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How Do I Filter Phone Calls on a Land Line?
An anonymous reader asks: "I have a telephone on a plain old land-line, with the option of subscribing to caller-id.
I would like to filter incoming phone calls, diverting them to either the handset or answering machine, based on whether the caller-id matches a list of trusted phone numbers.
Considering that many of today's land-line telephone handsets can display caller-id and store a list of favourite phone numbers, I don't think this is technologically difficult.
AI am not interested in: subscribing to a service provided by my telephone company. I would prefer the filtering occurred on my side of the phone line, or implementing a software solution on my PC. Frankly, that is overkill, and I don't want my PC turned on permanently. I would prefer something like a small, solid-state hardware device. Is there any such thing available?"
I beleive it's called a "wife". However, it's very very hard to pick these things up at a hardware store, and you can't get them off the internet (or at least the internet versions don't handle english language filtering all that well). I'd suggest that looking for more information on wives from slashdot is probably a waste of time.
Uhh... RTFP
...SNIP... implementing a software solution on my PC. Frankly, that is overkill, and I don't want my PC turned on permanently.
I am not interested in:
----- Concentrate on promoting more than demoting.
An answering machine. Don't answer till you know who it is, and if they don't leave a message you probably didn't want to talk to them anyway.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
http://www.privacycorps.com/products/?id=20
OK, you have a couple of options as I see it.
First would be to set up some kind of PBX. It's a little complex, but it would work. You could use Asterisk (I think that is what it's called) and some hardware (since I think it was designed for VOIP) and do it that way.
The more fun (in my eyes) and complicated way is to build it yourself. You could do this with a PIC micro-controller (or similar). You could put the little box you would make at the phone entry point of your house. When the phone rings you let the first ring through (so you know someone called). Caller ID is transfered between the 1st and 2nd rings so that is when the MCU picks that up. Based on that, it can power a double pole double throw relay. In the normally closed position the phone signals are routed to your house wiring. When a "bad" caller ID is encountered it simply powers the relay switching the phone line from being connected to the phones to the answering machine. Of course the answering machine could be anywhere if you can isolate it's phone jack from the rest (shouldn't be too hard).
Now there are a few little things to take into account here. First is that you may want to generate a ring for the answering machine so that it picks up on the 4th ring (or whatever) instead of the 5th because of the "lost ring". Second is that if you automatically send people to the answering machine unless the right caller ID comes across (i.e. the answering machine is in the normally closed position) then you'll need to make sure you have a way to force the relay to switch. You would want this even if you decide to pick up a call from the machine. When the main wiring is disconnected you could monitor the wiring to see if anyone picks up (you'd have to power it probably) and switch the relay if that happens. That way any time you pick up the phone you will always get the dial tone/caller. Having the relay connect you to the phone line in the normally-closed position is an important idea because you want it to be safe and let you use the line during a power outage.
It'd be a very cool project. You can find bits about how to do it on the web. For example, I once saw something about a guy who built his own TTL PBX. That project (which was rather well documented, as I remember) would be a gold mine for you.
If you do it, make sure to write it up and post it. I'd love to read it and I'm sure others would too.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Well the obvious answer (at least to me) is Asterisk. If you don't want a "computer running all the time" build a small box, well.... tuff. Think Mini-ITX. You can put a small HD in in, and put it in a small case. If its only "diverting" calls it doesn't need much power or storage space at all and wouldn't draw much power (also, if you do it right - it could be all passive cooled).
Also - I'm sure no one wants to spend _that much time_ setting up Asterisk, so use TrixBox (Formely Asterisk@Home) instead.
snowulf.com
Microsoft released a 900MHz cordless phone back in late 1998 that had all the features you want, plus more. You could create a whitelist in the software and any phone call that wasn't in the whitelist wouldn't even ring the handset, but get diverted straight to voice mail. The phone supported voice dialing, multiple voice mailboxes, personalized rings and greetings based on the Caller-ID number. The software would automatically divert or block Caller-ID blocked incoming phone calls. The software even imported your phonebook from Outlook Express/Outlook.
