We heard about a new “startup” yesterday. You type in a phone number and tell it how many times you would like the service to call it. The service will then call the phone that number of times.
We’re not going to say the name of it, or link to it, because it has no practical use and can be used to crank call people incessantly. The entrepreneur argues that it is useful for people trying to find a lost phone. We say, use another phone to call the lost one. Instead, he’s created a fifteen year old’s perfect crank call tool – set it to nine repeat calls, the maximum, and let it rip at 3 in the morning.
We tested it. It works. And it’s stupid.
But there’s a point here. People complain that we don’t cover enough startups here on TechCrunch, and that more (or all) that submit profiles deserved to be covered. Most aren’t anywhere near as idiotic as this service, but applying a filter does have a purpose. We see stuff like this every day, and just this once we thought we’d share one of them with you.
Hilarious!!!! Maybe the site was created by a 15 year old
If you don’t tell me the name of that service… you will regret it…
lol i love how they give an “example” of a phone number as if anyone isn’t going to know what a phone number looks like.
lol
but there are multiple ways to type a phone number, and not all online forms can figure out any one. it could be:
123-456-7890
(123) 456-7890
1234567890
123 456 7890
(123) 4567890
etc…
so… yeah
I wonder how many people will spend at least 30 minutes looking for this website tomorrow.
Unless of course, the link comes up here.
hmm…
i will! xD
tonight, actually
Thank you Michael for not telling us about this company.
Maybe someone should get the number of the person who created it, enter it on their ‘wonderful’ site and then set it on repeat.
@kbox
They are giving an example of the format – otherwise people will enter all sorts of things, like +1 (519)-555-3839. They want that particular format.
Google will find it for us, eventually. There are some unique character strings in that interface. : )
http://tinyurl.com/2avdzq
just please don’t post a link here.
What an evil service. Although, it may be a good payback at those annoying telemarketers.
That is one useless site, but pretty funny actually.
Rex
It’s called [deleted]
[yep, you were right]
The funny thing is that there are probably quite a few people who would gladly pay for the use of a service like this. Is the service childish? Absolutely. Is it borderline illegal? Seems like it might be. But those two things often make for a viable business (if/while the business lasts). So what’s more idiotic? A Web 2.0 startup with no business model that just raised $1 million from VCs or a juvenile service that was probably built fairly quickly by an individual which has a clear possibility of making money?
It would be easy for the entrepreneur behind this to stop crank calling abuse if he wanted to by allowing the target to stop any future calls.
I still don’t understand why the article was put on this site. The service doesn’t serve any meaningful purpose.
Isn’t that a bit harsh? I can understand ripping on it and then putting a link to it, but not even linking it and making fun of it? It’s like the old saying says “what goes around, comes around.” I really hope that this is not the way TechCrunch is going to continue.
And I totally agree that it’s not a great idea, but still…
We didn’t want to encourage abuse of the service.
I know it’s been said already, but you are guys running out of topics to write about? I read TechCrunch every day, and this is the most pointless and useless piece of info TechCrunch reported in the long time.
I happen to be operating a site that has been submitted to TechCrunch and has not been covered, which I completely accepted – there should be many others who may have been more worthy of your attention. But “this” makes me doubt it.
I hope we will see a higher level of newsworthiness in the future posts.
about as useful as pimentoloaf(bymail).com was, is, ever will be…a perfect example of and justifcation for filtering what is and is not covered.
Yeah I think I ran into this guy at startup school. Hilarious dude! I think there’s some more info about this said “startup” on the wiki.
Hey this is good for radio concert givaway lines. Always wanted to be caller 9!
whats the site url i wanna try it lol
In all fairness, “I” could REALLY use a service like this. All my alarm clocks quit after being on for a while. I have a problem where I have difficulty waking up in the morning, even with a blaring radio next to my ear.
So something like this that I could set to call my cellphone and have it vibrate under my pillow would be great!
I understand that you posted this entry to show us that you apply a “filter” and you only post the best among the thousands of things that you could write about.
But, I would like to see the same “quality filter” in the advertisings you have at TechCrunch.
It just happened that I clicked one of your ads (edgeio) and it is completely lame! awful, undesigned, hard to understand the service….
if you do the things for the “quality”, please don’t sell yourself and get “quality filtered advertisers”
thanks.
Well, I’m the creator of this site, and I really appreciate the coverage by Nick, Mike, and Techcrunch in general.
This is not a “startup”, its just a useful tool that I built in a day for myself and my friends. I was very frustrated with misplacing my phone and not having a land-line or another roommate to call. And I built it so I could have something to talk about at Startup School as my big project is still in ’stealth mode’.
The idea here is that its better than another line in that you need to place only one call, and the service will call you back 10 times while you look for your phone. As soon as you find it, just answer, and the rest of the calls will stop.
I appreciate everyone’s opinion here, and would invite you tell me how we can make this a more useful service. We’re also evaluating if we should stop calls between 1 and 6 AM etc… We can discuss it more in the forum… or on this forum. Let us know what you want!
