Strange phone call this morning...

Tomorrow's Headlines:

"Scorned Woodworker Uses Lasers and Prisms to Align Knife Blade Precisely Perpendicular to Victim's Chest"

Naah - wrong headline. Should be:

"Harassing Lunatic Killed With Wooden Bullet." The suspect was reported to have claimed that a wooden bullet was the approved method of slaying trolls.

No, but I've learned that it is trivial to spoof the calling line ID. I found this out when investigating a call that came to me 'from' a number that was not in service.

There is (or was) website that lets you do that for free. I haven't checked it out, but suppose it you'd call it using VOIP and then it woudl connect via the internet to a local exhchange to complete the call.

There are some reverse phone number search services online. Some of them work for free. Some may claim they found a reverse lisitng, even if they did not, and want you to pay to see the 'results'.

No, but I've learned that it is trivial to spoof the calling line ID. I found this out when investigating a call that came to me 'from' a number that was not in service.

There is (or was) website that lets you do that for free. I haven't checked it out, but suppose it you'd call it using VOIP and then it woudld connect via the internet to a local exchange to complete the call.

What would be the motivation for someone to call you? Have you recently been in a heated argument?

In any case, you might want to report the call. It could certainly be construed as a threat.

Hi Doug,

You betcha.

Call came in yesterday at 12:06:31 (just as I was sitting down to lunch with some friends). Sure enough, the number was (205) 257-4369. When I answered the caller hung up. I get a lot of wrong numbers so I didn't give it much thought. But, now I know *exactly* who it was! It's a landline and I'm sure he thinks that he is protected by having an unlisted number.

Thanks, Ed Bennett

Doug Miller wrote:

...

Sorry to hear that, but reinforces my belief/opinion as expressed in my latest response to you in the "ts-aligner" thread.

I guess you haven't been reading the thread about the TS-Aligner 2006 Fall Promo?

Yes, you might say I've been in an argument. Wasn't heated on *my* end... but then, it wasn't *me* that got bent far enough out of shape to look up the other guy's home address and phone number, and call him.

I plan to, if he calls a second time. Right now, I figure he's just a blowhard, and probably a coward besides. Plus, he's three states away, not across the street. If he does actually show up...he may regret that decision. We're capable of protecting ourselves, and ready to do so if need be.

If he persists, he'll learn just how thin that protection is when a complaint is made to the telco about harassing calls.

Doug would never argue with anyone! Must have been a simple mistake. (just for the record, I was asleep...)

Hey, I know it wasn't you, Toller. You live in upstate NY, if I recall correctly, and this call came from Alabama.

Yeah, I found it shortly after I posted... curiosity got the best of me.

Very weak.

LOL!!!!

I got into a pissing match with a blowhard in another newsgroup once... he said he was going to come see me. I told him to come on, published my street address and suggested he come in through the window... and carry some ID, so I'd know where to send the remains.

So far, he hasn't shown up. Just as well, as I'm not likely to call 911. That's not the coroner's number, is it?

Yes it is. But I think it's goes through his secretary first. Jim

Maybe. Did you try calling back and asking? :)

Not a good idea--found a suspicous package in the mailbox one day with a return address that showed that it was from a netkook with whom I had been engaged in a pissing match. The guy claimed to be a pacifist. Opened it from 100 yards with a 5.56mm letter opener. It made a surpisingly loud noise and I owed the range for a target stand. One of the few times in my life that I've regretted not calling the cops to deal with a problem but at that point there wasn't a useful amount of evidence left. I stopped using my real name online after that--it's distinctive and there are only a half a dozen people in the country who share it and I'd really rather not have to monitor my mail quite that carefully.

I did. There was no answer.

Try calling them at 2 or 3 in the morning.