Web User - UK (2019-11-13)

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Airyourviews,writeto [email protected] 13 - 26 November 2019^73

fallingsalesoftheoverpriced iPhone,
allofa suddenAppleis able to produce

e has finally realised

canno longer do

atever it wants and

hatif it doesn’t get its

cttogether, then

people will go

elsewhere. So I say

hanks to the likes of

nePlus and Huawei for

gingprices down.

Elliott, Bangor, Co Down

Cameois anexcellent
idea for celebrities
I’m not sure if you’ve understood the
point of Cameo (www.cameo.com), as
reviewed in Essential Bookmarks, Issue
487, or have otherwise deliberately
misrepresented the service. It is not
intended to be a way for washed-up
celebrities to earn a living but to help
them better manage the ‘shoutout’
requests they receive from people online,
maintain control over their public image
and ensure that they’re not being ripped
off, and that their fans aren’t either.
Any well-known person who has a
social-media presence will frequently be
asked to “say hello” to their followers’
friends and family members (“because it
would really make their day”), endorse
charitable causes and events, or share
written or video messages of some other
kind. By directing all such requests to
their Cameo profile, they can more easily
process them, and – yes – monetise
these shoutouts for a small fee in return
for their time and effort. It also serves to
deter trolls and timewasters.
I think this is an excellent idea, not one
that should be mocked, and I wish there
was a UK-specific equivalent of Cameo,
because – as you mention – it is currently
dominated by American celebrities and
all rates are in dollars.
Name withheld, via email

H

AVE YOU EVER BEEN

TARGETED BY A

‘MICROSOFT’ TECH-SUPPORT

SCAM (bit.ly/scam487)?

Quite a few times. I usually tell them

to get lost, but one time I asked if the

computer the scammer was referring

to was switched on. He said yes, and

I told him that the only computer on

was my work laptop (true) and that

it was connected to the Ministry of

Defence network (not true, but the

company I worked for at the time did

do work for the MoD). I told him this

was a major security breach that I’d

need to report and could he hold. I

heard an expletive and he hung up.

Lee Dodgson

A few times, but after a bit of thinking

you just instantly know it’s a scam.

I mean, how could they know

something that hasn’t happened?

Jack Gold

Yes, some time ago. I went along with

his game for about 10 minutes and

then said: “Do you think I’m stupid?”.

He replied, “What do you mean?”

and I told him I was an IT expert, even

though I’m not. He then asked why

I was wasting his time if I knew it was

a scam?

You couldn’t make it up.

Sue Rasala

Yes, I’ve received a few and I enjoy

wasting their time. Love to end with

“Actually, I have a Mac”.

Phil Ówen

I read years ago that Microsoft will

never instigate a call to you, so I’ve

never fallen for it in the times I’ve had

these calls.

Pete A Cox

Seems strange that this still happens.

Christopher Chesters

Y

AHOO HAS CLOSED ITS

ONCE POPULAR GROUPS

SERVICE (bit.ly/yahoo488). DID

YOU EVER USE IT?

When I first went online in 1997,

there was no Facebook and, actually,

not much else, either. Yahoo Groups

was about the only place where you

could have discussions with other

people who were interested in similar

things. I joined back then and it was

good, but over the last 10 years it

gradually declined and the massive

data breach that recently occurred

put a lot of people off. So I am not

really surprised it is going, but it’s sad

all the same.

John Hewett

I remember when Yahoo was the

cutting edge of the internet. Yahoo

Auctions used to be the place to buy

stuff and Yahoo had such a great

directory (much more useful than

modern search engines). Geocities

was where I built my first ever

websites and, of course, I used Yahoo

Groups. I am genuinely surprised that

the service were still going – I had

assumed Yahoo had shut down

years ago.

Nat Grove

Yes, in the Noughties, but they

became overwhelmed with spam and

other rubbish.

Phil McCarty

I didn’t realise Yahoo Groups was still

going. Haven’t used it since it used to

be e-Groups.

Martin Phillp

I still use Yahoo because I’m old!

Never used Groups though.

Tina Ferry

I used the Yahoo search engine for a

while, and Yahoo Mail.

Brian Brown

A long time ago, back in 1998. Then it

got creepy.

Gavin Green

No.

Glenn Faulkner

What you

say...

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