Please read Admin Announcement

[Adminlizzieborden]

viewtopic.php?t=2701

Everyone, please read my latest announcement.

[1bigsteve]

Thank you, Stefani.

-1bigsteve (o:

[Bob Gutowski]

Yes, thank you, Stef!

[twinsrwe]

Thank you, Stefani. This is greatly appreciated.

[Bobbypoz]

Your hard work is appreciated by many. Thanks!

~Bob

[Nadzieja]

Thank you for your hard work, this forum has been so enjoyable I would hate to see anything happen to it.

[Constantine]

That really makes my blood boil! Is there any way to catch those SOB's (or DOB's as the case may be (as anyone with an interest in this case should realize!))?

[RayS]

There is a simple programming change. Just don't allow new members unless they are approved first instead of a default allowance.
(If I understand how this works.)

I wonder how other sites handle this?

[Adminlizzieborden]

Rays, I don't allow new members unless they are approved. However anyone can register to be a member, and that is how the bots join up their spammers. I have to physically approve a member. But the list of those waiting for approval is long each day as the spammers join up.

I have done the research about other sites, and so far there is no good solution. I have been looking for about 7 months.

One solution I read today is a company that will filter all posts and registrations through their server first, elimiating the fake people with fake email addresses. There is a fee for this sevice, and I am not interested in paying anyone to help me sort through this mess. If you do come up with any suggestions that I can use, I would really appreciate it!

[RayS]

Around May 2004 Amazon.com demanded credit card ident to use their reviews. But so many reviewers must have stopped that they ended this practice (or so I know, not much available about their business practices).
At least that did not compromise identity (like a telephone number).

Years ago I had to use my electic bill identifier to get a rebate. These numbers are unique but anonymous to those who don't have inside info.

I wasn't aware that email idents are available. Maybe hiding them would prevent the problem by removing the temptation?

I continue to guard my name & address etc. I certainly don't want any of the cranks to start calling me at home. I get enough harassment calls now (and sales calls for donations).

[theebmonique]

It takes less than 5 minutes to stop/block those harassing calls and most spam emails...and believe it or not, it's painless...and FREE. Of course if you expect someone else to take care it for you, it may take a bit longer.





Tracy...

[RayS]

It takes less than 5 minutes to stop/block those harassing calls and most spam emails...and believe it or not, it's painless...and FREE. Of course if you expect someone else to take care it for you, it may take a bit longer.

Tracy...

But isn't that just what you did? It never ceases to amaze me how some people here think they are so smart when all they do is sing the Lizzie Dunnit theme song.

Years ago I registered to avoid junk regular mail but it still keeps on coming. Less than when I subscribed to magazines. (Their fine print says they will rent out subscriber's lists.)

I also called the telephone number to prevent junk telephone calls. There is a loophole for "charities" (and political fundraisers?). It only works if the business follows those rules, which is not in their interest to do.

So now what???

[theebmonique]

click





Tracy...

[1bigsteve]

It takes less than 5 minutes to stop/block those harassing calls and most spam emails...and believe it or not, it's painless...and FREE. Of course if you expect someone else to take care it for you, it may take a bit longer.

Tracy...

But isn't that just what you did? It never ceases to amaze me how some people here think they are so smart when all they do is sing the Lizzie Dunnit theme song.

Years ago I registered to avoid junk regular mail but it still keeps on coming. Less than when I subscribed to magazines. (Their fine print says they will rent out subscriber's lists.)

I also called the telephone number to prevent junk telephone calls. There is a loophole for "charities" (and political fundraisers?). It only works if the business follows those rules, which is not in their interest to do.

So now what???

I am on a Federal Do Not Call list and I still get calls from people who should not be calling me. Since their caller ID is blocked and they refuse to give me their name, phone number or let me talk with their supervisor, I have no way of nailing these people. After I ask them to take me off their list and we hang up they will often call back a few minutes later without saying a word and then hang up on me. How childish.

It wouldn't be so bad if these callers would put the microphone closer to their mouths so I can actually hear them or actually answer when I say hello without the 5 second pause and the "beep freep" sound I hear when their phone system realizes that I have picked up my reciever.

