schindyguy.com

Im still here - hacking and hustlin :)

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:05:00 -0800

I havent written anything on here in way too long, but a couple things:

I'm still alive
I'm still working at Curious Minds
I'm still trying to take over the world

Some things I'm working on at Curious Minds : Ringadoc +Telethrive + some extra secretive stuff I can't talk about (yet)

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Verizon voice+data #fail

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:07:27 -0800

C'mon Sprint and Verizon, we want a FULLY functional ATT alternative for the iPhone. I am waiting for LTE before I switch from ATT..

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Verizon voice+data #fail

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:55:07 -0800

C'mon Sprint and Verizon, we want a FULLY functional ATT alternative for the iPhone. I am waiting for LTE before I switch from ATT...

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#startups channel on freenode (found a cool service)

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:56:00 -0800

I stumbled across the #startups channel on freenode today which I am already addicted to. It seems like a good place for entrepreneurs and YC-oriented people to vet ideas, discuss Hacker News, etc. Whenever I come across something that has been around for a long time and don't know about it, I am semi-pissed and also excited: part of me is pissed I didn't discover it sooner and the other part of me is just excited that I found it. Like, why couldn't I find this sooner? Same thing when I first started reading PG's essays and Hacker News.

So after digesting my discovery, I started browsing #startup's wiki and found a service for picking good domains when you are stumped and don't want to pay some domain squatter. They let bloggers try the service for free and I am not gonna pass that up. From their site:

Looking for a cool domain name, but can’t think of one yourself? Think all the good domains are already taken? You’ll love PickyDomains.Com

Here is how it works. You deposit $50 and give us your specifications. Our contributors start submitting their domain name suggestions. When you see that perfect domain, you just register it. If none of our suggestions worked for you – you just get your money back. See, there is no risk involved.

I'm going to try the service out.

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"Cambridge is the University of Erasmus, of Newton, and of Darwin"

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:34:20 -0800

Thats basically a big FU from a Cambridge professor to the banking industry who think they have the power to censor a student's thesis. Whats the thesis on? It documents a well-known flaw in the chip-and-PIN system used in banking:

The flaw is that when you put a card into a terminal, a negotiation takes place about how the cardholder should be authenticated: using a PIN, using a signature or not at all. This particular subprotocol is not authenticated, so you can trick the card into thinking it’s doing a chip-and-signature transaction while the terminal thinks it’s chip-and-PIN. The upshot is that you can buy stuff using a stolen card and a PIN of 0000 (or anything you want). We did so, on camera, using various journalists’ cards. The transactions went through fine and the receipts say “Verified by PIN”.

In this era of Wikileaks and censoring information, its hard to side with the big multinational conglomerates who only have one function: make money. All they are trying to do is protect their own interests. With all the talk of 'corporate responsibility' you think the banking industry would want to actually notify the public with the problem. But what do they really try to do? Censor it.

Why shouldn't a vulnerability related to banking PINs be exposed and then ultimately patched? Shouldn't the public be aware of such an exploit?

Personally, I am for censoring classified documents the government wants to keep secure, but censoring something as serious as a banking exploit is just absurd.

Here's Ross Anderson's reply to the banking industry.

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Amazing: Netflix Streaming Gets "Pay TV Window" Movies

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:45:47 -0800

In a deal with FilmDistrict, Netflix's new streaming service will now carry first run movies like the rest of the satellite and cable providers (who get movies a few months after the theatrical release). For me its amazing because not only will I reduce my plan to the new stream only price of $7.99, but the movie library will be expanding. This is an great because I hated getting DVDs in the mail in the first place. Pat yourselves on the back, Netflix.

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One Click Packet Sniffing with Firesheep

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:45:26 -0700

So the paranoid world has gone crazy with the release of Firesheep a few days ago (the firefox extension that allows any moron to sniff unsecured login details for facebook, amazon, etc).
There are countless articles on how to protect yourself, how scary it is, and how Mozilla cant pull a kill switch on the extension. All in all, its really nothing new. Protecting yourself in public wifi hotspots with SSL has been around for a long time. But I think Firesheeps creator is bringing a lot of attention to the security issue and I bet within the next few weeks facebook (et al) will begin to default users to https versions of their site.

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Square Swiper Just Arrived!

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 18:22:40 -0700

After a long wait (over 6 months) my free square swipper finally came in the mail. Its amazingly small--- All I know is I'm gonna start cashing in on all those IOUs...

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Apple Knows How to Create Value for Users (and Evidently Profit)

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:24:18 -0700

Its crazy to think that a company with 17 million handsets sold in 2010 profited over one-third of the total profits in the entire mobile industry (but I guess its only surprising if you know that Nokia/Samsung/LG sold 400 million handsets total in the same period). Apple only sold 2.8% of the total handsets, but accounted for almost 40% of the profit? Insane. Its evidence of the value the devices provide for the users and the amount of money their loyal following with shell out for it. The original article can be found here

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Drum roll please...the Makerbot Printing Its First Keychain Bottle Opener

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:55:48 -0700

It was completed 2 weeks ago, but I forgot to upload the youtube video of it in action...

This thing is the the hot rod of rapid prototyping!

