I know my posts are getting scarce, and I was posting daily for awhile, then my posts dwindled off. This isn’t because I was getting lazy, it’s because I am taking another look at my editorial calendar, and the direction of the blog, and want to give you good content, but not sacrifice the readers. So please bear with me over the next few weeks as I tweak the backend of the blog and try to decide what direction to take it.

In the meantime, I will try to follow my current editorial calendar and post a few times a week.

Thanks to the readers for sticking with me.

-Brian

About a week ago NY Times columnist David Pogue has began a quest against all cell phone companies because when you call someone’s cell phone you get their personal message, then you hear about 15-20 seconds of carrier canned messages. From his July 30th Column:

• * Sprint: “[Phone number] is not available right now. Please leave a detailed message after the tone. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press pound for more options.”
• Verizon: “At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for mo re options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)”
• AT&T: “To page this person, press five now. At the tone, please record your message. When you are finished, you may hang up, or press one for more options.”
• T-Mobile: “Record your message after the tone. To send a numeric page, press five. When you are finished recording, hang up, or for delivery options, press pound.”
• (You hear a similar message when you call in to hear your own messages. “You. Have. 15. Messages. To listen to your messages, press 1.” WHY ELSE WOULD I BE CALLING?)

Read part 1 of his column

I am on board with him over this, I hate those messages, and by the way, the time we spend listening to that crap is taking away our minutes, so we are paying for it.

In part 2 of his column, he got a lot of responses and he has links to file complaints against the carriers themselves. I think everyone should jump on board and email their carriers and tell them they just want their message and the fracking beep, or there should be a way to turn it off.

Sprint already has this option, and iPhone users don’t have that issue when people call them probably because Apple and AT&T have some sort of deal in place.

If you want to bypass the canned messages altogether, right now here is the options for each carrier:

* for Verizon

1 for Sprint

#for AT&T

# for T-Mobile

So take back the beep and let your carrier know what you want.