amassed lust Blog of Raymond Angel; Startup Enthusiast, CEO

Every once in a while I see things that are really cool and recently one startup which has asked to remain unnamed promised me they were working on something really cool for the iPhone.

It is simply for the time being called “Project Aries” and it is a new file sharing service for the iPhone.

Other file sharing services for the iPhone exist but this one has a plethora of features that truly set it apart and has come an amazingly long way in only a matter of weeks.

They are currently working on two versions one of them simply requires you to fire up Safari and the other is an application that will be free on the iTunes store when applications finally go live.

I’ve obviously been testing the web version on my iPhone and the simplicity is one of my favorite aspects of the service.

The service has a free plan that offers 1gig of storage or you can upgrade to other plans that offer more storage and some premium features. The billing of the application is really cool because I don’t have to use a credit card but rather the monthly billing appears right on my at&t bill.

Of course this limits users to this new startups project to iPhones on the at&t network only (upgrading will be met with an error message on other carriers) but the at&t network has a great deal of users so I don’t see this being a major issue in the beginning.

I originally was going to sprinkle this post with some shots of it in action but the guys working on it have asked me to not do so just yet. They did promise me that when the time comes (very soon I am told) I can post a some pictures and show you what they’ve got and what makes it truly cool.

Facebook always has been a stalkers dream.

I mean where else can I find out that my friend Diana changed her relationship status online and later get notified about it on my Friend Feed so I can confront her about it in real life?

The truth is that most things don’t end up on my friend feed. With so many things going on with so many friends stuff doesn’t show up on it or is delayed by many hours or sometimes days.

Not anymore though.

Now I can stalk my friends in real time or be stalked in real time.

Open a chat window with a person and let it sit… anytime they do anything on the site from replying to a group, add an application, change a status or anything else that shows up on the minifeed it shows up in the chat window for them in real time.

My good friend Abraham and I were looking at the Facebook chat and he added an application. It of course told me he had did this in the chat window

It was a bit creepy to be honest with you. I mean yeah I could have seen that information on his profile later but having it tell me in real time would be a stalkers dream.

Not to mention that if I hit the little X next to the item on my minifeed it still often times shows up on the large friend feed on the Facebook home section.

With the new chat reporting in nearly real time even if I hit the X as fast as I can anyone who has a chat window open with me at the time will still be able to see exactly what I did.

Is this really providing any new information that I can’t get from the site. No. Is this new way of showing me information a bit creepy? Yes.

I can just imagine people opening chat windows with other people and just letting them sit to later go back and see what all they did that day. Granted to get the info to show up you have to message them so a simply “hello” will sufice. Then just leave the chat window open and start collecting data.

My sister is looking to get an iPod touch and I thought I would take this opportunity to try out the Fundable service and blog all about the experience for everyone to read. This is a startup with a pretty neat idea and seems a bit similar to ThePoint.com

Maybe a side by side comparison is in order? What are your thoughts?

People pledge X dollars and only if the full amount of the collection is met do people pay. So if 30 people pledge 10 dollars and you need $410 and the collection ends then no one pays. However if 41 people all pledge $10 then the collection ends and the people who pledged are billed.

After setting up a Fundable goal for my sister’s iPod you really should pledge a few dollars ;) I had already found a few things I’d like to see changed.

The first and most obvious thing is that the site offers NO WIDGETS. Sure you can post it to Facebook but what good does that do me… I want a widget. Something I can put on my blog, something I can share with the world. Allowing me to email the link to my friends isn’t enough.

Also I made the first pledge for her to get the iPod touch. After PayPal got done accepting my information it redirected to the Fundable website to a broken page. Apparently this was just a random hiccup though because I refreshed and everything was alright.

What do you think of this sort of “digital collection plate”? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments.

P.S

I’ll write a full review once the time expires on getting my sister an iPod touch and then look at ThePoint.com and see which one wins in the end.

I’m back after a bit of downtime due to a database issue. More to come soon.

Let’s talk about cool technologies for a moment. Especially cool blog related technologies seeing as how Andrew just announced his new gig at TechStars.

