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Snug Vest: Innovative Therapy Device For Autism Treatment featured on Indiegogo.com

Snug Vest: Innovative Therapy Device For Autism Treatment featured on Indiegogo.com is helping kids with autism one vest at a time or according to Lisa Fraser one hug at a time. We think we need one of these vests too! But, we know that we need more of them out there. So, let’s give them a hand.

Here’s how they describe their project and be sure to check out our inside scoop to get our conversations with Lisa and her team.

“Who are we?

We are Squeezease Therapy, a small team based in Vancouver, British Columbia commmitted to improve the lives of individuals with autism through the development of the Snug Vest. Our goal in the next few months is to make the vest available for everyone who needs one. Visit www.snugvest.com to know more about our company.

What is the Snug Vest?

The Snug Vest is an inflatable therapy garment used for administering evenly-distributed pressure to the sides, shoulders, and back of the torso. The vest provides Deep Pressure Therapy to relieve anxiety and increase focus and attention for individuals with sensory and anxiety disorders. Click here to read more about the Snug Vest.

What is Autism?

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long developmental disability and neurological dysfunction that affects 1 in 88 children in North America. Individuals diagnosed with autism often have an impaired ability to communicate and engage in social interactions.

What is our goal?

Our goal is to raise $20,000 to create customized tools that can help make our Snug Vests in larger quantities at a faster rate. Every dollar that is given to this project will go directly towards getting the vest on to the backs of those who this will help.

What are the perks?

In return for every contribution of $600, you will be providing a Snug Vest to a child in need. Other rewards include T-Shirts, Squeeze Bears, Plush Bears, Massagers, and Pillow Sets. With every contribution over $10, you will receive a personalized card from us and a thank-you from a child waiting for a Snug Vest.

Every dollar will make a difference towards our project. We appreciate your participation and contributions of all sizes.”

Check them out at www.snugvest.com

August 22, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, Indiegogo
Category: Blog, Causes, Cool Crowdfund, Crowdfunding, Following Today, Indiegogo, Indiegogo new, Invention, Medical/Health, Small Business No Comments

Beesper featured on Kickstater looking to sense your world

Beesper featured on Kickstater looking to sense your world is an interesting invention that looks to sense the world around you and bring that data to you in a user friendly format.

This Italian team has identified that a beer application currently exists with the invention but we see more use in California for a wine application and wonder if they’ve tried marketing it to vineyards. We’ll be contacting them to find out.

We don’t believe they’ll reach their target but we see some great benefits in their campaign.

Here’s how they describe their invention:

Beesper is a flexible system for detection, analysis and control of environmental data, powerful but easy to use.

With Beesper you can:

collect data from virtually any kinds of sensors (some examples follow: check soil moisture, temperature and level of sunlight in your garden, be inside a barrel to get a great craft beer, monitor temperature, humidity, brightness and noise level in every room of your house, discover the electrical consumption of your appliances, …)
use these data locally or remotely (with the available Apps or on the web), sharing them with relatives, friends, the community, on the major social networks
enjoy, develop and sell new N-Apps (network apps) all over the world.
Very soon, thanks to sensors and nodes being finalized now, you will be able also to:

keep an eye over the millimetric movements of a crack in the wall (and correlate them with vibrations or telluric movements),
monitor the CO2 level of only one room or of a whole neighborhood,
… and much much more!
Beepser consists of:

1. an ultra-low-power long range Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), able to self-organize, that supports many different sensors,
2. an App (Android, iPhone) and a website to analyze and custom-control the gathered data (eg: by sending an alarm upon a trigger),
3. a set of plugins for targeted use. And you can even build your own N-Apps!

“Discover – Explore – Manage” (how does it work)

Discover

The Beesper wireless network consists of:

ultra-low power nodes (BeesperNodes) that can be equipped with multiple sensors, both internal and external
a “bridge” (BeesperBridge) that reveices data from the BeesperNodes and send it to a server via the Internet (connected using Ethernet, GPRS or Wi-Fi)

The network setup is very easy: the Beesper Network is auto-configuring, once started a BeesperNode looks for the closer BeesperBridge or BeesperNode on the same network and connects to it!
If the distance between a BeesperNode and a BeesperBridge is too long to establish a direct wireless link, a BeesperNode will, automatically, connect to another, closer, BeesperNode and use it as relay towards the BeesperBridge. The various Beesper Nodes discover the best path to the bridge and shape themselves as a tree-shaped network.

