Telemarketers Cannot Autodial Cell Phones

I got my first telemarketing cold call on my cell phone today. The call was a prerecorded message stating that the warranty on my vehicle may have expired, but that it might not be too late to extend the coverage. I just had to press “1″ to see if I could take advantage of this possibility.

As I was listening to the call, I flashed back to two recent instances where I was with friends who got this same type of call on their cell phones. I happened to be at my computer, so as soon as I hung up I ran a web search to see if this was a well-known scam. I came across a few web sites devoted to collecting user-submitted reports/complaints of telemarketing calls, and the auto warranty call I received does seem to be quite popular at the moment.

While the web sites I referenced above were helpful in confirming the popularity of the telemarketing calls, they don’t have any power to stop the calls.

The FCC has a consumer fact sheet on Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls that contains some information I found to be a little surprising at first. The fact sheet states that automatic dialing systems may not be used to call a wireless phone service. (Exceptions are made for emergency calls and calls made with prior consent.) The rule likely stems from the fact that wireless phone services typically charge users for incoming calls.

The fact sheet states that the FCC can issue citations and fines against companies that violate this or any other of the listed rules. Consumers can help the FCC gather data by filing an official complaint. I used the online Form 1088 found at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html; it was quite easy to fill out.

Other ways to file a complaint are:

• e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov;
• calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice;
• calling 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY
• faxing 1-866-418-0232;
• or writing to:
  Federal Communications Commission
  Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
  Consumer Inquiries & Complaints Division
  445 12th Street, SW
  Washington, DC 20554.

P.S. While writing this post, I got my second telemarketing call on my cell phone. This time for a satellite television and DVR installation. I promptly filed another complaint with the FCC.

Wars are Expensive

A look at the estimated costs of war

Whole Foods Sale Prices

Shopping for some soy milk this morning at Whole Foods, I came across the following ‘sale’…

Come See the Not-So-Private Side of Sears

Sears makes it easy to see anyone’s purchase history on the web.

They had temporarily disabled this “feature” by the time I had been able to check it out myself.

Evil: See Everything Your Friends And Neighbors Have Ever Bought At Sears

Drinking Silver is a Great Idea

Gadgets Go Wrong: Man Using Infomercial Miracle Gadget Turns into Papa Smurf

Obvious: Walking helps shed post-baby pounds

Reuters is reporting on a medical study that indicates Walking helps shed post-baby pounds.

New moms who take walks instead of watching TV may lose those post-pregnancy pounds more easily, according to researchers.

This is the conclusion of a study conducted by Dr. Emily Oken and colleagues at Harvard Medical School in Boston, as published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (April 2007).

The Harvard study monitored 902 women for a 6-month period after giving birth. The study found that, in general, women who walked at least 30 minutes a day, watched TV less than 2 hours a day, and ate relatively little trans fat were 77 percent less likely to retain 12 pounds or more than women who walked less and watched more TV.

Amazing stuff they’re doing at Harvard these days.

Obvious: White House opposes changing Iraq war resolution

Today’s Obvious Headline of the Day is brought to us by Yahoo News and Reuters: White House opposes changing Iraq war resolution.

In 2002, the Senate passed a resolution that essentially authorized President George W. Bush to do anything he wanted in Iraq. Specifically, it allowed him to use the military “as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq.”

Senate Democrats are now drafting a proposal to revise that resolution. The revised version would define a much narrower scope for the military presence in Iraq and require a recall of a significant number of troops.

The White House is opposed to changing the resolution. They have even acknowledged the obviousness of their position; when asked if the President would oppose such a change to the 2002 authorization, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, “Of course we would”.

Cutline Default Sidebar Doesn’t Retain Formatting When Customized

While reading another Worpress.com blog using the Cutline theme, I noticed that the formatting of the sidebar widgets was slightly different from those on my site. Notably, the search widget was titled “Search It!” and the search box contained dummy text that said “To search, type and hit enter”. Additionally, the Recent Entries widget displayed the date of each post.

The customizable widgets available for the Cutline theme cannot be configured to match that formatting. After some research, I found that this formatting is available only to the default Cutline sidebar, with no custom widgets attached.

The screenshot to the right displays what my blog’s sidebar widgets look like using the default sidebar. (There is a minor glitch in that the date for my Claiming this Blog on Technorati post is cut off).

Although I like the formatting of the default sidebar, I think the default widgets are insufficient, and so I will be keeping my customized layout. It’s a shame (although admittedly a minor one) that the formats can’t be used on a customized sidebar. I suppose that is the result of the limitations needed for the theme to function as a hosted theme on WordPress.com.

Obvious: Tomlinson Devastated with the Death of his Dad

Today’s Obvious Headline of the Day is brought to us by Sports Illustrated and the Associated Press.

Oliver Tomlinson, father of San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, was killed yesterday in a car accident.

Apparently, LaDainian is saddened by this incident.

My RSS feed reader is displaying an article with the headline Tomlinson devastated with the death of his dad. The link goes to this Associated Press article on the Sports Illustrated web site.

The AP article is headlined with the quote ‘I will miss him’. The article reports on the details of the accident and gives a brief background of Oliver Tomlinson and his brother-in-law Ronald McClain, who also died as a result of the accident. And, sure enough, the article quotes from a short statement issued by LaDainian that says he is, in fact, devasted by his father’s death and “will miss him”.

Coke and Pepsi to List Caffeine Content

I read on the Consumerist that the Center of Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) reported that PepsiCo will voluntarily begin listing caffeine content on cans and bottles of soda. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration only requires that companies list caffeine as an ingredient when it is added to a product; they are not required to disclose the amounts. Interestingly, I could find no announcement of this initiative on PepsiCo’s website.

The CSPI news release calls on Coca-Cola and other manufactuers to follow suit and disclose caffeine content.

The Coca-Cola Company appears to have not liked to be one-upped, as it quickly announced that it too would begin disclosing caffeine content. Acutally, what the company did was announce that it would “continue the rollout of expanded nutrition labeling in the U.S. to include caffeine content on all of its beverages containing the ingredient”. Coca-Cola already does already list caffeine content on its Full Throttle and Enviga beverages, so this is merely a continuation of that initiative.

I like that fact that these companies will begin disclosing caffeine content. For mainstream sodas like Coca-Cola Classic and Pepsi, the caffeine appears to be added solely to make the beverage addictive. After all, caffeine is a highly addictive drug, and what better way is there to ensure consumption of your product than to have people be addicted to it? For “energy drinks” with large amounts of caffeine like Full Throttle, the beverage is merely a delivery mechanism for the drug.

See this Wikipedia entry for more information on caffeine.