Subj : Support And Scams To : Barry Martin From : Daryl Stout Date : Mon Jul 06 2020 14:55:00 Barry, DS> Paul, BM> (You must not have had your reading glasses on and didn't recognize BM> me!) You're lucky I didn't call you Nancy...you might have thought you had undergone a sex change, and didn't know it. BM> Heck, half the 'tech support' at the tech suppport sites don't know BM> what's going on: "please reboot", or pull up what the customer's BM> complaint is in the database and follow the instructions. If works, BM> great, if not, put on that Really Concerned "It's serious!" Face and BM> pass the device on to the next support level. Like some of the questions to tech support. One woman didn't realize she plugged the power strip into itself, and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. Another woman, to free up space, deleted all the pickled files (dills). Those were the data link libraries (DLL's)...no wonder her system crashed. One tech support guy got fired after one of these idiots called, and he told her "Unplug your computer, box it up, and return it to the store for a refund. You're too stupid to own a computer". BM> Quite sure the WalMart folks got similar training to what we got at my BM> store: "this is the very basic stuff, a few sprinkles of slightly more BM> advanced stuff in order to up-sell and make the copmany more money, and BM> if you're on any sort of commission to make a little more in your BM> paycheck". I had an advantage of having done hobbyist electronics for BM> around twenty years prior. At least with T-Mobile and Verizon, I can talk to someone in person, and not have to call a toll free number, and wait for a half hour to speak to someone with a funky accident. I hear India got a gold medal at the Olympics for telemarketing. BM> I'm less tolerant and if happen to answer the phone will just say BM> something like 'no thanks' or 'not interested' and hang up on them. I keep getting calls from an 876 area code. That's Jamaica, and it's likely a scam operation. I've blocked it on my smartphones. There's a bulletin on the BBS, entitled "Fraud: You Win To Lose". BM> Assuming the FAX machine is connected in and configured correctly it BM> should work: the machine is designed to work with a regular telephone BM> line -- which just reminded me: regular landlines are sort of analog. Well, the ARQ/FAX light on the modem is flashing, which means it's ready to accept calls. BM> the outputs were for digital phones; the FAX machine had to be on one BM> of the 'standard' lines. Most of those standard lines aren't available anymore. BM> I'm three-quarters remembering you do not have a landline, two digital BM> phones, and some sort of special phone for Ham communications (VoIP?). BM> I don't think any will allow the FAX machine to connect properly, BM> though the Ham Phone might have a FAX port or some way to configure an BM> output to make the FAX machine happy. You're probably right. I have a T-Mobile cellphone, which is now my answering machine, and good for texts, and a Verizon cellphone, which is for phone, texts, and limited surfing, and email checks. BM> Quite sure one can -- I'm got an internal modem card I removed from a BM> computer ages ago -- not sure why keeping other than it's small and so BM> doesn't take up much room in the storage box and does have potential BM> use to me or maybe someone. Also have an external modem in storage. BM> Takes more room but otherwise ditto. Thunderstorms have been scattred around (they are even now), but after being down for a bit yesterday morning, the system has been up since then. BM> And that's how lawyers get their big bucks: looking at all those BM> details! DS> They also call a 137 page document a "brief". :P BM> At least they acknowledge by hauling them around in brief cases! Touche'. BM> The local DMV/County General Store (one half is the state Department of BM> Motor Vehicles, the other half is for Scott County stuff: deeds, BM> licenses, -- pretty much everything that could be done at the City Hall BM> offices without the parking hassles) was closed for a few weeks because BM> someone tested positive for COVID-19 and so they just closed the place BM> and disinfected. (Similar for the I-74 Bridge being constructed -- one BM> of the construction works tested positive so they temporarily shut BM> down.) The Little Rock Zoo, which had been closed due to COVID-19, had reopened, but it was soon shut down again until further notice, as 3 employees tested positive for COVID-19. DS> colonoscopies. He said he was careful not to bend over if she was DS> behind him. BM> ...It's too early! I was trying to figure out how to make a joke out of BM> her drawing a blood sample while he was in the 'colonoscopy position'! Never mind dancing cheek to cheek. Daryl .... We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then, it gets worse. === MultiMail/Win v0.52 --- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (454:1/33) .