Ok, granted, the phone was 900MHz, was quite bulky and the batteries were less than optimal. The one feature that this phone had that none (except PBXs) have had since, was total control of the hardware ringer. Because you had total control of the ringer, features became available (and controllable via software) that would allow you to force select incoming calls straight to voicemail or DND without ever being distracted by the ring. Of course, this product was soon killed and all support for updates to the software quickly killed, too.
The cheap Uniden dual-handset receiver that came free with my SunRocket service has a built-in phonebook, complete with user groups and different ring-tones. Set the default ring-tone to nothing/one quiet beep and put everyone you know into groups with a real ring.
No PBX, no software and service independent.
since the poster wants to divert a "trusted" number to the handset, I assume he/she is there to answer the phone. therefore, reading the display on the phone, or your TV, or your PC, depending on what you plug the phone line into, is a good choice.
If Asterisk is out of the question despite that sentence, perhaps the OP should've used correct English.
If you weren't such an asshole/idiot, you'd notice that someone else has indicated that such a device does exist: http://www.privacycorps.com/products/?id=20
Wow, for $100. That's so much more worth it.
I own a box that does that. I can't recall the name, but SmartHome.com sells a $100 "Caller ID Manager" that appears to do the same thing.
I think of it as a firewall for the phone. Mine even does that three-tone "disconnected" tone for egregious fun.
That's fine for receiving the Caller ID- now have you ever seen a modem with TWO outputs that are switchable, so that you can send calls to either a landline phone or the answering machine, without making the landline ring? I've never seen such a modem.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Plain English like the next sentence which says
"Frankly, that is overkill, and I don't want my PC turned on permanently. I would prefer something like a small, solid-state hardware device. Is there any such thing available?"
?
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make install -not war
what kind of nerd are you? You turn your PC off? Get off this site.
The summary is the whole article, so I didn't bother reading it. :P
The sentences conflict. Poster is a lazy moron. People like him are the reason I don't regularly read or post on slashdot anymore (Yes, I have a real account with excellent karma.)
Looks like this Uniden handset has the functionality you mention: Uniden TRU9465-2 Expandable Cordless System with Dual Keypad and Call Waiting/Caller ID and Extra Handset and Charger
Hook it up to a Linux box, and..... Yeah, that's all I've got.... It's probably possible though with the right kind of modem hardware and drivers.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
What you want is to convert your home line to ISDN and use an old motorola BitSurfr device. You hand the calls over to the POTS ports on the device, and you can program it with AT commands. I think you can only set a small number of blacklist caller-id, or whitelist caller-id (i think 10) but it will serve as a nice filter. This will do what you want, and they can get dumped or a busy before the phone even rings.
Yet you quoted from it, and replied only "read it yourself".
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make install -not war
No, you just don't know how to read.
"I am not interested in: subscribing to a service provided by my telephone company. I would prefer the filtering occurred on my side of the phone line, or implementing a software solution on my PC. Frankly, that is overkill, and I don't want my PC turned on permanently. I would prefer something like a small, solid-state hardware device. Is there any such thing available?"
They are not interested in subscribing to a service. They would prefer it happen on their side of the phone line, or SW on their PC to a telco-side service. But the SW is overkill and they don't want to leave their PC on. They would prefer a little dedicated HW.
There's nothing contradictory about those sentences. They're just descriptive.
So, since you also don't use your "real" account to post such drivel, Anonymous incompetent Coward, you don't know how to read or post. Why do you bother doing it at all? People like you are the noise in Slashdot's signal.
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make install -not war
It is EXACTLY what the poster asked for.
If it's a little overpriced then maybe you can get your techi friends togather form a startup, get some venture capital and produce a competing product at $50 that would just sweap the market.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
I had set up vgetty to answer calls after a number of rings that was based on the caller-id information, but that requires a modem whose voice capabilities are supported on linux. The idea was that 'Unknown Caller', etc. went straight to the voicemail, but everything else was allowed to ring four times. It's a simple and proven method.
Fnord.
Our solid state answering machine has the option of diverting calls straight to voicemail based on caller ID, making different ringing tones, and so on. It's years old and no longer on sale, but you'll probably find plenty of others still around that can do the same things. Personally I like sending "caller ID blocked" and "unknown" straight to voice mail...
