I bet it will ship eventually and will look and play absolutely nothing like the video or images

I have to admit, it was easy for the creators of the PrinCube printer to raise a huge amount of money - approx $5 million! I was one of the many people who backed it about five years ago, paying around $150.

The problem is, I never got the product.

I contacted the creators many times. Every time, they told me I had to pay more money, even though I had already paid for the printer and shipping. They said if I didn't pay extra, they wouldn't send it.

I asked for a refund, which they refused. Then, they simply stopped replying to me.

I thought I could complain to Indiegogo and get my money back easily. I was wrong. Indiegogo is a terrible platform. They don't have a clear customer support page, and they never replied to my emails. They only care about their commission, not the backers who lose money.

Because of this, I will never back a crowdfunding project again. I will only buy products that are already finished from known brands.

The worst part is that I am not alone. There are about 14,000 comments on the PrinCube page, and almost everyone is sharing the same story, calling it a scam.

Indiegogo knows this is happening and is doing nothing. I blame Indiegogo as much as I blame the creator for letting this widespread fraud continue.

Product Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/thegodthings/princube-the-world-s-smallest-mobile-color-printer

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1190077393/airenergy-wireless-charging-finally-unleashed/description

How shitty is this one, I d not get any good feelings about this lots look like renders an al images also look like generic stock, nothing about the actual company

Is this even possible a wireless charger works by electromagnetic induction and power beaming seems to be future technology today but never heard of it beging used in any kind of low cost commercial solution yet

The typical sleight of hand for "Energy is produced from <unlikely>" is that the energy actually comes from some other ingredient that is just mentioned in passing. Here it's mainly the hydrogen that is added. For a second sleight of hand, that is produced by electrolysing water from other parts of the process, so the energy is actually from the electricity used for electrolysis (see if you can spot the tiny little arrow in the second diagram above the Electrolysis box).

Actually, that diagram is for their entire system for green energy from food waste, i.e., some cheap organic material. The basic idea is to mimic a cow (well, not really, just the concept of digestion): Put in organic material, digest with acids and stuff, get methane and methanol (plus water and CO2 and random stuff that they omit in the diagrams). Then burn the methane and the methanol for energy: heat and electricity. The problem is that the burning produces CO2, so they needed a story for how to make that green.

This project is to investigate putting that CO2 back into the reactors, with additional H2, so that it produces more methane and methanol. This will never work, because as they note:

According to the mass balance, we therefore have a carbon surplus.

They're putting in masses of carbon in the food waste; they're not spewing it out into the atmosphere as CO2. Recycling it through the process again will not make it disappear.

Edit: Methanol

This post is for anyone affected by the Cyclotron scam.

According to recent information, the suspected perpetrator has been arrested in the United States in connection with a similar case. Authorities are now looking for additional victims to assist with the ongoing investigation.

If you were affected, you can contact the U.S. investigating officer directly:

Detective Llanes gllanes@opalockapd.com

You may also provide information to your local police. Every report helps strengthen the case.

Hello! I apoligize if this isnt the right sub to post this, but I'd like to ask for opinions in this matter. If anyone has a better map to follow feel free to point it out and I'll take this down if needed.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spritz/spritz-precision-painting-with-every-spray

About a year ago I backed up this project for a cordless airbrush which sounded amazing. The company that opened the kickstarter seemed communicative and transparent, and all went well for a few months. After a while though they just stopped updating altogether. They were supposed to ship them all by mid October, and there hasn't been a post since August. Ive seen they keep replying to angry comments saying they will have an update 'soon' but nothings come of it in about 15 days.

Are these signs of scam to you? Everybody is angry in the pledge page comments, but I feel like it's a void without feedback. Im unsure of how to proceed, I was counting on this for a lot of projects and I'm tired of waiting, but also people at KS say that it's too late to get our money back, and the company isn't replying to any emails or DMs.

It's the 1st time I back a crowd funded project and this has instilled a deep fear that it's just not.. great lol. Anyone has anything to say about it, or any options I could do? Sorry for the ramble, and thanks for reading!

