Coming up on its two-year-anniversary, Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler is struck by how little the site has changed. Maybe the biggest difference has been just how many artists and creative types have flocked to the crowd-funding site, helping validate a new form of fundraising that is opening the eyes of not only artists but technology leaders.

New York-based Kickstarter, which launched in April 2009, began with the promise of creating an intersection between patronage and commerce, where artists could enlist the help of supporters, who would in turn pledge their money and help validate the artist’s project. What began as a small endeavor has blossomed into a sizable business, one that now raises million a week in pledges and has hit million pledged overall. So far, Kickstarter has helped 15,000 projects get funded with about 2,500 actively fundraising at the moment. About 250 to 300 new projects come in a day, hoping to appeal to a pool of supporters of more than 400,000 people. Strickler said the concept for Kickstarter, first conceived by co-founder Perry Chen, has proven to be a powerful tool in helping ideas bloom.

“There are thousands of projects we’ve helped that may not have existed otherwise and we feel incredibly proud of that,” Strickler said. “I’ve personally backed 340 projects and I’m thrilled to be involved in all of them. The mood here in the office is one of excitement. We have a sense of wonder about the ways people are using Kickstarter.”

The project are indeed all over the map. One recent project is aimed at building a Robocop statue in Detroit, similar to the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia. Another one is aimed at replacing use of the N-word in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the word “robot.” Independent game developer Muse Games is using Kickstarter to launch a limited edition of its game called CreaVures. Strickler said they’re all valid ways to draw support and attention around an idea. 

The start-up has gotten a lot of press in tech circles for helping launch Diaspora, the open source social networking project. More recently, the TikTok and LunaTik iPod nano watch kits broke site records, raising close to a million dollars. But for all its success, technology is in the middle of the pack for Kickstarter categories in terms of number of projects. Leading the way are films by a long shot, followed by music and art. While the site has helped other would-be Diasporas and iPod accessories get off the ground, Strickler said Kickstarter is not meant to be a replacement for traditional VC or angel funding. ”We don’t want people looking to do a Series A; that won’t work too well with us,” he said.

It comes down to the site’s mission in creating discrete projects that supporters can rally around, rather than boosting a start-up or business. Kickstarter, in fact, turns down 45 percent of the applications because they don’t fit its requirements. Strickler said Kickstarter succeeds because of its simplicity and limits and because it calls for supporters to be rewarded, often in the form of early access or a part of the product. That ensures that everyone benefits and it helps motivate supporters to spread the word. Projects can raise funds for up to 90 days, but the pledges aren’t collected unless the project hits its stated goal. That helps ensure there’s real demand and interest in the project and reduces the risk for backers.

The site, which makes money taking a 5 percent cut of raised funds, has evolved modestly in its almost two years. One of the more significant changes was the introduction earlier this month of curated pages, which allows organizations, institutions and soon individuals to organize and manage multiple pages of Kickstarter projects. Strickler said it’s another way to highlight various projects on the site, which can only feature eight of them on its homepage. Overall, he sees more opportunities ahead as different groups discover the power of Kickstarter. He said theater and dance now have the highest success rates, in part because they have strong communities that haven’t had tools like Kickstarter before. And early success stories are fueling even more projects.

“It’s all very organic,” Strickler said. “When you see one theater project make it, then you see 10 more because of the awareness.”

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

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No matter what sort of of poker you play, free online poker or money games you’ll get times when a good strong hand becomes more marginal. When this occurs decisions that would have been good earlier on might become bad.

For example, that Straight might be strong now yet becomes weaker if the Board pairs or there are 3 of the same suit and an opposing player bets big. Bad calls are more linked to bad hands, however. For example.

BLINDS: 40k/80k

PREFLOP:

A has Ad-Jc, raises to 250k
B has 2h-2d calls 250k
C has Ks-Qs, is on big blind, calls 140k (pot 880k)

FLOP: Ah-2c-10c

A and B and the ones to focus on. Now A raises with A-J from early position and B calls with a pocket pair which has evolved into a Set. B has position over A, plus A may make the very bad decision to bet the high pair but QUESTIONABLE kicker at this step. His kicker is questionable because there are two more players in the pot who may have higher kickers (or even Two-Pair with A-10).

