Slashdot Mirror

it kind of makes me sad that DPF fusion energy hasn't even be able to reach half its measly $200,000 goal on indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

Why are our priorities so back-asswards.

If our children cannot read, do you want them operating fusion reactors?

it kind of makes me sad that DPF fusion energy hasn't even be able to reach half its measly $200,000 goal on indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

Why are our priorities so back-asswards.

There are some pretty dubious energy projects on indiegogo.
https://www.indiegogo.com/expl...

Also:
"The Department of Energy decided forty years ago to put all its fusion money on one device, the tokamak, and is not funding anything else"
What about NIF? or is that DoD?

The Rufus Cuff is tempting. I could see the move from my current Galaxy Note 2 to one of these and tablet with stylus. Mostly for running and convenience to look stuff up. I love my Note but it is big when whipping it out, but note quite big enough to write on. If I'm to deconverge I'd want the "quick glance" thing to be quick-glance-y and that is a watch or Glasses.

Indie gogo flexible funding campaigns are totally legit

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

Indie gogo flexible funding campaigns are totally legit

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

Indie gogo flexible funding campaigns are totally legit

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...
https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

ReactOs Community Edition https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

ReactOS community edition. https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

I think Fin has more potential.

Recently found an indiegogo project that seems to be better than anything chromecast has been able to pull so far. Here for the campaign (already ended) There for the site. I'm not affiliated in any way with them, just seems a cooler idea, and open source to boot.

... unlike thermostats, there is really currently nothing like it

How about Birdi, which has quite a few more features than Nest Protect:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/birdi

They were on stage with AT&T last week, and AT&T has a big investment in home automation (Digital Life).

The major obstacle is initial funding. Here's the link to the indiegogo campaign. Right now it's at something like $150k of $400k. Once they successfully land something on Mars, demonstrate they can manufacture water, oxygen and plenty of electricity on Mars, they will be taken a lot more serious. Until then, it's just the odd one out that's putting their money where there dreams are.

Lansdorp himself is a successful entrepreneur, here is a ted talk about his last company. He sold his stake and has been using the profit he made there to get Mars One off the ground for the past 3 years.

Among the people supporting them are:
  - Gerard ‘t Hooft, Nobel Prize winning Theoretical Physicist
  - Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society
  - Terry Gamber, worked on the lander designs for the Viking mission
  - A very large number of experienced people (see their website Advisers, ambassadors)

They don't plan to develop much of the technology themselves, they're planning to buy it from other companies mostly such as SpaceX. Most of this technology exists already. They have written statements of the companies that they are willing and able to supply these things.

List of the technology they want to use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_One#Technology

The total cost is estimated at $6 billion. Technology has come a long way, this combined with the privatization of space has caused costs to drop significantly. The falcon heavy for example costs only $77-135M to launch (2013).

They plan to get this through sponsorship deals. They're going to broadcast the entire thing on TV. Which makes sense, the olympics receives 6 billion dollars for 1 billion viewers. The moonlanding in 1969 had 500 million viewers. The population of the earth was only 3,5 billion back then and people weren't as well connected as they are now. So imagine how many viewers a colony on Mars would get?

No one says it's guaranteed that they will succeed, but i think they should try, and we should support it.

More information can be found on their website and IndieGoGo campaign:
http://www.mars-one.com/
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mars-one-first-private-mars-mission-in-2018

The campaign is just to help pay for the Lockheed Martin study and to convince sponsors there is enough interest. I have donated myself, and advise people who think space exploration is important to do the same. It's risky, but it's high impact.

From TFIndiegogo: "This 2018 mission will be the first in preparation for human landing. The first Mars One crew is scheduled to land in 2025, with additional crew landing every two years. Before that, Mars One will have established a habitable, sustainable outpost via multiple missions scheduled between 2018 and 2022."

And that's precisely why kickstarter and indiegogo are so awesome. You see what the project wants upfront. You lose no money if the required amount is not reached. People digging into the details of the project can post about it, and you can read their warnings.

Indiegogo has a slightly slimier feeling option on their projects where the project gets to keep the money regardless of whether they meet their funding goal or not. If you are supporting a project on Indiegogo and this matters to you, be sure to check out the conditions on funding the project.

