The Anywhere Organ is growing. You can help it on its way to huge, impossible, interactive magic. Check out the Kickstarter.

This weekend was Maker Wold's Faire. Maker Faires are always like Christmas, but I was especially excited to go to this one. One of the reasons was SpaceCamp, but that's another thing entirely and not at all Steampunk. The other big reason was finally being able to see The Anywhere Organ in action.

. . .

Nearly there with 3 days to go!

There are a lot of really neat things out there tagged with term 'Steampunk' but very few of them are as truly wonderful and unique as "Virtuoso," a Creative Commons licensed comic from friends Jon Munger and Krista Brennan. 

Jon and Krista are hoping to Kickstart Book One of the series, they have already completed the prologue and it is as engaging as it is beautiful. I'm in, and I hope you too will help them bring this marvelous project into the world!

The story: Jnembi Osse is an inventor in a world run by springs and ruthless expansion. She is the kept woman of the vast Mahanake Empire, held in a sequestered University to churn out military and civil inventions. But Jnembi has a secret.

Rather than endlessly revisit her old rifle designs, Jnembi builds a printing press a single person can carry on her back. It's small and simple, and violates the draconian laws of the Empire. Books are the purview of upper class, and copying them is ruthlessly suppressed.

Win a von Slatt original! To sweeten the deal and in addition to the offered rewards, the single largest contributor will receive an original Jake von Slatt creation! This will be a piece that is just staring to come together on my workbench as we speak.  I'm not sure what is is yet but it fits inside a #2 Bell Jar and will look great on your mantle! 

Details after the cut . . . 

Noah has posted an update at Kickstarter with upgraded rewards for contributors!

Good friend and fellow tribesman Noah Beasley is joining the Open Source commerce fray, offering up some of his most popular designs.

[My] Items are created in a computer with modeling software, and then converted from bits to atoms using 3D printing technologies. By using this method, an item can be replicated a thousand times, or only once. There are no molds, there is no casting, there are only robots building each item from the physical pixels of the material required.

This means these things made of matter are not much different than any other piece of intellectual property such as music, movies, or software.

Click through to read more and support Noah's Kickstarter Project - I'm in! - Jake

I'm backing these folks and you should too!

"Because we support maker culture, we will release our production patterns on our site for download so that people can sew their own versions of our garments. In addition, we will be documenting our progress so that others can learn from our mistakes and improve on the model.

We want to prove that the current paradigm of competition in business is not the only way to make a living. We believe that small businesses can thrive through collaboration and resource sharing . . ."

Click though and pledge to support these fine folks, I truly believe they are onto something and that it is something worth supporting! - Jake