An #Outsider Newsflash: Latest From Our Kickstarter-Backed Projects....

The updates are coming fast and furious on our +Kickstarter backed projects.   This was we just got on "CHIP" which we wanted to share with all as we eagerly await the arrival:

30 C.H.I.P. Happens! aka Mass Production Has Begun! \(•◡•)/ Posted by Next Thing Co.

C.H.I.P.s are flying off the line in Shenzhen!  Tested.Approved.  Ready to ship! Last month, with our deadline on the line, Wynter and Gus hitched a ride to join Vanessa in Shenzhen to make C.H.I.P. happen.  (Wynter's first time outside stateside) Wonder what life's like making C.H.I.P.s in China? View the video! https://vimeo.com/148960030 C.H.I.P. visits the Computer History Museum! Want to see C.H.I.P. in action?!  Head over to the Tech & Tinsel Holiday Product Demo Night at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View!  C.H.I.P. will be doing computer things and maybe running a few projects as well! (ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ).   Join team NTC from 6-9 PST! C.H.I.P. will be there. So will bananas. Will you? SHIPPING UPDATES!!! We've made a list and we've checked it twice.  Naughty or nice, December C.H.I.P.s are coming to town (imminently)!  December C.H.I.P.sters should visit chip.backerkit.com tosubmit, update, or verify their addresses.  The sooner you are in the system, the sooner we can ship you your C.H.I.P. January C.H.I.P.sters! Great news! We made too many C.H.I.P.s and we want you in queue!  Keep your eyes peeled for an address confirmation email from BackerKit today! ╭( ･ㅂ･)و  February C.H.I.P.s still on target for February. March C.H.I.P.s for March. HDMI & VGA adapters and PocketC.H.I.P.s for May.  Stay Tuned! Your time will come soon! mmmtc (much much more to come) \(•◡•)/ - Everyone @nextthingco (especially Wynter, Gus, and Vanessa) TWITTER    FACEBOOK    VIDEOS    FORUM    DOCS    PRE-ORDER   ADDRESS CHANGE That is one big pile of C.H.I.P.s - Alex

An #Outsider Newsflash (Daily Edition) : The latest on one of our Kickstarter Projects (NFC Ring)

Our team has been on the "Prowl" this morning working away as we just received two key updates on one of the projects we've backed thru Kickstarter:   NFC Ring.  We eagerly await its' arrival.

22 Shipping begins! Posted by John McLear

TLDR; Today (Monday the 14th of Dec) we began shipping backers rings. This is just a quick update as we're flat out handling fulfilment. Tired John holding full shipping bags Thanks to everyone who has supported us with testing, packing & fulfilment so far!  We worked tirelessly last week and over the weekend to get rings tested, packed and ready to ship.  Mondaymorning will be the first time the rings hit the postal system. We will send you a message once we have put your tracking number into our system, this happens ~24 hours after we ship your ring.  Our priority is fulfilling and this means providing you tracking information will happen only when we can't be fulfilling orders, hopefully you guys can understand why we would do this. Please don't message us asking if we have shipped your ring. When you get a message with your tracking number in - your reward has already been posted and is on it's way!

21 Fulfilment update! Posted by John McLear

Hey guys, Some 2016 Rings on the shelves TLDR; Starting Shipping Monday!   Delays caused by new KS system. The New Kickstarter behaviour we didn't expect. We're 99.9% ready to start shipping the first batch of rings. We logged on to Kickstarter and clicked a button that freezes address changes to prepare for label printing. This is a new button on Kickstarter (since our last campaign anyway) that when clicked will give you 48 hours to change/update your address.  This means that we can't print any shipping labels until that 48 hours is up :(  We're about to go through and click these buttons now, giving you a final chance to change your address and we will print shipping labels on Monday. Note that for non Ring shipments (ie: inlay only pledges rewards) we didn't use this system, so this really did come as a surprise to us!  Boo! What's packed? All Horizon rings are now packed.  Most Helios rings are packed and tomorrow we're finishing packing the Eclipse rings.  It's been a long slog with a LOT of people helping out. So when will shipping commence? Basically Monday(14th) should be our big first major shipping day with tracking numbers and fulfilment status' being updated on either Monday evening or Tuesday. And when will I get my NFC Ring? Assuming your ring ships on the 14th it should be in most countries for Christmas, but we all know how hectic the postal systems get at this time of year. In any case, you will be able to track your ring with a tracking number to keep an eye on it's progress!  UK Folks will get their rings really quickly after posting. How did the QA testing go? We're going to put out a separate update about QA testing rates once we have fulfilment done and we have some spare time.  Right now we're all pushing 14+ hour days and we're 100% committed to fulfilment (obviously excluding these updates!) .

