kazz's comments

nope, i love patio11 too and i feel the exact same way

Now if only they'd take some sort of action against all the spam text messages I get. I swear I get a dozen texts a week from [email protected] telling me my amazon account has been suspended or a USPS package is on hold.

My city has a nonprofit called Code for Good [1] that is specifically focused on getting the tech & design community together to help other local nonprofits. I've volunteered with them countless times and the events are always super impactful. Maybe you've got something similar locally?

It also might be worth developing a program yourself if you're passionate enough about it. There are a few dev shops in my city that run their own charity projects every year where they invite nonprofits to submit proposals for the work they need done, and then the shop picks a few projects to work on for free. Those seem to be super popular as well.

[1] https://codeforgoodwm.org

I'm with you on the support being sub-par, but the whole vetting brands (A2P) thing has nothing to do with Twilio at all. It's entirely forced by an industry group called The Campaign Registry. I don't know the last time you tried to create a brand in Twilio but they support the entire process in their UI these days, but the nightmarish API you're talking about is entirely an invention of TCR, not Twilio.

I think the processes are getting better each day, but it was only a couple of years ago that you could share a shortcode. My main point is that even with all of the safeguards it's still a ridiculously easy system to exploit.

Most people will trust a toll-free number just as much as a shortcode, and since tons of legitimate companies use toll-free numbers for messaging it just blurs the line of what a "reputable" number looks like.

Even SendGrid, which is owned by Twilio, uses toll-free numbers for their 2FA messages instead of shortcodes.

> As you may have guessed from our strange spelling, UnHerd aims to do two things: to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking, and to provide a platform for otherwise unheard ideas, people and places.

Ahh yes, definitely the mission statement of a reputable source.

They're not _that_ expensive (usually $500-$1k/mo) and I wouldn't really characterize the vetting as "thorough".

Don't get me wrong, carriers have been making strides to lower the amount of spam that's sent through the air (A2P requirements, toll-free number verification requirements, etc), but a determined scammer can still exploit SMS/MMS pretty easily.

Lot of good points already, but one that I've learned the hard way is never take on a "family" business as a client. You know the type of company where one brother is the CEO, another brother is the marketing director, random husbands and wives work for the company, etc.

I've never had a relationship with a family business last beyond the scope of the initial project. Things always fall apart because of family infighting, or because every business decision ends up being way too personal/emotional for them. It's never worth the hassle, trust me.

That whole ordeal sounds horrifying. What is it about cable/internet companies that seems to make them awful across the board?

It looks like that's basically what they are (https://smartproxy.com/blog/what-is-a-residential-proxies-ne...).

A residential proxy is listed as an "IP address provided by an Internet Service Provider", but I still don't really understand how they get access to them. ISPs have to be selling them access, right?

Reply All has a great episode where they take a deep dive into the super seedy world of locksmith advertising. (https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2ho87)

Check to see if your town/region has something like GiveCamp (https://givecamp.org/)!

I help organize my city's spinoff of GiveCamp, called Code for Good (https://codeforgoodwm.org/), and we bring together hundreds of volunteers every year, and help dozens of nonprofits.

I really wish more people would implement cookie notices like theirs. I really like the one that https://www.bosch.us/ uses too.

I just get redirected back to https://usatoday.com :( Perks of living in the US, I guess.

Totally agree. I run a little side business where I sell digital study guides, and when I initially started I had my prices set in the sub $5 range. A while back I decided to play with my pricing a bit and see how creating a tiered pricing system would affect sales. I went from a flat fee to a $10/$15/$20 tiered system (for the same product) and sales tripled within a month.