Intense Debate is a new comment management system for blogs that allows better tracking, increased commenting, a slick interface and more.

I was recently introduced to it by Andrew Hyde and have been considering installing it on my blog for a few days before I decided to just check out the blog and see how hard it was to get going.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that I didn’t have to edit any of my Wordpress files, that I didn’t have to do any strange new code setups and that installation was as easy as dropping a single file in to my Wordpress Plugins directory!

Go ahead… make a comment on this post… try out Intense Debate and see if it is for you.

The trackball on my Blackberry has been cutting out a lot lately. Apparently this is a normal issue and cleaning it seems to be the solution. What happens though when even taking it apart and cleaning it doesn’t fix it?

Anyone who knows me knows that I live and die by my phone. I use it constantly, nonstop, and it never leaves my side. I go through a lot of phones for the simple fact that I use them so much.

I’ve had my Pearl for about four months and love it. It does everything I want and I knew eventually the trackball would stop working.

The fact that it gave out now could not have come at a worse time. I’m in the middle of texting, calling and messaging people for Startup Weekend and a deal for MOSH mobile.

So what does the CEO of a cellphone company do? Grab a new phone out of our stash and trash the old one?

That would be simple… but just plain stupid.

Knowing that some of our customers may run in to the same issue I’m going to expect my people to be able to find a solution that works best for our customers.

Replacing the trackball for them for free is obviously the best solution.

That is exactly what we will be doing.

So I figured I should learn how to do it myself before I start having other people here at MOSH mobile doing the same thing.

The trackball parts from RIM are very costly so we also had to consider how we would best acquire these parts and then cover the labor to actually replace them.

Thankfully the labor involved is very minor and can be done the same day… if you have the parts.

A few phone calls later and we’ve worked out getting the actual parts for under 13 dollars a piece in bulk and as far as putting them together we’ve armed ourselves with a good technical manual.

So this week when our first shipment of replacement parts arrive I’ll be the first one to replace my trackball and then others will be trained so that we can best serve our customers.

So this bad situation has spun in to a more positive one.

Now if the part would get here faster I’d be set.

In the meantime if you need to get in touch with me I suggest email as answering my phone is a bit more difficult, answering texts is nearly impossible, and Twitter… well forget about it.

I’ve been pretty busy with the awesomeness that is Startup Weekend so I haven’t had a lot of time between that and MOSH mobile to get a post up here recently.

Things are going great in life. I’ve been having a lot of fun talking and meeting people for Startup Weekend and getting some new weekends lined up for everyone.

Things on the front at MOSH mobile have also been exceptionally busy as we have some things coming down the pipe in the next two weeks that required my attention.

I’ve cut down my days at MOSH mobile that I’ll actually be spending in the office so I can focus on Startup Weekend and properly balancing my life/work balance. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays I can work on both projects from my balcony outside if I so wish as the weather warms up and I must say I love working outside. This is a nice change of pace for a few weeks so I can get outside, enjoy the warm weather and focus on everything going on.

I recently posted on my bad experiences at Walmart and Dawn posted about a sour experience at a loan location.

What makes companies feel that bad customer service is the right customer service?

In what I’d like to think of Blogworthy news I’ve decided to take on a new hat for my ever growing hat rack.

This time I’m putting on a new primary hat that allows me to be the new CEO of Startup Weekend.

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

Founded in 2007 by Andrew Hyde, the weekend is a concept of a conference focusing on learning by creating. It is known for its quick decisions, ‘out of the box’ thinking, unique facilitation technique and letting the founders show what they can do. The program has already met with success in Boulder, Toronto, New York, Hamburg, Houston, West Lafayette, Boston, DC and more.

At the most recent Boulder II Startup Weekend Andrew tried successfully to launch a new format that involves even more launches per weekend, more dedicated teams, recruiting by already established companies, and even no requirement to incorporate a company at the end of the weekend.

The new format has been a stunning success and Andrew has once again proven his forward thinking will keep Startup Weekend ahead of the curve.

I promise that I’ll bring that same forward thinking, drive for success and determination to each and every Startup Weekend that we organize and evolve as the new CEO of Startup Weekend.