C checks

Note that there is also a Straight draw (which C has) and a Flush draw (which everyone thinks everybody else may potentially have). So now A will attempt to protect his strong (but questionable) made hand with an overbet:

A bets 1m
B raises to 2.67m
C folds
A to call all in 1.67m (Pot 4.55m)

First, A staked 250,000 on the hand, now 1 million that is approx. 40% of his total stack, and now he might be on the edge. Should he call? Now he might think that the reraise from Bs all-in doesn’t imply that B is on a draw (B can’t call an overbet with a draw), but it could imply a good hand like A,K or A,10. It also is not an attempt to knock A out of the hand as A has 3-1 on a call, but calling will give him the knock-out.

Is 3-1 a good proposition, however? He has 3 outs to pair his kicker and a small percentage for running outs to get a Straight or a Flush. His chance of winning is just about 14%, and the fair proposition for a 14% should be about 7-to-1. (He is only getting about 2.7-to-1.) And, when it comes to unlikely Set, he is almost drawing dead, while he needs cards for a running Full House. At this stage his A-J has already been a bad hand. So he has all the ingredients for a bad call all-in, which he makes.

A calls all-in (pot 6.22m)

The turn and the river of 5s and 8s, respectively, won B the pot. A’s call will be a good call had it been A-K (you decide if A-Q will be every bit as good). He is able to put B on an Ace with a lower kicker after which make progress with an overbet in which B’s decision will be an all-in (then A can call as a big favorite) or a fold (then A wins the pot). But no; he chose to overplay a marginal hand and that cost him heavily. At the very least, he decided to call all-in when calling all-in would be too dangerous.

Teaching your mind to think like this in poker takes a while to learn. Don’t lose money learning, go practice and play poker online free hard at free poker games sites first, then, and only when you feel very confident in your understanding of the game, should you move into lower stake money poker games.

Fujifilm FinePix XP10 12 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Optical Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Green)

• 12-megapixel resolution for large, photo-quality prints
• Four-Way protection: waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof and dustproof
• Fujinon 5x periscopic optical zoom lens with reinforced protective lens barrier
• Capture movies in 720p with sound
• Movie Editing Mode and Blog mode; Facebook/YouTube Automatic Web Upload function for photos

Fujifilm FinePix XP10- 12MP, Fujinon 5x Periscopic Optical Zoom, 2.7″ LCD, New uni-body chassis with a tactile grip finish, 4-Way Protection: Waterproof – 10ft (3M), Shockproof – 3ft (1M) and Freezeproof 14*F (-10*C). Other features include: Face Detection w/ Red Eye Removal, Digital Image Stabilization, High Sensitivity 1600 ISO, 6 Scene – SR Auto Automatic Scene Recognition, One-Touch HD Movie 720p w/ Sound, Thin Metal Body 21.7mm, Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery.

Rating: (out of 78 reviews)

List Price: $ 179.95

Price: Too low to display

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Short version: The price is right, and it is rugged, but form factor problems may sink this camera’s chances.

Features:

• 12 megapixels, 720p video
• 5x optical zoom
• Waterproof (3m/10ft), shockproof (1m/3.3ft), freezeproof (-10C/14F), dustproof
• MSRP: $199

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Seems to actually be rugged
• Nice long zoom

Cons:

• Despite ruggedness, feels cheap
• Buttons are difficult to press

Full review:

The most inexpensive camera in this week’s roundup, the XP10 is no slouch when it comes to specs. In fact, it beats the Casio in terms of video, and is freeze-proof to boot (if you care about that). Its price shows in its build, however; it isn’t slim and sexy like the Casio or bulky and reassuring like the Olympus.

