Book Review of a Book You Can’t Find

January 18, 2012
Books
2 Comments

My wife was loaned Narrow is the Way – Why I Defected from Russia by Sergei Sazonov via her book club. She said I’d enjoy it. I read it. I loved it. I went online to find it to recommend it to others. And found nothing other than a Library of Congress citation. The book is an autobiographical account of Sergei Sazonov’s experience being forced to join the Russian army in World War II through …Continue reading →

WP Engine: Techmeme’d proof WordPress hosting

January 17, 2012
Uncategorized
3 Comments

I’ve moved this blog from blogging platform to blogging platform over the years. Each time my primary motivation for moving was to learn a new technology. Last year I moved from Community Server, hosted on my own Windows Server box in my home to WordPress running on a Linux VM hosted on Amazon AWS. I made this change to force myself to learn PHP and to get more experience using Linux. I love learning by …Continue reading →

Fragmentation Is Not The End of Android

January 14, 2012
Mobile
140 Comments

The fragmentation of Android is very real and very problematic for end users, developers, mobile operators, device manufacturers, and Google. However fragmentation does not mean Android is going to “die” or “fail” as some seem to think. On the contrary I think we can count on Android playing a significant role in our world for a long, long time. I also am confident that Google has already lost control of Android and has zero chance …Continue reading →

Control Your HTPC Via The Network

January 3, 2012
Coding, Smart Home, Uncategorized
4 Comments

[UPDATED: Feb 11, 2012 – Version 1.4.0 Released] MCE Controller enables the remote control of a Windows PC over the network.  It runs in the background on a Windows PC listening on the network for commands. It then translates those commands into actions such as keystrokes, text input, and the starting of programs. I wrote MCE Controller in 2003 for my own home control system. In 2004 I released it publicly so others could use …Continue reading →

Use the 520 Bridge Toll to MAKE money

January 3, 2012
Startups
10 Comments

If you are self-employed or travel for business (not commuting) the IRS will allow you to deduct 55.5 cents a mile. The only trick is you need to track the business miles you drive and be able to produce a detailed log for your return. I have a whacky product idea that will make it brain-dead-simple for people to generate a mileage log at tax time. If I see enough interest it may push me …Continue reading →

365 Days of Photos

December 31, 2011
Kindel
1 Comment

On January 1, 2011 I started a project of posting a photo to Flickr, Facebook and Twitter every day. Today I concluded this project with the photo below: I did this #photo365 project mostly as an experiment: to see if I could actually find enough interesting photos in my collection to last an entire year. In the end, I think it worked out great. In some cases I posted freshly taken photos, such as this …Continue reading →

Windows Phone is Superior; Why Hasn’t it Taken Off?

December 26, 2011
Mobile
535 Comments

Posted Dec 26, 2011 – Updated April 17, 2012 People ask me all the time why, if I think Windows Phone is such an excellent product, sales appear so lackluster.  My belief is Microsoft’s “end-user first” approach with WP7 has a impedance mismatch with the carriers & device manufacturers while Google’s approach reduces friction with carriers & device manufacturers at the expense of end users. The question is: will end-user dissatisfaction with Android’s inconsistencies and …Continue reading →

Charlie’s Gadgets Worth Getting Guide 2011

December 13, 2011
Uncategorized
9 Comments

My personal tagline is “If it makes noises or moves electrons I dig it.” To that end I’m going to start a yearly tradition of writing up a set of Christmas gift recommendations. Here’s the inaugural edition. Amazon Kindle I purchased my first Kindle the day Amazon announced them in 2007. Since then the various models I have owned have been my favorite gadget. That’s right, of all the geek-toys I own (and I own …Continue reading →

I Won a Samsung Galaxy S II – My Review

December 9, 2011
Mobile
83 Comments

At the Xconomy Mobile Madness event on Tuesday I won a Samsung Galaxy S II in a raffle. Irony much? The last time I used an Android device “for real” was in early 2009. At the time I was just getting going on building the Windows Phone 7 app platform and I wanted to make sure I really understood Android. I’m a firm believer that ignorance is idocracy and if I was going to build …Continue reading →

Looking for a Software Developer Intern

November 22, 2011
Kindel, Startups
3 Comments

I am working on a whacky startup idea (unrelated to any of the startups I’m advising or my yet to be announced ‘real’ startup). It’s highly speculative at this point and while I’m willing to put time into it, I’m not willing to spend much money. Someone suggested I try to get a CS student to help as an internship. So yesterday the following was posted on the University of Washington CS department intern-job board. …Continue reading →

Wanna Invest in the Seattle Startup Community?

