Phone Numbers

Japan Running Out of 11-Digit Phone Numbers as Country Embraces “Internet of Things” Smart Technology

June 18, 2019 / Chris Boyle / 0 Comments

NEW YORK – The communications ministry of Japan has reacted to fears that the country will run out of 11-digit telephone numbers by 2022 by approving the creation of 10 billion 14-digit phone numbers, a move that has already been approved by the county’s three major mobile device carriers. The new numbers, according to reports, should be introduced by the end of 2021. The rapid adoption of “Internet of Things” devices, which require their own contact phone numbers in Japan, has done a great deal to exhaust the country supply of 11-digit phone numbers in the country. File photo: Pixabay. A number of factors, including the impending roll-out of Japan’s new 5G Network in 2020, has attributed to an increase in devices with connectivity that will require a slew of new phone numbers. The rapid adoption of “Internet of Things” devices, which require their own contact phone numbers in Japan, has done a great deal to exhaust the country supply of 11-digit phone numbers in the country. The new phone numbers, which start with the prefix “020,” were introduced initially at the start of 2017 to exclusively accommodate Internet of Things devices. 80 million “020” numbers have been assigned to Internet of Things devices as of the end of March 2019, but with the impending exhaustion of the current 11-digit telephone number system in Japan, officials have created 10 billion more “020” numbers with the intention that they would now be spread between both Internet of Things devices and traditional

Efforts Ongoing by Several Companies to Create Blockchain Version of Yellow Pages

June 11, 2019 / Chris Boyle / 0 Comments

NEW YORK – Despite the efforts of time, technology, and progress to finally do away with them, the Yellow Pages may be making a comeback, albeit in a very different – and complicated – form; a digital one that could connect participating companies in a truly revolutionary way utilizing an emerging technology initially created to govern the use of so-called cryptocurrency that has now expanded to become much more. Blockchain was invented under the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 to serve as the public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency known as bitcoin. File photo: Pixabay. A project known as the “Unbounded Registry,” which boasts the involvement of several high-profile companies including IBM, has been working on a platform that could be best described as a “catalog” comprised of “blockchains” and blockchain-based businesses. Blockchain was invented by a person – or possibly a group of people – under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto” in 2008 to serve as the public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency known as bitcoin. However, in recent years, blockchain use has expanded to other areas of business.This may sound complicated, but essentially a blockchain is a growing list of records – called “blocks” – which are linked using cryptography; this is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties. Each “block” contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the data, and for use as a distributed

Instagram Allegedly Leaking Private Phone Numbers, Email Addresses of Members for Months

May 31, 2019 / Chris Boyle / 0 Comments

NEW YORK – Instagram, a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Facebook, has come under fire recently as reports indicated that the social site had leaked the contact information of many of its users – including names, email addresses, and phone numbers – over a period of time that lasted at least four months. Apparently the contact information for many Instagram users had been compromised hackers who had the ability to acquire information from any affected Instagram page. File photo: Pixabay. According to data scientists, the contact information of some Instagram users was actually contained in the source code of their user profiles whenever loaded in an Internet browser, making it easy for unscrupulous individuals to access and gather it for a variety of purposes. Why such sensitive information was included in the source code for the website is anyone’s guess, but it’s not considered a secure practice by any means. Apparently the contact information for many Instagram users – but not the entirety of them – had been compromised by this issue, some of whom were minors, businesses, and known marketing brands. Hackers and scam artists would have the ability to acquire this information from any affected Instagram page, and in turn construct a database comprised of the contact details of a great number of Instagram members. Instagram released a statement regarding the issue, noting that the information that had been leaked was not considered private; it could be argued that the users who were compromised would

The Importance of Getting Your Business Phone Number Properly Listed

May 21, 2019 / Chris Boyle / 0 Comments

NEW YORK – In today’s economic climate, starting your own small business can be a risky proposition; however, it can also be an immensely profitable one if you take the right steps to give your business the exposure it needs. Online reviews, a clever marketing campaign, an attractive and easy-to-use website, and numerous ads – both in print and online – can certainly get you attention. However, there’s one thing many tend to overlook when establishing a new entrepreneurial endeavor, and that’s getting the phone number for your business properly listed in order to achieve maximum exposure of your brand, and ensuring that your potential customers can easily reach out and touch you, as the old phone company jingle goes. In the old days, someone would simply crack open a print Yellow Page directory when they were looking for goods and services in their area; however, this was before the Internet came along and changed things forever. In addition to online Yellow Pages directories, things have also changed drastically overall in the modern telecommunications industry. Where in the past, there were only one or two major phone companies, today the industry is decentralized and comprised of multiple carriers, and this means there are many, many different directories out there. Depending on the scope of your business and how far across the country it reaches, you need to ensure that your phone number is listed in every market applicable to you. The general rule of thumb is that if a customer

Targeted Advertising: The Future of Commerce, or Serious Invasion of Consumer Privacy?

May 14, 2019 / Chris Boyle / 0 Comments

NEW YORK – Years ago, a well-known story made its way around the news media regarding a father who’s teenage daughter had been receiving mail ads for maternity clothing and nursery furniture from mega-retailer Target. In 2012, a widely circulated story surfaced about how mega-retailer Target figured out a teen girl was pregnant even before her father did. It turns out that, even in the early 2000s, national retail chains were using complex computer algorithms to determine products you may need based on previous purchases you have made. File photo: Pixabay. It turns out that, even in the early 2000s, national retail chains were using complex computer algorithms to determine products you may need based on previous purchases you have made. Based on the purchases this gentleman’s daughter had made, Target’s computers had made an assumption – and a correct one – that she was indeed pregnant and even approximately estimated her due date. Based on that information, it automatically generated advertising mailers and sent them to her address. On one hand, this demonstrates an incredible degree of sophistication when it comes to the technology in use; in fact, some people may actually enjoy the convenience that these so-called “targeted ads” may afford them. Many others, however, consider this a gross and horrific violation of privacy. Targeted ads often make use of any information you may give to any given company, in addition to often utilizing any readily available, public information that may be floating around as well; particularly information

Japan Running Out of 11-Digit Phone Numbers as Country Embraces “Internet of Things” Smart Technology

Efforts Ongoing by Several Companies to Create Blockchain Version of Yellow Pages

The Importance of Getting Your Business Phone Number Properly Listed

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