anyone remember the National Do Not Call Registry? wow what a joke..
quote:
National Do (not) Call List
January 15th, 2009
Canada’s Radio-Television and Telecommunications regulator, the CRTC, launched the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) on September 30, 2008 providing Canadians a way to “reduce the number of telemarketing calls (that) you receive”. Registration on the DNCL is valid for three year and it may take up to 31 days for you number to be “removed” from all telemarketing lists. Now before you go running over to the DNCL read the rest of the post.
Many who have registered on the DNCL list are reporting not a decrease but an increase of telemarketing calls to registered numbers-myself included. This influx is most likely due to the DNCL falling into the “wrong hands”. Getting your hands on Canada’s Do Not Call List is as easy posing as a telemarketing company. Once you have secured the list starting call-the list is fresh and contains million of numbers of Canadians across the country. Not only does the DNCL have a number of exceptions but if the calls originate from outside of Canada-the CRTC has no authority.
If you are getting a few to no telemarketing calls currently I would suggest not registering with the DNCL. Instead when you do receive an unwanted call kindly let them know that you are not interested and to please add your number to their internal do not call list so they do not call again. If you have already signed up for the DNCL and are still receiving telemarketing calls ask them kindly to add your number to their internal do not call list and to please not call back.
Registered with the do-not-call list? Expect more calls, says consumer watchdog
Last Updated: Friday, January 23, 2009 | 1:42 PM ET
By Sharon Oosthoek, CBC News
Canada's highly touted do-not-call list is having the opposite effect, leading to more telemarketer calls, says the Consumers' Association of Canada.
"It's a travesty," president Bruce Cran said Friday. "Here we have all these people thinking they were getting rid of incoming phone calls. Anyone who is registered should suspect their phone number is being broadcast to the four winds."
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission launched the registry in September to great fanfare, promising that those who registered would see a drop in unwanted calls soliciting goods and service. Millions of Canadians have registered their names, home phone numbers and in some cases their cellphone numbers.
The problem, said Cran, is that the CRTC sells the registry list online. "In Toronto, you can get 600,000 names for $50," he said.
Telemarketers are required to subscribe to the list, paying an annual fee that depends on how often they chose to download updates. Those who violate the list by calling registrants may be fined up to $15,000 per call.
Chilliwack, B.C., real estate consultant Jim Stocco said he suspects the "avalanche of calls" he and his wife have been fielding lately is a result of having registered with the do-not-call list.
Before registering, Stocco had managed to bring unwanted phone solicitations down to about one a week by calling back telemarketers and asking them to take his phone number off their list.
"This do-not-call registry has made things worse. We now get five or six calls a day," he said. "We both work at home and have clients across North America so we will answer calls. It has been a major irritant."
Stocco said when he tries to call telemarketers back to ask that his number be taken off their list, he gets a voice mailbox that does not accept messages.
Glenn Thibeault, NDP critic for consumer protection, wrote to the federal privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart on Jan. 16 urging her to investigate.
"When the service is not only ineffective but assists in worsening the problem, Canadians have a right to be concerned, " he said.
A spokesperson for the commissioner said Friday that she was aware of the problem before being contacted by Thibeault.
"We are concerned as well," said Heather Ormerod. "We are in contact with the CRTC and trying to gather relevant information to see how to proceed."
The past few days, my internet has been unstable ... called Bell and they replaced my modem with this one.
Pretty nice , DSL Modem + Wireless Router. This new modem is blazing fast.
When did this come out? I've been using that cheese ass speadstream modem for ages and finally it conked out on me.
dEsidEL
thugz love iPhones too..
quote:
Remarkably Clear Video Catches $20,000 iPhone Heist In Action
Monday January 26, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
Hidden cameras are everywhere these days, a fact armed robbers are learning to their dismay.
Now Toronto Police are hoping two more bandits feel that same regret, as the search for the duo responsible for a gunpoint robbery at a North York store in late 2008 heats up.
Unlike some security video footage, the crime caught on tape at a Dufferin and Lawrence Ave. cell phone store on November 1st is remarkably clear and shows the thugs pointing guns at the terrified workers, forcing them to dump as much merchandise as possible into green garbage bags.
