Of course, my real electricity bill is $150. There was $30 in taxes. The actual numbers is $151.33 for utilities and $30.46 for tax. This means, that 17% of my electricity went to taxes.

Wireless phones are no better… 10% tax.

So, where am I going with this? Lately, we’re hearing all about the Buffett Rule and how his secretary is taxed at a higher percentage and yatta yatta yatta. While attention is being thrown on trying to pit the poor against the rich, the “poor” (aka those of us that aren’t millionaires) are getting a tremendous amount of our income taken from us by governments.

These taxes, government surcharges, and fees add up to a snowball effect.

In the meantime, we sit here like lap dogs and listen to others say how we need to tax the mega rich more… instead of us all paying less.

In all seriousness, if you’re looking to implement or integrate Kamailio into your network, give me a call. Or, for more information click here.

I honestly assumed this was a legit call. You see, I recently changed my cell phone to AT&T and get a few calls a week for the former owner. Then, about an hour or so later, Yeni gets a call on her cell from 377-372-5939. She didn’t recognize the number (and also gets a few wrong numbers) and handed me the phone. 

The same text to speech engine, identifying itself as Florida First Credit Union had now called my wife’s phone. This time, I let it speak it’s script.

As best as I can remember, it stated that to reactivate my credit card, I needed to press 0. So, I did. The text-to-speech script was well written. It advised that the call may be monitored or recorded for quality and asked me to enter my credit card number followed by pound.

I tried 100# and was read back that I entered one zero zero. I was then told it wasn’t a valid card number. I tried entering 0#. I was told I entered zero which wasn’t a valid card number. I didn’t enter a valid card and eventually ended the call.

Yeni and my phone numbers are about 1500 numbers apart. I figured there was a call blast and tried to alert local law enforcement (the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office). The call taker brushed me off, but I insisted I wanted to make a report— this was a good script and I’m sure at least a few people in the area will get scammed. Later in the night a Deputy did call me and completed an information report.

I also called AT&T. After being transferred to fraud prevention (insert laugh), I explained what was going on. The call-taker was unfamiliar with phishing via the phone and simply did not understand how phishing could be done without a text or email (hello vishing). I was seriously talking to a wall.

The funny part with AT&T was that I called to report phishing on their network and called from my AT&T wireless phone. I was asked my address, full name, last 4 of social, and more. Very odd, and certainly not the most appropriate action.

Anyway, I tried. I don’t know what I wanted… I guess in my dream of dreams AT&T would stop the attack and have their network secured from bogus caller-id and blocked numbers. The dream was just that— a dream.

Why did I even try? I don’t know. I’ve always loved this quote from Albert Einstein:

“The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

We’ll see. With luck, most people will realize this is a scam and it will fail. That being said, the script was well written. Social engineering is very powerful when done correctly. The writing on this attack was excellent.

Remember, your personal information is yours. You should never feel comfortable giving out birth dates, addresses, credit cards, social security numbers, etc. Here’s a few good tips to protect yourself from attacks:

1. Be suspicious.  For example, if you’re receiving a call about your credit card number, why would they need your credit card number? There’s nothing wrong with asking why someone needs the information they are requesting. If you feel uncomfortable, don’t give it. I generally don’t. I’ll ask why they need the info and what else they can use instead of what they are requesting.
2. Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. If they don’t leave a voicemail, they weren’t worth your breath.
3. Don’t answer calls from blocked numbers. Let me put it this way… why would you answer calls from blocked numbers?

By-the-bye, 3773725939 is a bs number. There is no active 377 area code. This is where I think ATT fails… why would a number like this be allowed on the network? That being said there is a Florida First Credit Union and this is a very good phishing attack.

Updates: Other people (including my mother-in-law) received the call with a CID of “8.” Looks like several friends on Verizon Wireless also received the calls.

28-Apr-2012. Getting hit again… which means it must have worked well enough the first time to target people again. Of course, despite requests no media has informed residents to be careful. =(

29-Apr-2012. I sent an email to Sgt Kelly at ASO… he was very good at getting the word out. For example, this small piece in The Gainesville Sun.

07-May-2012. Looks like more people are continuing to get hit. TV 20 came to the bakery today and did an interview.

La madre degli imbecili è sempre incinta.

Translated (loosely): The mother of imbeciles is always pregnant. There’s never going to be a shortage of idiots.

Pancia e coscienza.

Stomach and conscious. It’s like a balance of want and ethics. Need balance.

» Why we love Square

Once a quarter I am forced to change my card, change my billing, etc. Either this is blatantly poor security or it’s a genius move to get me to use someone else’s bank.

Hey everyone... Meet Gary Johnson. He's running for President.

Chocolate Cake with Ganache

Growing up, my mom did something amazing every time the school year ended. On the last day of school, when I walked into the door, a layered cake would greet me. As most normal kids, my usual cake was a single-tiered cake with frosting on top. Special birthdays might have a two-layered cake with the thinest of thin layers of frosting separating them. But this was different.

The cakes mom would have had one layer for each year of school completed. If I had finished 4th grade, it would be a 4 layer cake. Seventh grade? 7 layer cake. My last day of high school had an amazing 12 layer cake. Until this week, I had actually never though about having more than a 12 layer cake… enter Dream Day Cakes®.

Our Gainesville bakery turned out a 24 layer chocolate cake covered in amazing ganache. It makes me want to go back to school– just so my mom can buy me one. =)

Clearly, and based on the title here, one major change involves food — I’ll talk about that in detail. First, let’s identify the two main disappointments: Customer Service and Food.

Again, overall, I still love going to Disney. Honestly, if we didn’t love it we wouldn’t get those annual passes. Also, because we do go (very) often, we probably end up noticing a lot more than others.

