Telemarketers suck...

Despite complaints to the contrary, the federal government *can* do things right. Or at least give it the ol' college try.

I speak of the National Do Not Call Registry. Ever since they implemented the registry, my telemarketer call volume *has* gone down. Like cockroaches, though, teleslime somehow manages to squirm back into the house.

Two big loopholes allow them to do so -- if they are a charity or a political figure, they can freely ignore the list. Same with businesses you already have a relationship with, like your phone company or your bank.

Of course, many banks, phone companies, credit card companies, etc., are perfectly willing to whore out your phone number to the highest bidder so they can call you as a "preferred partner" and get around the no call list.

I've found a way around it though... and had some geeky fun in the process! I grabbed an old Pentium III PC that I had laying around, downloaded a copy of TrixBox (formerly known as Asterisk@Home), and picked up a phone line card made by a company called Digium, and lo and behold, I set up my own PBX switch! Just like the office! Woo hoo!

...ahem...sorry. Got a little excited there. What is TrixBox, you might ask? It's a live-cd installation of the Linux-based Asterisk open source PBX switch.

What does all that get me? Well, for starters, a really nice voicemail server. See, where I live, my local phone company doesn't offer voice messaging (c'mon Qwest, I'm not exactly in the boonies y'know?), and I *hate* those stinking $20 digital message recorders. They sound like the caller's talking out of a toilet. The darn thing will even do VoIP if you want to try your hand at Internet-based telephony.

Back to my original topic, though... I also get a really nice blacklist filter as well. Tired of a particular telemarketer bugging you? Just pick up the phone, dial a special code followed by the teleslime's phone number as listed on the caller ID, and voila! They get a recording instead of the call ringing through to interrupt your dinner.

You can do a number of things with a blacklisted call, like drop it to a voicemail box, or you can simply send them to a message that tells them they aren't welcome, or you can even make them listen to evil screeching monkeys if you prefer... (muwhahaha...)

You can handle calls without any caller ID the same way, although it's probably better to just route those to a voicemail box in case it's a legit call.

I have under $200 invested in the add-on card to hook it to the phone line - the software's free and the PC is an old one that had been replaced in my last upgrade.

Mind you, this is not a project for the weak-hearted luddite, but if you're comfortable tinkering with PCs this one may be worth a look.

You can find a really good howto for TrixBox out on Nerd Vittles.

Sigh... how time flies...

Geez - almost 6 months since I last posted. How time flies.

I can't figure out why it's so difficult for me to update my blog... life for me tends to move so fast that I don't think about it on a daily basis. I guess that's why I'd never be any good at writing a diary like my grandfather did for so many years.

It amazes me how kids grow so quickly. My son is still interested in soccer (football to everyone outside the USA), but now he's showing interest in drawing, particularly manga-style. I think it's great he's beginning to develop interests of his own, and I look forward to seeing some of his work, particularly since I'm developing an interest in manga and anime myself.

Of course, my daughter is beginning to develop her own interests as well -- first with ballet, and now she is expressing a desire to learn karate.

As for me, I continue to get by. Work continues to be a challenge, given our current staffing shortage. I look forward to the day when we get a sufficiently large budget to cover enough people to get the job done. Maybe then I can focus on a few projects that have been on the back burner for a while. I'm thankful to my peers and co-workers, though -- they've been incredibly supportive and understanding of our shortcomings of late.

I got word several weeks ago that my boss was moving on to greener pastures, accepting a senior management position in the big city up the road. He's taken a lot of undeserved heat from a number of individuals over the years despite all the good work he's done for the community, yet he always pressed on, with the best interests of our little city at heart. He's always been supportive of our staff and the work we do, though, always going to bat for us when necessary. I will miss his presence in the office, as he is undoubtedly the best supervisor I've ever had. He goes to a much bigger city with its own challenges and rewards, and I wish him the best at his new job.

One word of advice, Greg - it comes in the form of a latin phrase (well, at least pseudo-latin) that goes around the Internet, and it's a favorite of mine. The phrase is illegitimi non carborundum -- losely translated, it means "don't let the bastards grind you down". Kind of appropriate, under the circumstances.