The format Startup Weekend is using works… and I’m not going to change that. The low price point works… and I’m not going to change that any time soon.

I’m merely going to build on the MASSIVE level of success that Andrew has had with Startup Weekend and be working WITH Andrew to continue the trend of Startup Weekend success.

Andrew isn’t going anywhere. He is merely rolling back his role as he pursues some new projects and ideas that I’m sure because of his revolutionary nature will be hearing about soon and I’m hoping (and even trying to force him for his health) to take some much needed rest.

Startup Weekend is a unique and ever evolving idea and I hope that you will join me for the ride with even more upcoming weekends scheduled in great cities such as San Antonio, Portland, Memphis, Ann Arbor and more.

I also hope that you’ll join me in celebrating the great job Andrew is doing and offer him a much deserved congratulations on being a revolutionary startup enthusiast who has proved time and time again his ability to create, launch, manage and grow successful new ideas.

I guess the jokes on Blizzard today.

One of the web guys and one of the developers at Blizzard thought it would be a funny prank for April Fool’s Day to post images of a fake new hero class to the website featuring a guitar playing Bard with Guitar Hero graphics.

In a funny twist the guys at Activision’s legal department who apparently have no sense of humor nor sense of intelligence are suing the Blizzard side of the newly formed Activision Blizzard for infringing on trademarks with Guitar Hero like images on the page.

All I can really say is that it provides me great laughs that not only would Blizzard post Guitar Hero images but that Activision which is the same company would then try to sue them for it.

Today I’d like to educate you about what my local Walmart is the WORST Walmart in the chain.

I’ll be presenting you a series of stories that will illustrate how my Walmart experience is almost never a positive one in Columbia City, Indiana.

I’ve been contemplating writing this blog entry for some time now. Most of the times I will run in to a nice employee at this Walmart and then I feel guilty about coming home and bitching about this store but finally I’ve had enough.

Sit down, prepare yourself to hear my rants and raves about our Walmart and enjoy my woes.

Recently I went in to Walmart at about 11pm at night. I often hit Walmart at this time to purchase Nintendo Wii games. Hell I even bought my first Nintendo Wii at this Walmart location one night at about midnight. I get done working on work stuff and need something to help me unwind so I head to Walmart and find myself a Nintendo Wii game.

One night while doing this I went to the electronics section and noticed some new gaming magazines. One of which caught my eye so I picked it up and checked it over to see if it was something that I’d be interested in purchasing.

I started to put in back in the holder when a police officer and a store employee approached me.

At first I was glad to see the store employee… I was going to purchase three Nintendo Wii games and they keep them locked up so she could get them out for me so I could buy them.

She had a mean look on her face though. She approached me and asked to see my ID. I declined and told her I didn’t have it with me. Why would she need to see my ID? I hadn’t yet asked to purchase any games and when I did I would have gladly provided it. Right now I was simply looking at various items.

What she doesn’t realize is that I am a young adult. As such I have what we call a disposable income. I many times will spend my hard earned cash on video games, sodas, and other things that won’t really mean jack in a few years.

I digress, the police officer approached me and then asked me for ID. Knowing my rights I declined. It was about this time that I decided to leave the Walmart and take my purchase elsewhere.

I started to head for the door of the Walmart fully expecting the police officer to have more police officers in the area ready to pull me over for no reason (that is how my town police rolls).

I didn’t make it to the door however. The employee stopped me again and said if I didn’t show her my ID she would have me arrested. I said that I would not.

She then told me I needed to leave the Walmart. As I began to tell her that was what I intended the police officer approached and said he would be handcuffing me if I didn’t leave right now.

At the time I was two days away from entering the Indiana State Police academy so I didn’t want any trouble and agreed to leave. I would have honestly agreed to leave anyways because I am NOT a trouble maker and never have been.

The employee stops me again on my way to the door. She tells me if I let her see my ID and I can prove that I am at least 18 I can stay in the store. That Columbia City has a curfew and Walmart enforces it. I tell her I am twenty-two years old, that I am the President of the local company and that I am highly offended. She tells me to “get the fuck out”.

I leave the Walmart.