It is also possible to add more BeesperNodes or sensors at any time to extend the coverage area! Each node can be reused for different tasks by changing its sensors or simply via the website or the N-App.

Do you want to know more about the tech?
Check the Beesper tech data page!

Explore

Now it is the time to explore your data!

From your Android phone or tablet (and thanks to Kickstarter also from your iPhone/iPad and website) you can get the Beesper app, free to download. Just put in your login and password and you can see your Beesper network and put it at your use!

Manage

Beesper puts at your fingertips even more advanced applications: BeesperBeer lets you brew a great craft beer, BeesperGreen keeps an eye over your garden and helps you to grow your plants, BeesperEnergy gets inside your power-hungry gadgets to find out who is the culprit for that sky-high electricity bill!

Moreover you can share with other Beesper users, and your friends, all the information and discoveries you made! You will even be able to create a group of friends for a collaborative task!

To get started, simply “drag&drop” the BeesperNode on the desired Beesper App and you’re done! The node’s data will be used by the app.

The above Beesper Apps are ready to be used but only your imagination is the limit: Beesper will allow you to program custom app through the development APIs (developed within Kickstarter).

If you do not want to touch a single line of code, you can also share data with your family or friends on social networks, send an email, an alert or a text message with the BeesperWizard app!

With Beesper we want to make a powerful industrial technology, born in the research laboratory Henesis, open to all and easy to apply to real-world problems.

The Path of the Bee

Past, Present…

Starting point: our h-WSN platform, developed over the last years aimed at professional applications. We are at the third version of our electronics and network protocol, which is based on the standard IEEE802.15.4 at 2.4GHz.
Our latest improvement is the possibility to update the firmware of each node wirelessly and from remote, while the Beesper network is in place!
Here are some pictures of our platform at the state in which we are now.

August 16, 2012 Category: Invention, KICKSTARTER No Comments

Passchal: Luxury Bags Made from Recycled Truck Inner Tubes featured on Kickstarter

Passchal: Luxury Bags Made from Recycled Truck Inner Tubes featured on Kickstarter is exactly what we’re looking for from America! Here’s your normal American guy who turns a negative into something amazing and put Americans back to work.

We asked Ken four questions and we’ll let you know what he said soon. Until then, here’s how they describe their project:

Our Project

We handcraft bags & accessories made from recycling tractor tire inner tubes. We collect the inner tubes from tires centers throughout the USA before they are disposed of in landfills. Next, the inner tubes are cleaned, cut & combined with premium leather & hardware to create an incredibly durable luxury bag. Our large bags have an interior LED light, large zipper & cell phone pockets.

We created this project to launch our 2013 Men’s Travel & Tech Collection.

Where we are now…

We have approximately 18 tons of inner tubes ready to be transformed into bags & accessories.
We’ve perfected the manufacturing process in order to provide efficient distribution.
We have a U.S. source for premium leather and materials.
We’ve already manufactured and sold bags/accessories (checkout the Messenger Bag featured in Rolling Stone Magazine)

pproximately 290 million tires & inner tubes are dumped in landfills each year.

To date we have collected approximately 76 tons of truck inner tubes. Our first two and half years were spent finding a cleaning solution for the inner tubes that would thoroughly clean them and that was also environmentally friendly. We then set out to learn everything about making a quality bag.

The inner tubes are collected and go through our 7-Step cleaning & cutting process:
1) Collecting
2) Sorting
3) Cutting down to size
4) Pre-soaking
5) Final cutting
6) Final cleaning
7) Buffing
Leather, lining fabric, hardware & interior light are purchased from US suppliers. Our bags and accessories are handcrafted in our studio in Richmond, VA.

Our Recycling Efforts
Our goal is to collect an additional 30 tons of inner tubes before they head off to the landfills by the end of 2012. These landfills are potential hazards that can be devastating to our environment.

Your Help
With the help from people like you, $25,000 will enable us to produce our 2013 Men’s Travel & Tech Collection. Your support will pay for production costs and shipping.

August 6, 2012 Category: Blog, Crowdfunding, Invention, KICKSTARTER No Comments

Flash Pipe: the new lightweight, folding flash diffuser

Flash Pipe: the new lightweight, folding flash diffuser – again – is the second time running the successful campaign on www.kickstarter.com. and that’s one of the things we loved about this campaign. Les Tirmenstein, inventor, confronts the challenge of getting into a fundraising campaign for the second time with the same product by rethinking some of the packaging to get the funding requirements down to a reachable goal; and, he’s successful!

