phones

Somebody is watching you. That's true now even if you're in your own home and all the doors and windows are closed with curtains drawn. Scary new technology now makes every single Missouri home vulnerable to peeping toms and there's almost nothing you can do about it.

It's always wise to avoid any incoming phone call that says "unspecified" or "potential scam". But, did you know there are 12 specific phone numbers that scammers use all the time to rip off Illinois people?

I thought that perhaps starting out with "Illinois is #1" would give us all a nice, warm feeling about our state--and that perhaps you might not notice those words hidden within the parentheses that aren't really all that nice and warm.

So what's the problem? It's not like Illinoisans pay the highest tax rates in the nation, or the second-highest property taxes, or among the highest gas prices coast-to-coast...oh, wait.

If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, you might want to look into your privacy settings today.

Of course you can do it. A better question probably would be whether or not you would even want to do it.

I know what you're thinking. You want to know what "may see less" actually means. Does it mean that the calls will be cut in half? Less than that? Well...

That sudden and rapid decrease in your phone's battery life is not your imagination, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to replace the battery or phone. The culprit might just be this incredibly cold weather we're experiencing right now.

If your experience is anything like mine, it probably feels to you that about half those calls went directly to your phone number.

The people in the photo have the right idea, because you never know when something valuable will just land in the palm of your hand.