I consider myself to be something of a consumer advocate. I hate scams and rip-offs (who doesn't?), and I'm known for pointing them out when I find them. On that note, here's one that maybe isn't so new but until recently I had never heard of it.

The *72 phone scam has gotten some press over the past year or so, according to the research I did on it. My first encounter with it was a month or so ago, but I didn't realize it was a scam until this morning while reading a column by Ken Hoffman of the Houston Chronicle.

About a month ago I was receiving something like six calls a night from "Harris County Jail" (according to my caller ID). These were all collect calls, and as such I simply hung up. My wife and I speculated on who might be calling, and since all of our friends and family were accounted for we decided that some hapless soul had dialed a wrong number.

But as the nights went on and the calls continued, I finally decided to suck up the three bucks or whatever it was going to cost me and answer the phone.

"Hello?" I said as the exchange connected.

A young man's voice answered with something like, "Hi."

"Hey man, I think you have a wrong number. You call here a lot and I wanted you to know that there isn't anyone here who knows you."

"No," he said.

No? "I'm sorry, but you have a wrong number."

"I'm having a hard time hearing you, sir," he said, rather politely.

I have had trouble with the headset I use on my cordless phone in the past, so I unplugged it and said, "Is that better? You have a wrong number."

"No."

No? "Yeah, you do."

"I still can't hear you sir."

"I'm sorry, but please don't call back." I hung up.

Immediately the phone rang again, "Harris County Jail." I answered and hung up. The phone rang again and again I answered and hung up. And again, and again and again. Finally, after ten or fifteen tries the guy finally gave up for the night.

Over the next couple of days, though, I got more phone calls. It took nearly a week for the calls to stop all together.

Now that's annoying, and I admit that I contemplated reporting this to the police or something. Past experience tells me, though, that this is a pretty low priority for them and that I'd basically be on my own anyway. So I opted to ride it out. And it seemed to pay off.

This morning, while chatting with a friend on Yahoo IM, we got to talking about a phone scam that he fell victim to (more on that in a moment). He also pointed out the article by Ken Hoffman. I read it, and after hearing about "the best pizza in Houston" I came to a small little addendum that talked about the *72 scam.

What I've deduced is this: this guy was going to keep claiming he couldn't hear me until I punched *72, possibly under the guise of "switching lines" for a better signal. At that point, my phone would be forwarded to him and he could apparently intercept all of my calls, maybe even make a few on my number.

The point is, it was a scam and I "sort of" fell for it. But now, wonderful reader, you don't have to.

Now, if you already HAVE fallen for it, Ken Hoffman offers the solution... hit *73. This will turn off call forwarding and return your phone to normal operation. You'll have to call the phone company to make sure there are no outrageous charges on your number, though.

So, with that scam averted... here's another one.

My friend, Bob, recently got a charge of about $25 on his phone bill from a company calling itself "iLab."

A quick search produced some interesting results. Apparently this company is being sued by several people, and is tied to yet another company, eChurch, which is currently under investigation by the BBB. In an article on the BBB web site, the details of the scam are given as follows:

The ol' bait and switch. Oldest con in the book.

The advice of the BBB? Just hang up on telemarketers. Don't bother being polite, it might just get recorded and used against you. Just say nothing and hang up.

I used to feel guilty about that kind of thing. I even knew a few telemarketers who complained that they were "just doing a job." But the fact is that you can't be sure you aren't going to be manipulated, and in scams like this it's better to say nothing at all.

So be forewarned and forearmed. Don't fall for their game. If your phone company really wants you to update your information they'll send a letter. A good practice is always to ignore any calls that come from a number you don't recognize.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor for ViewOnline Magazine and a Writer/Producer for his production company, Hat Digital Media. He says it best when he says nothing at all.

I'm not in the kind of shape I'd like to be in. Blubbery and billowy, these are terms I grudgingly admit can apply to me. And while I'm on board with the movement towards physical fitness and improved health, I have as yet been uable to pull myself away from Simpsons re-runs and put myself on a treadmill.

Exercise equipment is kind of a waste, in my book. Sure, it's convenient to have your stair stepper or eliptical machine right there in the home. But if you're not really using it, isn't it just furniture? And not very attractive furniture at that. As my friend and colleague, David Dodson, puts it, "It's a place to hang clothes."

Running and being physically active are hard. I used to run every day after work, and I admit that I was much better off for it. I was thinner, had more energy and didn't have problems with indigestion or other over-eating related ailments. I was in pretty good shape. But years of driving 140 miles a day round trip to go to school, eating from vending machines and gas stations and being too exhausted to do much more than flick the remote every now and then have taken their toll. I am a very large shadow of my former self.

Promises of a magic pill that will shed the pounds over night have proven to be less than accurate. And cloning a new, perfect body in which to transfer my conciousness still seems to be eluding me. So what's a fella to do?

I guess I'll just have to suck it up and go for a run. Get my blood pumping. Get my adrenaline going. Get myself into shape.

When you put it like that, it sounds almost easy and fun, doesn't it?