View of the Week (Week-End Edition) : On Connecting with One's Inner Child

+TED never ceases to amaze us even on a working week-end as we had hoped to be dark.   It has been quite a weekend as our hometown celebrated the holidays with the annual Holiday Parade and our World became just a bit more hopeful as they finished on an agreement at +COP21 .     We hope all enjoy this courtesy of Ted for this weekend edition of "View of the Week":

PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK

Talks for your inner child

Reconnect with your sense of wonder and imagination in these playful talks. Watch »

9 TED Talks • Total run time 1:58:52

The Friday Musical Interlude; Raef Performs "Freedom Ain't Free" with Thoughts on Life......

It is time for The Friday Musical Interlude here in Outsiders as we chose Raef as our artist of the Week.    We released a clip earlier available by clicking here in the ordinary faces channel as we hope al enjoy this selection as we also feature a "bonus" from must of our daily must reads from +Jonathan Huie  as we wish all fab weekend:

In dwelling, live close to the ground.

In thinking, keep to the simple.

In conflict, be fair and generous.

In governing, don't try to control.

In work, do what you enjoy.

In family life, be completely present.

- Lao Tzu

On the "Virtual Prowl" w/this from our Archives: Turning Regular Photos Into Artistic Masterpieces

We here at #Outisders are always amazed when we have a chance to review this from @NDTV recently on the possiblities of transforming images beyond our wildest dreams.   Our team has been evaluating photosketch but it does not even come close.

We'll be on this over the ensuing days and week: 

Read story: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/camera/news/average-joe-to-picasso-algorithm-turns-photos-into-artistic-masterpieces-734848

An #Outsider Newsflash (Special Edition): As #HourOfCode ls Here!! :))))

We decided to feature the guidance from the Code.Org Founder, Hadi Partovi as members of our team plan on joining the festivies today:

The 2015 Hour of Code is here, with 191,000 events around the world!

Challenge yourself, your classroom, your child, or a friend to learn something new this week. Learn to code with Minecraft, Star Wars, or 50 other options for every age, from pre-readers to adults.

Start your Hour of Code

A worldwide movement

Brooklyn and Chicago are going head-to-head in a competition to reach more students. In Nigeria and Syria, students are coding amidst the violence. Russia and Italy asked every school to host an Hour of Code. In Zimbabwe, Guam, Colombia, France, Malta, Afghanistan — in every country — students are learning skills that can change the rest of their lives.

Join the conversation around this global event. Browse this #HourOfCode live feed, share your own coding story on social media with #HourOfCode, or watch this 1-minute video of classrooms around the world.

Beyond one hour — a sea-change in education

Thanks to your voices, the largest U.S. cities have adopted computer science. Some entire states are adding the course to schools. But 75% of schools still don’t teach this foundational field. You can help change that. Ask your local school to teach computer science (sample letter).

Your stories and passion make this movement possible. Join us now to prove anyone can take part is building the technology that’s changing our world.