I don't know how to stop spam. I don't need their stupid stock tips, I don't care about Mr. Bonehead, assistant to the late President of Nigeria, or his fifty gazillion bucks he needs to launder in the USA, I got all the wrist watches I will ever need, I can do without Viagra and I don't need a bigger stick or a breast enlargement. I wish I could get this through their thick heads. I have gotten very good with the delete button though.

-1bigsteve (o:

[Constantine]

I have my answering machine on all the time. This stops 99.9% of nuisance calls. I just delete the rest.

[1bigsteve]

I have my answering machine on all the time. This stops 99.9% of nuisance calls. I just delete the rest.

That is a good way of stopping them on a personal line but I get calls on my business line. I pick up the phone expecting a customer and I get a tele-marketer trying to sell me something I don't need.

Sometimes I play with their brains. Since they choose to keep the microphone so far away from their mouth that I can't hear them I will say, "hello... hello... hello, is anybody there? Hello... hello...... click"

Hey, it brighten's up my day.

-1bigsteve (o:

[Nadzieja]

We were getting so many calls, maybe 3-4 a day, that I just started answering the phone in Polish. They hung up on me.

[RayS]

We were getting so many calls, maybe 3-4 a day, that I just started answering the phone in Polish. They hung up on me.

Very Good!!! Any foreign language will do this job.
In case you wondered why you need a foreign language when you never leave the country.

I had a niece who worked for a while for them. They canned her because she was not enthusiastic enough. The brigh cheery voice, etc.
I think she said the calls are rejected by those whose phones reject anyone w/o caller id.

"I'm sorry but I was just leaving and can't talk now. Call me back tomorrow" works for me.

[1bigsteve]

We were getting so many calls, maybe 3-4 a day, that I just started answering the phone in Polish. They hung up on me.

Good one!

Maybe I should learn Chinese. I can always tell its a telemarketer because I hear that "beep-freep" sound and they don't answer for about five seconds. When they finally say "hello" I could answer as, "Wong Fong's Chinese Restaurant." I should have my Chinese friends teach me how to say that. I'm going to get back at these telemarketers if it's the last thing I do.

-1bigsteve (o:

[twinsrwe]

I have caller ID, however, every once awhile a telemarketer will get through. When that happens I simply say "I am not interested". Of course, telemarketers do not get this. So, I repeat myself, and then say, "What did you not understand about what I just said?" If they still do not get the hint - I simply hang up. Is it any wonder why people are so rude to telemarketers!

[Constantine]

Unfortunately, you can fool enough of the people enough of the time.

[RayS]

I have caller ID, however, every once awhile a telemarketer will get through. When that happens I simply say "I am not interested". Of course, telemarketers do not get this. So, I repeat myself, and then say, "What did you not understand about what I just said?" If they still do not get the hint - I simply hang up. Is it any wonder why people are so rude to telemarketers!

Don't blame them, they are only following orders.
"Befehl ist befehl."
They have a script book that they have to follow, even if you tell them you don't want to talk to you!!! That's taken care of in the script.
They get 90% of your donation, the charity gets 10%. But the workers get the minimum wage.

[twinsrwe]

I have caller ID, however, every once awhile a telemarketer will get through. When that happens I simply say "I am not interested". Of course, telemarketers do not get this. So, I repeat myself, and then say, "What did you not understand about what I just said?" If they still do not get the hint - I simply hang up. Is it any wonder why people are so rude to telemarketers!

Don't blame them, they are only following orders.
"Befehl ist befehl."
They have a script book that they have to follow, even if you tell them you don't want to talk to you!!! That's taken care of in the script.
They get 90% of your donation, the charity gets 10%. But the workers get the minimum wage.

I really don't give a rip, Ray. If I say "I am not interested", that is exactly what I mean. If they are rude enough to continue to read their "script book", after I have told them, twice, that I am not interested, then I am justified in hanging up on them!!! In other words, I will treat them in the same manner in which they treat me. If they treat me with courtesy, then I will treat them with courtesy; if they treat me with disrespect, then I will treat them in a disrespectful way. They would get a lot further with the public if they displayed a bit of respect for the person they are hounding. What goes around comes around.

"Befehl ist befehl."

Would you please put this in English?

[doug65oh]

Befehl ist befehl roughly translates to: "Instruction is instruction."

Six years of German language education gets put to use after eighteen years... Who'da thunk it??

