Potlatch - indigenous culture as card game

I recently came across a new game that was seeking funding on Kickstarter with a unique concept.  Educating people about the values and economy of a local indigenous people   by playing a game. Potlatch, the game,  was developed as a community effort with local elders and language experts. The game is written in both English and Lushootseed, the indigenous language of the Pacific Northwest. Game mechanics are based on sharing resources to meet other players’ needs for food, materials, technology, and knowledge.

Your goal is share your Resource Cards as Gifts to other players’ House Card needs so that each player meets all of their needs. Each House Card represents a human house that needs resources for everyone in their community to survive over time. A unique dynamic to try and achieve in a card game to be sure.

You can find  Potlatch - The Game on Kickstarter, and learn more. 

I'm a backer now, and I hope you'll consider helping this group bring Potlatch and other native population games to market. 

One pen to rule them all

I get a lot of products to review here at Fatboy HQ, but pens are fairly rare.  This one is rarer than most in quality and design. 

Ian Schon at SCHONDSGN has been making these for a few years, but just launched a version with a pocket clip for the first time and it makes it much more useful than his earlier design for me. 

As you can see, packaging is pretty well done, with the pen arriving in a nice folding box secured to a card with your ownership information and a custom fold-flat pocket notebook. 

The pen has a great weight and feel, with a Fisher space pen refill providing exceptional writing on any surface and at any angle. 

the SCHONDSGN CLIP looks just as great in black as it does in aluminum

Ian sent me two pens, one anodized black and the other polished aluminum.  Both are exceptional pens that would fit anyone's EDC needs.

You can find them online now at the SCHONDSGN website. 

I thought they were crazy until I had a chance to hear these headphones

When Aircom first told me about their new AiRFLOW headphones I was a bit skeptical.  In ear headphones have been designed the same basic way for quite a while, if this idea really worked why hasn't anyone tried it before? They were getting ready to launch a funding campaign on IndiGoGo and we're looking for my support. I was intrigued enough to back the project after watching their video and seeing their founder Ryan Tsui's passion for what they were doing.

The concept was radical but pretty easy to understand.  Instead of having a small speaker firing directly at your ear drum like every other in ear headphone on the market, they were trying to replicate the "airspace" of closed back over ear headphones by firing that same speaker into an airtube which would then funnel the sound into your ear.  I knew the concept of sound being enhanced by an airtube was viable because I had seen the concept used in microphones, but it still seemed a bit radical to me here.

After using them for a few weeks now, and letting friends and family use them I can tell you there is no question anymore.  The sound is so much cleaner and feels so full and rich that I actually can't stand to use my Apple Air·Pods after using these.  I'm sold on the concept and the final design.  Ryan and his team have a winner. 

What ever happened to that old Polaroid? Lomography is bringing instant cameras back with a difference

When I saw the Kickstarter campaign I had to do a double take.  Lomography was wanting to take their love of old fashioned photography a step further into the realm of instant cameras ala Polaroid with their new Automat camera.  They started it a year ago with the Lomo'Instant, but now were taking it into a new level.  Unlimited exposures on a single instant picture?  Bulb mode with up to 30 second exposures?  A lens cap with built in remote shutter control?  How far can we push an instant camera?

It turns out we can push it pretty far, and they did.  The Lomo'Instant Automat is a wonderful camera and a great piece of engineering.  With modular lenses adding wide-angle and fisheye capability along with the ability to add filters this is far from your Mom's old Polaroid.

The added ability to set the exposure length and take multiple exposures while tripod mounted gives you a lot of the creative flexibility of a medium format or SLR in an instant, something I never would have thought of.  

The camera uses physical film, so it isn't as flexible a medium to experiment with as digital can be, but there is something to be said for having that tangible record of the shot, and the serendipitous mistake that can create a one of a kind photo.

The Lomo'Instant Automat is available now from the Lomography online store for $179

Extremely different, in every way

This week I was provided an interesting contrast in two bluetooth headphone products, the long awaited Apple AirPods and the BB Air wireless headphones from German firm Blomm & Berger.

Most of us watched the introduction of the AirPods during the WWDC keynote this September and were surprised to see Apple miss their shipping date in October.  They finally started getting retail production going before the end of the year but are still on substantial back order.

