This example of Furby Modding was put together by Julie Watai, a woman who isn’t afraid to pick up a soldering iron and commit surgery on small innocent cute creatures. Even when reprogramming them means skinning them first, with the possibility of damaging the hide to the point where reskinning might be problematic. This particular version includes English subtitles to make it easier to follow along, and for more fun projects see the Hardware Girls segment of her site. And then, just because it was there, a bit of animation she was involved with.
Kickstarter is a way to mobfund projects that might not otherwise ever get made, a social media variation of the good old Begathon that public radio and TV go through all the time. In it’s simplest terms, if there is a project you think should be done, you can vote with your wallet, offering as much or as little as you think it deserves within the limits of your own budget. Some of the projects entered are just silly, and some of them will be world changing if they get the correct backing. As usual, most are somewhere in between, offering an interesting result if enough people are willing to contribute.
Since nothing of value ever happens in a vacuum, many of these projects have rewards, with different returns for different levels of monetary commitment. The fail-safe here is that you can only achieve these rewards if the project actually gets fully funded and goes forward. If a project does not get fully funded, it does not go forward, you do not get billed for your contribution, and there are no rewards to share in. To date there are something like 20,000 projects that have been funded and created, with many more failing the test of support.
Yes, all of that was just the intro, and most of it you probably already knew even though it will be new to some of those reading here. I made the preliminary comments to give you the background, because there are some projects I think will be worth your time to consider, and today I have two of them for you to think about.
The one that could be a real game changer, or at least a first class creators tool, is in fact a game creation toolset called Storybricks. If they are allowed to bring this into the world, you could find yourself in possession of software that could potentially allow you to create your own online interactive RPG environment on a par with anything Steve Meretzky ever cranked out, at least in terms of game logic and environmental consistency. Assembling a game that was interesting enough to draw an audience would still be all up to you, of course. I have already contributed to this project, because I would love to have this toy to play with.
A different kind of Kickstarter project is Project: 13, an animated music video attempt where the music will drive the animation, 3 songs done as 3 music videos. The desired result being a video, the appeal for funding is also a video since that is what the creators understand, as you can see below. There are thousands of additional projects all hoping for funding over at Kickstarter; check them out, find the ones you want to support, and pass the word along. This kind of crowd sourcing is how we help create the future we want to live in, and support the people and groups who are trying to make that future happen in the way we want to see it come down.
If you are anywhere near DC this weekend the USA Science & Engineering Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday. The schedule includes exhibitions, stage shows, and a monster book fair, with literally hundreds of events and exhibits taking place. A few of the events I am looking forward to are the Stargazing Party at the Air and Space Museum with Bill Nye and a team from Celestron, and of course the Mythbusters presentation. I am really going to have to restrain myself at the Book Fair, or you might find me collapsed under the volumes as I try to get them home using the Metro. Visit the Plan Your Day segment of the site for more details.
The 2012 USA Science & Engineering Festival will be taking place April 28th and 29th all over the country, with a specific focus at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. There will be a ton of stage performances from a host of people and organizations, and a lot of things happening outside the scope of the time and location of the event proper, such as the Rockville Science Day gathering.
If you appreciated the Doctor Who episode Vincent and the Doctor, you are going to love this. I should mention that the interactive part does NOT mean you can do this yourself with it, since it is just a streaming video. But I must add my voice to a bunch of folks, including Gizmodo, in urging the creator of this video to take the final step. The video is a capture of the authors results when he used an openframeworks environment to create an interface where he could edit in real time, for all of us to see. Now it needs to be converted to an App, suitable for running on I-Phones, Android, or Web-OS. I can’t wait to use it to create my own Sci-Fi favorite graphics files. *grin*
Starry Night (interactive animation) from Petros Vrellis on Vimeo.
There are some things you can’t cover up with lipstick and powder… and it is my bet the latest incarnation of the Disco Robot Overlord is one of them!!