Crashing, Rolling, Printing, Foo-ing, and Crowdfunding (Plus a Poll!)
The theme of the weekend is kinetic energy, and Editorial Director Ken Denmead needs your help in transferring some momentum.
Crowdfunding
Demystifying the $1 Kickstarter Pledge
Crowdfunding has become such an integral part of the maker experience that sometimes we forget how young of an idea crowdfunding reallly is (Kickstarter launched in 2009). Clearly, it’s a very powerful tool. One where the actual culture and norms of crowdfunding are still being defined. I was reminded of that last week, during a discussion I was having with a friend about the “appropriateness” of a $1 pledge.
Shadowrun, Atlantic City, and the ups and Downs of Kickstarter
Introducing the MAKE Crowdfund Fund. The MAKE Crowdfund Fund. We are putting up a chunk of money each month. We are going to nominate a set of active KS campaigns with a maker sensibility to them. We are going to ask you the readers to decide which one we should back. Whichever one you select, we’ll back at a level to get the primary product. If the project funds, and delivers, we’ll write up and shoot a whole un-boxing, testing, and tear-down sequence to report back on how good the end result was. We want to do our part in both supporting maker KS projects, and keeping them honest.
Kickstart This: Recycled Fire Hose Mats
Just in time to coincide with our “Danger” issue hitting the stands, our Maker-in-Chief Sherry Huss came across this wonderful Kickstarter for household mats made from recycled fire hoses. This is your chance to pick up beautifully-designed product that embraces reuse and honors the importance of firefighters.
I Need a Spider Tank Robot Kit
There are so many crowd sourced projects out there. How do you decide which ones to back? Now I have an answer for you. You should back this Kickstarter for The Greatest Toy Kit in the Universe! Spider Tank Mark 6. The reason you should back it is this… I need a spider tank robot, and this is the best way for me to get one.
MAKE’s Curated Kickstarter Page
Here’s where we track all the Kickstarter projects we found being done by awesome makers. Check them out and consider supporting them yourself!
Short Film Project on a Maker Magician
How often do you see a magician building his own monkeybot assistant using cork, wire, and an Arduino? That’s Mario the Magician, and after receiving rave reviews, filmmaker Kal Toth is looking for funding to take his short (11-minute) film about Mario and turn it into a feature-length documentary.