Well, what I'm not looking forward to are the agonizing minutes with no oxygen. The feeling of battery acid dripping into my lungs. The excrutiating pain of my under-used joints threatening to snap from the repeated strain of hoisting my bulk up and down another set of stairs.

Nope, not looking forward to it. But it needs to be done.

So where's a good place to start? Luckily, I have the web. There are tons of sites out there that give me all the information I need to get started on road to a healthier, thinner me. Good ol' nurturing, loving Internet and her provisions for my health and happiness.

Now... how do I surf the web while running?

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor of ViewOnline Magazine at www.viewonline.com. He is a writer and producer for Hat Digital Media as well as a freelance writer. He is still waiting for the fat burning ice cream.

Recently I read an article on the Houston Chronicle web site that talks about Internet giants AOL and Yahoo offering a "paid" e-mail service. (at last sighting it could be found here).

The article points out that this is a way to help companies send mass e-mails without them being blocked by spam filters. It also helps us, the lowly consumer-level e-mail recipients, to block spam more readily.

There's a concept in philosophical thinking called a "slippery slope." The underlying idea of a slippery slope philosophy is that one event can lead to a whole series of catastrophic events. For example, if you allow one member of a satanic cult to move into the neighborhood then soon he'll bring friends and soon after that every cat in the neighborhood disappears and soon after that children start to go missing and then it's wanton human sacrifice and dancing nude in the streets under a full moon. Slippery slope reasoning isn't always the best approach to looking at a problem.

However, there are times when it's perfectly acceptable to engage in a little slippery slope thinking, just to imagine the ultimate outcome of something. Let's do a little now...

When Yahoo and AOL (owned by Time Warner) initiate this program it's going to set a precedent. Now, there will be a perfectly legitimate excuse for charging for e-mail. In the article, they've already pointed out that the U.S. Post Office already does this and that they have "special rates" for ensuring a letter or package gets to where it's going. The special rate that AOL charges, then, would be for ensuring that your e-mail absolutely makes it to where it's going, guaranteed or your money back.

The implication, of course, is that there is no such guarantee for non-paid e-mails. And in fact, since AOL and Yahoo will be paid for their guaranteed delivery, why should they bother keeping up the old system at all? As a non-paying customer, my e-mail issues aren't as important as those of, say, HP or Target. So one possible outcome is that with no attention spent on the "freebie" service, it will start to atrophy. As time goes by, it will become increasingly less reliable until the only way to get an e-mail through is to pay "digital postage."

Another facet is that now that two giants are tossing this ball around, it sets the stage for smaller companies to start this policy. How long before someone finally says, "We will only accept e-mail that has digital postage?" Or "We will only allow e-mail to be sent if it has digital postage?" In other words, it's only a matter of time before companies latch on to this idea as a way to make MORE money - and they'll do it under the guise of, "We're looking out for your interests. This is the only way to prevent spam!" Another case of the little guy having to suck it up and take the poison that's for their own good.

Another angle - free e-mail has opened up the boundaries between countries and cultures all over the world. It is now possible for me to communicate and collaborate with someone an ocean away in real time. If a charge is enforced on my e-mails, I'm gong to be far less likely to wantonly contact someone about just any topic. Since one topic usually leads to another, and these sometimes lead to some business for me, enforcing a charge on my e-mails now costs me even MORE money.

Not to mention, once these guys start charging the additional fees will start piling up. How long before the government figures out that there's money being made and they aren't getting a piece of it? Here come the e-mail taxes. And what about sending e-mail overseas? Will there be an additional fee for that?

Since the companies do not SPEND any additional money on handling e-mail, it seems strange that they can justify in any way CHARGING additional money for it. Instead of a per e-mail charge, why not do something truly revolutionary? How about charging companies for certificates instead? If it's really to block spam and viruses, then a certificate system similar to those used on secure web sites might be the best option. To avoid having your e-mail caught in spam filters, your company pays for a license or certificate that gets attached to every e-mail. If that certificate is missing, your e-mail may be blocked. But if it's there, it's guaranteed to get through.

Now, this assumes a couple of things...

One, the person on the other end will have to have an e-mail client that can read and regulate the certificates. This means that Outlook, Netscape, Mozilla and all the rest would have to design some sort of plug-in or update for existing e-mail clients. A small cost to them, but it could add up to big, sweeping changes and better e-mail systems later.

Two, the person on the other end will have to WANT to receive the e-mail, otherwise they could just block the certificate. If that happens, take your ball and go home. The "guaranteed" part shouldn't apply if the person doesn't want the e-mail.

This certificate idea has merit. If they could sell the certificates cheap enough, regular people might buy them for their personal domains. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would probably buy them so that e-mail sent through THEIR servers could go through.

The advantage to this system is that no one would be able to use a phony e-mail address to send spam or viruses. If the certificate doesn't match, it's automatically flagged and blocked.

The idea has merit. Now we just have to convince the major companies out there that this is the way to go. Instead of paying per e-mail, let's agree to make one-time payments for certificates that keep the system from being abused. This is something that should be handled by the Internic or the domain registration companies. It's not a profit system, it's meant only for verification and protection from abusers of the existing system.