Here’s how he describes his product:

FlashPipe is a clever, new diffuser for your hotshoe mounted flash. There’s nothing else like it and it works great. The quality of the light it produces is soft and bright with an ever-so-slight warming that makes skin tones look great. It’s incredibly lightweight at just one ounce. And the coolest part is that it folds flat when not in use, saving valuable space in your camera bag or allowing you to carry it with you in a pocket at all times. It mounts and removes effortlessly and it’s made out of an extremely durable thermoplastic material. On top of all that, FlashPipe will sell for less than $25, so it’s a no-brainer to add one or more to your arsenal of gear. It’s simple, it works great, and it’s very affordable.

*The first production run will target Canon and Nikon owners since there’s such a large base of existing users. Two sizes will accommodate both company’s most popular models. You’ll need to tell me if you want the Regular (fits Canon 580/600 and Nikon SB900/910) or if you want the Small (fits Canon 420/430 and Nikon SB600/700/800). Any brand flash with matching measurements can also use FlashPipe, of course. There’s even a beta tester who plans on using FlashPipe on the bare tube of his Quantum Q-flash, so there are lots of possibilities. Check out the UPDATES page for specific dimensions.

If you want more background info, read on….

I’ve been a professional photographer for a few decades now, and whenever I shoot events, or weddings, or editorial assignments, I find that sometimes I need to use on-camera flash. I prefer natural lighting, but you don’t always get that luxury. When you have to or chose to, it usually looks better to use soft, diffused lighting. This is especially true when shooting people. There have been a lot of products out there to accomplish this and I’ve tried several, but I’ve found that in one way or another they tend to be lacking. Either they don’t work effectively, they’re bulky or awkward in use, difficult to mount, or they’re just too expensive. And most occupy way too much space when not in use. Some just look ridiculous and are an unprofessional looking distraction.

I began to experiment with shapes and materials in searching for a solution that worked better. I wanted something that above all, created nice light. It also needed to be fast and easy to get on and off my flash, wouldn’t weigh it down, didn’t cost a lot, and was durable. And, if I needed to take it off momentarily or when I was done using it, I didn’t want it taking up a lot of room in my pocket or camera bag.

After lots of thinking, drawing, making prototypes, and finally finding the perfect material (a tough, translucent thermoplastic) I had a refined design that was simple, straightforward , and effective… the FlashPipe. I also learned a lot from the previous Kickstarter launch and received great advice from several people. As a result I went back to the drawing board and made improvements that I believe now perfect it.

Check out some of the results:

Originally FlashPipe was offered in two versions: The Convertible and The Wedge. But the Convertible could also do the job of the Wedge (permanently open top design) so why have both? Having two designs was confusing people, so it just makes sense to simplify the product line. Also, I found that by shortening the length of the body by one inch it not only looked better aesthetically, but it performed more efficiently. Less light was being “wasted” vertically.

The FlashPipe has a flap on top that can be fully opened or closed or left at an angle in-between. This gives the photographer the option of converting from completely diffused light or using the ceiling by completely opening the top, or opening partially and letting the flap give some forward bounce. An improvement over the first design is the top flap is now larger. It now extends past the sides and front wall slightly, so when it’s closed there’s no way raw light can leak out the opening. This was an important modification for using the FlashPipe in the 90º tilted forward mode. When pointed ahead instead of up, the larger flap completely shields the subject from stray light. This comes in handy when doing close proximity shots. Picture the flash head pointed forward so you can illuminate a small object like a slice of wedding cake or macro insect photo without any harsh light coming out of the edges of the top opening and you’ll see the benefit.”

August 3, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, KICKSTARTER
Category: Blog, Film/Video, Following Today, Invention, KICKSTARTER No Comments

Zip Cup: Ultra-Convenient Collapsible Travel Mug featured on Indiegogo

Zip Cup: Ultra-Convenient Collapsible Travel Mug featured on Indiegogo aims to solve the pollution problem of wasted paper cups by providing a convenient collapsible travel mug.

