"So the Vice-President's family is in town. There has to be a joke about fourpence found in Sydney. I can't think of one and probably only older people will understand." Thanks anyway Paul Stevens, North Epping.
I feel for Graham Lum (C8) as I also receive several scam/nuisance calls each day, says Ralph Davis C8PhD, Wahroonga. "BT in the UK has a great (and free) solution. Their Call Protect system identifies rogue numbers and blacklists them. Surely we can implement this in Australia?"
![U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen, right, offer leaves to a kangaroo during a visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney.](/web/20170427113622im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/q/m/o/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvqlsw.png/1492938406706.jpg)
"I got sick of scammers pretending to be 'Support' staff ringing to try and get remote access to my computer to fix non-existent viruses, so I decided to have a bit of fun at their expense. For the next scammer, I decided to: 1.Take everything he said the wrong way. 2. Take everything he said personally. 3. After that, sing Katy Perry songs. I filmed the whole encounter and posted it on YouTube called 'How to drive a computer support scammer absolutely mental', if you're interested." Lisa Phillips, Castaways Beach (Qld).
I am a Telstra customer with a Telstra Bigpond email address, reports Irene Swil, North Bondi. "I received in the post a flyer offering rewards. Printed on it was: "We've mailed this offer to you because the email version sent to your nominated email address couldn't be delivered." Not only could Telstra not email its own material successfully to its own customers, but it anticipated many such occurrences that this message was 'pre-printed'."
Russell Hill from Hobart has a phobia about dropping his keys down the storm drain or the crack between the elevator floor and the wall. Can C8ers help with the correct name for this phobia?
"Who came up with the idea of generating 'cute' names for government organisations by adding the prefix 'my', as in myGov, myRTA, etc? It has also caught on in business with myNRMA. It just amuses me but drives my wife crazy," says Brian Wild, Baulkham Hills . [Answers to myColumn8].
ANZAC corner: "My father was in the 2/12 F.C.8th. Div. they were surrendered by the British in February 1942 not 1944 (C8). My father died with over 2000 POWs, only six survived from brutal POW camp Sandakan Borneo." John Pope. [Bob McGuire also corrected his Saturday contribution. The 8th Division became prisoners of war when Singapore fell in February 1942.]"
Twitter: @Column8SMH