Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has apologized for not pulling down a project called "A Guide to Getting Awesome with Women" following a series of complaints that called the content highly offensive.

After Kickstarter caught wind of a blog post making the rounds on Reddit, which pointed out the questionable material found on the project, the company decided to keep it on the site. Kickstarter has since pulled the project — which promised step-by-step instructions on "getting good with women" — and is donating $25,000 to anti-sexual violence organization RAINN.

"The offensive material was part of a draft for a 'seduction guide' that someone was using Kickstarter to publish," Kickstarter wrote in an official blog post. "The posts offended a lot of people — us included — and many asked us to cancel the creator’s project. We didn’t. We were wrong."

Kickstarter cited two main reasons for their call.

"The decision had to be made immediately," the company wrote in its blog post. "We had only two hours from when we found out about the material to when the project was ending. We’ve never acted to remove a project that quickly. Our processes, and everyday thinking, bias heavily toward creators. We feel a duty to our community — and our creators especially — to approach these investigations methodically as there is no margin for error in canceling a project."

The company wrote the factors "don’t excuse our decision," but it hopes to shed light on the thought behind it.

"Let us be 100% clear: Content promoting or glorifying violence against women or anyone else has always been prohibited from Kickstarter," the company wrote. "If a project page contains hateful or abusive material, we don’t approve it in the first place. "If a project page contains hateful or abusive material, we don’t approve it in the first place. If we had seen this material when the project was submitted to Kickstarter (we didn’t), it never would have been approved. Kickstarter is committed to a culture of respect."

Those who funded the project will not receive their money back, the company wrote. "There is no taking back money from the project or canceling funding after the fact. When the project was funded the backers’ money went directly from them to the creator. We missed the window."

In addition to pulling down the project, Kickstarter is prohibiting “seduction guides” or other projects that encourage "misogynistic behavior".

"These things do not belong on Kickstarter," the company wrote.

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3D-printing company MakerBot announced Monday it's opening a new factory in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is hiring more than 50 new employees in the coming months.

MakerBot, which is already based in Brooklyn, will open its new 50,000 square foot Sunset Park factory Friday. The new facility will help meet the growing demand for more devices, according to the company. MakerBot already has 100 employees, with many building MakerBot desktop 3D printers. Read more…

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When you think about electric vehicles, skateboards are probably not first on the list. But thanks to new tech upgrades, the toy which was long considered just for teenagers is breathing new life into daily commutes. And not only do some use remote control technology, they can even be controlled with your mind.

With 50% of all trips people take in cars being under 5 miles and the last mile of public transportation routes often left for walking, manufacturers are starting to market electric skateboarding as an alternative eco-friendly way to beat traffic and save on gasoline.

"The electric skateboard is becoming a valid commuting option for anyone with balance," said William Hurley, the co-founder of electric skateboarding company Chaotic Moon. "In fact, in the past two years several new companies have emerged to try and grab a share of this emerging market." Read more…

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Kickstarter has been described as the Home Shopping Network for geeks — picture an online version of the Sharper Image catalog and an investment platform for tech startups having a baby.

But this is the wrong way to think about Kickstarter, because the site's founders have actually shied away from tech to take Kickstarter back to its roots: a fundraising platform for all forms of creativity, but mostly in the arts. Read more…

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When you’re looking for a new job, you don’t just want the right position — you want the right culture fit: an office that matches your laid-back vibe, your work-hard-play-hard attitude or your uber-creative personality. A team that supports your love for collaboration, your do-it-yourself spirit, or your desire to have a great mentor.

Sure, you could do good work anywhere, but if the attitudes and predispositions of the workplace feel like second nature, you’re more likely to hit the ground running (and to be happy there for the long haul).

Your best bet is to ask questions that (OK, sneakily) give you the real details about what it’s like to work there. Try these four to get you started. Read more…

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When logging on to Pinterest Wednesday afternoon, some users were surprised to find that their personal boards had completely disappeared.

Many of those who were affected took to Twitter to voice their concerns. The first tweets began appearing at around 4 p.m. ET. Many of those who were affected found that their boards were restored around 5:30 p.m. ET. Read more…

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Peer-to-peer car-sharing service RelayRides is going social, enabling users to rent a car through Facebook by harnessing their social network.

In a process the company is calling “Renting Social,” members of RelayRides can now post a Facebook status message that requests to rent a car, broadcasting their need to friends. The idea is simple: One of your buddies may have an extra car, or happen to be out of town when you need some wheels, and could be willing to loan it to you for a little cash. Read more…

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Simon Tian says he has in-hand a working prototype of something nearly unprecedented in consumer electronics: a smartphone the size of a watch. Not just a smart watch, but an actual, fully-featured smartphone running Google’s Android software that straps onto your wrist. Along with his team of nine at the Montreal, Quebec-based startup Neptune, he’ll be unveiling it in mid-April. Tian is only 18 years old—the founder and youngest member of Neptune.

Apple, meanwhile, is rumored to be working on a smartwatch that could act as an accessory to the iPhone, and may already have a team of 100 product designers working on prototypes of its own in its Cupertino, California headquarters. But unless Apple is going to surprise the world by unveiling an “iWatch” at an event anticipated this spring, Neptune is going to beat it to the punch.

Whenever Apple does get around to releasing an iWatch, it will face many of the same design, engineering and manufacturing hurdles that Neptune is currently wrestling with. That makes Neptune both an ambitious startup with an intriguing story of its own and a preview of the smartphone watch future that’s just over the horizon.

Neptune’s founder is an interesting story unto himself. Typically in Quebec, students go to a year of pre-college preparation in lieu of their final year of high school. It was during his time at this “college” that Tian started dreaming of skipping the rest of his education and starting a business instead. By May of 2012 he had founded a company, and operations commenced that October. So far, his funding has come entirely from family and friends.  Read more…

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