Here’s how the owners describe their product:

About Zip Cup

Conventional travel mugs are bulky and inconvenient to carry around all day. You might remember having a collapsible cup when you were a kid, but Zip Cup is different. Instead of relying on friction, Zip Cup has been engineered to safely extend via sophisticated twist-and-lock mechanism with tight sealing. It holds a full size cup of hot coffee without burning your fingers, leaking or dripping (when extended or collapsed). The lid has a drinking spout that can be closed off to prevent coffee sloshing out while you walk.

About This Campaign

The purpose of this Indiegogo campaign is to solicit pre-orders, which will fund the factory production of Zip Cups. You can sign up for one of the “perks” listed on the right hand side of this page. By doing so, you’re not only placing a pre-order for Zip Cup, you are also helping make the product a reality.

I really appreciate your support: I’ve invested heavily in engineering, design and prototyping. The initial manuracturing costs of Zip Cup are high because unlike standard coffee cups, comprised of a single part, Zip Cup is made of 3 separate parts, each with locking mechanisms, along with a lid.

Please sign up for one of our perks today: see right hand side of this page.

Why I made Zip Cup

I created Zip Cup because I’m a sustainability pro with a serious coffee addiction. I felt hypocritical throwing paper cups away every day but I found travel mugs too bulky to lug around, and existing collapsible cups were flimsy & unsafe for hot coffee. A few years ago I saw this image, which represents just 15 minutes worth of paper cup waste in the US. It disgusted me…and then it inspired me to make a more convenient travel mug.

What does Zip Cup solve?

Have you ever tried unsuccessfully to squeeze a travel mug into a small bag or your pocket? Felt bad about tossing a paper cup after using it for just 10 minutes? Had a paper cup unceremoniously slosh hot coffee into your face or trousers?

If so, please welcome Zip Cup into your life. When collapsed, a 16 oz. Zip Cup is approximately the size of a pair of socks, and a 12 oz. collapsed Zip Cup is about the size of a hockey puck. The first round of Zip Cups will be produced at 16 oz. (coffee shop size medium) and we will soon add more sizes.

Zip Cup features:

Ultra-convenient: collapses to fit in your pocket or bag
Versatile: holds 16 oz. (coffee shop size medium) hot or cold beverages on the go
Safe: Reinforced locking system means no leakage in your bag–uses the same technology used on spaceships and submarines
Stylish: eye-catching design available in a range of cool colors and customizable designs (coming soon)
Eco-friendly: BPA-free and recyclable
Dishwasher-safe
Pays for itself: save 10-25 cents on every cup of coffee you buy

Final thoughts

If you support Zip Cup on Indiegogo, at almost every level you actually get at least one Zip Cup, many at below-retail prices. You can think of it as a discounted pre-order, a way to stock up on inventive gifts for the coffee or tea drinkers in your life.

Based on market research we are confident that we will reach our goal on Indiegogo. And if we fall short, we have alternate financing options to pursue so that we can fulfill our campaign perks.

Zip Cup will have an immediate environmental impact: if you help us hit our goal and get Zip Cup in the hands of just 5,000 daily coffee drinkers, we can prevent over 1.8 million paper cups from getting trashed next year, saving 20,000 gallons of water.

Please sign up for a perk on the right hand side of this page today. And just as important: PLEASE tell anyone you know who might be interested in owning their own Zip Cup.

Share Zip Cup with your friends:

You can learn more at zipcup.com, and stay in touch via email updates, Facebook and Twitter. You can also drop us a note at karla[AT]zipcup[DOT]com.

Thanks in advance–we couldn’t do it without you. ”

August 2, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, Indiegogo
Category: Crowdfunding, Following Today, Indiegogo, Invention, Small Business No Comments

Flat Free Bicycle Wheelsets

It’s about time! We ride our bikes at least 100 miles a week. So, when we saw this campaign we were thrilled at getting rid of flat tires and we’ve had to endure multiple over the years (almost one every three months with top of the line tires).

Here’s how the company describes the invention:

“I was born to put a million more people on bicycles.

Being a life-long member of the bicycle community and business, I know how bicycles can change the planet. I also know the frustrations inherent in modern bicycle design.

(Video above is me riding my @cme FlatFree Wheelset equipped bike with nails and screws in the tires for 20 miles at CicLAvia in Los Angeles. I’m still riding those tires today).

I’ve been lucky enough to be at the forefront of many breakthroughs in the cycling world, including Shimano’s commitment to internal shifting hubs, the advent of the Mountain Bike, and the creation of BMX in the 70′s.

