Evil Phonenumber

So, first off, I have to give all the credit to this idea to Saire, who some of you may have read at Step Away From The Console.....

I got a phone call yesterday (on my fancy new Galaxy) from 02 8986 3000 and when i answered it the call immediately disconnected.
(Don't stress about me publishing the number - there is a reason!)
I don't really know anyone in Sydney but I do know people in Brisbane and, having lived there for a decade or more, I'm really feeling it when i watch the flood disaster unfolding on TV. Given the parlous communication systems in Brisbane at the moment I considered there was a *small* chance the call may have been legitimate, possibly soomeone from Sydney calling about a mutual contact in Brisbane.
I am, however, reluctant to call odd numbers without doing some research so I went straight to uncle Google.
I typed the number, including the area code in brackets into Google in inverted commas and clicked on 'Pages from Australia'
[If you don't know - Inverted commas (or "quotations" like that) limit Google to searching for exactly what you have typed and nothing else. It's a very useful tip, especially for things like phone numbers and names.]

I expected to find nothing or possibly the phone number listed as a number of some random Sydney business.
Instead I came across rage and bewilderment: http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=02+89863000&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

It appears this number is used by someone, probably a phone company call centre and if you call back you will get a variety of responses ranging from being immediately put on hold, getting a recorded message claiming "No agents can take your call" or an engaged signal.

I mentioned this call to Saire and she said "Oh, I've had one of those random numbers bothering me. I simply listed the contact in my phone as "Evil phone company" and every time they call I know not to bother answering it." (I may have misquoted a little. Please excuse me if I did, Saire.)

What a brilliant idea!

I listed the number in my phone contacts as the deliberately mis-spelt "Evil Vodaphone" (which plenty of people seem to agree with anyway) and thought nothing more of it.

Just five minutes ago I heard my mobile ringing and, as no-one I know rings my mobile when I'm at work, grabbed the phone as fast as I could.

"Evil Vodaphone" said my phone.  Chuckling, I refused the call and went back to work. But the whole thing stuck in my head....

What an interesting use of technology. Using search engine to check unknown phone number, discovering plenty of websites that exist solely to help you figure out mysterious phone numbers and defining that kind of number in your phone so it becomes no more annoying than some random fly, bugging you for as long as it takes to swipe it away.

Google joins the eBook storm

In my last post I just wanted a very quick note about the range of eBook readers and their formats, with a few links to other sites. Interestingly, a number of readers made very insightful comments and additions, which made the whole post much more comprehensive, not to say informative.
Just a quick follow-up, with a bunch of links. A day or so after my post Google announced their new (long-discussed) eBook service, which created a small stir, and then a big one.
Complaints included a notable US bias http://bit.ly/egGGUk or http://bit.ly/fg6Llo , which seemed to annoy people, and then a reaction from other booksellers, including Borders http://bit.ly/gtfvnC, calling it "...not a legitmate bookstore." and Amazon, who quickly went on the attack with Kindle for the Web http://bit.ly/ea2jop .
To wrap up, here is a link to a grumpy UK site http://bit.ly/fKPpl6 and a West Australian view, if you missed it http://bit.ly/gYMVaB .
I have to say that I feel like I'm watching a swarm of early adopters squabbling and I'm happy to just sit back and wait for the dust to settle before I decide where to spend my hard-earned.
So maybe I (and not a few libraries) will wait for next year before committing to an eBook relationship.