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Google Voice for iPhone Might be Approved

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:09:30 -0700

One of the app developers that was rejected by Apple for submitting a Google Voice related app, Sean Kovacs, believes the new guidelines for acceptance in the App Store will allow his app to get approved. Who knows though? Apple might just be cowering to FCC and the anti-competitve camp by releasing the new guidelines only to turn around a reject a Google Voice app. I want Google Voice on my iPhone so bad...Apple, please approve it!

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98% finished with my very own MakerBot Cupcake CNC

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:35:26 -0700

In case I have any readers out there, sorry for the delay. I have been busy with clients and small side projects...
So my girlfriend decided to buy me the DIY 3D printer MakerBot as a business investment for her and hack/engineering/testing my skills project for myself.
I don't come from a engineering background, but I have always been a builder at heart and knew I could learn to solder a few leads and follow directions. The whole build took about 12 hours. A good 4 hours of that was just on the printer head (or MK4 extruder as they call it) which I just learned they are releasing a new one of soon MK5...Now I only have about 2% left to go and all I have to do is get the plastic to extrude correctly and calibrate the X Y and Z planes. I have spent 5+ hours trying to troubleshoot the issues, but luckily, I found someone to help me though the local googlegroups makerbot community :)
Once I get mine up and running, I'll show you my prints. In the meantime, check out a video of the inventors below:

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iPhone Skype App now supports multitasking, no additional charges for calling over 3G

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:00:56 -0700

Thank you. Finally. I hate waiting for all these features that jailbroken phone have had for years...

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The Next Porn Goldrush to The .XXX TLD

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:39:02 -0700

I bet all this will do is open the domain market up to to more squatters (which is a bad thing)

The funny part is that the anti-porn camp doesnt like it either. You would think it would make it easier to police, but their argument goes something like

“The creation of a .xxx TLD will encourage the proliferation of Internet pornography. Or, similarly, that it will create a sort of red light district online.

All I can tell you is that I definitely don't plan on squatting on dildo.xxx anytime soon : )

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Dropbox is taking over sharing files too!

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:18:14 -0700

According to the post, they are making everything in your dropbox shareable. On the horizon is password protection.

Once we get to that stage, I think online sharing sites like drop.io and others might fall off (but maybe not for those who want a web based approach)

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Gulf Oil Spill Solution? Please Tell Me I'm Stupid

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:41:00 -0700

I really dont understand why we cant do something like my horribly drawn picture above.
Its basically an upside down funnel that leads into a pipe that siphons the oil to the surface for removal.
What about the idea above doesn't work? Is it just too hard to deploy? Why am I stupid?

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My iPhone 3GS Activation was December 31, 2009---the last possible day for an iPhone 4 upgrade

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:17:56 -0700

According to Gizmodo, I activated my iPhone 3Gs on the last possible day I could have in order to be eligible for the new iPhone 4 upgrade policy. And I confirmed this with ATT as I was worried about other rumors that they only extended it for 6 months. Basically, if you are eligible for an upgrade any day in 2010, you are eligible for new iPhone 4 at $199 and $299.

But why do I feel like ATT is just doing this so I'm locked in when other carriers get the iPhone? Maybe its because they know I would switch in a second if it went to Sprint.

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APPLE now bigger than MICROSOFT?

Wed, 26 May 2010 12:44:31 -0700

Today, unless there is a huge change, Apple will surpass Microsoft in Market Cap which will probably be celebrated by Apple fanboys everywhere.

But does that mean that Apple products (and specifically computers which it competes with Microsoft over) will be the standard in the future like Microsoft/PC/Windows is today? I think the answer to that depends on if Apple can adjust and create more entry-level computers for the masses. There price points are simply to high right now.

They are obviously considering this, but it might have been a key to their success in the past---price skimming the elite. Now that they really do have more market share, it might be time to pivot into pricing for the masses. Of course that's assuming that market share on the stock market translates to computer market share (which it clearly does not).

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FCC Making Moves Again to Prevent Phone "Bill Shock"

Wed, 12 May 2010 16:52:40 -0700

While I am definitely not a fan of FCC's censorship with ridiculous things like the Janet's nipple or Howard Stern, I think they are making good moves to protect consumers against "bill shock". You know when you get a cell phone bill and then just about collapse at the price they are charging you for roaming/international calling/data overages/etc... A model they are seriously considering would be adopted from Europe where carriers are required to text message you the rates you are being charged as you are placing the call...I think its a great idea when there is virtually no direct cost for them to send a text message.

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The FCC is on the side of consumers? Pinch me, I must be dreaming

Wed, 05 May 2010 16:48:36 -0700

After reading all the news about the FCC's plan on net neutrality, I have come to conclusion that the FCC has finally made a good decision to protect consumers and attempt to bring competition to the market.
It could have huge implications on the future of the monopolistic ISP companies that currently control and throttle bandwidth of its customers. Some ISPs are throttling based on torrent traffic, but not all torrent traffic is illegal. The protocol is used for perfectly legal torrents all the time---although it looks like 'legal torrents' has changed their name to 'clearbits' to move away from the torrents-being-illegal stigma.
Reading through the Wall Street Journal's article on the subject, its so funny to read the Cable Company and ISP lobbyists bitch about incurring extra costs on their network if the FCC gets their way. Boo-hoo, its not like the ISPs wouldnt just pass those extra costs onto consumers...Then, we, as consumers, might be able to make a choice on which ISP we go with (instead of just having to deal with horrible customer service, downtime, slow innovation, high prices and a huge list of negative impacts that monopolies create for consumers).

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