The Day I (Almost) Got Scammed

Several times a week, I get calls from scammers. The calls usually appear to come from random places around the US. If you answer, and they confirm that you are in fact a human gullible enough to answer a call from an unknown number, the scammer follows a standard script. They tell you they are calling from Microsoft support about a problem with your computer. Or they tell you there is something urgent that needs to be fixed on your credit report. Or they are calling from a government agency about something that needs your immediate attention. Or they act overly friendly, offering discounts on your services. If you hear an Indian accent and busy call center noise in the background, it’s almost certainly a scam. (more…)

Are We Alone?

We’ve all wondered if there’s other intelligent life out there, and we’ve wondered if we’ll ever make contact with them. But if there are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, and each of these stars likely has a planetary system, and many of these planetary systems have Earth-like planets hospitable to life, then how come we haven’t heard from any of these aliens? (more…)