One of the biggest frustrations the public experiences with bikes is getting, repairing, and dealing with flat tires and being seen at dusk and nighttime.

That day is over. Last year a company developed and introduced the no-flat tire used in our system. The problem is that it ONLY fits on a very specific sized rim (probably not what’s on your bike…) and is fairly difficult to install. And it’s expensive.”

“The tire itself is incredible. Rated to last 3000 miles, it will be the last tire most people on the planet will have to buy. Lined with a reflective strip on both sides, there is NO WAY a car won’t see you in it’s headlights.

What @cme (ACME) has done is to build professional-quality aluminum wheels in Southern California, pre-mount the tires, and ship them directly to you for installation on your bike.

Currently we are offering wheels in two sizes (26″ and 700c) and three configurations (Freehub, Single/Fixed, and Coaster Brake.) All of the tires are 35c (1.5″) wide, so make sure they fit in your bike before you order.”

July 22, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, KICKSTARTER
Category: Crowdfunding, Invention, KICKSTARTER, Small Business, Technology No Comments

Smarter Stand for iPad – Featured on Kickstarter

Smarter Stand for iPad – Featured on Kickstarter has to be the easiest $100K in the history of products and everybody’s thinking why didn’t I come up with that? And, that’s why kickstarter is so exciting because anyone could have eventually come up with this and now anyone can put up their campaign on www.kickstarter.com and make $100,000 or more to get the product to market – even when they’re only asking for $10,000.

As you look at the product you’re thinking well why don’t I just use clips to hold this in place and the developer politely suggests you do, if you want to risk damaging your $500 iPad.

How It Works

Smarter Stand is composed of 2 clips that attach to either side of the Smart Cover or the Smart Case. For the Smart Cover, a polyurethane pad that sticks to the back side of the iPad is also provided to prevent the iPad from slipping. For the Smart Case, no pad is needed since the neoprene of the back cover provides the grip necessary.

You can achieve different stand positions by sliding the clips so they block the folds of the Smart Cover.

By moving the clips to different spots and combining them in different ways, you’ll discover new stand positions including a private typing position that hides your screen from someone across from you (think job interviews, business meetings, …).

45-degree stand position achieved by sliding the 2 clips over 2 different folds
The clips are designed to slide perfectly on the Smart Cover (or Smart Case) yet they’re tightly attached enough to stay on as you carry your iPad around.

Just like the Smart Cover and Smart Case products, the Smarter Stand is sleek, minimalist and easy to use. It doesn’t add any weight or bulk to the iPad.

The clips are designed to slide smoothly on the Smart Cover yet stay firmly attached
Wait… can’t this be done with a couple of binder clips?

If you want to try to do this with a couple of binder clips to save $12 (shipping included), you absolutely should… Just be aware that:

1) You’ll have to take your clunky binder clips on and off the cover and store them somewhere when you’re not using them whereas Smarter Stand can stay on your Smart Cover all the time and slide into the position you need when you need it.

2) Binder clips will eventually damage your $39 Smart Cover and might also scratch your $500+ iPad’s screen.

3) You’ll need to stick some kind of non-slip pad to the back of your iPad to stabilize it. Just make sure you never need to remove this home-made pad since it will definitely leave marks unlike the one provided with Smarter Stand.

So as long as the above doesn’t bother you and you’re ok showing up at Starbucks with good old binder clips oddly attached to your iPad, you can save yourself all of $12 to buy 3 Grande Cappuccinos with!

There’s a zillion iPad stands out there. Why this one?

True. There are a lot of iPad stands out there. I know because I own about half of them And believe me… none of them were as affordable as the Smarter Stand. And no, that’s not why I need your backing (more on that below).

The reason I came up with the Smarter Stand is that I never used my other iPad stands: They’re all heavy and bulky to carry around which defeats the core purpose of the iPad: being an ultra portable device.

With Smarter Stand I always have my iPad stand with me. No added bulk or weight. And all that for $11. You get my point.

Why I Need Your Backing

After many rounds of prototyping, I have arrived at a final prototype that works perfectly and which I’ve been using successfully for many weeks. So I’m now ready to submit the 3D model to begin mass production.

However, I got a few quotes from manufacturers and the initial tooling/molding along with the first production run will cost 20k+… ouch! I don’t want to involve investors who will tell me how to run my business. That’s why I need your support to fund this phase of the project. I also want to get a sense for the quantity of clips to make in each color to make everyone happy while keeping production costs reasonable.