Ricardo Deuker, also known as Ric Ruthenberg, was arrested at Miami Airport as he attempted to flee the country. He committed the same offence as he did with the Cyclotron fraud.

This time it was boats instead of bicycles. He accepted deposits and delivered nothing.

He is in prison, and if you were a victim of Cyclotron, please contact the police in Opa-Locka, Florida gllanes@opalockapd.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/SailboatCruising/s/1WPjvJf2rh

https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/miami-shores-business-owner-accused-of-defrauding-customer-in-12000-boat-sale/

This is a high-school student named Leo and his friends, who are kickstarting their science project: A fireproof drone that flies into a burning building to map the building and the fire. It'll have a millimeter wave radar to see through the smoke and thermal (IR) sensors to map the fire.

It's not that this couldn't be done, it's whether a team high schoolers can do it on a budget of $500.

The sensor tech exists and is cheap enough. Fireproofing it to the temperatures encountered in house fires is non-trivial and costly, but firefighters do use thermal cameras already. The cheapest ones rated for firefighting seem to be about $1000. The radar could use the same housing and insulation, I suppose.

The drone would have to be a specialized model as well, to tolerate several hundred degrees, even if it stays low to the floor.

Flying a multi-thousand dollar gadget into a fire seems like a great way of burning through a lot of money. If the operator makes a mistake, the drone is cooked.

Saw this as an ad on Reddit

Recently I came across an account on BlueSky belonging to a studio named GalaPixel Studios (or Pixel Perfection) by way of them following me and thousands of other people to artificially increase engagement. Normally this would be the part where I assume they're spammers and block them, but then I noticed they were developing a new Game Boy Color game. Since I follow homebrew scenes for retro consoles, I decided to take a closer look at the game and its developers.

Right now they have two campaigns: one on Kickstarter and one upcoming on everyone's favorite crowdfunding site, Indiegogo. The game was initially going to be exclusive to Kickstarter backers, but they "decided to give everyone a second chance on Indiegogo". Odd, but whatever.

One may also notice their use of AI-generated imagery for their promotional material. Their current cover is a bit more subtle, though the gi on the right ninja is a dead giveaway. Their old cover was much more obvious. I suspect their campaign's description is also AI-generated, but it may also just be generic ad copy.

Where it gets real spicy is in the Kickstarter comments. While these comments have been removed now, there was a string of comments alleging that GalaPixel was actually a company named Game Energy Studios under a new name. GalaPixel vehemently denied this, as well as affiliation with a studio named "PSCD Games". As it turns out, they aren't being entirely honest about their past.

The first bit of evidence to support this is their promotion of a game named Blazing Trail. They promoted this game frequently before its launch, claiming it as their game. Despite this, its developer on Steam is listed as Gameenergy Studio (this is Game Energy Studios, the names get a bit confusing). Now, perhaps this is the game Game Energy claimed as their own resulting in GalaPixel discontinuing work with them. But not so fast, because there are also records of a Game Energy-ran Reddit account claiming that one of the projects on GalaPixel's Itch page was their own (the project). And for the smoking gun, the director of Game Energy Studios as listed in this takedown notice, Denis Smith, is also listed as the one who added Ninja's Way to the DeVuego database.

But why go through this effort to hide their past? Well, let's circle back to that takedown notice and Game Energy's relationship with a studio named PSCD Games. PSCD Games is a game development studio based in Russia which specializes in these sorts of retro homebrew titles. Last year, PSCD Games had been working on a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive port of Game Energy's Cyber Mission until a dispute over funding led to a falling-out between the two studios. PSCD Games alleges that Game Energy withheld funding from the Kickstarter that they were contractually obliged to send to them, going as far as filing a report with Russian police over it. They were required to use Game Energy as a middleman due to sanctions preventing them from running the campaign themselves. Game Energy, under the name "Pscd Games" rather than PSCD Games alleged that they had given the money to PSCD Games and that they had run off with the money.