From Indiegogo's FAQ.

What if I don't reach my funding goal? If your campaign is set up as Flexible Funding, you will be able to keep the funds you raise, even if you don't meet your goal. If your campaign is set up as Fixed Funding, all contributions will be returned to your funders if you do not meet your goal. Flexible Funding campaigns that meet their goal are only charged 4% as our platform fee, whereas campaigns that do not meet their goal are charged 9%.

Don't know about the magazine itself, but the project's indiegogo FAQ is worth a read, http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/linux-voice/. Some interesting info describing the cost associated with producing (not including print costs) a magazine these days. Some back of the envelope math suggests that they've raised enough to produce... But not print... One year worth of content. Not bad considering that they can still draw on subscription fees and advertising.

Actually there is mention of Miracast, alongside with Chromecast and Apple TV. The section you're looking for is the "Competitors" section.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/airtame-wireless-hdmi-for-everyone--2

I have to say that I haven't been playing around with any of these things yet, but what they (Airtame) are claiming, seems quite cool to me. Especially the part about desktop extension and multicast sharing.

Elsewhere in the world of dead tree consumption: White Elephant

ORP1 is a secure, high speed networking device that maintains your online privacy simply, across all the devices in your home.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/orp1-an-open-router-project

"ORP1 - an Open Router Project
ORP1 is a high performance networking router that allows you to run a firewall, IPSec VPN (virtual private network) and a TOR server for your home network. Its easy-to-use web interface will make encrypted and anonymised communications for your entire network easier to set up and manage. Now you donâ(TM)t need to be a geek to be able to ensure that every device you use at home uses the internet with privacy, whether itâ(TM)s your home PC, smartphone or tablet.

Why is the ORP1 device important? Unlike routers from other security vendors who have been caught helping government surveillance of their customers, the ORP1 hardware and software is open source to provide a system that you can trust - thereâ(TM)s no government-mandated back door for snooping.

ORP1 is a powerful networking platform which is a big step forward from other home networking routers, because its hardware and software is being purpose-built on open source hardware and software for high performance, privacy, and ease of use.

Who should use an ORP1? If youâ(TM)re an infosec geek, a journalist or activist who needs to ensure privacy of your communications, or just someone who wants no-fuss networking in your home which keeps your internet usage private, ORP1 is for you.

Why an Open Router Project?
With growth in Internet speeds and the ongoing revelations that everyday people are having their personal information captured, we felt the need for a powerful platform that can be used to encrypt communications and protect our privacy and anonymity. An affordable and trustworthy system didn't seem to be on the market , thus ORP1 - the Open Router Project - was born. We need your help to make this a reality.

Security products are nothing without trust and we feel it is necessary to have a product on the market that is truly open. As such, not only is the ORP1 software to be released with an open source license, we will also be releasing the hardware design.

Why we're crowdfunding the ORP1
We have funded the project research & development all the way up to prototype phase. Now we need your help to fund the final development of the prototype and manufacture the final product. Bootstrapping has worked up until now, but itâ(TM)s meant the development of the ORP1 has been slow. We want to speed up the development so we can get the ORP1 out into the world as soon as possible. Especially since thereâ(TM)s a growing distrust of current security vendors - we want a secure and private alternative on the market ASAP.

Our Indiegogo budget will pay for:

user interface development
finalising the software
system and compliance testing
industrial design
the first manufacturing run.

The perks of being an early adopter
If you want to be among the first to get your hands on the ORP1, we recommend you buy a Privacy Freak (only 10 available, sorry!) or Early Adopter perk. We expect to ship the ORP1 prototype to Privacy Freaks and Early Adopters in April 2014. Assuming we reach our fundraising goal, we expect to ship the ORP1 to all supporters in May 2014.

If you can't afford an ORP1, but would like to support the project, you can buy a Freedom Lover perk for $25. You will receive a warm glow from having supported an open source project, as well as a discount code to be able to buy an ORP1 at the Indiegogo price of $400 if ordered by 31 July, 2014.

Obviously the faster we reach our fundraising goal, the quicker we can move to the next phase of development, so if you want ORP1 to happen, please pledge today, and share

I will come to your house, put a gun to your head, and force you to read Bitcoin stories much like Unknown Lamer does here. You must read them. This is not an option.