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
What happens if someone on your whitelist is in some sort of emergency that forces them to use a phone that's not on your whitelist? Do you still want that urgent call that to go to the machine?
:-)
Personally I'd perfer not to ever have to answer unsolicited calls, and I'd also like the option of silencing the ring from certain callers at various times of the day. For example, nothing but "work" should ring my phone before 8am, nothing but "that girl I'm stalking" should ring my phone after 8pm, and absolutely nothing should ring my phone between midnight and 6am, unless a family member needs an immediate blood transfusion or something equally urgent.
The problem of course is that there isn't an urgent bit in the caller ID signal, and if there were such a bit, you could bet your last nickel that telemarketers would set it for every call, and it would have about as much effect as the boy who cried wolf.
With todays phone system and level of voice recognition technology, you could probably rig up something to autodetect voices and even determine whether it's a live human or a computer, and you could detect keywords and level of stress in the voice. Your voice system could ask questions of unknown callers. In essence, you could insert an audio CAPTCHA onto your end of the phone line. This is something I've dreamed about for years.
But again, you have to stop and ask: What would happen in emergencies? Would the person calling on behalf of your injured relative be willing and able to get past the screening process for a chance to talk to you (afterall, you might not even be home...)?
Idealism aside, I've concluded that right solution for me is to just pick up the phone when it rings. I've learned all the prerecorded telemarketer intros, so I can hang up on those in less than 1/2 a second. Sure, I could save myself some time if I blacklisted those intros, but I also don't have to make my friends wait an extra ring or two when they call me.
I probably don't want to talk to a person who screens calls like that.
I certainly won't talk to a machine. I might stumble over my words. Am I supposed to have a ready-made speech for you to record? It's not as if I could call back later to delete the message I left, or could determine if you got the message.
I may be paying long distance charges.
So, screw you. I have better things to do. I could talk to some nice and friendly people.
I'm using Speakeasy's rebranded VoIP service and they have some features for categorizing calls. You can block some groups of callers entirely, drop them directly to voicemail (without ringing), forward to another phone (such as a cellphone), etc.
;)
http://www.speakeasy.net/home/voip/features.php
I'd shop around with Vonage, Speakeasy, etc and see what they can offer.
On the other hand -- I'm a pretty lazy, so most of the time I just let it ring until VM picks up and I'll call back later if I actually want to talk
Flat-rate long distance + local calling for about the same as I was paying the telco is the really killer feature, however.
- Adam
If it's truely important, the caller will re-dial after hanging up on your answering machine's greeting. Works fine.
Honestly, the "what about emergencies" arguement is as badly abused as "think of the children." My telephone is a resource for *my* convenience, paid for by *me.* If someone calls while I'm eating dinner with my family, the call is allowed to roll-over to the answering machine. If there's an immediate call-back, I'll probably interrupt what I'm doing. Somebody screaming into the answering machine in the next room would be a good clue too. Everything else gets done on *my* schedule.
It used to be that receiving a telephone call was a big deal - think back to the early 1900's. Nobody had phones. If somebody called you, there was probably large expense (money, time, effort) to place the call from the other end. That expectation persists to today, in spite of the ubiquity and low-value of most phone calls. The phone companies go to great lengths to maintain this perception of "high priority interrupt." They're in your face, and they want to stay there (but that's a completely different rant.)
Think of the children. They're busy eating their dinner and experiencing some family time. Call back later. (To address the original poster: get an answering machine; learn to use it; don't let the phone rule your life.)
1 sound muffled box containing
phone with answering machine
digital camera
laptop with OCR and RDBMS software
microphone
robotic hand
have the laptop listen to the microphone for noise (phone ring), the robotic hand should then hit the button on the camera which takes a picture of the LCD display on the phone showing the number, the image is transferred to the OCR software which returns the number, lookup the number in the RDBMS, if it's ok the robotic hand pushes open the lid on the sound muffled box "letting the ring out", if it's somebody you really don't want anything to do with the robotic hand lifts the phone and hangs up, in all other cases the phone is left to ring in the sound muffled box until the answering machine picks up.
Problem solved.