The AirPods are small.  Very small.  Easy to lose small.  So easy to lose that Apple actually assumes that you will lose one of the pair and has listed the replacement cost ahead of time ($69 with AppleCare).  The whole pod is the size of a roll of dental floss.  Don't let size fool you though, there is some great tech inside that little pod.

At the opposite side of the spectrum are the BB Airs.  Big hearty headphones optimized for EDM and featuring both on-ear and over-ear earpads to allow for comfort and flexibility.  Custom manufactured in Europe for the German based company that has made a name for themselves sponsoring dance parties and FIFA matches.  They didn't have the money to startup manufacturing of the new product line so they turned to Kickstarter and Indigogo for support.

There isn't a lot to say about the sound quality of the AirPods.  They sound about the same as the EarPods that ship with every iPod and iPhone.  That in itself is pretty remarkable in true wireless headphones at this point but from an audio standpoint these aren't going to blow anyone out of the water. 

Blomm & Berger's BB Air's are another matter entirely when it comes to sound quality.  Even with the smaller pads placing them on your ears instead of over them these things sound very good.  When you increase the size of the soundstage by completely surrounding your ears with the larger ear pads you get one of the best wireless sound experiences we've encountered so far. 

As we all have heard, the Air⋅Pods have the same size and fit as the standard earpods, which quite a few people find uncomfortable.  I don't mind them usually for short to medium listening, but they aren't comfortable past the two hour mark for me.  This is fine, because battery life is only rated at three hours at 50% volume, so getting past two hours without needing to take them out to charge will be rare for most of us. 

In contrast, I found the BB Air with the over-ear pads to be comfortable throughout a five hour flight from Portland to Houston without any problems at all.  Usually even if they are not putting pressure on my ears (a rarity even for headphones designed to be over the ear given the size of my auditory appendages) my ears are feeling hot and uncomfortable by the three hour mark but somehow this didn't happen.

Overall I think both of these headphone devices are going to make buyers very happy.  Apple already is having a hard time keeping Air⋅Pods in stock and I don't see that changing until another true wireless competitors products catch up with marketing.  We'll have to wait and see if Blomm & Berger get enough marketing behind their own line to gain any major market share with what is a great product almost no one has heard of yet.

A tale of two very different cameras....

In August of last year a group of former Holga camera employees from Hong Kong decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to launch a digital version of the beloved asian toy camera.  The original Holga debuted in 1982, and has since become a favorite of many artists due to the lack of complexity and flexibility.  Their goal was to get the $50,000 dollars needed to begin production, but demand was so great that they exceeded that goal in just 4 days.  Ultimately the project exceeded $300,000 and more than 2500 backers during the 60 days it was active on Kickstarter and they continue to get orders via Indiegogo here.

The camera is as low tech as a digital camera can get, owing very much to its roots as a toy camera.  With a manual shutter lever, exposure time is as flexible as possible and hard to gauge.  In addition, the only selections possible are a switch on the bottom to toggle between BW and Color modes, and the power dial on top allowing you to select between simulating 135 or 120 film.  You additionally have the option of attaching the flash or not via the hot shoe on top.  Everything else is done by feel and experience alone.  As you can see from the sample images below even with very little automatic control the camera provides decent quality and good dynamic range.

Picture of flowers taken with the Holga Digital

Picture of shelf with kickstarter rewards taken with Holga Digital and a flash

Lytro's Illium is by contrast one of the most advanced digital cameras ever made

The second camera I received is the Lytro Illum, an extremely advanced camera using what is called Light Field imaging to capture all of the available light in each pixel.  This not only provides superior dynamic range, but allows for what Lytro calls "living pictures" because by capturing all of the light in the lenses field of view you have the ability to change the depth of field and point of focus after acquiring the image data.  In addition, the technology allows the camera to export 3D images.  With manual focus, 8x optical zoom, and dynamic range equivalent to 80-3200ISO it is perhaps the most advanced still camera ever built with a single lens.

As you can see from the linked pictures below, you can share images that the viewer can choose a point of focus in on demand, a feature unique to Light Field technology.  At an MSRP of $1300 this is an amazingly expensive camera, but incredibly fun to use.  If it could shoot video as well it could be the perfect all around camera.  Fortunately, Lytro has moved on to trying to change cinematography and as result the camera can be found on Amazon for $387 dollars from some vendors.