Oh yeah? We'll I'll send their mother a case of Tentacle Grape Soda
with their name on it unless A.C. makes posts on every article they don't like.

I like Raspbian, but it would be nice to have the Ubuntu packages built for the Pi.
Bit of the back story on the project page explaining why the Pi didn't have Ubuntu from the start.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-raspberry-pi-build-cluster-for-ubuntu/x/5206923

Dark Wallet is a project of unSYSTEM and Defense Distributed that starts with simple premises: Bitcoin as a web technology and privacy by default.

Well it didn't fail, no matter how badly your proprietary brain wants it to. this shows you how it can and does work.

Don't forget about Star Trek: Renegades, which was funded through both Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Tum Russ ("Tuvok") is directing the pilot, and the cast looks reasonably impressive.

Dude, goatse.cx was taken down years ago, now it's just a link to crowdfund an @goatse.cx webmail company (?!).

If you want to troll you need to link to goatse.ru

Chris Roberts already had the audience - So many people knew him and respected him for previous achievements that the buzz level was phenomenal. Fans will do anything to raise and throw money at him - even making their own crowdfunders for the 10,000 dollar(!) pledges: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/2014-deloria-space-pirate-calender

This is why "bear in mind" is sort of funny.

There was already a phone proposed that could have done this with no problem. There wasn't enough interest on it to make it a reality.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge

And before you go complaining about the cost, please have a look at flagship Android phones and how much they cost *off contract*. The Edge was a pretty good value.

done, $25 get you some.

Has he published it anywhere? (no, I don't want yours ;-)

$25 Vision Cruise Control DIY

I was thinking that in response to the Steve Jobs crowdfunding initiative to build a sculpture - perhaps we could celebrate this by crowdfunding a giant statue of Ballmer flinging a chair!

Flinging a chair while jumping a shark, would be more fitting, to be blunt.

I was thinking that in response to the Steve Jobs crowdfunding initiative to build a sculpture - perhaps we could celebrate this by crowdfunding a giant statue of Ballmer flinging a chair!

*Indiegogo. Whatever.

Actually it does matter a great deal. A key difference is what happens to the money if the project is not funded to the goal level. On kickstarter if the project misses its goal, no money changes hands. On indiegogo campaigns can be set up as "Flexible Funding" and the hosts get whatever is pledged (minus 9% for fees).

From the Kickstarter page:

Why is Kickstarter funding all-or-nothing?

On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. This way, no one is expected to develop a project with an insufficient budget, which sucks. Remember you set your own funding goal, so aim to raise the minimum amount you'll need to create your vision. Projects can always raise more than their goal, and often do.

From the Indiegogo FAQ

What if I don't reach my funding goal?

If your campaign is set up as Flexible Funding, you will be able to keep the funds you raise, even if you don't meet your goal. If your campaign is set up as Fixed Funding, all contributions will be returned to your funders if you do not meet your goal. Flexible Funding campaigns that meet their goal are only charged 4% as our platform fee, whereas campaigns that do not meet their goal are charged 9%.

Anonymous comments are like posting flyers. They are a necessary part of life.

Win Bitcoin Thru Aug 2013. Hurry.

Just look at all the features they've included and focused, and added recently and ask yourself if it's improving your browsing experience or if it's replicating something you'd expect to be in the operating system itself (e.g.: bulitin pdf reader, builtin flash runtime, webtrc, cloud password store, logging *into your browser*, ability to cast to Chromecast, etc). While not mutually exclusive, Google is focusing on Chrome being almost independent of the underlying OS.

These moves are very indicative that Google is positioning Chrome as a replacement to the desktop operating system. In fact just today I saw an indiegogo for an opensource mail app [1] that is completely bypassing Windows and simply targeting OSX/Linux (natural given the audience). This is becoming more and more the case as apps are built for OSX, Android, iOS and the web (where Chrome is now dominating).

Google's intentions re: Chrome are not 100% aligned with users' needs.

[1] http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mailpile-taking-e-mail-back

That must be how the free energy thought magnifier works. ;)

Ouch. They normally seem better than that.