Hadi Partovi and the Code.org team

Notations From the Grid: On #COP21 Paris

As we went to press, cities throughout the World were slated to announce Climate Action Plans which we hope to feature here as we continue being on the "Virtual Road' at +COP21 : 

In 1h cities&regions unveil #climateaction plans #COP21 https://t.co/qnrv9nvvEs #LPAA LIVE https://t.co/mKolwM9yw9 pic.twitter.com/IyU30dLj3M

— UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC) December 8, 2015

As we await the final week, this thought said it all which we wanted to feature: 

For Our Children & For Our Grandchildren, urgent #ClimateAction needed at #COP21: https://t.co/mzsTvs43X0 pic.twitter.com/p5Qjd1el2x

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) December 8, 2015

What we also wanted to note was what the team  @ +350.org noted in its' concerns as the draft agreement is working its' way through the process as it noted the profound concerns: 

1. The date for phasing out fossil fuels keeps being pushed back. Keeping warming to safe levels requires phasing out fossil fuels and moving to 100% renewable energy by 2050, a date which many countries have already agreed is feasible. But the earliest mentioned date in the draft text is "2060-2080," and other proposals calling for a transition 'over the course of the century.' We don't have another lifetime to wait for real action, and we will push for serious reductions in fossil fuel consumption and production on the fastest timeframe possible.
    
2. Indigenous Rights have been removed from the text. Indigenous people are on the front lines of battles to keep fossil fuels in the ground over the globe, and respecting their rights is essential to a just transition to the energy economy we need. Our Indigenous allies are working on the strategy to re-include this section into the text and we will fight with them.
    
3. The path to increasing ambition after Paris is unclear. A critical part of any agreement will be establishing regular meetings to check in on progress of enforcing the deal and increasing the ambition to match with new  developments. The means by which this will happen is still quite uncertain, and understanding that will be essential to whether the deal sends a real signal that the world is getting off fossil fuels. 

The team @350.Org also provided some newsflashes on the latest deliberations: 

At U.N. climate talks, top officials turn up heat for final week - Reuters 

Climate Change Conference: Halftime Assessment of COP21 - Decoded Science

#COP21 deal: Indigenous peoples fear rights might be dropped - Rappler. Also see video from the Indigenous Environmental Network here: youtube.com/watch?v=2ya4yrA0aFo&

Proposal to achieve zero emissions growth by 2060-80 - The Hindu

As we went to press, though, the Capital of China declared a red alert for Smog that would see it shut down for at least three days.       This is as New Delhi in India is implementing a program whereby cars are allowed to drive on odd-even days.     

It is is bound to be interesting.....

As A New Week Dawns.....

Our team wanted to begin on a positive note here throughout the #Outsider Network.     What +Jonathan Huie sent out was every so timely in light of the profound challenges before us--enough said as we wish all a fabulous week:

Everyone should carefully observe
which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Proverb

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson 

Prevail over adversity.
Persevere in the midst of turmoil.
Passionately act upon your convictions.
Purposely walk into the day.
- Mary Anne Radmacher 

View of the Week: On The Art of Giving

We hope all enjoy this as we begin the holiday season in the United States:

The gift of giving

It’s the giving season. And thus, we give you these great talks on the hows, whys and whats of generosity. Watch »

7 TED Talks • Total run time 1:33:28

Notations On Our World (W-End Edition): On the "Virtual Road @ #COP21 (With Late Breaking Developments)

As we hope all enjoy this latest snapshot courtesy of the +The Guardian , what we found gratifying over the past 24 hours was that a draft agreement has apparently been reached:   We are extremely gratified by this development as we hope all will live up to it because we here @ #Ousiders view it as a matter of life.     As we went to Press with this weekend edition we received reports from China that Beijing elementary and middle schools were required to suspend outdoor activities as the city issued an orange altert for smog....".      The Fierce urgency of now is ever so critical.....