You can back this project for as little as $11 and you’ll even get your own awesome Smarter Stand as a reward. So please back this project now and spread the word!

Thanks to you, no Smart Cover/Case should ever be limited to its 2 native stand positions ever again!

We love it – simple and useful! Great job guys!

July 20, 2012 Category: Blog, Crowdfunding, Invention, KICKSTARTER, Technology No Comments

POP – Featured on Kickstarter

POP – The Intersection of Charging and Design – Featured on Kickstarter is already proving to be an amazing product. Almost completely funded with 43 days left to go, we’re betting it easily surpasses its goal. And, we want one too!

We asked James Siminoff these 5 questions and here’s what he had to say:

Question

How old were you when you realized you were an inventor? Did it start in dad’s garage or…?

Answer
I actually had a room in my basement where I would go and build things. I was always taking things apart and building stuff from before I can I remember. It is just something that I have always done.

Our Afterthought

This is what we see in most people that end up doing what they love. They start doing it at an early age and it just becomes a part of who they are.

Question

How fast can you scale your production to meet the market demand?

Answer

In order to make sure that our debut on Kickstarter goes smoothly we had already teamed up with a large producer of similar products to POP. They have the scale to produce millions on units if necessary. Let’s hope that is necessary:)

Our Afterthought
We hope it’s necessary too!

Question

What are you plans for marketing the product (other than kickstarter)?

Answer

Well we still have 42 days left of making sure we have the most successful Kickstarter campaign possible. Once that is over our attention will go 100% to making sure that we get everyone their POP delivered on time and at the quality level that they expect. Once that is all done we will probably look for a few key retail partners to work with to sell the product.

Our Afterthought

Amazing – 42 days left and very close to completely funded. Clearly there is a strong demand for this type of product. We love that the cords are retractable.

Question

Are there any solar powered thoughts for the POP?

Answer
We have thought about doing a solar top for POP and have some really cool ideas around that. Right now though we need to sell more units or else we will not have the scale needed to make accessories for POP at an appropriate price.

Our Afterthought
We’re confident that we’ll see a solar powered version soon with the way the kickstarter campaign is going!

Question
Will the production be in the US?

Answer
We would love to make the product in the US. If the Kickstarter campaign goes above $200k we might be able to afford to make it in the US. There is nothing that would make me happier.

Our Afterthought

Be sure to tell everyone on kickstarter that the campaign goals is $200,000 and let’s get the production at home! But we do understand that foremost the product has to get funded.

Thanks James we look forward to seeing this amazing products in stores soon!

Here’s how the developers and owners of the product describe it:

“POP – Power Where You Need It

The batteries in our mobile devices have not been able to keep up with the increased usage. As a result, we often find ourselves looking for places to charge. But many times, convenience and charging do not go hand in hand. At the Edison Junior Design Laboratory, we developed the perfect solution to this problem. POP, aka “Portable Power”, is a rechargeable portable battery with retractable cord reels for simultaneously charging multiple devices. Don’t be restricted by outlets or ugly chargers; with POP you are free to explore the vast world we live in, while remaining connected to it.

POP is both beautiful and powerful

POP’s rechargeable 25,000 mAh battery makes it the largest portable device charger available. The below chart gives you an idea of just how big POP’s battery is compared to the competition.

Battery Comparison

The power needed to charge your device is easily accessible through (4) retractable cord reels – each with dual functioning iPhone/Micro-USB adapter. POP contains a HUGE rechargeable 25,000 mAh battery that is charged using the included 100/240 V AC adapter. To give you an idea of how large POP’s battery is, it can charge up to 10 iPhones. This device is perfect for an iPad, Kindle, Kindle Fire, iPhone, Android, or any other micro-USB or Apple product.

Use POP

- By the pool – On your coffee table – In the Kitchen – At the beach

Great for businesses

- Promotional events – Trade shows – Conference rooms – Restaurant or bars”

Wow, we’re amazed!

July 20, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, KICKSTARTER
Category: Blog, Crowdfunding, Following Today, Invention, KICKSTARTER, Small Business, Technology No Comments

Mushboo featured on Rockethub

Mushboo featured on Rockethub aims to reuse wasted coffee grounds and bamboo to grow gourmet mushrooms. Partnering with the local coffee shops Matt and Igor have managed to create their company from coffee ground waste and given their stats on coffee ground waste they won’t be running out any time soon. Their looking for $5,000 to get the product to market. We’re hoping you’ll help them out. And, if anyone can point these guys in the right direction for a grant or just give them some grant money we’d appreciate the gesture.

