Flattr Blog - 2/28 - Interviews, case studies, product updates, events we go to…

What data does Flattr collect about you and why?

Published by Siim Teller // January 9, 2012 // News // 7 Comments

Some of our more privacy-consious users have asked us what kind of data do we collect about our users and what do we do with this information.

There’s also the “why collect data at all?” question and I’ll start with that. It’s clear that we need to know enough about you so you can log in and see your stuff. The other aspect of building websites, services and web apps is data for usability – it helps in understanding if we’re building a good product. Are people getting things done or is our poor design getting in the way, making users, you, frustrated, and leave us.

Theoretically we (or anyone) doesn’t need to collect this information but practically it would be like throwing darts in the dark, we’d have no idea if anything we did mattered to anyone.

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I’ve signed up with Flattr, now what?

Published by Siim Teller // January 4, 2012 // Learn // 3 Comments

Welcome! Let’s walk through all the options that Flattr gives you whether you’re someone who creates and shares content or you simply want to support your favorite blogger, coder, web comic artist…*

Use this easy flow to figure out what’s next for you. (Click for larger view.)

Broadly speaking people sign up for one of two reasons:

1. Givers – want to support content they enjoy
2. Authors – use Flattr on their site to offer a simple way of supporting

Often the authors are givers themselves too, hitting Flattr buttons on their own favorite sites. And likewise the givers could easily turn into authors.

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The future of music, and the best of 2011

Published by Per Thulin // December 31, 2011 // Discover // 3 Comments

In 2011, the world continued to see a lot of conflicts around copyright and intellectual property. With the Internet, humanity has made an incredible leap in ability to share information and art. It hurts me to see so much energy wasted on trying to stop this.

I envision a future where music and technology can live in peace, and I think Flattr plays an important piece in this puzzle. In 2011, we partnered up with SoundCloud so that tracks could be flattred directly from the SoundCloud player. Libre.fm also joined the fun, and in december, Youtify added deep Flattr integration. I look forward to see the party continue in 2012.

I am also thrilled to see so many music artists embracing Flattr as a sustainable source of income. Here are the top flattred music artists for 2011:

5. Proffesor Kliq
I hadn’t heard the beatuiful beats from Professor Kliq until I stumbled upon him in the Flattr Catalog. I wish him many flattrs for 2012! [Flattr]

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The top FOSS projects in 2011

Published by Marie Axelsson // December 30, 2011 // Discover // 3 Comments

“Lists we need moar lists!”, I say. FOSS is very close to my heart, and to support free software via Flattr is a very natural fit. Here are the;

Top 5 FOSS projects in 2011

5. Adblock for Chrome has blocked about 100 billion ads, it blocks all advertisements on all web pages, even Facebook and Youtube. On the project wiki you can find the source and how to contribute. [Flattr]

4. JDownloader is download management tool with a strong community of developers with an aim to make downloading as easy and fast as it should be. You can start, stop or pause downloads, set bandwidth limitations, auto-extract archives and much more. [Flattr]

3. Dpkg, or Debian Package Manager helps you manage the packages you want to handle in your Debian installation. Debian is an OS based on the Linux Kernel. [Flattr]

2. W3C Validator is a popular tool that checks the markup validity of Web documents in HTML, XHTML, SMIL, MathML, etc. [Flattr]

1. The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Seamonkey and other mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank). [Flattr]

What FOSS projects do you think deserves some extra credit this year?

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Successful Podcasts in 2011

Published by Marie Axelsson // December 30, 2011 // Discover // No comments :(

The new year is getting close and closer. This is the most list intense time of the year and podcasts are very popular here on Flattr. Personally I believe it’s all about that the connection between a podcaster and their listeners is more intense, personal and direct, than most other relationships (like blogger/reader, photographer/viewer). So let me present to you;

Five popular Podcasts

5. Citizen Reporter gives us under-reported news by a Portuguese-American, activist-journalist based in Amsterdam. Chew on that combination. The host is well known as bicyclemark. [Flattr]

4. Linux Outlaws is a podcast by a dynamic duo of Fab and Dan (previously featured), two pragmatic geeks who talk about the latest news concerning Linux, free and open technology or anything else they deem noteworthy which may include such absurd things as hockey or bands you never heard of. [Flattr]

3. Bits und So is a weekly German podcast, about Mac and gadgets, hosted by Timo Hetzel and his crew . [Flattr]

2. Alternativlos was launched by two well-known German guys, Frank and Fefe. Alternativlos used to be a famous killer phrase in German politics. It means “there is no alternative”. The show is quite wide topic wise, but they care a lot for your privacy. You can read more about their show in a previous article by us. [Flattr]

1. CRE, Chaos Radio Express, by Tim Pritlove. Chaos Radio Express is a homage to Chaos Radio, when it comes to the name, but content wise it is it’s own show and have now been running for 6 years. Tim has been very successful with his podcast projects. I’m not showing off all Tim’s podcast projects, most of which cover the top 10, but all of them can be found through his profile or website. [Flattr]

Disclaimer: The list is a mix between the most popular German and English podcasts, and published in current order of clicks on the main url for the site
Picture CC-by-sa Tim Wang

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2011 season finale, it’s a wrap!

