Solar Roadways – A Cautionary Tale About Crowd-Funding Cons
Technology, editorial Jason England Technology, editorial Jason England

Solar Roadways – A Cautionary Tale About Crowd-Funding Cons

There’s no denying that in general, Kickstarter, Indiegogo and platforms like them have made a big impact on the way that entrepreneurs realise their ideas, and enabled some fantastic products to be mass-produced. 

Unfortunately, (and sometimes hilariously) the open nature of crowd-funding means that anyone can create a campaign for any idea whatsoever. One of the worst, in my view, was Solar Roadways, which became especially concerning because its Indiegogo campaign was actually successful – in fact, it is Indiegogo’s most backed campaign ever, raising 2.2 million dollars.

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Kickstarter Needs Your Help Rebuilding The First British Robot
Kickstarter, Science, Technology, Feature Jamie O'Flinn Kickstarter, Science, Technology, Feature Jamie O'Flinn

Kickstarter Needs Your Help Rebuilding The First British Robot

Robots walked among us in 1928. Well, one of them, anyway. Eric, created by British roboticists almost 90 years ago, wowed audiences the world over before his mysterious disappearance some time later. Now, curator Ben Russell is on a mission to rebuild Eric and restore a fascinating piece of cultural history. But he needs your help on Kickstarter to do it.

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This smart projector works in any light bulb socket, and could be the future of the smart home
Technology, Feature Jason England Technology, Feature Jason England

This smart projector works in any light bulb socket, and could be the future of the smart home

The smart home has always been an expensive prospect, especially when it comes to home theatre systems. Beam could be the Android-powered projector to change your mind, that fits into any standard light bulb socket. And after raising the full $287,000 (£186,393) in just three days, the excitement is clear.

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Post-Apocalyptic Fairytale 'The Reverie' Asks "Are We Alone At The End Of The World?"
movies, Feature Jason England movies, Feature Jason England

Post-Apocalyptic Fairytale 'The Reverie' Asks "Are We Alone At The End Of The World?"

'The Reverie' has been receiving a great amount of attention over the past 3 days on Kickstarter, moving along nicely towards its funding goal and being selected as a "Staff Pick." This short film set in the wake of an unnamed catastrophe has shown our appetite for independent projects from talented people, refusing to let the film industry fall into the ironically dystopian plains of big budget cinema pleasers.

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#NRMPresents 'Super Techno Ninja.' Castlevania Meets Dishonored In Side-Scroller
NRM Presents, games Jason England NRM Presents, games Jason England

#NRMPresents 'Super Techno Ninja.' Castlevania Meets Dishonored In Side-Scroller

Take the unique blend of Castlevania, Strider, Dishonored and Mark of the Ninja, and you get an ambitious side-scroller by the name of Super Techno Ninja.  Taking the best of classic action games and combining it with modern gameplay mechanics, London-based independent game developer Darryl has introduced something new to what has become a rather tired genre.

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#NRMPresents 'TouchKeys.' Multi-Touch Gestures For Your Piano
NRM Presents, music, Technology Jason England NRM Presents, music, Technology Jason England

#NRMPresents 'TouchKeys.' Multi-Touch Gestures For Your Piano

For the past few centuries, the piano has been commonplace in music.  During this same period of time, the instrument hasn't really evolved either.  Well that is until now, as the 'Touch Keys' DIY sensor kit brings touch sensitivity to the surface of piano keys, similar to the screen of a smartphone or tablet.

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