My little field tests showed that at the very least, it can handle being thrown over your shoulder a couple times, and it had no problem at all underwater. Here’s the video:

I’ve also put it in the freezer while I’m writing this, so we’ll see how it likes that. [30 minutes later] Yeah, it turns on all right, and apart from a very foggy lens and LCD screen it seems to function fine. There is a very alarming clicking noise going on inside, though. We’ll see if that fades.

So its ruggedness has been established; what of the camera? Well, I went ahead and took sample shots for all three cameras at the same time. They’re here in this Flickr set — feel free to poke around. Here’s the drift, though: the Fuji performs at or about the quality of the Olympus, and not quite as well as the Casio. Its underwater shots were perfectly clear, though, perhaps even the clearest.

The $200 price point seems to show in the quality of the lens; it’s not bad, but when you get in close you can see that a lot of fine detail is lost compared with the Casio shots. It has a reasonably close focus, though I wouldn’t call it macro. Its lens was nice and wide and the zoom is quick and focused fine at 5x. Color seemed accurate, though none of these cameras excelled particularly in that area. Overall, I don’t take issue with the image quality.

Video was similarly acceptable, if only in comparison to other cameras of its class. 720p is smeary and slightly choppy, as any “HD” camera under $300-400 will be. Chroma noise is apparent in greys and exposure is rather slow to adjust, but not terribly so. Edges are completely lost to compression, as Here’s a still:

To be honest, it’s a $200 camera and you can’t expect amazing image quality. It shoots just fine.

My issue with the camera was the design, though. I think it’s a bit ugly to begin with, but that’s a matter of taste. There are a number of problems with the functional design, though:

• Rear buttons are difficult to press
• D-pad is difficult to use without resorting to fingernail
• Feet on bottom of camera and asymmetrical shape make it unstable
• Tripod mount is all the way on one corner of the camera, making tripod unstable

As you can see, I didn’t exactly find it a joy to use. Personally, I would consider these problems are a deal-breaker. I have to compliment Fujifilm on the unlocking mechanism, however. It took me a second to figure out, but it really does prevent any accidental opening of the SD card/battery compartment.

Conclusion:

For $200, it’s actually a bargain to get a 5x zoom, decent image quality, and rugged/underwater capability. I’d recommend it to people who don’t want to invest much or who have a good camera already for serious shooting. But if this is to be your main camera, save yourself some trouble and upgrade.

Product page: Fujifilm XP10

A Japanese robot manufacturer called BL Autotec has developed a remote-controlled robot hand [JP, PDF] that’s able to grip and turn doorknobs. Once connected to a emergency robot, it can safely open doors at disaster sites, for example in collapsed buildings without putting humans in danger.

Autotec says the robot can be used in the case of nuclear, biological and chemical disasters.

The hand has a built-in CCD camera and an LED light so a human can operate it remotely in dark areas. Using a total of four shafts, the hand can move up to 1m. It’s also able to move hazardous materials to some extent, for example rubble. BL Autotec says the hand can also be used for industrial applications.

The company plans to sell complete sets consisting of its hand and a special, self-developed emergency robot to Japanese and foreign buyers for $110,000. As you can see in the picture above, rescue workers can actually carry the robot on their back (it weighs 34kg though).

Sales are expected to start in 2013, with BL Autotec hoping to sell 25 sets in the first year.

A Japanese company called Idea Label has designed the “Music Planet” [JP] today, a portable, ball-shaped MP3 player that you can take with you to the bath tub. The device is IPX7-certified, meaning it can withstand immersion in water up to a depth of 1m for up to 30 minutes.

The device also features an FM radio tuner, an alarm clock and stereo speakers. It supports SD/SDHC cards (up to 32GB) and has a USB port.

Sized at 165×160×165mm, the Music Planet is powered by six AA batteries that are enough to listen to MP3s stored on an SD card for 13 hours (9 hours for USB files and 28 hours for the radio).

The device is already on sale on Idea Label’s Japanese website (price: $120) and is Japan only. So if you live outside this country, I’d suggest you contact import/export specialists Japan Trend Shop, Geek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya.

Via AV Watch [JP]