NZ Electronics Enthusiasts: Check out my Trade Me Listings
My AT&T E5965C does exactly that. It's about $120 if you can catch it on sale.
Here it is at Amazon
It still says "I would prefer", which does not say he absolutely does not want a software solution, just he'd rather other solutions. Offering the software solution if you don't think the hardware one is possible is perfectly legitimate.
That's jive. If you don't think the preferred HW solution is possible, say so. Who do you think you're fooling?
Learn how to admit you're wrong, Anonymous willfully ignorant Coward.
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make install -not war
So, since the software is acceptable (though not preferred) what is wrong with the suggestion to use a particular software package?
Yes, if I had made the original comment, I would have said the HW solution was not possible rather than just give the link. But if SW is not acceptable, then why the hell did he say "I would prefer the filtering occurred on my side of the phone line, or implementing a software solution on my PC."? He should have said, "I don't want a subscription service or software running on my computer. I want a hardware solution." Just come out and say what you want.
I could have swore that some modems that I bought back in the day listed "Caller ID" as one of their features in the specification on the packaging. My question is: can this feature be accessed from within one's favorite open source operating system? If so, I'm guessing that it's only possible with one or two brands of winmodem, but hey, if the price is right, it might be part of a cheap solution to the submitter's problem.
Their post was them thinking through their preferences "out loud". It was clear that they want HW, because they said so explicitly. It was also clear that Asterisk, which needs their PC to stay powered on, was overkill and not what they had in mind. They considered less preferable options to reject them with their reasons. Why suggest something that's clearly against their explicit preferences, for the reasons they stated?
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make install -not war
The original request is "I'd prefer pizza" not "No burgers though." If you can't see that, I'm sorry. You should give back your degree.
Just to beat this dead horse into an ass:
"Hey, I'm hungry. I'd prefer not to eat at home. Probably takeout to the park or sitdown. Frankly, sitdown is too much like home, and I don't want to be inside. I'd prefer to go to the park."
If you said "let's go sit down at the burger joint", though the park is open and right next door, you'd be eating alone. I'd go to the park with someone else.
You're a sorry Anonymous retard Coward. You should eat alone for the rest of your life.
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make install -not war
Everyone seems to be assuming that Asterisk = "regular PC running all the time." Why does this have to be the case?
I haven't ever set up an Asterisk system, but if you only needed a few lines and didn't need space for the huge full-length PCI cards that people use to bring in T1 lines and interface with lots of copper POTS extensions, couldn't you do it in a very small, low-power enclosure?
Set up a dedicated machine, like the set-top-boxes people use for DVRs. Micro-ATX, small case, fanless processor, and then run it off of a CF card or something. Enough people have done stuff like this to make it not exactly state of the art: I don't know what the system requirements are for Asterisk, but without any fancy psychoacoustic compression I can't think it's that bad to only manage one connection at a time. Certainly it ought to be within the realm of currently available low-power and embedded systems, even. In addition to routing calls, it could probably handle his voicemail and maybe even do other slick features like email recorded VM messages or play them back through the internal speaker. Replacing some existing devices, if he was so inclined, could substantially reduce the power burden of a new machine.
The OP has said he wants a hardware solution that doesn't involve his PC -- fine; that doesn't mean that it can't use some PC software, running on a dedicated "appliance" or appliance-like system. Just because it's a computer doesn't mean it has to look like a computer, smell like a computer, or draw power like a computer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
"Hey I'm hungry, lets get a bite to eat. I could eat a burger, IF I HAD TO, but I'd prefer pizza." "There are no pizza places around, lets get a burger." Needs to prefaced with some sort of a " Sorry dawg, this is hamburger city, where no one can come up with solutions besides burgers, so as--"
Suck a lemon?
No, but I've seen modems with one output that can go to your phones. The answering machine could be implemented in software on your computer, since it would have to remain on 24/7 anyway.
Install windows on my workstation? You crazy? Got any idea how much I paid for the damn thing?
Hell, I'm a woman and I want a wife, too!