This seems to have spurred some startups

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mailpile-taking-e-mail-back/x/1234360

http://www.zdnet.com/mega-to-fill-secure-email-gap-left-by-lavabit-7000019232/?s_cid=e551&ttag=e551

Doing DCI on encryption sounds interesting.

I would like to see a "I have a question" section.

Cruise Control is smarter than you.

Isn't this exactly what mailpile is trying to do? Make a email server get automagically set up on your home computer? I don't understand why there is not more excitement about this project; it seems like the only practical solution to keeping ones email secure.

"Does anyone have replacement recommendations for people who used these services?" There is a valiant effort to create an alternative. It's called mailpile --> http://www.mailpile.is/ and you can help jumpstart it by donating here --> http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mailpile-taking-e-mail-back. Go now...fly like the wind.

With 14 days to go, it’s time for our biggest announcement yet. From now until the end of the campaign, we’re fixing the price of the Ubuntu Edge at $695! No limited quantities, no more price changes. You wanted a more affordable Edge, and now you’ve got it.

So of course we’re passing those savings on to you. There’s now a single unlimited $695 Ubuntu Edge perk, which comes with a year’s subscription to LastPass Premium and a place on the Founders page. At the end of the campaign, anyone who’s already pledged more than $695 for the phone will be offered a refund of the difference.

Perhaps one day, in the very distant future, we will have mobile phones that can actually dock as ordinary computers with a full desktop OS.

No wait ... we already have that.

With more on the way

Canonical crowdfunds 7 million dollars in 7 days to build a phone that doubles as a PC and Slashdot has Emacs headlines.

ffs

This will probably hurt their campaign to bring Ubuntu to mobile.

Their kickstarter at Indiegogo already seems to be slowing down.

Not quite fair to link a forum breach to Ubuntu, but public perception is what matters.

There are plenty of us who want Linux Mint and easy to use Linux. The mere fact that Shuttleworth went off on a weird Unity loop and left it for others to commercialise the technology he originally developed doesn't mean we don't want or shouldn't recognise his vision and financial contribution. I think that going direct to the contribution page and booking a cool new Linux device doesn't sound like a major pain for a bunch of us.

If people keep buying the interesting new Linux directed devices then this will keep the hardware designers making them. That can never be bad.

Quote from http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ubuntu-edge
"For a phone to run a full desktop OS, it must have the raw power of a PC. We’ll choose the fastest available multi-core processor, at least 4GB of RAM and a massive 128GB of storage."

Instead of coding Gnome with efficiency in mind, or, any common sense. Just put the fastest parts you can in a phone to hide its terrible code and performance?

Yeah, honestly, what a joke this is.
Whats wrong with android? Nothing!
Gnome+Ubuntu mobile will just be a slower/buggier/bloater version of android, which is already near-perfect.

$32 million to make this happen, best of luck. If it succeeds, it will just confirm the world is mostly full of idiots.

And impetus to support your local filmmaker (i.e. Michael Fredianelli, Ray Medved, and Gwyneth Price) assuming they don't read the same book.

"I Die Alone"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2750746/

"Waiting"
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/waiting--11

"Return to Nowhere"
http://www.returntonowheremovie.com/

Seriously, how many people are going to switch to Linux over this? Nobody.

Except a whole bunch of OEMs who used to be staunch Microsoft partners.

"HP shows off 21-inch all-in-one Android desktop
PC makers are experimenting with Android given that Microsoft's Windows 8 devices have struggled to attract consumers"

http://www.infoworld.com/d/computer-hardware/update-hp-shows-21-inch-all-in-one-android-desktop-221316

CoolShip,an android desktop computer that looks like a keyboard
CoolShip has a 1.5Ghz dualcore ARM processor inside.It is a low cost home PC,PC for elderly and children,also a solution of hotel PC for guests,educational PC.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/coolship-an-android-desktop-computer-that-looks-like-a-keyboard

Acer shows 21-inch Android desktop
Taiwan's Acer is breaking Android out of its comfort zone and has installed the operating system on a 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop PC that is expected on sale in the U.S. later this year.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040886/acer-shows-21inch-android-desktop.html

Get used to it.

Not a chance. I'm really enjoying the innovation and competition that's coming our way now the Windows monopoly's tumbling. Can't wait until Office is usurped as well!