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User: RebrandSoftware

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  1. Re:It's just moving your trust to someone else on Data Encryption On the Rise In the Cloud and Mobile · · Score: 1

    I am the creator of a password manager app called Easy Password Storage that can sync data between devices using a zero-knowledge cloud server.

    The passwords are encrypted on the user's device with their secret key before they are ever sent to the cloud servers. I have no way of decrypting their data, even if I wanted to. That's by design: I don't want the ability to see anyone's password.

    There is trust involved, but the users can always examine their data transmissions to see exactly what's going back and forth between their device and the servers.

  2. VS PhoneGap on Google Launches Cordova Powered Chrome Apps For Android and iOS · · Score: 1

    I don't see how I could develop with this. PhoneGap gives you access to the phone itself: Contacts, Camera, Accelerometer, Etc. Even then I sometimes find it difficult to get all of the functionality I want in my mobile app and have to turn to user created plugins.

    It doesn't seem like I can access any of that with this technology, only the Chrome APIs that they mentioned. Very limiting.

  3. App Store on Ask Slashdot: Money-Making Home-Based Tech Skills? · · Score: 1

    I have been working from home for seven years now writing software and selling it to other companies. I'm really having a lot of success on the Mac App Store, bringing in a respectable salary from that alone. If you're curious about my apps just type "Rebrand Software" into the Mac App Store.

    The trick is:

    -Make your apps available in every language supported by the app store
    -Rating is more important than price. Make your apps low price until they have 4/5 star ratings, then you can raise them slightly.

    Doing this I'm selling 50-100 apps per day at $2 to $3 each. I use RealStudio (http://www.realsoftware.com) to program for Win/Mac/Linux, it's easy to learn and there are tutorials for getting your stuff on the Mac App Store. When the Windows Store launches with Windows 8 I'll be in a position to immediately put all my software on it.

  4. Re:What the hell is Google Reader? on Google Reader's Social Features Merging With Google+ · · Score: 2, Informative
  5. Sign Language on Doctors Recommend Against TV For Kids Under 2 · · Score: 1

    My daughter started watching Signing Time (http://www.signingtime.com) when she was 10 months old. She loved the show so we watched it once per day, for about 25 minutes per day.

    By the time she was 14 months old I could take her to the zoo and she could sign Monkey, Zebra, Horse and many other signs. Here is a video of her doing exactly that: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejenphotos/3467807751/in/set-72157604954739094

    By the time she was 20 months old she had a huge vocabulary of hundreds of signs even before she could say all of the words.

    Now that she is 3.5 we communicate via sign language all the time. That TV show has been influential in teaching her to spell and read by incorporating finger spelling.

    Of course, I wasn't just sitting her down and leaving her there. I would watch with her (that's how I learned to sign) and incorporate real world items so that she could see that link between the signs on TV and her own things (like toys, food, etc) but that TV show was absolutely instrumental in her language skills. (It didn't hurt that she's a genius... I'm not biased...)

    My second will be born in January and there is nothing that could convince me not to repeat the same process with her.

  6. Pants? on Ask They Might Be Giants About Almost 30 Years of Music · · Score: 1

    My 3.5 year old daughter Eloise is a big fan. She asks:

    "Why are pants wet all the time? Why are blankets wet all the time? Why will pillows get burned in the light? That's all the words I want to make and look up in the computer."

    She also says her favorite They Might Be Giants song is: Ten Bowls of Soup, because she likes it... "Woah, woah! Good thing they didn't all spill."

  7. Put it to the test on Ask They Might Be Giants About Almost 30 Years of Music · · Score: 2

    I have a non-scientific theory that you guys are atheists like me. I would like to put it to the test. I'm basing my theory on the following lines:

    "A fact is just a fantasy unless it can be checked."

    "I like those stories about angels, unicorns and elves."

    I interpret those lyrics to mean that religion is a fantasy and angels are simply fun stories. Am I correct?

    P.S. My daughter is only 3.5 but is now interested in science and I can't thank you enough for helping me to light that spark!

  8. I just made this browser for kids on What To Load On a 4-Year-Old's Netbook? · · Score: 1

    I just finished this browser for kids and released it the other day. I use it with my three year old daughter so that she can use the web without encountering a lot of advertising or unapproved sites.

    http://www.rebrandsoftware.com/showsoftware2.asp?soft_id=32

    It still requires parental involvement but my daughter loves being able to browse and pick videos. It seems like kids are better with trackpads than with mice.