Here’s our conversation with Matt Unger:

Question
How old were you both when you started working on the project and how long did it take to come to fruition?

Answer
I am currently 30, Igor is 21. I grew my first batch of oyster mushrooms on used coffee grounds 4 years ago. I moved to Vancouver just over a year ago to start the business and took on Igor as a managing partner. Igor’s academic background includes forestry, mycology and wood processing so he was a good match for mushboo. After much market research and testing we decided to launch the mushboo business in February 2012. We spent the first month developing a marketing strategy and road map (my background includes agriculture, business consulting and financial analysis) for success. We started production on May 1, 2012 in a small 310 square foot mycology lab that we built on the edge of downtown Vancouver during the RocketHub campaign.

Question
Have you looked for any grants for the project and have you been getting calls from anyone looking to help?

Answer
We are just starting the grant writing process now as well as reworking the business plan to acquire financing for expansion. One of our coffee shops in particular has been incredibly helpful in providing us with advice, connections and even helped us out at our first big trade show, Maker Fair Vancouver (pics on our site shortly)

Question
Where do you buy the bamboo?

Answer

Originally we purchased bamboo locally until we discovered it was coming from old growth forest high in the mountains of China. We have since switched to another supplier and are planning to set up a cooperative of bamboo farmers in Asia within the year so we can purchase directly and eliminate the chemical processing currently required to import raw bamboo to North America. We would love to hear from anyone with connections to bamboo farmers that might be interested in this type of partnership.

Question
Does the company make enough money for you to live or are you doing other things at the same time?

Answer
This is more than a full time job, or two for that matter. We process over 500 kilograms (1,100 lbs) of waste coffee every week. Additionally we are testing new species of mushrooms so our customers can purchase refills of different varieties, flavours and colours. Once we secure funding we plan to expand to a larger facility (we have a waiting list of coffee shops wanting us to pick up their grounds), hire more staff and increase our production capacity from the current 2,000 units per month to 10,000 units per month. Once we have the new facility we plan to release two additional products as well as 5 different species as mushboo refill options. We are also experimenting with 3 other waste streams to determine the viability of taking the mushboo “waste to food processing system” to urban centers across North America.

Thanks for the amazing answers Matt. We’ve contacted Starbucks for a grant because we feel this is something they ought to want to do! We hope you don’t mind.

Here’s how they describe their project:

Check them out at www.mushboo.com and be sure to connect with them on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/themushboo

Hi!

Thank you for taking the time to check us out.

Mushboo is a simple innovative system that turns ordinary coffee ground waste into delicious edible gourmet mushrooms. After trial and error, more error, and finally success we have been able to hone the mushboo system into what it is today: the easiest and cheapest way to enjoy gourmet mushrooms.

The Mushboo process:

Coffee grounds are donated as waste to the Trash 2 Cash conservation fundraiser.
We buy the coffeegrounds from the conservation group Planet Earth Conservation
We carefully select each piece of bamboo while giving the mushrooms time to develop through the coffee grounds.
Once the mushrooms are ready, we send them together with the mushboo or as a replacement sleeve for those of you who already own a mushboo.
Once the mushboo arrives you simply cut air holes, add water and wait two weeks.
Enjoy the fruits of your labour! Check our website for tasty gourmet recipes
You can then purchase a replacement sleeve and nature’s show continues.
Our goal is to price replacement sleeves so that they provide our customers gourmet mushrooms at 50% of the price of most stores. High in protein and nutrients, mushboo has the potential to expand across the continent.
What will we do with the money?
To get started we need funds to purchase processing and testing equipment to ensure that the mushrooms we send to customers are high quality and that each sleeve is highly productive.

For the first phase, we need $5,000 to build, process and ship out our first run of mushboo. The funds will be used to buy saws, drills, mushroom cultivation equipment and set up a coffee ground pickup system.

What will we do with extra funds?
In the event that we exceed our goal of $5,000 we will use the funds to expand 3 key areas of our operation that currently are limiting us from taking mushboo to a higher level. A level where we can show the product to more people, increase our mushroom cultivation space and take on more coffeeshops.