The next morning I call Walmart and ask to speak with the manager. I ask for her specifically by name and when she will not take my call I leave a message saying that I will call back again the next day.

The next day I call back again. I finally get a hold of her and tell her my story and that I would never shop at Walmart again. At least not her Walmart and that I was considering calling her District Manager and reporting my story.

She was actually a kind soul and I couldn’t be terribly mad at her because of the actions of a rouge employee. She explained to me that it is not Walmart’s policy to enforce the city curfew because Walmart is a private business and not the police.

I couldn’t agree more with her assessment of the situation and she assures me that it will be fixed.

Regardless of the case I stay away from that Walmart for a period of time.

My fiancee loves Walmart sadly. Granted she was mad when I told her what happened but she claims it is the only place to shop in our town. Which is true… we could always go ten minutes up the road to the next town where a great deal of stores are but she won’t do that.

So we start going to the worst Walmart in the chain again. The Columbia City Walmart.

This particular Walmart store even before the ID incident wasn’t my favorite store in the world.

It is almost always horribly dirty. You will often see huge stains on the floor, spilled product, leaks and water coming down from the ceiling, the bathroom if often a mess, the merchandise is often in shambles and doesn’t look like it has been front-faced or laser-lined in weeks, the items you get from the bakery are often old, hard, and crusty the day you get them and the store is almost always out of stock of the most basic items.

I already am not a fan of Walmart. If I have to shop at a Walmart store though I’ll go out of my way to go to another store in the chain because many times the selection and environment is just better.

Not my fiancee though. She is just another blind consumer. Sigh.

Meaning we of course return to the worst Walmart in the chain often because she likes to be a blind consumer and doesn’t care how shitty the place is because the prices are good (not really that good though).

Finally this past week she started to see what I’ve been saying for months about this Walmart. She started to get angry and taking it out on me. Which of course just let to a large argument and later my typing of this blog entry to get my stress out.

The other day we went in with a very simple shopping list.

As we began shopping we noticed they didn’t have any sugar in stock. Not a big deal.

Then we begin to look for salt, Coke,  and a plethora of other basic items and found them to be out of stock on nearly everything. Tiffany started to get very frustrated.

I try not to let it frustrate me… everything about Walmart is already a huge frustration for me. Especially this Walmart.

In the end we weren’t able to get over 30 items on our shopping list.

The people at the Columbia City Walmart as I’ve already said are horribly unprofessional as this week proved to me once again.

We went to a self-checkout lane. Apparently the lady who was using it before us only got one item. She realized she forgot milk at the back of the store and took her one item and left the self-checkout to get her milk. We didn’t know this of course, walk up and scan our first item. Ten seconds later the lady watching over the self-checkouts comes over and says… “You should look next time someone may be using it”. I thought WHAT THE FUCK. I can think of no reason at all for her to be such a bitch over nothing.

So we started putting our items in the bag and she came over and asked us to stop and before saying anything more voids our transaction and tells us to move to another lane because “this one was already being used”.

Uhhhh. Okay?!?

So we move to the one next to it and I make a remark to Tiffany about how much Walmart sucks and what a bitch that lady was not knowing she was right behind me. She gets mad and voids our transaction and tells us to go to a regular checkout lane.

Even better on the way out we are stopped and our bags searched.

Yeah Walmart in Columbia City… its great… let me tell you ;)

The people aren’t the worst thing though. Our Walmart is the DIRTIEST you are going to find in the chain. We’ve seen and taken pictures of roaches and even rats in our Walmart in the past week. We made some calls to a few insepectors and the good news is Walmart has one week to fix it…. or get closed. Which of course makes me happy.

They somehow passed the inspection yesterday… at least as far as the infestation goes and now they are in trouble because the roof is falling in and has tons of holes in it.

Nothing makes me feel better about shopping then having to avoid tripping over buckets every other isle that catch the water coming in from the roof.

Again… my Walmart is the win…. oh wait… teh fail. My bad.

Don’t post a comment telling me to stop shopping at this local Walmart because I already have. I know I should have a long time ago but getting Tiffany to stop… it hasn’t been easy. Even after I got escorted out for shopping “after curfew”.