OT: Kickstarter to build a Death Star
It's OT to be sure, but it's after midnight, and we've gotten our second "do we root for Big Ten teams" thread in as many days, so the boards aren't burning down. And this is a Kickstarter for something IMPORTANT. Since the government refused to fund building a Death Star (no politics) someone has taken it upon themselves to protect and save the earth-
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/461687407/kickstarter-open-source-d…
If we get the word out, the sky is not the limit, and this just may work. Sure, creating city gardens and helping communities and feeding people is nice, but how is that compared to the ability to destroy a planet?
Give early; give often.
(The author of this post is in no way affiliated with this project, the Empire, or the Sith)
March 20th, 2013 at 12:55 AM ^
March 20th, 2013 at 12:56 AM ^
Yeah no kidding. But really if you look at where the fan base is and the general mood of the program I doubt we'll see any bombshells. Looking forward to buying and reading though. Thanks for the heads up.
But the text with the audio seems to confirm the book title-
http://mvictors.com/?tag=john-bacon-new-book
The Fort is back. Everybody gets "access," but nobody really gets access. David Brandon and transparency go together like garlic and ice cream. In this case, though, I have to agree with Brandon 100%. There are too many Snyders, Rosenbergs, and Cartys in the current age of "journalism" who think that it is their responsibility to dig up dirt on the programs they cover.
In other words, I don't expect a lot of "inside information" on the Michigan end of this book.
Is it too political to say that the White House's response to that petition was all kinds of awesome? I might even deign to say that Paul Shawcross has single handedly become my all time favorite Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-…
That was fantastic, I think the force supercedes both sides of the aisle and is truly bipartisan.
March 20th, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^
seriously, that is amazing...
almost as amazing as the 327K they have fund raised already.
March 20th, 2013 at 11:14 AM ^
But that response was pretty awesome.
So, no, it wasn't too political.
Whoever created this Kickstarter is clearly a fan of The Hudsucker Proxy, so he's got my support!
for kids!
"The Board, they took ol' Norville for an imbecile"
"The goal has been set high enough to make successful funding impossible."
You know that's just playing with fire.
So far they've raised $500,000 of the $30m goal. That's really awesome.
Too bad they don't get to keep any of it. They obviously made the goal so high as to be unattainable to keep it legal, but it would be nice to see their creativity rewarded.
I'll spend my money financiing the X-Wing squadron that is agile enough to exploit the tiny flaw in your design.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/simonkwan/crowdfunding-rebel-alliance-x-wing-squadron?ref=live
but in space...the new death stars are in early this year!
How banal. The Death Star has already been done a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Now if there were a kickstarter for something in the future, like a starship named Enterprise to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldy go where no man has gone before, I would be all in.
March 20th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^
The destruction of the first Death Star was an inside job by Anakin Skywalker
For anyone interested, here are the articles that started this idea. This was ZeroHedge's jab at the Federal Reserve for seemingly unlimited Quantitative Easing. At least, that was my take.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/modest-proposal-boost-us-gdp-852-quadrill…
The first comment on the article made me lol.
....but there's nothing "seemingly" about it. QEternity is unlimited.
March 20th, 2013 at 10:20 AM ^
Is beaming with pride.
This is one of the few stories where I'm proud that living in DC means this was news 2 months ago.
So what happens if (when?) this is funded, and then the guy runs off with 20 million Euros?
Well I say he gets ALL OF THE KUDOS.
Guys... sorry to say, Disney cancelled this too, along with Clone Wars. Move on.
...already are building a Death Star, or at least a kind of cyborg planet earth. As Koolhaas pointed out in his Junkspace essay, since the advent of air conditioning & escalators architects, engineers & builders have seemingly been working on a single grand project.
Yet to be fully connected, you can already see this playing out even locally by just looking at campus. The Medical Center in particular is like a cancerous tumor slowly engulfing the surrounding city. Someday, it might very connect Central & North Campus (if it doesn't overwhelm them, that is).
Later, Ann Arbor will connect to Detroit. And that conurbation will stretch to reach similar grand projects in Chicago, New York and eventually London, Tokyo and all points beyond. These grand city/buildings will come full circle and fully squeeze every last ounce of whatever "nature" is left and the Earth will be, if not a fully artifical Death Star, then at least a giant robot-ized rock.
Michigan stadium will probably have a roof by then. Shit, thinking about the future makes me really look forward to being dead.
March 20th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
this in the growth of the Medical Center, wouldn't that me more of a Life Star?
March 20th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^
The subtle Hudsucker Proxy reference is fantastic.
March 20th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^
Is it strictly an offer to give money until it reaches it's goal? I can't believe that people would've actually given ~$500k to a death star project, but then again, a lot of people in the UK to identify as Jedi for their religion
March 20th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
"To keep costs lower the entire project will use open source hardware and software."
It would take many Linux servers of hardware designed in KiCad to hold the schematics of the main reactor alone. That being said, in reading their FAQ, I feel that making the plans publicly available to the engineering community at large does have tremendous advantages, and indeed, they would fee far more motivated to not leave it about 15% constructed as they did in Return Of The Jedi. Community ownership of such a project is essential because the ability to whack a planet can potentially benefit the community.