27 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Funny ... but ...

There's long been talk of the internet collapsing under its own weight. I wonder if Spam email will be the undoing of the internet?

Just wondering.

Perhaps Apple does this on purpose, so you don't get on the "Do Not Call" list and they -- Apple -- can call you! BWAHAHAHAHA ...

27 Jun 2003 | fajalar said...

Apple calls me once in a while. I'll put something "on hold" (I think "save for later" is the term they use) from their online store.

If it sits there long enough, I'll get a call, "Can I help you complete your order?"

"Sure! Are you willing to pay for it for me?"

27 Jun 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Fajalar -- ha ha ... yeah ... that's the ULTIMATE "help" with your order!

I just ordered 70 cigars today! Not from Apple, mind you.

27 Jun 2003 | Jon Gales said...

I haven't been able to get through to the site all day. This morning the list was already 250,000 strong and they expect it to become 60,000,000 strong soon. I am tempted to take out an ad somewhere:

"No more telemarketing calls--Low Cost"

That'd sucker those people in that don't watch the news :).

27 Jun 2003 | Tim said...

Apparantly, Yahoo mail's spam filtering files the confirmation emails as junk as well...

27 Jun 2003 | pb said...

100% of the messages Apple Mail has marked as junk have been legit. This Bayesian spam blocking is by far the worst I have experienced.

27 Jun 2003 | Ro said...

From the amusing screenshot department.

27 Jun 2003 | Jon Gales said...

C|Net says they are getting 1,000 numbers a minute. Woo! I still haven't been able to connect.

28 Jun 2003 | chris rhee said...

many of the calls i get are the types of calls that don't fall under this law (they have a list of types of calls that are exempt from the law: long distance companies, surveys, etc). i signed up anyway: it's better than nothing.

28 Jun 2003 | andrew said...

Just speculation, but I'd imagine even those organizations that are exceptions to the law will still get a fair number of complaints lodged against them. Surely this will increase the administration costs of running such operations, making it less profitable to do so? Crossing my fingers...

Ro, great screenshot. We've had a telezapper for over a year now, and telemarketer calls have plummeted, even though I know they are starting to use systems that can get around them, but it is also hard to call you if your number is on a "disconnected" list.

The other day I got a call from some contest I supposedly won. I just put the phone down, let her keep yappin', and went back to watching TV. I picked the phone back up after a couple minutes, and it sounded like the woman on the other end had gone back to chatting with her co-workers. Hah!

29 Jun 2003 | english_police said...

Exactly how is this ironic? See the recent Slashdot article.

29 Jun 2003 | hurley#1 said...

Exactly how is this ironic? See the recent Slashdot article.

Jason's use of the word "ironic" is appropriate here -- if you read the Guardian article that inspired the Slashdot post, you'll see that they cite a dictionary definition of "irony" as:

a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

And the American Heritage Dictionary also defines "ironic" as:

poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended.

Jason's example fits these definitions: the fact that the e-mail to verify his phone number was labeled as spam by his junk-mail filter is indeed ironic -- it's certainly the opposite of what the registry would have intended and is amusing precisely because spam is the computer equivalent of telemarketers' unwanted calls, which is what the registry is in the business of preventing.

Now another question: Is it ironic that someone posting as "english police" challenges the title of this blog post as an improper use of the word "ironic" when in fact it was appropriate?

02 Jul 2003 | Brandon said...

PhoneZap is worth a look too.

04 Nov 2003 | Osoyoos said...

31 Jan 2005 | compatelius said...

bocigalingus must be something funny.