“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”
-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS , 9.6
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This week there are some great things on kickstarter, but these three made the cut easy enough: a short movie starring Doug Jones, a really well made gadget for your camera, and a book that will teach your kids to code.
A wireless remote that lets you control your DSLR camera through your iPhone (smartphone) + much more! Let's iPhone your Camera!
What is it?
This little gadget uses infra-red to control your camera. Just place it on your camera in front of the infra-red sensor and grab you iPhone. You can now take images and do many other things remotely.
The MaxStone uses low energy Bluetooth 4.0 to connect with your iPhone. When connected, the MaxStone allows you to use the intuitive and beautiful screen of the iPhone to take images from your camera. At the moment the MaxStone can do the following:
Why do I like it?
I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking photos. I use the iPhone a lot to do it, but I also have my Sony a77 with me most of the times. At the moment, I the TriggerTrap solution which is great, but wired and this is where MaxStone got my attention: wireless control of my camera means I can do so many things and not be limited by the cable's length.
From what I read, and the answers the team gave, it looks like the app is going to give the users a lot of power over their cameras. The fact that the team also added so many other features like finding your phone, or the MaxStone (that can be attached to your keys so two birds one ...maxstone, you get it) is something I appreciate because it's elegant. The Pledge stands on $115,659 at the moment (the goal was $50k) so this is going to happen with or without you. It will be a shame to miss on the rewards so go check it out.
Hello Ruby is a children’s book that teaches programming fundamentals through stories and kid-friendly activities.
What is it?
Linda Liukas created Ruby to teach herself coding and turned this into a project on kickstarter. the ideas is to create a story that through it (with the help of a workbook), your kids can learn a lot about coding and about coding culture.
The project will help to fund the book and workbook with stretch goals that will add more tools for parents to help their kids, and learn about coding themselves.
The activity book teaches kids early programming skills. It’s designed to be enjoyed by a kid alone, but can also be worked through with an adult. And best of all - the workbook is designed to be doodled, wrecked and drawn all over.
Why do I like it?
I feel as if this is self evident. Coding is part of our culture today. Applications are the major tools we use. Knowing how to code, and understand programming logic is a basic component, in my view, of being a citizen of the future.
there are many new, cool tools to teach coding. There are tons of great games out there, Like lightbot, that do it well. A book, especially a children book in a mother, great way to reach children and work with them. I also feel that this book and workbook will help adults to learn about these topics as well.
The new film from the creators of "An Evening with My Comatose Mother," starring Doug Jones, Dameon Clarke and Amrita Acharia.
What is it?
A dark fantasy short film, starring Doug Jones (Abe from Hellboy, The various creatures in Pan's Labyrinth and more) and a cast of well known and loved actresses and actors.
From the project page:
KISS THE DEVIL IN THE DARK is a dark fantasy film set in a mythical Victorian-era world. This is a story of magic, demons, love, lust, friendship, betrayal and hell. Desperate to save his dying wife, the powerful sorcerer Marcus makes a deal with the demon Dagon to save her soul. Dagon, however, has more in mind for Marcus than just a simple exchanging of souls. With seemingly no other choice, Marcus accepts, thus catapulting him into a series of events that will reveal to all involved the very meaning of betrayal.
The movie is ready, the money this project asks for is for the post production.
Why do I like it?
After two horror films I looked for something else to recommend, so I figured a fantasy movie would be cool. It's not my fault that it's a DARK fantasy movie.
I love it because it looks incredible and the production value looks really high. The actors previous body of works speaks volume for them. What's not to like? The goal here is 20k, the pledge stand at $8,011 and there are 28 days at the time of publishing this post.