Just remember that anytime you're talking on a cordless phone, you're using a radio transmitter. While that might seem like a painfully obvious thing to say, it's amazing how many people don't get the connection between "cordless telephone" and "anyone with a scanner can hear everything I'm saying." If you don't believe me, find any good radio that has wideband receive and try searching from around 46.6-50 MHz for the older phones and 900-928 MHz for the new ones. I don't have a receiver that goes to 2.4GHz but I have no doubt that if you did, you'd hear lots of people up in that band, too (although decoding the digital ones might be non-trivial).
Whenever somebody brings up email privacy I just laugh -- we'll work on email encryption right after we figure out a way to convince people that broadcasting their conversations miles in every direction probably isn't a great idea.
Anyway, I recommend that anybody who uses a cordless phone as their primary means of communication should borrow a scanner for an evening and play around with it--see if you can find the frequency of your own unit. I know I'll never discuss anything sensitive on one ever again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
You can't do this in Australia without paying Tesltra to enable 'callerid'.
Telstra sucks.
They charge $3 if you want to enable a 'service' - Make your phone number silent (hidden).
They charge $3 (for landlines, or package this cost) - To allow you to see incoming caller numbers. If you don't pay this fee then callerid is disabled for all incoming calls.
So, let's count the cost here. If I want to have a phone that is hidden that can use callerids then I need to pay $3 per month.. and then another $3 to hide it. Wonderful. And they call this a 'service'.
My guess is that they charge $3 for for silenced numbers due to the number of phone calls you don't receive if people don't know your number. I can only dream that they are charging people to receive information which is part of every phone call anyway because they can block it and charge you to receive it. I wonder how many mobile phone users would be annoyed if they added a $3 charge every month just to 'be able to receive calledid!'.
You have a sick, twisted mind. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.
A computer and modem can do this and some already do. Zetafax has a junk fax filter for their software that blocks thos numbers from being able to transmit the fax. Others sort calls based on caller ID. These technologies are obviously available already matching your feature request. So long as the Phone/Fax/PBS/ Answering service are in a computer many systems are available for this. A device is more tricky becuse the caller ID comes after the first ring, which you may not hear. So the call is then Routed by mechanical switch to different devices you already have, one to many relationship. So in this senario from the home demarkation is where this device needs to be located unless you only have one phone or all your devices are plugged into the same hole in the wall. It would need to have a voicemail chip which is a developed technology that could be licensed. It would need Caller ID detection and a small database for Caller-ID comparison functions. Sounds like a good project for an college or high school electronics class, once developed can be mass produced in Taiwan. Need 4 components to work together. 1-Phone Circuit Relay Function for call routing 2-Caller ID Function 3-Answering Machine 4-Software interface including an import/export database functions (USB Interface) 5-Optional Email/Internet connection to send email alerts on inbound Caller-IDs I know of nothing that fits these parameters and therefore this may be an invention waiting to happen. I suggest making a Linux phone answering system and then having someone put it all in a board/box after you get it working. Don't forget the USB interface and SMTP email/Text Message of SELECTED messages with Caller ID would be nice as well.
The Caller-ID information is sent between the first and second ring, so the only way to avoid ringing is to drop the first ring 100% of the time. On the occasions where you do want to talk to someone, the time left to get to the phone is that much shorter.
I have an AASTRA talking Caller-ID box in my house. It does a great job of managing the phone. If the caller has intentionally blocked their Caller-ID information then it automatically answers after one ring and tells them I don't accept blocked calls (which are inevitably from telemarketers) and they should call back with Caller-ID enabled. For the rest, it speaks the phone number so I know who it is before I get to the phone. If it's someone I don't want to talk to then I just let it ring until the answering machine cuts in. It supports blacklisting so that people who annoy me don't even get to leave a message. One interesting feature is that I can record a short audio clip and have it matched to a specific name or number so that it will play that audio clip instead of speaking the number. That's a great help with things like payphones which I will always want to answer no matter what the number is (my telco sends "payphone" as the Caller-ID name).
Years ago (when I still had landlines) I had a box that intercepted all incoming calls without allowing the phones to ring. It delivered a simple message "Please enter your desired extension, or, if you do not know the extension, please dial "O" or wait on the line. Bleep!"
People were given one of several numbers to enter: 472 for family, 333 for work, 505 for businesses, for example.