November 5, 2011
Startups
13 Comments

Do you love the idea of startups? Do you want the Seattle Startup scene to thrive? Do you want to invest in early stage startups but don’t know how to get started? I’m committed to helping make Seattle a world leader for creating new technology businesses. I’ve jumped in by doing my own angel investing, mentoring and advising, and of course working on my own startup. But as I’ve done this, I can see that …Continue reading →

My Best Hiring Stunt To Date

October 27, 2011
Leadership, Organization & People, Startups
9 Comments

I’ll be doing some serious recruiting soon. I will only hire the best, and attracting the best requires them noticing jobs are available. This got me thinking about “best-practices” for driving recruiting. Watching others lead, and as a manager myself, I’ve seen that no one way is “the right way.”  As a manager, it depends on who you are as a person.  I’ve seen successful teams get built around the “serious boss man” and I’ve …Continue reading →

Formally Advising The Buddy Platform

October 24, 2011
Mobile, Startups
2 Comments

I love startups. I love developers. I love Seattle. Given that my own startup will be based in the Seattle area (news on that coming soon!) it is important to me that the Seattle startup scene thrives. I’ve thrown myself out to the community and have been blown away by all the great people and fantastic ideas. I’ve lost count now of how many early stage folks I’ve met with in the last 6 months. …Continue reading →

I sincerely tried, but I still hate Linux

October 21, 2011
Startups
51 Comments

Before you read further, go read this post by David Gewirtz: Why I’ve finally had it with my Linux server and I’m moving back to Windows I guess I’m an idiot too. About 6 months ago I made the decision to leave Microsoft after 21 years. I knew I was going to build a startup, and I knew that the developers I’d want to hire were, to say it kindly, not familiar with Windows. It …Continue reading →

How Often Do Startups Join Together?

October 5, 2011
Startups
5 Comments

In talking to and mentoring dozens of startups I’ve noticed that many of them are in similar spaces; working on the same general problem, yet not quite competitors. Almost complimentary. This raised a question for me: In the history of the modern startup universe, how common is it for really early stage (say 2-5 people with only friends & family funding) ventures combine with others? I ask because it seems to be a good idea …Continue reading →

MCE Controller supports the Windows key

October 5, 2011
Coding, Smart Home, Uncategorized
2 Comments

MCE Controller, allows you to simulate a press of any button on the Windows Media Center IR remote control by sending a text command to a TCP/IP port on your Media Center computer. For example if MCE Controller receives the string “mypictures” it will tell Media Center to go to the “My Pictures” page. I wrote this app in back in ~2003 for my own use so I could integrate Media Center with my Crestron …Continue reading →

Filtering My Angel Investments

October 3, 2011
Startups
1 Comment

I love early stage startups. So much so, that I will sometimes invest my own money when the startup is not much more than a few bright people with an idea. This is called angel investing. I have the following currencies I can offer early stage companies: Money Time I decided long ago that I would separate those two currencies. I did this partially because , when I worked at Microsoft, it was impossible to …Continue reading →

What to do With Your Old Kindle

September 28, 2011
Books, Uncategorized
1 Comment

We now have quite the collection of various generation Amazon Kindle Book Readers in our household. I purchased the original the day Amazon announced it and have purchased at least one of every subsequent model.  Today I ordered one of each of the new Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G, and Kindle Fire.  I’m sure my wife will want a Kindle Fire as well so that will up the number we have between the four of …Continue reading →

Crowd Sourced Design Works

September 26, 2011
How To, Startups
1 Comment

I have updated the look and feel of the Kindel Systems, LLC website and this blog using a crowd source design. And I like how it turned out. Now that I am no longer working for a big corporate giant I have a bunch of endeavors I am working on (including my yet-to-be-announced new company). I’m doing consulting, angel investing, serving on boards of directors/advisors, and several other things that either generate income or assets. …Continue reading →

Be Either an App or a Platform, Not Both

August 24, 2011
Business, Leadership, Platforms, Startups, Technology & Execution
9 Comments

If you think the thing you are building is both an “app” and a “platform” you will fail. Oh, and if you think it’s going to be a just a platform, you will fail too. (Update: April 6, 2012 – I updated this post with some typo fixes and minor tweaks). A recent story on Hacker News gave me an excuse to write down my thoughts on this subject. I’m reposting here in order to …Continue reading →