[twinsrwe]

Befehl ist befehl roughly translates to: "Instruction is instruction."

Six years of German language education gets put to use after eighteen years... Who'da thunk it??

Thanks Doug, I really appreciate this! I have not taken a course in German, therefore, I was pretty much in the dark as to what Ray was telling me. One of these days I should register for a course, huh?

Sometimes, there are circumstances in life which have a way of preventing one from doing the things they would really like to do; life it is not always a bed of roses. Know what I mean?

[doug65oh]

Oh you're welcome - or auf Deutch, Bitte schön !

As for taking up the language, the best advice I might offer would be to hunt up an essay by Mark Twain called The Awful German Language. Twain was actually so the story goes fluent in German. The essay though will give you some small idea of the things you'd run into if you took up the study of German. Most of the obsevations Twain made are actually true in one form or another - and he handled the subject in grand humor.

[Constantine]

You might like to read Saki's short story Tobermory, about a cat who is taught to talk by one of the guests at a house party. The cat starts blabbing the personal secrets of the guests. (I will let you read the outcome for yourselves.) The guest afterwards meets his death at the trunk of an elephant at the Dresden zoo. One of the guests observes that, "If he was trying German irregular verbs on the poor beast, . . . he deserved all he got."

[doug65oh]

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stori ... /Tob.shtml

There 'tis... And I agree completely on the irregular verbs!

[Nadzieja]

You can say that again. I've always heard the saying "life is brutal". And sometimes it sure is, you just got to keep on going.

[twinsrwe]

Thanks Doug and Constantine! I will read the essay, The Awful German Language, by Mark Twain, and Doug thanks for the link to Saki's short story Tobermory.

Lorraine, you are so right; you just have to pick up the pieces and go on, making the best of a bad situation. Everything in life happens for a reason and many times there is good that comes out of the bad. Sometimes, the best life has to offer comes from a bad situation.

[doug65oh]

Here's a link to The Awful German Language, too.

http://www.english-zone.com/language/twain.html[/i]

[twinsrwe]

Here's a link to The Awful German Language, too.

http://www.english-zone.com/language/twain.html[/i]

WOW, thanks, Doug!

[doug65oh]

Bitte! (In this instance, the schön is unspoken, but may be presumed to be there.)

Good thing, too, because that umlauted o - ö - is hard to find unless you reside in the upper regions of N'Hampshire, wherein lies a county by the name of Coös. (Two syllables there, the first accented, sounds like Coke.) The second syllable is pronounced, sounds the same as the land of Oz.

The name Coös apparently derives from a native tribe up there, the Coo-ash-auke indians. Coo-ash-auke apparently has the meaning ""Dwellers in the pine tree country."

[RayS]

Befehl ist befehl roughly translates to: "Instruction is instruction."

Six years of German language education gets put to use after eighteen years... Who'da thunk it??

Thanks Doug, I really appreciate this! I have not taken a course in German, therefore, I was pretty much in the dark as to what Ray was telling me. One of these days I should register for a course, huh?

Sometimes, there are circumstances in life which have a way of preventing one from doing the things they would really like to do; life it is not always a bed of roses. Know what I mean?

I recently read a new book about WW II. That quote should be well-known. "Orders are orders", and not just for the German Army, or any army. Ever work for a corporation? "My way or the highway."

[twinsrwe]

Bitte! (In this instance, the schön is unspoken, but may be presumed to be there.)

Good thing, too, because that umlauted o - ö - is hard to find unless you reside in the upper regions of N'Hampshire, wherein lies a county by the name of Coös. (Two syllables there, the first accented, sounds like Coke.) The second syllable is pronounced, sounds the same as the land of Oz.

The name Coös apparently derives from a native tribe up there, the Coo-ash-auke indians. Coo-ash-auke apparently has the meaning ""Dwellers in the pine tree country."

This is so cool, Doug. I really appreciate your help with understanding the German language and this little tidbit of information. Thanks.

[doug65oh]

Salright!

[twinsrwe]

I recently read a new book about WW II. That quote should be well-known. "Orders are orders", and not just for the German Army, or any army. Ever work for a corporation? "My way or the highway."

Well, take me out back and shoot me for not knowing the German language, Ray!!!

That quote may be well known, but it means diddly-squat when you are posting it to a person who does not know the German language.