I just setup a site to share random ideas for things that could exist in the world. A few ideas so far:
Version Control for Cooks’ Recipes
Garden/Small Farming Planting Optimization Tool
an NOAA weather alert app that doesn’t suck
Tags: apps · ideasNo Comments.
Sketching In is my answer to Foursquare check-in. Every time I’d otherwise check-in on Foursquare, I draw a picture and upload it to Twitter. Inspiration came from a response to my enthusiasm about a recently earned Foursquare badge:
Cognitive slavery (aka crowdslaving) in action.RT @ckundo: Just got a super-palindrome bonus on @foursquare: c-c-c-combo breaker!!!
— John Robb (@johnrobb) November 11, 2011
It’s a strong position that I’m not altogether agreeing with, but it resonated enough to make me think hard about why I use Foursquare. I decided to try to recreate the instant gratification and exhibitionistic thrill of Foursquare, but instead of a generic badge or canned message, I’d make something personal.
These drawing are unique and tangible, and give me a chance to practice my drawing. Here are some recent sketch-ins:
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Here are some options for setting up a data-only phone to make calls over wifi with no contracts and no monthly plan. Certainly there are other approaches, these are just the ones I’ve tried myself.
option 1a: Get a parked SIP number (SipSorcery, IPKall) that you can use for Google Voice call forwarding and piggyback on free wifi networks for data (office, library, McDonald’s, etc). Combined with a month-to-month wifi hotspot (DataJack or Virgin Mobile), this is my favorite option.
options 1b: Same as above but use a SIP client like SIPdroid or Softphone instead of Google Voice. This option won’t give you SMS or voicemail transcription.
option 2: You could skip SIP altogether and use Skype with a online number set up. Skype is decent over wifi but atrocious on 3G hotspots. You also can’t get incoming SMS messages. Not my favorite option.
RESOURCES
I’ve been playing with NFC on the Google Nexus S 4G for Sprint, and ran into an interesting bug. I encoded a malformed content provider uri string onto a tag and discovered I could repeatedly crash the NFC chip.
The string I encoded (using NXP TagWriter) was simply content://contacts. I haven’t done any digging why this particular format was a problem, but the Kaspersky Lab writes that this is a DoS vulnerability on NFC applications. Google Wallet comes to mind as a potential target for malicious actors, though I’m not sure what good it would do to perform DoS on an NFC transaction besides annoy people.
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I’m at NYC Resistor, testing out Skype over my 3G MiFi card. So far it seems that it’s not even close to reliable as a voice solution, even on full bars. Here’s a recording of a call on the MiFi. The message was: “Testing call quality on Skype with MiFi 3G. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Test.” :
Not very good at all. Wifi calls are much better (as you might expect):
The conclusion is, don’t rely on Skype over Sprint 3G as a full fledged voice replacement for a carrier. Its great for SMS and email, and these are generally enough to hold me over until I get on wifi, assuming I really need to make a call.
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Welcome to a new installment in the Mobile Freedom Project series. I just got the charger for my recently ebay-acquired LG VX 6100, a 6-year-old Verizon flip phone. Sure enough, the phone holds a charge, and I just switched over service from my Palm Pre and downgraded my service to $20/month.
LG VX6100 via eBay
Just as a reminder, I’ve been on a quest to live a carrierless life for almost a year now. I’ve tried a bunch of stuff, including a hacked Android G1 running SIPDroid, an iPhone running Skype on wifi, and iPalm, and most recently, a 3rd Gen iPod touch with Skype and Google Voice and an EVDO 3G card. This last combination has worked out so well that I’ve hardly touched my Palm Pre in the past 3 weeks, turning it on just twice, once to check voicemail, and again today to switch the service to the LG phone.
Pick a phone, any phone...
The reason for the switch is that Verizon (and AT&T) require a data plan on all smart phones, in addition to basic voice features. This get expensive. Ah, whatever, just cancel the plan… Oh wait, the early termination fee for the Pre is $310. Three hundred and ten dollars. I knew this going into the contract, but it’s still kinda shocking. Well, what about downgrading? Hmm… I talked to Verizon and they told me I could in fact downgrade my phone and keep my old number, without extending my contract. Awesome.
