and portable phones on each side of our bed at home.
Debi uses her Schmartz-Fone for nearly everything now too. I have a flip-fone in my back pocket, just got a new one in fact.
But when I make a call, it is usually from my desk phone here in the office.
It's a nice AT&T branded phone with a huge display and all kinds of features.
My original Ooma box I got on sale for like 99 bucks. Now they are 129 bucks I think.
I thought about buying their newer style for 129 bucks because it has some added features, like the ability to use LINK phones with it, and use it like an Echo device too. But since it sits on top of a book case down in Debi's office, I probably wouldn't use any of the free add-on features, hi hi. Debi can control our Schmartz devices from her Schmartz-Fone, so she rarely uses the Echo devices unless she's standing by one, and her phone is in another room. If she forgets which room she left her phone in, she can tell Alexa "call my phone" and it will ring her Schmartz-Fone, hi hi.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
You and I probably have the same model desktop phone from AT&T. The display is large and readable but it is LCD. That kind of display is ideal for the phone line power but I prefer something with a higher contrast ratio. In any case, since we moved to Missouri that phone has been connected but never used. The cordless is the primary landline connection here.
I'm the last guy you want to talk to about Oomla because all I know about it is what you told me and the experiences my former neighbor related to me. I don't know what technology is behind it but having two numbers on a single wire suggests digital underpinnings.
My wife is fascinated by all the high tech gizmos she sees advertised in spite of the fact she doesn't know much about how they work or all that they are capable of doing. Given that background she bought an Echo for me the year they first were introduced. If she would have asked first I would have discouraged her because I don't need any more devices capable of listening in to my daily life affairs other than I already have. But, just because she made the effort I did set it up. It came with a remote light bulb which was the only device ever attached to it. Besides being a nosy kind of listening device, it also used up a port on my router. Well, all I can say is that only lasted a couple weeks. It's still buried in the closet somewhere for my great grand children to find some day and wonder what the hell it was used for.
I'm the last guy you want to talk to about Oomla because all I know about it is what you told me and the experiences my former neighbor related to me. I don't know what technology is behind it but having two numbers on a single wire suggests digital underpinnings.
My wife is fascinated by all the high tech gizmos she sees advertised in spite of the fact she doesn't know much about how they work or all that they are capable of doing. Given that background she bought an Echo for me the year they first were introduced. If she would have asked first I would have discouraged her because I don't need any more devices capable of listening in to my daily life affairs other than I already have. But, just because she made the effort I did set it up. It came with a remote light bulb which was the only device ever attached to it. Besides being a nosy kind of listening device, it also used up a port on my router. Well, all I can say is that only lasted a couple weeks. It's still buried in the closet somewhere for my great grand children to find some day and wonder what the hell it was used for.
Re: Reeading on Easter Morning
My very first cordless phone was the best of any I've ever owned since then.
It came with a leather belt pouch to carry it on your belt, and it had a range of over 1000 feet. Good signal anywhere on our property. If I recall, it worked around the 33 mHz frequency. It had six batteries slightly larger than a double A battery in diameter, and about as long as a triple A battery. Could have been Nicad C+. The base for it got stolen from my house while I was in the month long process of moving out. One of the things I liked about it, was to hang up your flipped a switch on the top, easy to get to. While all the newer ones had a button if you bumped the phone came on and you didn't know it, plus the new ones didn't have near the range of the old originals.
Ooma is the top rated VOIP phone service, and does not require a computer or router, unless you go wireless, it does need a high speed Internet connection though. It works better if used direct to the cable than when using a router, especially a WiFi router.
Let's say you have 6 landline phones in your house, that were working on the MaBell System.
When you get an Ooma, you just plug the phone jack into an phone outlet and all 6 landline phones will work as before.
You should disconnect the MaBell System at the outside box so their ringer doesn't mess up your system.
You can buy a second Ooma Telo and use it for a second phone number, so in my case, if I did, all of my phone jacks have two plugs one for each phone number, and the upper jack is wired for two line phone, hmm so is the bottom one, it's just a matter of which pins you connect where, basically reverse the wiring on the bottom one from the top one. So if you have Red Yellow Black Green on the top one, on the bottom one make it Yellow Red Green Black, then a two line phone will work in either, and a single line phone will work on one number in the top and the other number in the bottom socket.
FWIW: The phone in my office is 200 feet of the twisted pair down to the house and my phone works great on Ooma up here too.
The Echo device only listens for the word Alexa to turn on listening for a command. It does not eavesdrop!
I have an Echo Dot in my office (used to be in the house), we got an Echo with a display for down at the house. We use it as an intercom. But since it is on two separate WiFi systems, sometimes the voice is not perfectly clear.
I have a few smart plugs in use, and can control them from either Echo device. Was actually thinking about getting a third device for the bedroom, since we do use it to listen to music. The new one with the video screen has much better music quality than the original Echo Dot. We have the camera turned off, and when you turn off the camera, it also places a plastic cover over the lens.
This way you know it is off for sure, hi hi.
It came with a leather belt pouch to carry it on your belt, and it had a range of over 1000 feet. Good signal anywhere on our property. If I recall, it worked around the 33 mHz frequency. It had six batteries slightly larger than a double A battery in diameter, and about as long as a triple A battery. Could have been Nicad C+. The base for it got stolen from my house while I was in the month long process of moving out. One of the things I liked about it, was to hang up your flipped a switch on the top, easy to get to. While all the newer ones had a button if you bumped the phone came on and you didn't know it, plus the new ones didn't have near the range of the old originals.
Ooma is the top rated VOIP phone service, and does not require a computer or router, unless you go wireless, it does need a high speed Internet connection though. It works better if used direct to the cable than when using a router, especially a WiFi router.
Let's say you have 6 landline phones in your house, that were working on the MaBell System.
When you get an Ooma, you just plug the phone jack into an phone outlet and all 6 landline phones will work as before.
You should disconnect the MaBell System at the outside box so their ringer doesn't mess up your system.
You can buy a second Ooma Telo and use it for a second phone number, so in my case, if I did, all of my phone jacks have two plugs one for each phone number, and the upper jack is wired for two line phone, hmm so is the bottom one, it's just a matter of which pins you connect where, basically reverse the wiring on the bottom one from the top one. So if you have Red Yellow Black Green on the top one, on the bottom one make it Yellow Red Green Black, then a two line phone will work in either, and a single line phone will work on one number in the top and the other number in the bottom socket.
FWIW: The phone in my office is 200 feet of the twisted pair down to the house and my phone works great on Ooma up here too.
The Echo device only listens for the word Alexa to turn on listening for a command. It does not eavesdrop!
I have an Echo Dot in my office (used to be in the house), we got an Echo with a display for down at the house. We use it as an intercom. But since it is on two separate WiFi systems, sometimes the voice is not perfectly clear.
I have a few smart plugs in use, and can control them from either Echo device. Was actually thinking about getting a third device for the bedroom, since we do use it to listen to music. The new one with the video screen has much better music quality than the original Echo Dot. We have the camera turned off, and when you turn off the camera, it also places a plastic cover over the lens.
This way you know it is off for sure, hi hi.