472 always rang through with a particular ring, 333 rang through with another, 505 it would allow through or not depending on how I set the switch, with yet a third ring style.
Anyone who didn't have a good three digit number went to the answering machine, with no audible ring on any phone.
It was simple and effective, and anyone with the proper code could get through from any touch-tone phone.
People never had any problem with my giving them an extension number, as in "Call me when my car is ready, 206 555 0293, extension 505.)
I don't know if anyone still makes that simple box, but it would be worth checking for...
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Tomas
Slap said card into a Linux or Windows box. I chose Linux but it seems asterisk has been ported to Windows, too.
Now grab asterisk. If you went with Linux you'll have to download and install the Zaptel drivers for the Digium card, too. I haven't had much luck with the Debian packaged Asterisk and prefer to compile it from the CVS tree. Once you've got asterisk installed you can modify your extensions.conf file. Make some local extensions (You can use your FXS phone and a SIP soft phone like Linphone to test these.) Now you can do ALL SORTS of fun stuff. My home setup has a little voice menu system that asks you if you're a telemarketer and then asks you to dial 1 or 2 for myself or my room mate. If we don't pick up, the call goes into a voice mail system very simlar to what I have at work.
Eventually I plan to sign on with a VOIP service and keep the landline only for inbound calls and 911 service. You can also route local calls over a landline and long distance calls through a VOIP provider (or one of those 10-10 serivices if you prefer using one of those.) You can also set up speed dial keys for any combination (#1 on my phone gets you Abo's Pizza in Lafayette.)
I suggest that you keep an actual non-wireless phone plugged into one of the other landline ports in the house -- even if you're on a UPS, a protracted power outage could end up leaving you with no way to call 911. Having an old non-wireless phone around is the safest thing to do -- they draw voltage off the phone line to work, and that usually stays up. Just make sure you don't have to plug the phone into anything other than the phone line and you'll be good to go.
Asterisk takes a fair amount of configuring and it can be intimidating at first, but the flexibility it offers to the home user is unparalleled by anything else in its price range. For a home user, anything coming even close to it would be well out of the price range of most people.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Caller-ID uses Bell 202 modem protocol, which is a simple 1200 bps FSK scheme. You could decode that in software or use a simple FSK demod circuit. It's 1200 Hz for Mark and 2200 Hz for Space.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
and it's offered by verizon nowv erizon.com
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=iobi+site%3A
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Just pick up the earpiece,give the handle a couple of cranks,and tell Elly Mae down at the switchboard to hold the calls from bill collectors, revenuers and democrats.
c'mon man,a land line? When I didn't feel like taking calls on a land line I just hooked up to a fax and rang a modem in their ear. Switch the tapes in your answering maching with each other and let callers chew on your previous messages instead of that same old greeting"Hi I'm not in right now,leave a message and I'll get right back to you".Phones really are a plague,Your question should be,"How do I get by without a phone?"Of course theres always VOIP,IM,E~mail and carrier pigeon.Ditch your phone and make the rest of the world upgrade,then attack the filtering problem on your terms instead of Ma Bell.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
This anonomous coward must be a windows os. You ask it for something one way, think's he can do it better, then he crashes his @$$ into the mountain like John Denver. This is an IT site, not encylcopeadia britannica or dictionary.com for that matter. So what if the english is a little bad or the spelling is wrong. If it doesn't change the context of what the person is actually saying and it get's the message across . . . Alriiiight!
-You have been modded appropriately-
Just as one example, there is more to a caller then "good number" or "bad number". There are actually 3 choices on the machine: 1= do not send to answering machine and do not ring the phone. This would be the ex-wife option. 2= send to answering machine but do not ring the phone. This is the current wife option. 3= ring the phone first and if no answer then let them leave a message. This is the current girlfriend option.
Second, TIME and DATE are sent by caller ID, you don't set them in the machine! Arrgh!. I don't have the time or patience to retype the whole (badly written) user manual here, but after having this device for 8 months I bought a second one just to keep in stock in case the first one needed service I would have a spare. Having this box to keep dimwits from ringing the phone is almost as good as Sex. Now, when the phone rings, it is guaranteed that the caller is someone I want to talk to. That's as good as getting only love letters in the mail, no bills or tax forms or junkmail.