Kickstarted: SharkTooth 16-1 Survival wearable

Sometimes a kickstarter project comes along and just makes you say "How the hell do people think of these things?".  The SharkTooth was initially one of them for me, but now that I have it in hand it makes total sense.  A simple laser cut pendant at first glance, upon closer inspection it is easy to see how useful this tiny tool could be. Besides the ten wrenches cut into the center it is easy to see the saw blade on one edge and knife edge opposite.  Harder to see until you hold it is the shape of the point besides being able to sharpen into a spear or arrow point also has a diamond shape which makes it usable as a Phillips head screw driver. 

Designed by the minds at Archwing LLC. in Madison, WI as part of what they are calling their Tactical Apparel venture, it really is a marvelous design.  They will soon be available for order from this website. 

Take a break from your digital leash and be present with your date or family thanks to new Kickstarter project

How many times have you been at dinner with your partner or family and spent more time looking at the phone screen than the person across the table from you. 

Hiatus Box wants to serve as a playful yet functional reminder for us to take time to unplug and stay focused on life.  A timer and magnetic sidelocks built into the lid mean you can set a time limit to ensure uninterrupted time with those you love.  Rewards are fairly easy to earn.  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/856608334/the-hiatus-box-bringing-back-real-facetime

Kickstarter Music - Mamma Coal

Portland native Carra Stasney launched a Kickstarter project to fund the most original album idea I've seen in a long time, and I am so impressed that I have to get you all to help. 

The idea is to reimagine Willie Nelson's amazing "Red Headed Stranger" from the standpoint of his mother.  I can't wait to see what she does with the idea, and am amazed that no one tried it before this. 

You can find her project here, please think about helping it along. 

Kickstarter: Bro-Ball trying to add function and fun to Bluetooth speakers

The folks at Invincible Audio have less than 24 hours left to reach their funding goals for their B.R.O. Ball, and a project that I think deserves to get the green light.  The basic concept is a 4th generation Bluetooth speaker inside a functional football suitable for outdoor play at the beach or the field. 

 Featuring not just the aerodynamics you would expect from a football but also sound, the ability to charge your phone from the internal battery and glowing lines that will let the game keep going after the sun goes down.

If you are interested, please jump in and help them reach their goals.

Life in Fat Boy Heaven

Sorry posts have been so slow in the last couple of weeks.  My father in law came through surgery fine, and is now in short term rehab for a few days while he gets his strength back.   Until Tuesday that meant a lot of driving across town to the hospital to fit around normal life.

Now that life is back closer to normal I can get things caught up.  I'll have some amazing dinners from the last couple of weeks including a Bacon wrapped Blackberry Pork Loin Roast I'm particularly proud of from last night coming your way, as well as reviews of everything from cigars and humidors, to Whisky from the folks at Caskers.com, new journaling systems from BulletJournal.com via their Kickstarter project, and  clothes from Ript Apparel and Dickies.  It's going to be a busy weekend.

A new service is on a mission- can they out-geek LootCrate?

A few months ago I was contacted by a new Kickstarter project with a simple concept: to be a better and geekier box-a-month service than LootCrate.  The project was successful, reaching their funding goal in less than a week, and GEEKFUEL was born.

I just received their first ever box, along with a Kickstarter exclusive bonus box, and so far their method seems to be at least partially focused on enlisting popular artists from the DeviantArt community to add exclusive artwork to the mix.  Add exclusive comic books, limited edition Pop vinyl figures, caffeinated beverages and access codes for games and downloadable content on Steam and I think they have a chance to give the veterans a run for their money.

Instead of listing the contents I figured the best way to describe this product would be to take pictures as I was unpacking the box.  So here we go.  I give you GEEKFUEL:  

All told a pretty impressive showing for a first issue.  Subscriptions are available monthly, quarterly, every 6 months, or annually with price breaks and bonuses at each increased level.  I've been a big fan of LootCrate for a long time but GEEKFUEL is definitely making a name for themselves in Fat Boy Heaven.

Stop the woman from yelling...a Kickstarted relationship saver coming your way

I came across a simple yet elegant Kickstarter project today that is going to save a lot of relationships if we can all get on board and support it and get orders placed.

Adam Raby was brushing his teeth one day when he stabbed himself in the gums with a stray beard trimming that had fallen into his toothbrush.  It led him to launch this project.​  A specially coated cloth with suction cups at two corners which attach to your mirror to keep it above the items on your counter.

A simple easy solution and it will keep mama happy.  Not a bad plan, and it will keep us all living in Fat Boy Heaven.