On 26/12/2021 19.35, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
>> On 02/12/2021 21.16, sms wrote:
>>> On 12/2/2021 10:55 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>>    So sms is right that not *many* people do, but nospam is kind of right
>>>> as well, assuming he means that (quite?) *some* people still do.
>>>
>>> Those pay-per-minute calls still exist, but they're becoming rarer, both
>>> in the companies that offer them and the people that use them. At least
>>> in the U.S. they are for a) people that use their phones only for urgent
>>> use and b) for people that don't realize that they're often paying _way_
>>> more than they'd pay on an inexpensive monthly plan or yearly plan.
>>
>> You forget that sometimes we keep a phone only to receive calls, not to
>> make them.
>
> Yes, that's - as I wrote in the '<snip>' part - our main use as well.
>
> BTW, speaking about "only to receive calls", this afternoon our
> VOIP-based 'landline' became receive-only. Rebooting the (cable)
> modem/router/phone-adapter solved that problem. Weird!

Weird.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 12/26/2021 10:46 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> > The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 12/26/2021 04:46 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> > [...]
> >
> >> > Here there is something called "Robinson List"?¹?. If you inscribe
> >> > there, companies are obligated to check that list, and do not call those
> >> > numbers. The trick is hiring a calling company not on our soil, and
> >> > those ignore the Robinson List, not bound by our laws. But still, they
> >> > use an actual phone number to do the calling, so they are easy to filter
> >> > out.
> >>
> >> I forget where "here" is for you. ...
> >
> > Carlos' home country is shown in his email address:
> >
> > <robin_listas@es.invalid>
> >
> > 'es' = Spain (España)
>
> Si, comprendo. I usually ignore everything except the word that comes
> before .com -- my only excuse.
>
> > 'Country code top-level domain' -> '3 Lists'
> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code_top-level_domain#Lists>
> >
> > If you're unsure if a top-level domain (TLD) is a country TLD or not,
> > first go to:
> >
> > 'List of Internet top-level domains'
> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains>
>
> I saved a nice text list of only abbreviations and countries SOMEWHERE
> as a text file. Unfortunately I can't remember its name. :-(

That's why <insert_diety> invented find, xargs and grep, didn't she?

On 12/27/2021 02:53 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 12/26/2021 10:46 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>> > The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On 12/26/2021 04:46 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>> > [...]
>> >
>> >> > Here there is something called "Robinson List"?¹?. If you inscribe
>> >> > there, companies are obligated to check that list, and do not call those
>> >> > numbers. The trick is hiring a calling company not on our soil, and
>> >> > those ignore the Robinson List, not bound by our laws. But still, they
>> >> > use an actual phone number to do the calling, so they are easy to filter
>> >> > out.
>> >>
>> >> I forget where "here" is for you. ...
>> >
>> > Carlos' home country is shown in his email address:
>> >
>> > <robin_listas@es.invalid>
>> >
>> > 'es' = Spain (España)
>>
>> Si, comprendo. I usually ignore everything except the word that comes
>> before .com -- my only excuse.
>>
>> > 'Country code top-level domain' -> '3 Lists'
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code_top-level_domain#Lists>
>> >
>> > If you're unsure if a top-level domain (TLD) is a country TLD or not,
>> > first go to:
>> >
>> > 'List of Internet top-level domains'
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains>
>>
>> I saved a nice text list of only abbreviations and countries SOMEWHERE
>> as a text file. Unfortunately I can't remember its name. :-(
>
> That's why <insert_diety> invented find, xargs and grep, didn't she?

I always forget about grepping :-( Worked like a charm. I actually had
several other files that contained "yugoslavia".

--
Cheers, Bev
You know how dumb the average person is?
Well, by definition, half are *even dumber*!

The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 12/27/2021 02:53 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> > The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
[...]

> >> I saved a nice text list of only abbreviations and countries SOMEWHERE
> >> as a text file. Unfortunately I can't remember its name. :-(
> >
> > That's why <insert_diety> invented find, xargs and grep, didn't she?
>
> I always forget about grepping :-( Worked like a charm. I actually had
> several other files that contained "yugoslavia".

I use grep(1) a lot. Nearly all of my notes and other 'documentation'
are in plain text files, so if I need to find something, I first search
on one or more strings in the filename and if that doesn't work, I just
use "grep <regular_expression> *" and nearly always find what I looking
for.

Of course other tools can do similar things, but at least on Windows,
those tools probably don't have the power of the regular expressions
which grep(1) offers.

On 03/12/2021 13.25, nospam wrote:
> In article <socrh3$rhk$1@dont-email.me>, sms
> <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Back in the dark ages when my son was driving between home and Berkeley
>>> he would stop at the halfway point (when he refilled the tank) and call
>>> us collect.  We would, of course, refuse the call.  "I'm not dead yet"
>>> calls are way better than NOT getting them.  Now I use most of  my
>>> precious minutes to let my husband know that I didn't get killed skiing.
>>
>> We called that "signaling." I remember my mom telling my brother, who
>> was driving back to college, "signal when you get there."
>>
>> Try explaining that to a millenial.
>
> try explaining a rotary dial phone to a millennial.
>
> or just let two 17 year olds try to figure it out on their own:
> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHNEzndgiFI>
>

:-D

Pity I don't have any such phone here, the telephone company retrieved
them, then destroyed them all (officially at least).

I don't see it as hilarious, though. It is funny, but they are reacting
normally.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 03/12/2021 14.20, sms wrote:
> On 12/2/2021 11:06 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> Remember Captain Crunch and blue boxes?  Everybody at Caltech made LD
>> devices until it was announced that the honor code disallowed them.
>> People stopped using them.
>
> Also the Black Box, which Ramparts magazine (now Mother Jones)
> published. It allowed you to receive calls free of charge to the caller.
> AT&T forced them to recall the issue. The Black box needed only one
> resistor, one capacitor, one toggle switch, and one pushbutton switch.
> See <http://explodingthephone.com/docs/dbx0431.pdf>. It worked by making
> it appear that the called party never answered the phone. There was also
> the Red Box, that simulated the sound of coins dropping into a pay phone
> slot. It was interesting times.

They didn't caught up here (Spain), AFAIR.

We had other tricks, though. On a pay phone, wrap the handset "wire"
around a kitchen gas lighter, of the type that produces electrical
sparks. Apparently, the circuitry broke down and allowed the call to happen.

(Spanish press article on it)
<https://elpais.com/diario/1980/10/04/madrid/339510256_850215.html>

I heard about college students connecting a Sinclair ZX81 or a Spectrum
to a pay phone to analyze signals and "hack" it somehow. They were
nearly caught, had to explain what they were doing to a police car
passing by, and succeeded :-D

(I don't remember if they succeeded at the hack, though)

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On 11/28/2021 2:42 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
> Pixel2 using the 'phone' app that came with it.  Google is very good
> about labeling calls 'spam calls' but then it lets them go through. This
> crap has cost m4 $2.50 in the last month.  I pay $10/year for the
> prepaid plan and (obviously)  make very few calls, so you can see why
> I'm pissed.

Not sure if you saw this
<https://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1923883-Legacy-Gold-Rewards-quot-You-must-have-enough-in-your-prepaid-service-balance-quot>.

Apparently you only have to add $1 per year now, at least until and
unless they bother to correct this.