Gizmodo: PayPal

SpaceX's Falcon 1, Dreams of Space Conquest Begin in 10, 9, 8...

Elaine Chow — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:45:00 EDT

Like watching rocket launches? Then check out the live webcast of SpaceX's Falcon 1 launch from the Marshall Islands at 7pm EST. The Falcon 1 measures 90 feet, weighs roughly 103,000 pounds and uses a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene vehicle to blast off. SpaceX, started up by Elon Musk of PayPal fame, is one of several new commercial companies trying to commercialize space travel, wrestling the mostly government-funded industry into the privatized world. Depending on how the launch goes, Falcon 1 will either prove itself to be a reliable way to transport satellites out to low Earth orbit or the project that turned Musk from billionaire to broke (read: millionaire). Update: looks like the launch keeps on being delayed, so check in and see if you've missed it yet. [SpaceX]

Hacker Pulls an Office Space, Steals $50,000 Worth of Pennies from Google, Paypal

Adam Frucci — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:10:00 EDT

In a move reminiscent of schemes seen in Office Space and Superman III, a hacker has exploited a loophole to weasel himself over $50,000 from services such as Google Checkout and Paypal by taking pennies at a time. Unfortunately, he was caught, and is in all likelihood heading to pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

The loophole involved the tiny payments that online payment services and brokerages send to new user accounts to verify that they're real. While getting four cents from PayPal might not seem like a big deal to you, Michael Largent decided to create a script to automatically open 58,000 of these accounts. Unfortunately for him, the companies caught on to his scheme and he's currently out on bail on charges of wire, bank and mail fraud.

The funny thing is, he's not in trouble for taking the money. It was being given out freely, after all. He's in trouble for using fake names and social security numbers to open the accounts.

If only Milton would go burn down the Googleplex in retaliation for Sergey Brin taking his stapler, destroying the evidence of your crime, you could escape these charges! [PC Pro via Slashdot]

Silicon Valley Nerds Plan Sea-Based Utopian Country to Call Their Own

Adam Frucci — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:40:00 EDT

A group of super-rich Silicon Valley nerds are sick of the man keeping them down. That's why they're planning to create their own sea-based country made up of floating structures that will be similar to oil rigs, but with houses and offices rather than, you know, oil rig stuff on board. And this isn't some conceptual plan; they're looking to have their first prototype in the San Francisco Bay within two years (to test the technology necessary, not to actually live).

Led by PayPal founder Peter Thiel and a Google engineer and Sun programmer, the Seasteading project aims to allow people who are looking to live independent of any government a chance to do just that. People will get a dinky 300 square feet of living space in a windowless tube floating in the ocean, but hey, there'll be satellite internet access!

Google's Patri Friedman has this to say about the plan:

"Government is an industry with a really high barrier to entry," he said. "You basically need to win an election or a revolution to try a new one. That's a ridiculous barrier to entry. And it's got enormous customer lock-in. People complain about their cellphone plans that are like two years, but think of the effort that it takes to change your citizenship."
Friedman estimates that it would cost a few hundred million dollars to build a seastead for a few thousand people. With costs that low, Friedman can see constellations of cities springing up, giving people a variety of governmental choices. If misguided policies arose, citizens could simply motor to a new nation.

"You can change your government without having to leave your house," he said.

It's a pretty insane idea, albeit an interesting one that's got a lot of money and smart people behind it.

What do you think? Would you live on a concrete island to enjoy smoking pot and downloading pirated movies without anyone to tell you not to? Personally, I like solid land and interpersonal contact a little bit too much to jump on board, but your mileage may vary. Graphic by Valdemar Duran [Wired via Gawker]

First Look at the PayPal Security Key

Jason Chen — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:15:41 EST

For those who are the least bit curious about the PayPal Security Key, take a look at Popken's video on the thing. Between throwing out racial slurs and making AIDs jokes, he shows you how the thing's supposed to work. Does it actually protect you against phishers? Watch and find out. – Jason Chen

ORIGINAL VIDEO: PayPal Security Key First Look [Consumerist]

PayPal Security Key Available Now

Jason Chen — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:30:56 EST

Remember that PayPal security key we told you about last month? The one that generates a random key every 30 seconds you're supposed to type in with your login in order to prevent fraud? Yeah, that's available now.

Just login, click order, and you'll get your $5 Security Key in a couple days. We assume they take PayPal. – Jason Chen

Product Page [PayPal via Consumerist]

Dealzmodo: $15 off PayPal Purchases

Jason Chen — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 16:40:19 EST

This deal is simple. Just make a purchase of $30 or more at any store that accepts PayPal as payment between February 8 and March 31 and you'll get a $15 cash rebate. Not a bad deal for just using your PP account. – Jason Chen

Promotion Page [PayPal - Thanks Dave!]

Paypal's Security Key Protects You From Phishers

Jason Chen — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:15:54 EST

Paypal's security and phishing troubles have gotten so bad, they've decided to provide a hardware solution to the problem. This upcoming Security Key from Paypal generates a unique one-time-use password every 30 seconds, which you use along with your username and regular password to log into your account.

This way, even if phishers get your login and password, they won't be able to log into your paypal account without the oft-changing key generated by your hardware.

Two caveats off the top of our head. One, if phishers learn your specific keygen algorithm (unlikely), you're out of luck. Two, if they do manage to get you to enter the username, password, and key into a phishing site, they have up to 30 seconds to use that info to log into your Paypal account and transfer cash out. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Paypal]

Send Paypal Via Skype Soon

Jason Chen — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:05:31 EDT

The upcoming Skype version 2.5, seen at the eBay Developer's Conference, apparently will let you send or request money to other users directly from the client software. Since eBay, Paypal, and Skype are all one big happy family, you'll be able to Paypal money easily while chatting with the person you're talking to. Camwhores: Paypal $3 for another 5 minutes of show?

If they integrate this with the WiFi Skype phones, you could possibly be able to send money to people wherever you have a WiFi connection. Then again, if you have a cellphone, you could use Paypal Mobile and do that right now. – Jason Chen

Skype 2.5 Integrates Paypal [Golem.de via Random Good Stuff]

Power User - The Best of Lifehacker

Gina Trapani — Wed, 31 May 2006 13:30:00 EDT

This week at Lifehacker: Build yourself a solar-powered wifi booster for the backyard. Your mousing wrist feeling a little achy? Train yourself to mouse lefty (or righty, lefties.) PayPal your buddy your share of the dinner bill with your cell phone. Add encryption to Gmail and sync your Google calendar with your mobile phone or handheld.

PayPal Mobile Launched

johnb — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:01:58 EDT

As we mentioned before, PayPal has created a mobile payment system allowing you to send and receive money via SMS.

The site is up now and you can activate your phone by clicking a button and entering your number. I'm trying to figure out some use cases, right now, and strangely enough I could see this as a boon for tourists: no cash, no hassle, just a quick SMS to a trusted U.S.-based source. But that's just me. We'll give it a go today and see what happens.

Mobile Page [PayPal]

PayPal Plans Phone Payments

johnb — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 13:08:34 EST

This is older news but important—apparently the U.S. entering the 21st Century! Whereas everyone and their Mom already has cellphone-enabled payments, this new Paypal system will allow you to send and receive money via SMS.

Like the inimitable CueCat and other devices that came before it, the system will also allow you to purchase items you see in magazines and posters by sending money to a certain number. Will it work? It has definite potential, and the PayPal name has quite a bit of cachet. Why didn't the carriers do this, though? Oh, I forgot. They're all dumb and scared.

PayPal Working On Cell Phone Payment [PersonalTechPipeline]