  9. Why does my accountant have me pay Use Tax? on Every Day's a Tax Holiday At Amazon · · Score: 1

    Last year my accountant had us pay Use Tax on all our online purchases so we had to dig up all our records. I live in VA so my questions are:

    1) Should I be bothering to pay Use Tax at all?
    2) It is legal or enforceable by the state of Virginia?
    3) Since it's interstate is it really a federal issue?
    4) What if I don't "use" the purchases or I give them as gifts?

  10. "Good" board games on Thought-Provoking Gifts For Young Kids? · · Score: 1
  11. Re:Close enough to Christmas... on Is Your Laptop Cooking Your Testicles? · · Score: 1

    "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire."

    "Jack Frost nipping at your knob."

    "Tiny hipsters with their balls all a'glow, will find it hard to breed tonight!"

    They know no baby's on the way. Hope Santa's loaded heat-proof undies on his sleigh.

  12. Web TV Software on ABC, CBS, and NBC Block Google TV · · Score: 1

    I made this Web TV software that essentially indexes shows from all over the world, including CBS, NBC, ABC and much more.

    http://www.rebrandsoftware.com/showsoftware2.asp?soft_id=26

    It works on Win/Mac (sorry, I have a Linux version in the works but right now there are playback problems). Most of the content is US/UK but much of it can be accessed from any location.

    Anyway, the point is that it can't be blocked because it uses your system's default browser for playback. I don't agree with Google that it's the content provider's right to prevent playback on certain platforms: if it's free to watch online I should be able to watch it using any method I choose. But, knowing that networks can be jerks, I programmed our software to tap into the system's browsers and circumvent any potential problems.

    It's no good for sitting on your couch in front of the TV but it's great for watching content on your computer. My wife and I cut our cable and disabled our two Tivos in favor of web in early 2010 after the initial release of this software and now we have $70/month to do whatever we want with. That's nearing $700 now that's in my hands, and I can't think of a single show I miss between my web TV and a netflix subscription.

  13. One of my favorite places on St. Louis Museum Offers Thrills, Chills, and Lawsuits · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I took my one year old daughter here on her first airplane trip and we had an absolute blast. I would rank this place as one of the coolest places I have ever been, and the absolute coolest museum ever. I did not encounter anything "dangerous" there that couldn't also be found on a standard playground. I'm looking forward to taking her back when she's 4 or 5 and can really enjoy it. I wish there were more places like the city museum.

  14. We are the answer. on Don't Talk To Aliens, Warns Stephen Hawking · · Score: 1

    It's easy to know why an intelligent creature might come here in search of other intelligent life, in fact we know exactly why they would do it because it is the very same reason that we go out looking for intelligent life: curiosity. There don't need to be "resources" involved, or really any motive at all other than trying to understand our universe, how we got here, what is going to happen to us, and what other creatures share our fate.

  15. Account Number on Comcast Customers Urged To Opt-Out of Settlement · · Score: 1

    They want my account number to file or opt out of the claim, but at the bottom it says "DO NOT CONTACT COMCAST OR THE COURT FOR INFORMATION." It's been years since I used their shitty internet, how am I supposed to remember my account number?

  16. Boxee/Netflix/HDHomerun on What's the Best Way To Get Web Content To My TV? · · Score: 1

    I can't believe I'm not seeing more Boxee setups. I have had mine running great for a few months now, next month it will pay for itself.

    Between Boxee's TV shows, my HD tuners recording over the air, and Netflix Streaming there isn't a single show I used to get via cable that I can't watch directly through Boxee now. In addition, there's cool stuff I've found through Boxee like EarthTouch and Revision3.

    Here is the setup:

    HD antenna in my upstairs bedroom, using the existing coaxial in my house to get the signal to the basement ($40)
    http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650-Digital-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0027FGW3K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666138&sr=8-2

    HDHomerun network capture card ($120)
    http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-HDHR-US-Definition-Television/dp/B0010Y414Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666182&sr=1-1

    GB-PVR on a Windows machine or MythTV on Linux/Mac to record up to two shows at once (free)

    1 TB networked USB drive to store recorded/burned/downloaded shows/movies ($100)
    http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Prestige-Desktop-External-34275/dp/B001D7REJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666279&sr=1-1

    Existing windows/mac/linux box to run Boxee on (free to cheap). I found it pretty simple to hook up my Macbook Pro but am looking forward to the Boxee Box coming out soon.