Published by Linus Olsson // December 29, 2011 // News // 2 Comments

Linus, in a very small plane

Season finale of great TV shows often recaps the highs and lows of what’s happened during the year. Grab a cup of mulled wine, curl up on your sofa and prepare for some nostalgia and hazy memories of grandeur while our co-founder Linus wraps up 2011.

January, Episode 1 – “We Want Donations!”

Crazy times, Wikileaks broke into the mainstream and it was clear that a lot of people couldn’t or didn’t want to use PayPal to support the controversial organization. Flattr came to rescue and released the most requested feature at the time – donations. Peter and myself shared some thoughts later why we decided to stick with them during that tough time.

January also introduced Flattr QR codes that started as a hobby project by our team. Suddenly it was possible to take Flattr out of the digital and into the real world. Apps to scan the codes for both iPhone and Android followed shortly.

February, Episode 2 – “That Warm And Fuzzy Feeling”

Nothing gives karma points like supporting a charity so we teamed up with a site we love – givv.org – to make it possible to flattr a number of the biggest and most well-known charity organizations in the world.

Winning the Swedish Hoola Bandoola band award was something that meant a lot to us and we topped off the month by making our website available in more languages. Good timing too as Peter (the other co-founder) took to the stage in Germany and within 40 minutes turned our Teutonic friends into our biggest fans. Vielen Dank!

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5 great games in 2011

Published by Marie Axelsson // December 29, 2011 // Discover // 2 Comments

This has been a long year at Flattr, and we’ve gotten loads of great content you can support. I’m glad to see all these games out there. Let me present to you;

Top 5 Games of 2011

5. Minecraft is a game this year you can’t have missed. Everyone talks about those blocks. In most cases you pay for the game, but there’s also a free version to play. Either way, this proves that people want to support stuff that is both free and not. [Flattr]

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Standing up against absurdity – SOPA

Published by Marie Axelsson // December 23, 2011 // News // 4 Comments

Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, has been a long way coming, there have been a lot of protests and critique, especially from organizations like the EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation:

This legislation, if passed, will wreak havoc on our Internet community, jeopardizing the innovative and creative ecosystem that has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, helped countless people access information, and spurred a new generation of artists and creators. But big media groups are willing to sacrifice all of that in a ham-fisted attempt to control how you consume online content. And in the process, they’ll undoing long-standing legal protections for websites and endangering the basic infrastructure of the Net.

This can and will affect us here at Flattr as well, in our work to make information accessible for everyone, always. The fight isn’t over yet, and we still need all of you to stand up against this and help out in whatever way we and you can.

There are some well-known persons offering their support in this fight against SOPA, they understand what it’s all about. Ashton Kutcher says that SOPA is the problem not the solution:

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In the Christmas spirit, let’s donate to a charity

Published by Marie Axelsson // December 22, 2011 // Discover // No comments :(

Christmas is around the corner and here at the office we’re really getting into the spirit of the holiday. What better way to celebrate in the spirit of giving than by supporting some charities here on Flattr?

Givv collects a lot of charities under one roof. They’ve made available The AIDS Policy Project, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Save the Children, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Japan Disaster Relief Fund, American Red Cross and World Wildlife Fund, among others, on Flattr.

The Swedish Amnesty International have signed up to be part of the micro donation goodness that we bring.

Have you heard of Burma, or Myanmar as they call themselves these days? BurmaBlog is a non-profit NGO in the Czech Republic. Their goal is to restore peace, justice, democracy and human rights in Burma and to support and empower Burmese refugees. Curious about what’s going on in Burma, have a look at this video.

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Ninjas protecting your un-flattred money (at least for six months)

Published by Siim Teller // December 15, 2011 // News // 5 Comments

Flattr premises, and now your money, protected by ninjas

I wanted to share two user friendly changes we have implemented in December. The first one concerns funds added mid-month and the other one the rules concerning a situation when you have funds on your account but haven’t flattred anything.

When you create an account and add money mid-month then you now control the whole amount you added right away, not just part of it (equal share to the number of days left in the month) as it used to be before.

If you add money at the very end of the month you can still flattr all of it right away to make your favorite creators happy.

Secondly, we removed the rule that if you haven’t flattred anything during a month then your monthly budget will be donated to a charity. You now keep the money until you finally flattr something, or 6 months passes since your last Flattr click*.

After 6 months of inactivity we are forced to remove the money from our systems. It will still be put to good use as we donate all funds received that way to charity and you get karma points :)

Now, what else can we do to make Flattr easier to use and more logical?

* Technically it’s 6 months starting from the start of the first month without no flattr clicks.

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