What's a Robocall?  If you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it's a robocall.  You've probably gotten robocalls about candidates running for office, or charities asking for donations.  These robocalls are allowed.  But if the recording is a sales message and you haven't given your written permission to get calls from the company on the other end, the call is illegal.  In addition to the phone calls being illegal, their pitch most likely is a scam.  What's the reason for the spike in robocalls?  Technology is the answer.  Companies are using autodialers that can send out thousands of phone calls every minute for an incredibly low cost.  The companies that use this technology don't bother to screen for numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry.  If a company doesn't care about obeying the law, you can be sure they're trying to scam you.  During the last few years, the FTC has stopped billions of robocalls that offer everything from fraudulent credit card services and so-called auto warranty protection to home security systems and grant procurement programs.  Tracing these calls is a tough job:  Many different companies use the same or very similar recorded messages.  Robocallers fake the caller ID information that you see on your phone.  That's called caller ID spoofing—and new technology makes it very easy to do.  In some cases, the fraudulent telemarketer may want you to think the call is from your bank, or another entity you've done business with.  Sometimes, the telephone number may show up as "unknown" or "123456789."  Other times, the number is a real one belonging to someone who has no idea his or her number is being misused.  Robocallers often place the calls through   internet technology that hides their location.  If you get a robocall:  Hang up the phone.  Don't press 1 to speak to a live operator and don't press any other number to get your number off the list.  If you respond by pressing any number, it will probably just lead to more robocalls.  Consider contacting your phone provider and asking them to block the number, and whether they charge for that service.  Remember that telemarketers change Caller ID information easily and often, so it might not be worth paying a fee to block a number that will change.  Report your experience to the FTC online at or by calling 1-888-382-1222.  Some prerecorded messages are permitted—for example, messages that are purely informational.  That means you may receive calls to let you know your flight’s been cancelled, reminders about an appointment, or messages about a delayed school opening.  But the business doing the calling isn’t allowed to promote the sale of any goods or services.  Prerecorded messages from a business that is contacting you to collect a debt also are permitted, but messages offering to sell you services to reduce your debt are barred.  Other exceptions include political calls and calls from certain health care providers.  For example, pharmacies are permitted to use prerecorded messages to provide prescription refill reminders.  Prerecorded messages from banks, telephone carriers and charities also are exempt from these rules if the banks, carriers or charities make the calls themselves.  http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0259-robocalls

Earthquake-proof buildings are not a modern phenomenon.  The outer minarets of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India were given a slight outward tilt to prevent them from falling on the mausoleum in the event of a tectonic shift.  Other information on the Taj Mahal:  An Indian historian, Proff. P.N.Oak claimed that the Taj Mahal was initially a Hindu Temple named ‘Tejo Mahalya’.  He elaborated upon this theory in his book “Taj Mahal:  The True Story” which was published in 1995 and even filed a petition for a proper archeological investigation of the site.  The petition was rejected for the lack of concrete evidence but the theory continues to live on.  ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ was a name given by Shahjahaan to Arjumand Banu Begum, his third wife, because of the deep love and affection he felt for her.  The name translates to ‘Jewel of the Palace’.  Shahjahan’s own official name was Prince Khurram.  The ornate tombs visible to visitors as they enter the Taj Mahal are cenotaphs.  The actual bodies are buried in simple graves in the lower level of the structure.  It is said that over 22,000 people and a 1000 elephants were employed in the construction of this grand structure, which took close to 22 years to complete.  However, there are no official court records documenting any of these details.  An oft repeated legend has it that Emperor Shahjahaan chopped off the arms of artisans and masons who worked on the Taj so that its beauty couldn’t be replicated.  This is fortunately an old wives’ tale with no basis in fact.  http://www.skyscanner.co.in/news/taj-mahal-10-historical-facts-you-didnt-know  See also http://www.worldatglance.com/2013/09/taj-mahal-india-at-a-glance.html

We’ve all been there:  You’re spending quality time with your partner, when they whip out their phone and completely block you out.  While the action is small, it can be infuriating—and new research has discovered that it can cause everything from a decrease in your relationship satisfaction to feelings of depression.  Phubbing (short for “phone snubbing”) is a term coined to capture the practice of ignoring the person you’re with by paying more attention to your phone than to them.  The new research findings were part of a study of more than 450 adults on “partner phone snubbing” (which they called  “Pphubbing”) that was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.  Korin Miller  https://www.yahoo.com/health/how-your-partners-phone-is-messing-up-your-173844214.html

Great places in America 2015 from the American Planning Association   You may link to great neighborhoods and great streets at https://www.planning.org/greatplaces/

Henning Mankell, the Swedish novelist and playwright best known for police procedurals that were translated into a score of languages and sold by the millions throughout the world, died on October 5, 2015 in Goteborg, Sweden.  He was 67.  Mr. Mankell was considered the dean of the so-called Scandinavian noir writers who gained global prominence for novels that blended edge-of-your-seat suspense with flawed, compelling protagonists and strong social themes.  The genre includes Arnaldur Indridason of Iceland, Jo Nesbo of Norway and Stieg Larsson of Sweden, among others.  But it was Mr. Mankell who led the way with 10 mystery novels featuring Inspector Kurt Wallander, a gruff but humane detective troubled by self-doubt, overeating, alcoholism and eventually dementia.  Most of the action takes place in and around Ystad, a real-life town of 18,350 inhabitants on the Baltic Sea, about 380 miles south of Stockholm and now a magnet for Wallander buffs.  Mr. Mankell divided his time between Stockholm and Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, where he was the artistic director of the main theater, Teatro Avenida.  “I came to Africa with one purpose:  I wanted to see the world outside the perspective of European egocentricity,” he wrote in an essay for The New York Times in 2011.  “I could have chosen Asia or South America. I ended up in Africa because the plane ticket there was cheapest.”  Jonathan Kandell  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/europe/henning-mankell-swedish-novelist-playwright-dies.html  

A deal that allows thousands of companies to transfer data from Europe to the United States is invalid, the highest EU court said on October 6, 2015 in a landmark ruling that follows revelations of mass U.S. government snooping.  Many companies, particularly tech firms, have said the Safe Harbour agreement helps them get round cumbersome checks to transfer data between offices on both sides of the Atlantic, including payroll and human resources information and also lucrative data used for online advertising.  But the decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) could sound the death knell for the system, set up by the European Commission 15 year ago and used by over 4,000 firms including IBM (IBM.N), Google (GOOGL.O) and Ericsson (ERICb.ST).  The court said Safe Harbour did not sufficiently protect EU citizens' personal data as American companies were "bound to disregard, without limitation" the privacy safeguards where they come into conflict with the national security, public interest and law enforcement requirements of the United States.  "The Court of Justice declares that the Commission's U.S. Safe Harbour decision is invalid," the court said.  "The Court of Justice declares that the Commission's U.S. Safe Harbour decision is invalid," the court said.  Julia Fioretti and Michele Sinner 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-eu-ireland-privacy-idUSKCN0S00NT20151006

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1358  October 7, 2015  On this date in 1868, Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.  On this date in 1919, KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded.  It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.