July 17, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, RocketHub
Category: Blog, Crowdfunding, Environmental, Invention, RocketHub, Small Business 1 Comment

Airmote and Airconnect featured on techmoola is it real? Follow-up Questions

We came back to the Techmoola site and had some pretty pointed questions to ask the owner about some of the observations that our viewers identified. Here’s what they saw and what we asked from Matt and from the Co-Founder of Techmoola.com

Observations

Our viewers noted that our screen shot of the techmoola homepage indicated that the Airmote only had 41 days left when we originally captured the image and had $20,660.00 pledged to the company. However, when our reader went back, they identified that the Airmote campaign still only had $20,660.00 in pledges but now had 69 days left. We were puzzled. So, we asked Matt the following questions:

Questions

1. Are you able to contine to change the time availabe for the campaign?
2. Are the original pledges still valid if you now change the days?
3. Just out of curiosity where are you guys located?

Questions for the Co-founder Solomon

1. Can you explain how the days went from 41 earlier to the current 69 days?
2. Do you feel that changing the days misleads the donors or purchasers into believing that they have less time than they actually do?
3. Also, can you let us know if you verify that these companies are legitimate companies?

We’re waiting to hear back from them and we’ll update you on our findings as soon as we know.

Original Questions

Originally We asked Matt Shaxted a few questions about his campaign on Techmoola here’s what he had to say:

Airmote and Airconnect featured on techmoola update
Question

How old were you when you started working on your company?

Answer

“I was 19/20 when this started and have been persistent in trying to make this work.”

Our After Thought
Matt you are now among the most loved people in the world for all angry birds fans and facebook users and I’m sure many many more. After years of thinking to ourselves, why can’t these big computer manufacturers make it work on our TVs you’ve solved this puzzle in a unique way. Thank you.

Next Question

How long did it take to develop the product and how many people did you have working on this?

Answer

“The product has been developing for about 3 years now. We have old versions of the airmote that are boxy and limited functionality. The current version has been refined multiple times. There is about 3-4 people responsible for delivery of this product in the US market – this doesn’t include the international manufacturing partner effort.”

Our After Thought

Given that in large public companies we usually don’t see products come into the market place for 10 years, 3 years is pretty amazing.” Did you sleep during this time and what brand of coffee are you drinking? We’d like to start trying that too.

Next Question
Is this your only product or will you be featuring more amazing products like this amazing product?

Answer

We envision this as the entry product for a hardware side of EvolutionSense. In fact we are working in emerging markets for computational resource delivery in a unique way – the air products and future roadmaps complement the delivery of these resources.

Our After Thought

You’ve set the bar pretty high, and we’re betting it keeps moving even higher! Thanks again for answering our questions and coming up with this amazing product.

Be sure to check these guys out and see what they’re coming up with next!

Here’s how they describe their product:

“You love your smartphone or iPhone because it is easy to use and gesture-based. The same should be true for your home computer and laptop.

Well we have the solution for you to go big, real BIG!!!

We all have large flat screen TVs in our homes and wouldn’t be great if you could easily and wireless use your computer/laptop on your TV without them being anywhere around you?

Well now you can!!

Our Airmote & Airnect products allow a hassle-free and simple way to hook up your computer to your TV and fully interact with it as if it was in the same room as you without all the fuss and mess of wires and having the computer near you.

The Airmote is a gesture-based mouse with an integrated keyboard so you have full control of your computer and its computing environment without being tied to a desktop or conventional computing hardware.

The Airnect is a wireless connection device that conveniently provides both video and audio from a laptop to a large-screen through a simple USB connection.
Who Are We?
We are a new consumer device manufacturer engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and distributing high quality large computing products. We have spent a great deal of time an effort engaging in product development, and have engaged dedicated, experienced international manufacturing partners.

We have a defined product roadmap over the next years that improve upon quality while maintaining our dedication to the next revolution in computing technology, specially a movement to utility-based resource allocation systems.
What We Want to Do
We have already done all the hard work!!! The only step left before rolling our the Airmore & Airnect products in a store near you is finding the initial funding for the production of 1,000-2,000 new units. Our manufacturing partners are asking for about $25,000 for raw materials, setup and initial production. Help us get there and get big. One day when everyone has one, you can tell your friends that you were among the first people to own one for yourself!!”

July 17, 2012 Tags: Crowdfunding, Following Today, Techmoola, Updates
Category: Blog, Crowdfunding, Following Today, Invention, Techmoola, Technology, Updates No Comments

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