I would prefer something like a small, solid-state hardware device. Is there any such thing available?"
scissors.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
Well, keep in mind that this is just one application, and that there are other things that an always-on PC can do (e.g. MythTV, various "home automation" stuff, periodically record cheapo "web camera" inputs for security, serve files to your other PCs, etc). Just get ambitious, and pretty soon you'll have yourself talked into needing a PC turned on all the time. :-) Then the challenge is to build the box that can do all that, with minimal energy usage. Oooh, a challenge!
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
This is quite a first I've seen on an Ask Slashdot. Someone's question is a very detailed list of the specifications of what they want a technological solution for. That's almost a miracle in itself that the question made sense, was slightly challenging to answer and research, and didn't involve asking for legal advice. Most amazing of all was that someone actually provided a link to a device to purchase that seems to do exactly what was asked for and more. Bravo!
OK, everyone, the Ask Slashdot category has been redeemed this once. I ask all Slashdotters to study this occurrence and try to implement these features on future iterations of Ask Slashdot.
We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
Tossable Digits provides a disposable phone number that allows YOU to control who calls and when. It's cheap and does what you want it to -- control calling. TossableDigits.com
TossableDigits.com: Temporary Phone Numb
I tagged this article "answered" and "answered15566146".
http://outcampaign.org/
He's the same one that calls in the middle of the night and says: "Oh, did I wake you? Sorry, I'll call back tomorrow." And then immediately hangs up without waiting for a response.
What an asshole! You've already interrupted my sleep, now you hang up and turn my effort in getting out of bed and answering the phone into a waste. If the message can be delayed until tomorrow, why call now!?!??!? I'll tell you this, if you are going to expect me to answer the phone, *ANYTIME*, you better have something worthwhile to say right then and there.
People like this are *EXACTLY* why call filtering, distinctive rings, etc. exist. I have a relative who, since these technologies have been implemented, has never gotten me to answer the phone when she calls. I've told her straight to her face, but she still doesn't get it. This used to be the main reason I so enjoyed email. I was able to "listen" to the message when I wanted to do so. Plus, I never had to transcript a number or address. Now, with modern filtering and voicemail features, at least I can listen to the people *I* want hear, when *I* want.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
r00t is either a troll or retard with no social skills.
My personal favorite: Hi, we're home but we're screening our calls for people we don't like. So leave your name and number, and if we don't call you back, it's you.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Here's what you want. I have a close friend who has one of these and SWEARS by it. It'll accept 'extension numbers' to dial-through, play prerecorded messages, route to answerers and faxes, and hang up on unauthorized callers. Different models with different capabilities. Not too pricey.
"It's time to take life by the cans." ~ Bender ("Bendin' in the Wind", ep. 3-13)
Use TalkTrust.com Also provides support for listing on ebay/yahoo/craigs, works internationally (through voip) and in the USA and Canada on your mobile/pstn line. Capable of setting up your schedule. Accept calls on your terms :-)
Try http://www.talktrust.com/ It's FREE.
I hate telemarketing calls as much as the next guy - perhaps more - and I sometimes attempt to screen those courtesy of caller ID.
However, because the world does not revolve around me, and because I love my family and friends enough, I'll take the risk that I'll end up talking to some telemarketer for a few seconds.
What if it is an emergency? It's not about me. I'll pick up the phone - and when it *is* an emergency, I'll be available to care for someone else's needs. But that's just me. In your world, it sure seems to be all about you.
Respectfully,
Anomaly
But Herr Heisenberg, how does the electron know when I'm looking?
Pst, I just metamoderated the "flamebait" vote on this post of yours as unfair:
I don't normally go point this out, but those were such bullshit moderations I felt the urge to do so. So, you know, there are good mods/meta mods. Plus it's 7AM and I feel funky.
(Posted anon as to avoid any shit/bullshit moderations.)
- Khaed
That'll teach me to preview when I've been up all night:
This post.
(Yeah, I'm that irritated by shitty moderations this week. Fuckers need to learn what "flamebait" means.)