May 2005

Well, I had a hectic final two weeks of the semester followed by a my one week long “summer break.”

I had planned to post a whole bunch of things over break but it appears I took a vacation from my blog as well… I’ve got lots of ideas for new content so I should have plenty I can post over the next week or so.

In other news, I graduate on Sunday. I gradaute, but I’m not done yet. Carnegie Mellon’s kind of funny like that. I get to walk but I don’t get my diploma until August after I finish the rest of my classes.

I thought I’d take a minute to plug my friend’s new startup, a project that I think has a lot of potential and that could be very cool if it takes off.

Fundable.org. Its a very neat idea. Say, for instance, that you’ve got a project you’d like to undertake which requires buy-in from a large number of individuals. Something like having a web designer create a good looking webpage for an open-source project or bringing a decent band to a musical vacuum like Pittsburgh.

Fundable allows you to create a “group action” that people can contribute money towards. Say it’ll take $1000 to get The Long Winters to make a stop in Pittsburgh during their next tour:

1. Create a group action with a goal of getting them to play here in Pittsburgh.
2. Allow the advance purchase of 100 tickets to the show for $10 apiece.
3. If the group action gets 100 people to contribute, the $1000 is “turned on” and the group leader can then withdraw the money and set up the show.
4. If the action doesn’t get enough contributors, everybody’s money gets refunded.

Its a neat concept and I think it could be great for setting up “bounties” for open-source projects or for starting advertising campaigns for non-profit groups.

So go check them out and let me know what you think.