kickstarter

Don Cayelli says one of his main motivations for developing his SunVolt Portable Solar Power Station was that he couldn't find a solar charger that worked well for charging his iPad on his boat.

He sails a lot and uses his iPad as a chart plotter and preferred to use the sun as a power source rather than rechargeable battery packs. Most solar chargers, he says, had internal batteries, and the standard approach was the solar panel would charge the internal battery and the battery would charge your device. That was because the panels were too small to charge … Read more

Are you a tech startup desperate to hire the best talent around and looking for a central repository of skilled engineers? Or a kick-butt coder trying to get in on the ground floor of a hot new venture? AngelList may have just the place to go.

This evening, AngelList, a service whose alumni companies have raised more than $1.1 billion in funding, launched a new talent portal, a one-stop shop where startups can search for qualified tech talent, and where skilled engineers and others can seek out the best new companies.

"We noticed that people were using AngelList … Read more

App.net's goal of creating an alternative social network took a big step forward with the announcement that it had achieved the goal of raising $500,000 in a crowd-funding campaign.

The project, which seeks to build an open API framework for developers, achieved its pledge goal with almost two days to spare before its deadline, thanks mostly to a last-minute push for new sponsors.

More than 7,800 sponsors have pledged funds for varying membership privileges. A $50 basic membership gives donors an annual membership, while a $1,000 donation gives members access to the developer tools and … Read more

Soon, that whiny kid from Transformers won't be the only one who gets to play with giant walking robots. The makers of Project Hexapod are Kickstarting Stompy, a honking huge two-seater hydraulic robot.

Oh, Stompy, where have you been all my life? I can't wait to some day meet all 4,000 pounds of you and watch as your six legs destroy everything in their path. Despite your frighteningly arachnid shape, you have an adorable moniker. … Read more

We've heard stories about 3D printers being used for both good and evil, but we're not sure how to categorize a company in Japan offering pregnant women a 3D-printed model of their unborn fetuses. Gross. Other stories on today's podcast include a crowdsourced funding site for porn, Amazon accidentally shipping assault rifles, and a sealed first-gen iPhone hitting eBay for $10,000.

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Japanese companies offer a 3D-printed model of your unborn child.

- Offbeatr is the Kickstarter for porn.

- DC resident orders TV on Amazon, gets assault rifle instead.

- Sealed first-gen iPhone hits eBay for $10,000.

Bathroom break video: Olympic nutcracking… Read more

Yesterday was your last chance to get in on the Kickstarter fundraising for Boxer8's Ouya. After 30 days and more than 63,000 backers, the Android-powered home gaming console pulled in a total of $8,596,475 ($99 of those from your correspondent).

As my colleague Michelle Starr reports from Australia, you can now visit the Ouya Web site to place a preorder for the console. The price is now $109, and it's due to ship in March 2013.

Regardless of your thoughts on Ouya's merits, the little console that seems like it maybe could has captured … Read more

The Radian was created to let users capture moving time lapses. It can rotate from side to side, tilt up and down, and be adjusted to move at different speeds for more creative applications. For the uninitiated, time lapses are photos taken at preset intervals that are stitched together to make it appear as though time has been sped up.

Built to sit comfortably on a flat surface -- acting as a stabilized platform, too -- the Radian can be controlled with an app that lets shutterbugs adjust the device's titling angle, total shooting time, and interval time without having to tether their smartphone. … Read more

Vintage footage of Hollywood stars shows photographers snapping photos with their big, old-school flashes mounted on large film cameras. Now you can outfit your iPhone with a bit of that retro glamour.

The Paparazzo Light looks like a mini version of those shiny flash attachments. The heart of it is a 300-lumen LED that can be dialed up or down from full brightness to zero. It has both photo and video modes to supply the right amount of light for the occasion.

The battery-powered add-on won't suck down your iPhone's juice. A Kickstarter pledge of $45 will get you either a black or white version. If you want to look more authentic, then spring for the $55 chrome version.… Read more

I first spotted Josh Ray's Urban Fidelity Kickstarter project on the Stereophile Web site, and it looked really interesting. The speaker is less than an inch thick and uses a made in the U.S.A. 8-inch driver. Completed speakers will sell for $399 a pair! The Urban Fidelity speaker is an "open baffle" design that uses sound from the front and back of the 8-inch driver. The speaker panel is made with formaldehyde-free wood sourced from North American forests and manufactured in Los Angeles, and the paints and inks are water-based and free of harmful chemicals. … Read more