$120 Million Fine for "Spoofing" Phone Numbers
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
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- 9 years ago
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better get the right phone number
Comments (20)I've been responsible for two doozies in the last couple of years. Both times I was trying to call my neighbor. I suppose it would help if I said "hello" and made small talk before I started saying things, but I'm more of a "stream of consciousness" conversationalist. The first of these was a couple summers ago at the height of Japanese Beetle season. I'd been out handpicking the buggers and drowning them in soapy water. I tried to rope the neighbor kids into helping me a la Tom Sawyer, and when that failed, I tried to make a game of it, "Let's have a contest to see who can drown the most Japanese Beetles! The rules are that I can only catch them in my garden, but you can catch them in your mom's garden and in mine!" The monkeys (my neighbor's pet name for her kids) didn't bite at that either, so I just went about my business with the beetles. The next day, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pile of dead beetles on my back patio. I assumed it was the kids next door, so I called to thank them. When their mom answered I said "Your monkeys have been busy!" "Pardon me?" "Your monkeys! They went on a killing spree over here! I have a whole stack of corpses on my back patio! I'm thrilled!" "Excuse me?" (long pause...) "I dialed 849-XXXX instead of 850-XXXX, didn't I!" (Our village (yes, we live in one too) only has two prefixes.) "Yes." "I'm so sorry! Nevermind what I said about the bodies!" When I hung up, it took me ten minutes to stop laughing enough to call my neighbor and tell her what I'd done. Recently I called her on inauguration day. She had worked on the campaign and I knew she'd be very emotional about it... but she'd have to keep it on the down-low because she was at her parents' house, and they are staunch Republicans. In an effort to give her an opportunity to let off a little happy steam, I decided to call her on her husband's cell phone. She answered and I said "So are you crying tears of joy?" and she said "Yes I am! It's been a great day! Who is this?" "It's Michelle." "Michelle who?" "Oh crap! Apparently, it's Michelle-the-total-stranger-who-can't-dial-numbers-correctly. I'm just calling to check in on your emotional well-being. I'm happy to hear you're having a great day!" When I finally hung up the phone, I realized I'd managed to chat for over three minutes with a total stranger. Neither of us mentioned why she was happy, which sort of made it even better, because for all I know, she had just received a promotion, or found out she was pregnant (or not!) or any of the millions of other things that can make a person beam with joy. It was a funny conversation that tickled me. And it tickled my neighbor too when I finally managed to dial her number correctly....See MoreDeere L120 Lawn tractor
Comments (9)How about some specific model and type numbers from the engine? "Briggs 20 HP Twin OHV" is still too vague and you can't get to a Briggs site manual without Model & type numbers. Magneto??? Generator??? Your engine has both, and each serves a different goal. Magneto creates the spark for the spark plug ignition. Generator (alternator) provides electrical power for keeping the battery recharged and to address the 12 volt loads of the electric PTO and lights. Magneto problems will not affect the PTO or the operation of the starter. Generator problems will not affect spark. Generator problems certainly will have an influence on whether the PTO works, and whether the battery stays charged to crank the engine. When we get the model & type numbers from you we will be able to look at the IPL and see if your engine has a fuel solenoid. The reason for "need to know" on that is because a Briggs engine that does not have a fuel solenoid will happily continue to run after the fuse you're thinking of blows. In that case, the PTO would quit but the engine would run on. But the next time you tried to start the engine, the blown fuse would prevent the starter from working. IF....the engine DOES have a fuel solenoid, the engine would have died the moment the fuse blew. In fact, the engine dying would probably have been at the top of the complaint because you would have failed to note that the PTO quit. Looking like a problem in the charging system, or a blown fuse to me. But remember, a fuse does not blow without a reason....See Morecell phone do not call number
Comments (6)This was in the Milwaukee Sentinel today: Madison - The state Senate today unanimously voted to add cell phones to the state's "do not call" list and raise the maximum fine for violating that law from $100 to $1,000. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), said it would be the first major expansion of the "do not call" list maintained by the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection since it became law in January 2003. Last year, more than 1 million Wisconsin residential phone lines were covered by the list, Erpenbach added. Letting those with cell phones add them to the list and avoid telemarketers is a "popular public consumer service," and raising the maximum fine for each violation will deter telemarketers from ignoring the list, Erpenbach said. Erpenbach said he expects Republicans, who control the state Assembly, to also pass the measure before the Legislature's scheduled adjournment for the year in mid-March. Under state laws, telemarketers are charged fees that maintain the list....See MoreHave you changed your cell number recently?
Comments (45)I get almost no spam calls on my cell phone, but I also turn it off at night and then turn in back on in the morning when I feel like it. I think it is turned off most of the time, and I figure the battery will last longer that way. I tend not to answer numbers that I do not recognize, but sometimes these calls are from doctors' offices, and I have to call them back. When I first moved to Culver City, I had a phone number that was either previously owned by Larry Welk or was very similar, and on my voice mail, I said "Please leave a message for Larry" because I used that name instead of Lars back then. At one point I started getting a lot of voice mail messages from companies trying to sell me insurance for my helicopter because Larry Welk was a news helicopter pilot for Channel 13. (Larry Welk was/is Lawrence Welk's son, in case you have heard of him.) Finally, to stop the voice mail messages, I changed my greeting to say "Hello, you have reached 310-xxx-xxxx, the house of no Lawrence Welk music. If you think you have reached this number in error, please take two Geritol and dial again in the morning." After having that message on my answering machine, the insurance companies stopped calling me, but my mother got mad because she liked Lawrence Welk and made me change the message....See More- 9 years ago
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