-David
Hmmmm… fantastic way to get out of boring meetings. If you’ve got your laptop with you, you can covertly go to the site and enter your number. Then answer, pause for a moment, and exclaim “Oh my god….. really? Don’t do anything! I’ll be there right away!”….Then simple excuse yourself from the meeting due to an emergency. Perfect.
Actually there could be a business derived from this, for wake up calls. It would be best if it worked via SMS though. For example, text 0730 to 12345 be called at 7:30am.
Oh, so suddenly prank calls aren’t that funny anymore? The justin.tv coverage from a few days ago sounded a whole lot different.
Hey David, I would like to take a look at the site. If you could let me know the url or mail me on dhawal.hdd@gmail.com
Sure, if anyone else is interested in the URL, you can email me at david AT keenscreen DOT com
I will respond ASAP.
thanks!
David
very clever David
so subtle!
Hmm, only works for US numbers. Boo!
david, this is great. I used it for 2 things:
1] to find my mobile
2] to prank call my brother at 2:45 am (hey if i’m up he should be too)
Awesome toy brother.
David, can you give me your phone number, please?
When registering a domain name for a service like this you really should use information which is not so clearly bogus.
registrant-firstname: Foo
registrant-lastname: Bar
registrant-organization: Infinity
registrant-street1: 1234 Happy Lane
registrant-pcode: 66019
registrant-city: Happyville
registrant-ccode: US
registrant-phone: +8?8.9?6?9?6
registrant-email: m?m?o?@yahoo.com
The ? are my addition
Dobber –
I had the original contact information when I launched, but changed the domain name registration (just an hour ago) because a friend cautioned me that I might get my phone # called many, many times, or even a death threat.
I’ll change the registration back. I’m proud of this service, even if it received a pretty negative review.
Yeah If anyone wants to know the URL
just email david at KEENSCREEN dot COM
What happens if the target number is registered on the ‘DoNotCall’ list?
If someone uses your service to crank call a third party, that may make you liable for big fines.
As other people have mentioned. Its a great personal alarm clock. Even i fsomeone else you know is very reliable, you can set it for them.
It has limited potential, but even so. I think it appeals, the idea of ‘getting back at someone’ more than they care to admit.
Just like ringing doorbells and running away… stupid, anoying but very funny in a world that has turned everyday life into death and sadness.
This is light hearted naughty fun.
Im going to use it for my alarm clock.
What’s the point of blogging about some new site and not telling ppl what it is? Don’t start a story and not finish it…
SonnyG to get the url send an email to david at KEENSCREEN DOT COM . He will send you the address. How can you use this as an alarm clock, theres no set time you would like it to call?
Is it enough to log the IP and phonenumber, as you do it on this site? Aren’t you still responsible for the abuse?
I wonder how long this project will last.
I don’t have an U.S. number so i couldn’t test it
(The SourceCode does not really look nice) Lots of work to do, I guess!
@Graham (38), @Shaun (23), and @Markus (26)…
A better service for what you are talking about is OhDontForget.com. You can set a time for the service to send your cell phone a text message. It was designed as a reminder service, but if you’re creative enough you can do a lot more with it (alarm clock, get out of meetings, get out of a lame date, etc.).
FWIW, the link was already posted here, albeit indirect, in an earlier comment ( Hint #34).
Also, there may be a business model here after all. Those who use the service as an alarm clock, to ‘find my phone’, or whatever have established a relationship with the service provider and are probably eligible for future telemarketing opportunities.
That automated caller ( Stanley prefers a sexy Brit) could have special offers for you in the morning. Say, “get 20% off at Peet’s coffee (Villa La Jolla & Nobel) Use coupon code 556.”
The offers give one the incentive to continue to use the service.
David, don’t give up on the idea. All you need is an automated way to opt out. For example “Press 6 if you don’t ever want me (in sexy Brit voice) to call you again with great offers in the morning. Or press 3 for me to call you again in 5 minutes…”
Having a sexy brit call me every morning would be a good thing.
“Hallo. Good morning Stanley. Hungry for a Bagel? Meet meet at Einstein’s for 20% off …’
You get the idea. Good luck!
Click my name to see the url
Someone phone my phone.
1. Open 3proxy.com
2. Goto forementioned website.
3. Call whoever you want.
What I can’t figure out is how justin.tv got passed your filter.
I don’t understand why this is sooo bad that you won’t post the URL? How is this any worse than web-to-SMS services?
https://www.vte...essaging_lo.jsp will let you send an SMS message to any cell phone — another potential PITA.
“But there’s a point here. People complain that we don’t cover enough startups here on TechCrunch, and that more (or all) that submit profiles deserved to be covered.”
I think the point needs to be made that some websites aren’t even startups. Like the developer of this tool points out above, “This is not a “startup”, its just a useful tool that I built in a day for myself”. Just because someone builds a mashup site or designs their graphics with rounded corners and shiny surfaces doesn’t mean the site was meant to be a business.
Personally I’m glad for the filter. Show me sites that have a business plan, in addition to a cool concept/interface/mashup/whatever, that will likely be around in 5 months much less 5 years from now.
haahhaha the url finally got posted.