Twitter launches integrated search for everyone
— also: Twitter’s admin section was hacked yesterday and screenshots were leaked; always interesting to see internal tools #Android app turns G1 phone into a metal detector
— using the internal digital compass via @mattcutts #Recreating fear of heights in augmented reality
— reminds me of this room-sized 3D demo, where you can see the subject’s reflexes kick in #Handmade grade-school book about the Apple //c from 1985
— “The most nesasary step to useing the computer is learning to program.” via Delicious #Rick Astley writes about Moot, 4chan, and the Rickrolling meme
— “I find it bonkers, by the way!” via @anildash #Interview with Dutch director of "What's In The Box?", Half-Life inspired short film
— he made the video himself for about $150; click the icon on the bottom-right for subtitles #Bandcamp easter egg turns traffic stats into Defender playfield
— a closer view of the gameplay towards the end of their screencast #Flickr's Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson working on social gaming startup
— in other Flickr news, George Oates joined the Internet Archive and Rev. Dan Catt’s off to the UK #Rod Stewart joins Jeff Beck on stage for first time in 25 years
— soundboard recordings of “People Get Ready” and “I Ain’t Superstitious” #Adventure 2600 Reboot
— the classic Atari game remade in 16-bit graphics with new sounds; interview with the creator #Motion Theory's Google Chrome ad
— gorgeous animated evolution of browser UIs, plus greeked versions of popular Google sites #EveryBlock releases free iPhone app
— look up health code violations at dinner and which street you’re likely to get mugged on the way home #Dreamhost's history of WebRing
— sold for $3.5 million to Geocities, vested to $100M in Yahoo stock by 2000, and bought back for $10,000 #The White House joins Flickr
— incredible detail in the high-res versions, you can almost read his notes #Google adds public data visualizations to search results
— announced right before the Wolfram Alpha demo via infosthetics.com #Warner Music files DMCA request against Larry Lessig presentation
— still unclear which one, but I’m not sure it matters; he’s the king of fair use #Kickstarter Launches!
I’m very happy to announce that Kickstarter is live! I first mentioned the project back in September, and have been privileged to sit on the board and advise their development for the last ten months.
Kickstarter aims to let creative people of all kinds — journalists, artists, musicians, game developers, entrepreneurs, bloggers — raise money for their projects by connecting directly with fans, who receive exclusive access and rewards in exchange for their patronage. Like Josh Freese and Jill Sobule, the site allows creators to have multiple tiers of rewards (e.g. $20 for the book, $50 for signed copy) with optional limits for each.
The model is simple: a project creator sets a fundraising goal, deadline, and an optional set of rewards for backers. If the goal’s reached by the deadline, then everyone’s charged via Amazon Payments and the backers get their goodies. If the goal’s not reached, nobody’s charged. It’s all or nothing.
If you want to raise money to build an iPhone app, make a run of t-shirts, or print a book, you can do it with absolutely no risk or up-front costs. If there’s enough demand for your idea, you’ll be able to sell every copy before you’ve spent a dime.
Kickstarter also offers publishing tools, where creators can post project updates with audio and video, either publicly or for backers only. For projects without a physical reward, exclusive updates could be a great incentive for people to get involved. Check out this project for a good example.
Anyway, I’m thrilled to see what people come up with! For now, anyone can back projects, but you’ll need a Kickstarter invite to be able to create your own project. (You can get an invite from an existing member, or sign up to get notified when Kickstarter opens to the public.)