Customer Service

We just went to the Magic Kingdom today and here are two examples of how Disney’s legendary customer service degraded to become standard, crappy service. First, when purchasing some snacks at the bakery on Main Street, the attendant never said “hi,” “hello,” or offered any greeting. She held out her hand, swiped my card, and handed me back the card; not even telling me the total. Again, nothing “rude,” just not what we would get from Disney even just 2 years ago.

Later on, we were walking next to the Pirates of the Caribbean and a cast member ran into Yeni with one of those huge Disney strollers. He didn’t knock her down, but he scraped some skin of her ankle; if you’ve ever done something like this, you know it’s not a huge issue– but it hurts like hell. The cast member saw Yeni’s reaction and yelled “sorry” as he walked away; never breaking stride or checking to see if she was ok. Again, major? No. But even just two years ago, the cast member would have at least stopped.

The “nonchalant,” “could-care-less” attitude at Disney is alive and very noticeable.

Eating at Walt Disney World

I am now convinced that there is simply one or two good places to eat inside each park within Walt Disney World. In the past, eating at Disney was a treat. Food tasted good and there seemed to be some pride in what was presented. Those days are long gone– even at the high end places, such as Crystal Palace, the food is just “eh.”

Magic Kingdom

The two best places to eat are the Castle and Pecos Bill’s. At Cinderella’s Castle, the experience really makes the meal, but the food itself was good. At Pecos, it’s clearly fast food… but it’s good. The chili is very good – different than the chili at Casey’s. It’s just very good, and the topping bars are exactly what you would like to see at Disney. Sauteed onions, mushrooms, sides– just a very good meal. Very good.

Everything else? Crap. Crystal Palace is great for seeing Pooh and Friends. The food? Nothing special. The only other place I love? The Ice Cream Parlor on Main St. I’m scared though– it’s been closed the last two times I visited the park. Last time this happened was at MGM (sorry), Hollywood Studios, when the McDonald’s Fries stand started closing… which brings me to…

MGM/Hollywood Studios

There is only two good places to eat. There’s counter service in a ship that serves very good “meals in bread.” They’re great, and for Disney, not overly priced. The other? A little ice cream stand near the Tower of Terror.

There used to be a great McDonald’s Fries stand– it’s no more.

Epcot

The bakery in France is excellent, but go early before the croissants become stale. Also, there’s random eateries right as you enter the World Showcase. I’ve had some great emañadas there– but the menu comes and goes.

Animal Kingdom

Haven’t found the good place yet– open to suggestions.

I’ll call this a mini-rant and use it to hopefully help you enjoy a good meal at the park.

I do use a variety of statistical data to review the websites I administer — and while I will monitor and review the others very often, I review FredPosner.com about twice a year… and with that long winded introduction, I present… 2011: The Year That Was at FredPosner.com.

The Top 3 Most Viewed Pages of 2011

1. No, You Cannot Scan My ID (aka the Target rant)
2. The Ben Franklin Effect
3. Meet Cartoon Fred (an oldie, yet apparently popular topic)

The Top 3 Key Words/Phrases of 2011

1. benjamin franklin
2. what is a hero
3. fred posner

The Top 3 Referring Sites of 2011

1. google
2. facebook
3. qxork.com

The Top 3 Web Browsers Visiting during 2011

1. Firefox
2. Internet Explorer
3. Chrome

Thank You!

In 2011, over 10,000 unique visitors from 114 different countries checked out FredPosner.com. For a personal site, this is an amazing honor. Compared to the traffic we get at Dream Day Cakes®, the traffic here is nothing… but again, this site has pictures of bears holding hands, my annual Thanksgiving message, rants about Target, Rubio, Politics, and occasional photos of my odometer.

Trivial for you… my favorite post last year was the What is a Hero? rant. Yeni’s was (you guessed it)… the two bears holding hands.

Thank you again!

» Top Ten Cakes of 2011 from Dream Day Cakes®

** Remember, I am completely biased.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

Whatever you celebrate this Winter (welcome to Winter by the way), both Yeni and I wish you a happy and healthy new year! So, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, or anything else, please celebrate and return home safely.

Please note that I said “Merry Christmas.” This is because I don’t care if you’re Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, Wiccan, Pagan, Jedi, Trekkian, Klingon, Satanic, or pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster— December 25th is Christmas. Changing “Christmas break” to “Holiday break” certainly doesn’t change the fact that the holiday you’re breaking for is Christmas. No one should be offended by the use of the word Christmas, and if you are… excuse my French, but get a fucking life.

Speaking of French… calling French Fries “freedom fries” is not American– it’s stupid. They’re french fries. If you want to reach a larger audience and avoid the word “French,” call them papas fritas.

As I was saying…

Have a Merry Christmas! Of course, you can always choose to make that celebration even more special (inserting shameless plug) as every celebration deserves Dream Day Cakes^®. =)

This is still one of the best pictures I have ever taken.

» Read the blog post at VoIP Tech Chat

This is our dream house. I love her smile.

Typing out the Thanksgiving Message

I’ve written about the history of Thanksgiving, about losing friends, losing family, gaining family, gaining friends, and more. 

I’ve talked about driving thousands of miles, flying across the world, the journey, the walk, and the festive table.

I’ve discussed weather, fortune, gratitude, and more.

In ten years, I’ve lost many people and gained many more.

A decade ago I had no idea that I’d be where I am now. None. I have no idea what ten years from now will look like. What I do know, is what I always know, and have known for at least the last 10 years…

I am extremely thankful for you. My friends and family are the rock that anchors my life. Thank you for another great year.