Hi Mr. Lin, we have a great holiday gift idea...

(I hang up)*click*

I HATE telemarketers. Even when we had caller ID I had to at least run upstairs to the caller ID unit and see if the caller were a telemarketer or a friend. Nowadays I just pick up the phone and after I say hello two times, if no immediate response comes, or the greeting is "Hello, Mr Lin?" I just hang up. But all this is going to be solved soon. Yahoo reports: Feds Promise Crack Down on Telemarketers:

WASHINGTON - People perturbed by telemarketing calls that disrupt dinner or ruin a rest can soon enjoy the sound of silence by enrolling in a national "do-not-call' list intended to cut off many unwanted telephone sales pitches.

Federal rules made public Wednesday require telemarketers to transmit identifying information that can be viewed by services such as Caller ID, and limit the number of "abandoned" calls that hang up or leave people listening to dead air on the line.

Thanks for the great gift Uncle Sam!