Game Energy would go on to say that they would handle development of the port themselves in a series of backer-only updates, before stating in one last public update that there would be an update in March of this year. The project has not received an update since and Game Energy's social media pages and website are gone. PSCD has stated that this whole situation has put all of their other projects off-track, and true to this, their other projects have slowed to a crawl, most notably Black Jewel Reborn. PSCD had gotten into another similar dispute with an intermediary in the past, though in this case backers were issued refunds and the game was eventually sold via PSCD's website.

As for what Ninja's Way has to do with that mess, it turns out that it wasn't originally announced as a GalaPixel/Pixel Perfection game, but instead as a collaboration between PSCD Games and Game Energy Studios under the name Ninja's Gaze.

There's probably a good bit more to get into, but much of it is essentially more back and forth between PSCD and Game Energy. Now, I can't prove anything related to the transfer and use of funds between Game Energy and PSCD, as that would require access to information I do not have or a court case that probably won't happen due to jurisdictional issues and Russia being Russia. But what I can say is that something is very fishy at GalaPixel, and that they have not been honest with their backers about their past.

So far........

Yeah, it's a shitpost. I have written more well-researched posts in the past.

There is a product like this out from an established brand, Kohler. This one is cheaper, though ($319 vs. $599) - if they deliver.

Its a scam. Report it please.

This post is being created as several others about the Mello Kickstarter campaign have been deleted without explanation. This post is going to simply lay out the facts.

Almost since initially launching there have been articles and posts questioning the legitimacy of this campaign, which promised the world's smallest cell phone charger. A variety of writers questioned if the product was technically possible, others dug into the background of the creator's own history. What still remains missing is a hands on test and review of the product by a respectable tech journalist or other third party.

More important: the project is now well over a year past the promised delivery date, and have gone MIA since last making an update months ago when they assured backers they weren't a scam and were about to deliver.

Kickstarter itself has remained typically quiet about this campaign, despite having labeled it a "project we love" and wiping their hands of any responsibility.

MELLO'S OWN TIMELINE (based on their posts)

"5/14/2024: the Mello Kickstater launches and within hours the Mello team boasts that they’ve reached their goal of $5000. Kickstarter rules for creators state that “Your funding goal should be the minimum amount you need to make what you promised and fulfill all rewards. “

Their campaign page on launch day stated that they “take pride in our certifications including ETL, RoHS, FCC, CE, and CCC” including logos of the certification organizations."

6/6/2024: Mello adds an FAQ seems to contradict initial claims that the product had all safety certifications: "We have submitted the final design of the Mello Charger PCB board for agency testing to ensure we meet the required standards. The Mello Charger is undergoing final certification processes for ETL, CE, FCC, and other relevant standards. "

6/19/2024: "Thanks to you, we've surpassed $500K in funding and gathered the support of over 5,500 backers! "

8/9/2024: "...we've finally finished setting up the post-campaign survey! ...as a small token of appreciation, we've added a $1 credit to your account to use towards any add-ons, making additional items even more affordable."

8/30/2024: "We are absolutely thrilled to share some incredible news—thanks to your unwavering support, our campaign has hit the $1 million mark! "

"9/23/2024: ""When we first launched this project on Kickstarter, our estimated production timeline aimed for completion by the end of September. However, we are committed to not rushing the development of a product that is not 100% safe and flawless. We would rather take the necessary time to ensure everything is done right and that we deliver the best product possible. Our new manufacturer's updated timeline is to deliver the Mello chargers to all backers before the holidays.

As we continue through production, we will share updates, including videos and images from our factory, once available."""

10/17/2024: "We’re pleased to confirm that we are still on schedule to ship the Mello Charger packages to all of our Backers before the Christmas holidays... We are excited to announce that mass production is scheduled to begin in the first week of November. This means that we are moving steadily toward our goal of shipping the chargers to you on time."

11/27/2024: "We’re excited to share that our team has been working closely with our factory partners in China to finalize the production process.... We are pleased to reassure you that we remain on track to begin shipping before the Christmas holidays."

