Category Archives: Gadgets

How to report spam text messages to AT&T Wireless

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Short answer: forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) then reply back with the number it originated from.

The business-minded folks over at AT&T have yet again gone out of their way to try and squeeze extra money out of their “already-paying-near-cartel-prices” customers. I knew they were greedy but the last straw was when I realized they charge extra for the “privilege” of tethering an internet connection (wired or wireless) through your mobile device in addition to the cost for the additional data. Really? My data allotment is data no matter how it goes through my devices, why do they get to charge for a software feature of my wireless phone?

Then… then today I received a terribly annoying spam text message:

After searching DuckDuckGo and Google, AT&T’s own customer forums come up (with people helping each other out), after their official FAQ page.

Thus, if I were to rely entirely on AT&T through its official support channels I would be greeted with a lengthy explanation as to what spam messages are, what the sources may be, and how I can prevent them:

Click to view full size screenshot

The best part: it dedicates much of the page to terrible suggestions (send “STOP” back to a spammer?) and then (for wireless number text messages) they suggest you pay for “AT&T Smart Limits” which is a $4.99 / month package to block specific numbers before mentioning it has a responsible method to report spam.

So, if I’m a typical user I skim the page, see a solution (oh, set up “Limits” and add the number, great!), stop reading and now AT&T takes more of my money. At least, I’m sure that’s the hope based on the way this helpful page is designed. It doesn’t seem like AT&T is dedicated to reducing spam, it appears to be in a conflict of interest: it’s in their best interest for more people to receive unwanted spam messages in order to continue promoting an additional paid service.

Disgraceful.

I’ll be switching to Verizon Wireless once my contract is up.

Apple TV is (just) an accessory

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The Apple TV as we currently know it (a black hockey-puck shaped paperweight), is an accessory. It sits on the final page, before you check out, of the iPad store experience. You will see it right there below they keyboard and charger, next to the printer.

Apple is laser focused on a handful of technologies. iPad, iPhone and Mac as “hardware” and iCloud, iTunes and iOS as “software”. The Apple TV is the middle of the venn diagram. It’s an accessory to continue to bring the experiences (hard and soft) together cohesively on a big screen (a different kind of “social media”).

It’s priced at $99 but has brought so many hours of value to our household. Considering how much a DVD player, sound system, PlayStation and other devices cost: this “accessory” is the most underrated, most disruptive, and least costly device that is sneaking in and making way for the next wave of Apple.

Link

The Week is one of the most underrated magazines out there. I’ve been reading the paper version for years now so I’m very excited to see a well-executed weekly magazine done on the iPad. If you’d like a series of quick read articles on well-balanced issues and stories from the US and the world, check it out. It’s the only news source I need anymore these days…

Link

From Drew Olanoff at The Next Web:

In a serious content play, Netflix has announced that it is bringing the wildly popular show Arrested Development back exclusively on its platform.

I can not wait for this to happen. I’m rooting for two underdogs, here.

Newsstand for iOS 5 is live with apps

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As expected, Newsstand did not “go live” until late last night when dozens of Newsstand-enabled iOS app updates were made available in the App Store. The functionality is perfect: the apps that have ‘opted in’ now appear in a custom Newsstand folder with the icon matching the cover of the periodical (if the developer so chooses). If you allow the push notifications for a new issue to arrive, the update is downloaded and the icon updates immediately. You can see both my WIRED and National Geographic magazines have updated in the screenshots above.

My lock screen message on OS X Lion

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I added a “screen is locked” message (new to [OS X Lion](http://www.apple.com/macosx/) under System Preferences > Security & Privacy) to my laptop since I’m traveling. It says:

“Hard Drive is encrypted. If found, please contact 303-835-3512”

This helps me get a few points across: the drive is encrypted so you can’t steal this to check your email and screw around, I want you to contact me (without explicitly stating there is a reward, or incentive to steal it), I am savvy enough to add a message like this so you think this is a risky laptop to steal.

Do you think this communicates the right message? What would (do) you say on your lock screen?

I’m afraid it may also suggest “don’t bother trying to hack this, just dump the hard drive and sell it” which would slow down any tracking or recovery efforts.