    If you have an iphone/touch you can use it as a networked controller for Boxee, which is cool and seems to impress people. Having pandora on the TV is also really nice. Since I'm running on the Macbook I can pick up and move it upstairs at any time, and the whole system is available from any networked computer in our house with Boxee installed. And to top it all off I can get live HD TV on any of those computers because the HD Homerun is networked!

    Anyway it's ****ing awesome. : )

    All this for $260 and starting next month I will be saving approximately $60/month on cable bills.

  17. Re:Just in case... on If ET Calls, Who Speaks For Humanity? · · Score: 1

    Is there any particular reason an alien species would be any nicer to other species than we are to other species?

    I hope that when we reach the level of intelligence necessary to travel to other inhabited worlds we will have, in the process of obtaining that intelligence, learned that we should respect other species and do everything possible to prevent suffering in all living creatures.

  18. Re:Backfire on PETA on Scientists Create Artificial Meat · · Score: 1

    It might be nice to have a pet cow. You could keep it in your new surplus-land backyard with your pet chickens that lay eggs.

  19. Amazon Ditched DRM? on Anti-DRM Activists Take On the BBC · · Score: 1

    Then why the Amazon Unbox DRM on my Tivo? I "rent" a movie, it's downloaded to my Tivo automatically. I have 30 days to watch it before it's deleted from my Tivo. Once I start watching it, I have to finish within 24 hours or it's deleted from my Tivo. Those stingy rules are the reason I don't rent from Amazon Unbox other than my initial test.

  20. No Message Rules Import? on Mozilla Releases Thunderbird 2.0.0 · · Score: 1

    Poor Thunderbird. I want to use it, I really do.

    But why can it import all my Outlook Express settings *EXCEPT* my mail rules?

    I have so many mail rules (move this to that folder, this to another folder) that recreating them is a major task.

    It's because of that alone that I had to uninstall Thunderbird 2 after just 10 minutes of use.

    Does anyone know a way around this?

  21. Credit cards and small business on Who Pays For Credit Card Breaches? · · Score: 1

    Here is my experience with accepting credit cards directly through a merchant account:

    -You process a transaction.
    -It passes all fraud checks by the merchant account and processor.
    -You're happy because you've made a lot of money.
    -You transfer the money to your account a month later when you pay yourself.
    -All of the sudden, 3 months later, you get a chargeback notice and all of the money is withdrawn from your account.
    -You have to file paperwork with the merchant service in order to dispute the chargeback.
    -If you are selling a non-shippable product (like software) you are completely screwed and will never get your money back.
    -Eventually if you have enough chargebacks the merchant service cancels your account and puts all of your money on hold.
    -You revert entirely to paypal.

    I had higher hopes for Google Checkout since they claim to have great fraud filters: not true. They are even more misleading.

    The system SCREWS small businesses like mine. You receive no training in preventing fraud and when you finally catch on it's too late. Luckily my customers are happy to pay through paypal, which has a much lower rate of fraudulent transactions, but it makes my business look less professional to not accept credit cards directly.

    Is it really so hard to put a password on a credit card? That's all I ask for: one little password. That would virtually eliminate chargebacks.

  22. Not Surprising on Comcast Accused of Blocking VoIP · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've been fighting comcast's and other ISP's blocked ports for a few years now:

    http://rebrandsoftware.com/portblocking.asp

    Check out the visitor-submitted "Complaint List by ISP" at the bottom of the page, Comcast has the longest list of all.

  23. Ticket Sales on Software Predicts Movie Success · · Score: 2, Insightful
    North American ticket sales currently total $7.6 million.
    That's got to be a typo, right? Or should I, for one, wave goodbye to our old MPAA overlords?
  24. Re:As with... on Glide File Sharing Service Debuts · · Score: 1

    I run a small software business and accept credit cards. Most small businesses with either: A) Have you enter your credit card number before you leave their site, and automatically fill it in on their payment processor's site. (Bad) B) Have you enter everything but your credit card number on their site. (Good) I do B. You don't ever enter your credit card number until you get to VeriSign to process payments. Only the first and last 4 digits are available to me that way, and I'm not even sure that verisign stores the whole number (they don't need to because they use transaction IDs to look up your charge). So, in conclusion, if you're worried about a site keeping your credit card number you'll be better off entering it into the payment processor site than the merchant's site.

  25. Babe Magnet on The World of Competitive Gaming · · Score: 1

    The show "Real Life: I'm a gamer" featured the player mentioned in the article.

    The last scene was him surrounded by swooning women.

    I think you're all just jealous because he's been chatting online with babes all day. Sweet.