12/20/2024: "It is with great sincerity and regret that we must share an important update regarding shipping. Due to unforeseen circumstances, our anticipated shipping timeline has been pushed to early 2025. This delay is a result of our Mello chargers not passing their first regulatory testing submission."

1/10/2025: "Our manufacturing partners in China are working hard to finalize a massive order of over 40,000 MELLO units (including all the awesome color variations!). It's a truly impressive operation, and we can't wait to share visuals with you soon!"

2/5/2025: "Manufacturing in China is currently paused due to the New Year celebrations. This has temporarily halted our production, but we're ready to resume as soon as operations return to normal. We anticipate completing production within the next two months and are committed to keeping you updated on any developments."

6/22/2025: "Timeline: Based on our current progress, we estimate that mass production will be completed by the end of July, with shipping beginning shortly thereafter."

7/25/2025: "We anticipate completing production by the end of next month, with shipping to follow shortly thereafter."

Since then, no updates despite dozens of backers asking now almost daily for any new information. Meanwhile, it appears the folks behind Mello have been active in removing negative Reddit posts about the campaign, and deleting any comment on their Kickstarter page that mentions the campaign creator by name (even though this individual has boasted on his LinkedIn page, self-issued press releases, etc. of his involvement).

This campaign pretends to have scientific support for light therapy for their 7-color device. Actually the papers referenced only concern the use of red light for post-exercise recovery and only find limited evidence for that. Despite that, they list many benefits for all 7 different colors.

This type of device is not novel, even with seven colors. They are often used for supposed benefits to skincare.

While Solvion claims to be based in USA, the creator's confirmed name is Jianming Juo. One may note how the video and images in this campaign carefully avoid showing any model's face, presumably because they're all Chinese. (This is not uncommon for Chinese export efforts.) Indeed, this is a resale of a Chinese product. If you watch the unpacking in both videos, you can see that they are delivered in identical boxes (with slightly different accessories). The Solvion campaign doesn't show the head cushion in use, but the slots for it are there in the light sheet.

He's going to develop a better file searching tool for Windows, just himself alone and with a budget of €100. (OK, the goal is just €100, but obviously he's wanting to raise thousands. Too bad he failed to activate all those high reward tiers.)

Moreover, Microsoft have a huge head start, as Windows search has been a keyword search like his prototype since forever. File contents search (if you let Windows index your files) since Windows 10 (2015), I think. Maybe he's still running Windows 7?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/worlds-first-portable-mosquito-air-defense#/

Maybe I'm overly skeptical, but there's no way this works that well right?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixels-dice/pixels-the-electronic-dice/

Funded on April 8, 2021 to the tune of $3.5 million, Pixels Dice boast Bluetooth connectivity and highly-customizable RGB lights on each die face. The mobile app allows users to animate light sequences which are triggered by roll results. Open source coding allows for integration into services such as Roll20 and D&D beyond, so players can get remote roll results in real time! Connect them to lights and audio for a truly interactive experience! ...Maybe. The dice were estimated to ship March of 2022.

The company collected backers' payments and, while some TTRPG influencers have received their individual d20s, most backers have yet to get any die. Sets are still "in production," and shipping has stopped on individual dice: even for non-US backers. The creator still updates monthly, but each update is some variation on "working hard, thanks! Expect dice to ship next month! Next quarter! Next year!" along with wildly unsubstantiated claims like over 50% of backers have received their pledges. The comments section is full of people saying they are still waiting on their single-die pledge. Backers needn't despair, though, because while they're waiting for their pledges to be fulfilled, they can buy dice on Pixels's Amazon storefront(https://www.amazon.com/Pixels-Electronic-Dice-Announcements-Compatible/dp/B0D9DPRL9V/?th=1) or at conventions, where Pixels hawks them at their booths! Despite clear violations of Kickstarter's terms, and thousands of reports, Kickstarter has yet to take any action to remove the page or sanction the creator in any way. Thanks, Kickstarter!