Long story short, I’m now paying $20/month for 50 minutes of voice a month. No text. No data. And after all, that’s what the iPod data phone is for! (btw I had Verizon block incoming texts as well as web access, just in case Justin Beiber broadcasts my number on twitter and text messages jack up my bill.)
The Dream Team
3rd gen iPod Touch with Skype and GV
Hopefully one of these days Google will support mobile safari calls through their recently launched Google Chat VOIP service. Until then, iPod touch + skype backgrounding + Google Voice SMS + backup flip phone are faring pretty darn well. Hold that thought, I’m getting a call…
I’m working on a new series of paintings I’m calling Twitter Portraits. They are small acrylic painting based on the profile pics of people I’m following on Twitter. I chose Twitter because it was right in front of me while at my desk getting ready to paint, and because I’m inundated with it, glancing at it much of the day. I don’t have any plans for the series, I’m just going to continue with it and see where it takes me.
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If you want an iPhone without the procrustean contracts and pricey service plans, here’s a solution: an iPod with Skype and Google Voice SMS, running on EVDO wifi.
The Mobile Freedom Project continues with this latest iteration. After hearing about Skype with multitasking, I purchased an 3rd Generation iPod Touch (the only iPod that currently supports multitasking), and got to work.
ipod 3rd generation and no contract EVDO card from DataJack
I already have Google Voice and a Skype number setup, and I purchased an no-contract EVDO card from DataJack a few months ago, so this round of setup was pretty simple. I setup Google Voice to forward calls to my Skype number. Connected the iPod to the datajack wifi. Call forwarding and multitasking are working fine, ringing the iPod as expected.
Skype ringing on incoming call
The only problem solving I had to do was push notifications for Google Voice SMS. I did a cursory search for an app that does this, but none of them were satisfactory. The solution I came up with was pretty simple. Text messages to Google Voice get forwarded to my email, and I’ve installed the Push for Gmail app to give SMS like alerts for emails.
Battery drain with Skype backgrounding is likely the biggest pitfall, but hopefully future updates will address this.
My next step might be to set up a separate email account for Google Voice only, so that the notifications only pop up for SMS and voicemail, instead of all email.
Please feel free to post comments or questions, or check out the other Mobile Freedom Project posts for background and ideas.
Over the past several months, I’ve been exploring with different strategies to customize my mobile service plan, going a good 5 months without a major service provider or contract. In May I opted to get a Palm Pre Plus with a 2 year contract with Verizon. The service beats AT&T, and the mobile hotspot feature lets me run my iPod touch on wifi. Here’s a demo on what I’ve dubbed the iPalm. Also check out the project guide on Make.
Skype on iPod touch via Palm Pre Plus wifi from Cameron Cundiff on Vimeo.
This past Saturday and Sunday a team of ITP students (including myself) created and presented API for the World at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hack Day. Here’s the rundown:
API for the World is a sensor and web application that turns anything with a power cord into a networked object. At the flip of a switch you can send a message to twitter, facebook, foursquare, or any other service you define. We did this to fill the gap between old technology and the “smart” devices we see today.
Imagine if your grandmother could use her bedside lamp to communicate with loved ones. When she goes to bed, she flip off her bedside lamp and we get a message to twitter, and can be rest-assured that she’s alright.
We’ve included the ability to define new devices, behaviors, and message through an online dashboard. You can also add new servi
ces with which the application can communicate.The application uses a current sensor (to tell if the device is drawing power) to send a wireless message to the application, which then pushes a message according to the scenario you’ve defined. For you geeks out there, the sensor measure induction and sends a POST request to a Rails app via an XBee module. The web app then uses the Twitter API to post a message.
We can imagine this app going in a bunch of different directions. You could use it to check into Foursquare or update facebook that you had toast for breakfast. In the scenario with grandma’s lamp, perhaps the lamp could order itself lightbulbs according to when the lightbulb is projected to fail.
We’re working on sensor documentation of the project and an instructable, as well as open sourcing the code. Thanks to TechCrunch and the ITP team for an awesome hack day.
The Team:
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