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I like the idea of micropayments to support content.

But I wasn't able to get Flattr to accept my credit card. Wasn't sure if it was because they are Sweden-based and I am in the US, as I didn't keep trying.

Exactly this. I've been looking for this for a while, and was hoping this was the direction Medium was going to take when they changed direction.

I want my fixed monthly "internet content subscription" divided between things I read that month, with the option to veto things that turned out to be clickbait and to allocate more to articles that I found exceptionally valuable.

After the Medium announcement in January, I've been very curious what their new direction would turn out to be. I'll be waiting to see how it plays out before judging, but this really is not what I was hoping for.

It seems clear that there is a new appetite for paying to support quality content that did not exist four months ago.

But I already pay for quality content that is curated by an editorial authority (The Washington Post, etc.).

I'm still looking for way to support good content that is too niche for mass-market consumption.

What I really want is a micropayments service that saves a record of every blog post I want to support. Then, at the end of the month, I can set my "subscription" budget and allocate it to the creator of each saved post based on the value I got from it and my desire to see the creator produce similar content.

Basically I want to:

  1. support content I read  
  2. but not blow my monthly budget by paying a fixed price per piece  
  3. and not support clickbait junk just because I was linked to it and read it

So from a monthly a budget of $20, a couple really good posts might get $1 or $2. NYTimes CPM is $8 (or $0.008 per ad view) [2] so even $0.05 - $0.10 for an average article beats top-end ad revenues, except for sites with highly targeted audiences (assuming no one clicks the ads, which is almost entirely the case for certain audiences that might care about high quality content).

I think Flattr is supposed to work to be a little like this, but I couldn't even get it to accept my (American) credit card. Patreon is intended for larger recurring payments to creators. So as far as I know this doesn't already exists. But I really wish it did.

[1] https://blog.medium.com/renewing-mediums-focus-98f374a960be [2] http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/selfservice/help.html

Seconding the recommendation for Practical Electronics for Inventors as a comprehensive and self-contained book for learning electronics at a hobbyist level.

Art of Electronics is also a good book but needs to be read with a discerning eye to place everything in the appropriate context: some sections are important, some are premature optimization for hobby-level projects, and some are flat out obsolete. I feel it's better used as a reference book than read cover to cover.

Also worth playing around with the Falstad circuit simulator: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/

And there are lots of good app notes out there from the manufacturers. (http://www.ti.com/ww/en/bobpease/assets/AN-31.pdf is a classic.)

Public key encryption does feel like it could be a useful approach. Rather than putting the burden on camera manufacturers, it could be implemented on a portable hard drive with SD card reader. (Turns out these already exist, just not with encryption: https://www.wdc.com/products/portable-storage/my-passport-wi...)

This would allow the photographer to review photos on the camera until satisfied, then simply plug the SD card into the portable hard drive. All files would be automatically encrypted and saved to the hard drive, and the SD card would be wiped. The files on the hard drive can't be decrypted without the private key, stored at home.

A very cool sonification of income inequality along the New York subway: https://datadrivendj.com/tracks/subway