My So Called Life…

I am now the proud owner of a new(ish) HTC Hero which I bought off eBay for a fair few quid. Was a bit concerned at first but all arrived OK and works like a charm.

The original plan was to end my contract and get the new shiny with a new contract, but that wouldn’t be until at least august next year, but as I’ve only had 3 phones in the last 10 years I thought it was about time. And besides I’m not tied in to an expensive contract for the next 18 months. Job’s a good’en.

Just had a Txt from ‘UpgrdCentre’ which is obviously spam, “Orange customer, you may now claim your FREE CAMERA PHONE upgrade for your loyalty. Call now on 02071539153. offer ends 24th july. T&C’s apply. opt-out available”.

Reported it to Orange on their 7726 number, but it probably won’t stop these bastards. As long as a few people reply then they make their money. Gits.

At last, a way to get a hi-res background on the Orange Homescreen. Clicky…

What a steaming pile of shit Orange software really is…

Just had another annoying phone call from some dicks trying to sell me a new phone. Futurephone i think she said. They called from 07971269515 claiming to be an ‘Official Orange Dealer’, meaning they sell phones. I asked where they got my number from, as the phone is on TPS, and they claimed that Orange had given my details to them.

They then asked if it was a contract phone. “Didn’t Orange give you that information?” I enquired…

Apparently not, they just get the number. Not a very well targeted campaign then.

“And how long have you got left on your contract?”

I’ve got no idea, but when I said I thought it was already over the minimum and just an ongoing subscription she said she’d call again another time.

Very odd.

ORANGE CUSTOMER: YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR A COMPLETELY FREE PHONE. 1ST COME 1ST SERVED. CALL FREE ON 0800 0838440

Yeah, Bollocks.

Looks like we’re getting closer to getting S60 Calendar talking to Google Cal via Python but the script on this site only does the current day. Needs hacking. Might be a project for a rainy day.

Textcomp are fucking scum! More spam from the twats.

FREE entry into our £250 weekly comp just send the word ENTER to 87011 NOW. 18+ T&C www.textcomp.com cust care 0871 240 5020.

Their website has no way to unsubscribe from their shitty service other than sending a text to their premium rate number (It’s just a standard rate according to Orange).

Still kinda pissed off, and a nice man gave me the number for OfCom (0845 4563000) who I shall be ringing in the morning. If you got to this site by searching for these bastards in Google/Yahoo, etc I sugest you do too. It’s only if enough people complain that something’s going to be done.

At this point, I’d like to point out that the cretins at TEXTCOMP have ALREADY broken the law. My mobile is registered with the TPS and has been for a very long time.

A quick WhoIs from Network Solutions shows not only are they a shit company, but the scamming bastards are based… can you guess…

Yes, INDIA!

Tanla Solutions Ltd.

Plot 11, Type A

Filmnagar, Jubilee Hills

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500034

IN

So not only are our jobs going over there, but now they’re exporting bloody SPAM!

They do also have a London office…

MLS Business Centre

Winchester House

259 ? 269 Old Marylebourne Road

London NW1 5RA

Tel: +44 (0)870 4450015

Fax: +44 (0)207 1704251

Now I’ve just tried ringing these bastards, and no answer. Fair enough, it is 21:30, but I’m thinking of taping a few black sheets of card together and sending them some faxes. You can play along at home too.

Simply take 2 peices of black card (anything dark will do) and tape them together vertically. Place it into the fax and send to your target (0207 1704251 – Go on, you know you want to).

Once the fax has started to send and the bottom of the paper has emerged from the fax, simply tape it to the top of the other sheet. You now have an infinite loop of black paper being faxed to your victim. Leave on for as long as you like and really piss some people off with unsolicited faxes. See how they like it. I call it a Fax-Bomb. Wastes all their paper as it all gets printed on, all for the cost of a local call. Hell do it from work if you have the facilities.

Where was I… Oh yes…

I wonder what they’ll have to say to an slightly irked ‘customer’. Maybe I’ll wait till after I speak to them before I bomb the bastards.

Had a text from +447879286699 today:

Had your mobile 10+ mths? Update to the latest Orange camera/video phones for £FREE. Save £££s with Double mins & text. Text YES for a callback or no to opt out

No mention of it in Google or Grumbletext but it looks like I’m going to be getting a lot more of this kinda shit from now on. Somebody, somewhere has my number and is selling it. Now I deliberately (un)tick the little boxes as appropriate to avoid this crap. My number is even registered with the TPS, although under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2004 it is unlawful to send an unsolicited sales and marketing text message anyway!