I guess what it comes down to is this - I don't trust AOL and Yahoo to do what they propose without abusing it. It WILL be abused. Eventually, when people figure out that there's a way to profit on something that was once offered for free, it will be the California Gold Rush all over again. The digital landscape will be strip-mined until there's nothing left. At least what I'm proposing will actually be beneficial to EVERYONE, not just large corporations. And the opportunities for abuse are far less than those in the per-use e-mail scheme that's being proposed.

If you like this idea, let me know. And not just me, tell the important people in the world. Congressmen, senators, governors, even the President. Tell big business execs and small business owners. Get the word out on it before we find ourselves in a per-use world with no escape.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the editor of ViewOnline Magazine. You can reach him at kevin@viewonline.com. He is also a producer and writer for Hat Digital Media. Kevin is charging every time someone looks at him funny.

I am an XM Radio subscriber. A couple of years ago I reviewed the Roady, a little unit that could be used in the car, home or office and even moved around between the three. At first, I had been a little disappointed that I couldn't score one of the fancier Delphi radios like the one that smoothly transitions from a dash-mounted receiver to a boombox to a home stereo unit. It looked cool, it had more features, and... well, I pretty much covered it with "it looked cool."

Lately, though, I've come to realize that the Roady is the better deal. For one thing, these days it's a great deal cheaper (you can pick one up for under fifty bucks now if you look around) and there are a ton of new accessories for you to play with. My favorite is the Personal Audio System that converts your Roady into a portable, Walkman-like player.

So the Roady, as it turns out, was the way to go after all. It's cost effective and it has a ton of accessories.

Now that my pitch for the XM Roady is done, though, here's the point...

Radio, as we've known it, is dying.

I live in Houston now, but I grew up about eighty miles away in a small town where there wasn't much in the way of music stores. The closest one was about thirty-minutes away in a town called Lake Jackson. But even though I did buy the occasional cassette (and later CD), I largely depended on the radio for my musical experience. We were in range to receive all of Houston's finest, and everyone had their favorites. In general, you had three stations you listened to regularly and you scorned anything else on the dial.

As I got older my musical tastes changed only slightly, but I still found myself searching the dial for something - anything - to listen to. This was because all my old stand-by stations were being bought out and reformatted. One of my biggest nightmares as a young college student came as I hopped into my car, tuned to 93Q and discovered to my horror that overnight it had gone from a pop music station to... blegh.... Country.

A short time later, another favorite of mine switched from classic rock to Tejano, which I would later learn was to be the trend for the vast majority of stations on the dial. And if it wasn't Tejano music, it was... blegh... Country or, worse yet, rap music.

Now, for those who appreciate Tejano and country and rap, I deeply apologize. You have every right to listen to whatever you choose. I have no appreciation for these musical forms, however, and yet I found myself being inundated with them.

Musical preferences aside, though, there were other petty annoyances that were starting grate on my nerves. Morning talk radio was... well, it was morning talk radio. Inane chatter about meaningless topics. If you're going to talk, at least be intelligent about it! Talk about current events, about politics, about (yuck) SPORTS even, but let's lay off of the witty banter about the culinary differences between gas station hot dogs and James Coney Island, or Miracle Whip vs. Hellmans mayonnaise.

If your goals is to listen to music in the mornings, you're out of luck.

Add to this the hours of mind-numbing commercials your forced to endure and you find yourself clocktower bound.

When I first got the Roady to review, it was only $10 per month to subscribe. When it went up, I did some serious pondering as to whether it would be worth it to keep the service. I had already had to make the decision once - as part of my review I had received a few months of service for free. So, after the price hike I toyed with going back to "regular radio," only to discover that half the stations I had listened to were now Tejano or... blegh... Country or were gone all together. The only things left to me were one or two Clear Channel clones that played the same two songs over and over again and a very popular radio station that was famous for its DJs... not its music. Suddenly the thirteen bucks per month that it costs to have a satellite radio system seems cheap at twice the price.

With XM I can listen to music commercial free, and I have a few hundred choices to scan through. I have my three or four favorites, of course.

But here's an irony for you - all that music available to me and I listen to talk radio about 90% of the time I'm in the car. Somewhere along the way I got old or something. I'd rather listen to Sean Hannity than Nickleback (although I do like Nickleback). Go figure, I'm topical.

So the point is, radio is dying. I think it's only a matter of time before subscription services rule the airwaves. In a world where commercials are more prevalent than music, I think people are getting to the point where they'd do anything, pay anything, to just have a break from advertisement for a while. And for the music aficionados in the bunch, the selection is hands-down much better than you'll find anywhere on the dial. And no DJs!

Makes a fella want to cry.

J. Kevin Tumlinson is the Editor of ViewOnline Magazine at www.viewonline.com. He is also a producer and writer for his company, Hat Digital Media (www.hatdigitalmedia.com). Kevin is Sirius about XM Radio.