sd	sdf Dear Mike, At the end of the first week of the talks, there are still huge divisions between countries on all the key points. The French formally take over running the meeting on Saturday when negotiators hand over the text of what they've managed to agree so far. At the moment they haven't agreed very much, despite a myriad of meetings lasting late into the night to try to find consensus on each point. There is a big dispute over whether the agreement should be aiming to limit global warming to 2 degrees, or 1.5 degrees, in line with the latest science, for example. Small island states, at risk of inundation, are digging in on 1.5 degrees, along with other countries. But nations like Saudi Arabia and India are adamant it should not be mentioned. Countries are also at loggerheads over whether all should eventually have to properly report their emissions and track progress towards their national target, something that's pretty important in an agreement that won't be legally binding and won't contain any sanctions. I wrote about this disagreement here. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, has now appointed a bunch of high level officials to try to crunch agreements before the text is handed over at noon tomorrow. The foreign ministers and other high level officials take over the negotiating for the final, critical week. It's supposed to be done by next Friday, but these things seldom finish on time…. Here's today's reading list, with a few extra long reads for the weekend Paris climate talks: what difference will temperature rises really make? UN on wrong track with plans to limit global warming to 2C, says top scientist The 'red line' issue that exposes deep divisions in the climate talks Weekend reading Paris summit: the climate circus comes to town The Mekong river: stories from the heart of the climate crisis Christiana Figueres: the woman tasked with saving the world Yours Sincerely, Lenore Taylor, political editor, Guardian Australia

On the "Prowl" w/our "KickStarter" Backed Projects: Brief Notations For the WeekEnd

We have been eagerly await receipts of the products and have been releasing updates throughout the last number of weeks.   We received this latest on one of our projects we've backed as we eagerly await the arrival of them all and featuring our analysis of it here in the Visions Channel.

As we hope all enjoy this latest update, watch this space for further developments......

11 Dev Team Diaries No. 6: Delicious Aluminium Posted by Matter And Form Inc.

Hi!  Sorry this was longer than anticipated. A few of you have been calling out for the next update, but I didn’t want to post anything until these puppies came in. Check it out!  CNC Prototypes! Which stands for 'Cool New Cray-cray' This is exciting, because it’s the last step before we place the order to manufacture thousands of Bevels! We’ll be spending the next little while scrutinizing the details and making final tweaks before we begin molding. And if you’ve been following us so far, you could have guessed that we’re not shipping you the product this month. We’ve been pushing hard to make the deadlines, and we’re close. Only about 2 months off. The current timeline looks like we will be shipping the freight (from the factory to the warehouses) in Feb, before the Chinese New Year. If we miss this, the wait can be an additional 2 months! So we’re pushing hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.  Being late is not fun. But I can only say how wonderful it is to have such great supporters like you. We’ve had some great backers who have been openly telling us to “take our time” and “just make the best product possible”. That means a lot.  Still though, we’re gunna try to meet our deadlines and get you this really cool device as soon as possible. And if you want to come see the Bevel in action early, head by our booth (#26530) at CES in Jan. We’ll be doing live bust scanning for anyone who drops by!  As always, send us your comments and ideas! You’re integral to making this happen. You are the best!  Here are some more images. And if you want to see more shots, head on over to our blog post for the full collection! https://matterandform.net/blog/dev-team-diaries-no-6-delicious-aluminium From Above 3/4 Side From Below

The Friday Musical Interlude: John Legend's "Wake Up Everybody"

As it is Friday, it is time yet again for the Friday Musical Interlude here in #Outsiders.    In the spirit of this property and the broad mission for us here at #Outsiders, we hope all enjoy this selection we've chosen from our artist of the week:  John Legend--and may we all take up this call to action to wake up for the sake of our Earth, our children and our grandchildren:

On the Eve of the Friday Musical Interlude: A View of the Week To Enjoy....

We here @ #outsiders are big fans of the folks at @Simple_Truths and feature selections from their APP on the #Outsider twitter feed at least twice a day as we tend to our hasttag watch series.     We received this recently at our World Headquarters which we wanted to share for all to embrace as part of the on-going mission of the "Visions" property here to create the ultimate Vision of the Possible: 


An Excerpt From
The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things
by Peggy Anderson
What are your greatest gifts? How can you best serve mankind? These are questions you must answer to find your true purpose in life.

     Who am I?
     What am I meant to do here?
     What am I trying to do with my life?

These are powerful questions that can be difficult to answer. They sometimes surface during major life transitions such as family strife, job loss, spiritual awakenings, or the death of a loved one.

Every person is a unique being. There is only one of you in the universe. You have many obvious gifts and other gifts still waiting to be discovered.

I truly believe, however, that one of the most important questions you can ask yourself in your jouney to find your purpose is, “How can I serve others?”

Albert Schweitzer said it well: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”