There's some great clues but despite that, the case is at a standstill. So police have released the video in hopes someone recognizes the disguised culprits, who made off with $20,000 in iPhones.
They're described as:
#1
Black,
25,
5'9",
Slim build
He was wearing a dark green cloth jacket with fur trim around the hood.
#2
Black,
25,
Shorter than the first suspect,
Medium build.
He was wearing dark clothing and had a white cloth covering his face.
Free Hotmail POP3 access now available and Hotmail updatesSean Bradford on 14 January 2009 - 05:43, updated 15 January 2009 - 16:26 • 92 comments & 19423 views
Advertisement (Why?)
So now that we've all recovered from the CES 2009, everyone is back to business including the folks up in Redmond, WA. It has been confirmed that Microsoft has started rolling out another major update of Windows Live Hotmail, which includes POP access as discussed in my interview with Ryan Gavin and Dharmesh Mehta.
Last week we reported a rumour that Microsoft was about to offer POP3 access to Hotmail users at no extra charge.
Microsoft has confirmed the rumour via its Windows Live Wire blog today. POP3 access is now available to Hotmail users in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Microsoft plans to roll out POP3 access to more parts of the world later this year. You can find the settings below:
POP server: pop3.live.com
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example [email protected][/email]
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes
Another new feature that is rolling out is "Quick Add". During Steve Ballmer's keynote, there was a short demo showing this new feature. So in case you missed the live stream, here we go.
Lets say that you're on vacation or a business trip and you just arrived to your destination. Your friends and family want to meet up later that night for dinner, but not everyone is familiar with the city. So you open Windows Live Hotmail and start preparing your e-mail with the time and place of your dinner affair, but you want to include the address and a link for directions. So you open up Quick Add while creating a new message (Screenshot).
Now you start your search for some nice restaurants for your affair. Once you've found your destination, you can either click "Insert" or "More Info". When you click "More Info" (Screenshot), you are brought to a Windows Live Search page. Once you've entered that page you will see a mapped location and some reviews if anyone has posted them. So now that you've picked your destination, you're ready to insert it into your e-mail by simply clicking "Insert" (Screenshot). So now you have the name, address, and more information ready for your friends and family.
That is only one scenario that this new feature will be able to do. Consumers will also be able to search for business listings, videos, and images. The beauty of QuickAdd is that it's automatically loaded when you open a New Message, located on the right side of the message pane.
"POP3 access is now available to Hotmail users in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Microsoft plans to roll out POP3 access to more parts of the world later this year."
Plugged it into my iPhone with the most basic setup. It gave me a warning that I have to subscribe to a fee & I hit next .... everything works. I double checked the settings and it's same listed here
POP server: pop3.live.com
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example [email][email protected]
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes
Anyone tried this on any other device? If so did it work?
dEsidEL
^^^
i just configured this on Outlook on my computer and it seems to work although I can't seem to get the outgoing SMTP server to work.
yikes.. now it's downloading a 130 mb mail file.. i shoulda cleaned out first .. :wtf:
E2EK1EL
Just got it working on a Treo also.
LOL 2G mode times out when I'm trying to gather 4456 e.mails
schiraldihno
quote:
Originally posted by E2EK1EL
The past few days, my internet has been unstable ... called Bell and they replaced my modem with this one.
Pretty nice , DSL Modem + Wireless Router. This new modem is blazing fast.
When did this come out? I've been using that cheese ass speadstream modem for ages and finally it conked out on me.
Ive had this modem for roughly a year. Ur right it seems to be alot quicker and I love it because the IP address doesn't change everytime I turn off the computer. (running server)
E2EK1EL
quote:
Originally posted by schiraldihno
Ive had this modem for roughly a year. Ur right it seems to be alot quicker and I love it because the IP address doesn't change everytime I turn off the computer. (running server)
A year? ... should of called bell to see what new modems they had.
dEsidEL
quote:
Originally posted by E2EK1EL
POP server: pop3.live.com
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example [email protected]
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes
has anyone managed to send mail through the SMTP server using Outlook on their computer? i can only seem to receive mail on the POP3..
dEsidEL
you'd think there's gotta be a reason why Apple didn't go after RIM or any other manufacturers for their multi-touch phone but threatens to sue Palm for theirs...
quote:
Apple May Use ‘Nuclear Arsenal’ to Delay IPhone Rival(Update1)
By Connie Guglielmo and Susan Decker
Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., usually on the defensive when it comes to intellectual-property lawsuits, is threatening to use its hoard of patents to quash iPhone competitors.