What more can you do?

Fucking bastards. Just got a message (I think it was an MMS) claiming to be a ‘Service msg.’ from ‘Unknown’ with a note saying ‘Ringtone’ and a link to a WML (WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Markup Language) file in the format http://tms.widelive.com/index.wml?id=4f3d3b76c77f5af91680&first=true

I must point out, this it NOT the id they gave me, I took this from someone elses complaint I found Google.

Visiting the link gives you a whole load of crap. I’ve thinned out all the markup, and you’re left with:

Ringtones
Grab your FREE tone – Choose now!

Featured Tones!
Crazy Frog – AxleF
Akon – Lonely
Amerie – 1 Thing
Star Wars Theme
Tony Christie ft. Peter Kay – (Is This The Way To) Amarillo

or check out….
UK Top Ten
R’n'B
Dance Chart
Kickin’ Tones
thousands more tones

>Search
> Home
> Help
> T&Cs
> FAQs

powered by TMS
To opt-out of these offers send ’stop’ to 84242

Now after checking with Orange (an nice lady called Sue on 150) this is a £3 per message service, which I sure as hell didn’t subscribe to. Also, she can’t check to see if I’ve been charged for this crap until my next bill, although she will put a note on my account to refund it if I’m charged. Also, I need to opt-out otherwise I would continue recieving this crap and be charged for it.

A quick txt to 82424 with ‘Stop’ later and I recieve a reply saying:

You are now permanently removed from our marketing services. You have not been charged for any message from us, and you will receive no more messages at all.

Yeah, right. Like I’m gonna believe that, considdering I never subscribed in the first place. Wankers.

Their T&Cs does offer some information though…

Thank your for requesting help from our WAP site, we hope you to provide you with the best possible service

text ’stop’ to 84242 to recieve no more marketing messages or write to The Music Solution Ltd, PO BOX 52705, London, EC1Y 0WY

Terms & Conditions
1. You must be 16+ and have the permission of the bill payer to subscribe to the service.
2. You agree to receive occasional promotional messages in the future
3. This is a subscription service. After your free ringtone, unless you opt-out, you will be entitled to a ringtone every week from the Ringtone Club charged at 300p plus your normal SMS/WAP charges
4. To unsubscribe at any time text STOP to 84242
5. Customer Service: help@tms.co.uk or 02074908191
6. Check your phone for compatibility

Again, this was all done through my browser, not through my phone, and the link was using that other guy’s id… Sorry bud, hope it doesn’t track your ID and link you in again.

Time to start spamming their email… see how they like it. Also you might want to flame Andrew Robinson (see SamSpade) and ask him who the hell he thinks he is.

******* UPDATE 06/05 *******

Interesting reply from TMS…

>Alex,

Thank you for your note, and my apologies for us sending you a wap push marketing message. I perfectly understand that you had no interest in receiving the message and it is not our intention to send marketing material to those who have not actively opted to receive such messages.

In common with many other content providers, we occasionally purchase opt-in marketing lists from data management companies, registered with the Data Association who specialise in providing such services.

We only send messages to people who have specifically opted in to receive marketing messages from a previous service. In your case, this doesn’t sound like something you either intended to do, or believed you did. If you give me your mobile number, I will be able to trace the source and let you know which company is offering your mobile number for marketing purposes. They will then, of course, be able to identify the reason for your inclusion on their marketing list and remove you from their records according to your wishes, just as we will be pleased to do.

If you pass me your mobile number I will make sure that you will be removed from our service and records, and I again apologise from TMS for this intrusion and inconvenience.

Alternatively, if you just text stop to 84242, you will automatically be removed from all our marketing.

Best regards,

David

————————
David Warburton | CEO
The Music Solution Ltd | 3 Nightingale House | 5 Garrett Street | London| EC1Y 0TT | United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7490 8191 | F: +44 (0)20 7336 7191

So, I’ve asked him to let me know where he got my number, I certaintly don’t remember ticking any boxes asking for this kinda stuff.

Will update this page as and when…

Well, I finally managed to customise the Nokia Image Uploader so it’ll automatically post onto Blogger, but the only problem is it’s posting the html code verbatim. It’s not allowing it to be posted as a standard blog entry, so you can see the <img src=”http://www… etc.

I’ve posted a query with Blogger support so we’ll see what they have to say about it.