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, pledged in January to go after companies that copy the iPhone’s patented features. Apple won its latest patent Jan. 20 for so-called multitouch technology, which lets people work the iPhone by touching the screen with two fingers and making swiping motions.
Apple’s stance is an effort to threaten the new touch-screen Pre phone, the linchpin to Palm Inc.’s comeback plan, said Morgan Chu, a patent lawyer at Irell & Manella in Los Angeles. Cook’s comments don’t mean Apple will actually seek a court order to stop the Pre, which is due for release in the next few months. Instead, the company may try to intimidate Palm and other rivals into working around its patents, forcing them to cut features or delay production.
“The best deterrent of a nuclear arsenal is not to use it,” Chu said in an interview. “If I believe there is a high probability of getting sued by going down a specific path, I may go down a different path.”
Apple is turning the iPhone into its third main business, alongside the Macintosh computer and iPod. The company surpassed a goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008, and may sell 28 million units this year, according to Piper Jaffray & Co.
“A lot of people are looking at that longingly, and not just Palm,” said Robert Yoches, a patent lawyer at Finnegan Henderson in Washington, referring to the iPhone’s sales. “Don’t be surprised if 2009 has a lot of suits both by and against Apple.”
Palm’s Losses
Palm, a pioneer in the smart-phone market, is counting on the Pre to regain customers lost to Apple and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry. The company says multitouch technology dates back to the mid-1980s.
“If we are faced with legal action, we are confident that we have the tools necessary to defend ourselves,” said Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for Sunnyvale, California-based Palm.
Apple rose 19 cents to $90.32 at 9:43 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock tumbled 57 percent last year. Palm dropped 11 cents to $7.56. The shares have more than doubled since Palm demonstrated the Pre at a Jan. 8 conference.
“We’ll use whatever weapons we have at our disposal” to protect Apple’s intellectual property, Cook said on a conference call with analysts on Jan. 21, the day after the multitouch patent was awarded. Cook, who is running Apple during Steve Jobs’s medical leave, declined to name the companies that Apple might go after.
‘Magic’ Software
Eschewing the styluses used with other touch screens, Jobs sought a pointing device for the iPhone that was familiar, easy to use and not easily lost: fingers.
“We have invented a new technology called multitouch, which is phenomenal,” Jobs said after unveiling the iPhone in 2007, describing the input system as “magic.” “And boy, have we patented it.”
Apple’s competitors dispute that it invented the basics of multitouch screens, and other companies have their own patents related to the technology. Nokia Oyj, Samsung Electronics Co. and Research In Motion all sell phones with touch-screens.
Apple more often is on the receiving end of patent- infringement suits, typically by individuals or small companies that don’t make competing products. Apple faced nine patent suits as of November, according to its annual report.
Patent Deterrent
The existence of other patents on multitouch technology could be enough of a deterrent to keep Apple from filing suit.
“You don’t see Apple suing many companies,” said James Hanft, a patent lawyer with Darby & Darby in New York. Filing a suit would be “a philosophical shift for them. They probably see people attacking their market share.”
Palm’s Pre, which has a slide-out keyboard in addition to its multitouch screen, was developed under the leadership of Chairman Jonathan Rubinstein. He ran the iPod business at Apple before joining Palm in 2007.
It would be expensive and difficult for Palm to make any changes to the Pre’s design or software now, said Matt Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities in Boston. He has a neutral rating on Palm’s shares.
“There is a lot riding on this for Palm, and a legal dogfight could cost in the millions,” Thornton said.
Apple may be more successful fighting off competitors in the marketplace than in the courtroom, Yoches said.
“Apple has never been successful in the past in keeping people out of the market by using its patent portfolio,” he said. “What’s important is how fast you can get out on the market and make a name for yourself.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at [email protected][/email]; Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at [email][email protected]
