Help MechaWorks make the world a better place. Or, get paid to do the stuff you’re already awesome at. Either way works for us.

Crowdsourcing? What’s that?

What is crowdsourcing? Simple. We take individual tasks, things that we think someone out there can do better, and post them bounty-style. Some people use this method for discussing ideas, but we’re excited to be one of the first companies tapping it to actually get things done.

The process is pretty simple, and basically works as a bounty:

1) You flip through the projects below, and find one you can do. They range from graphics and design, to software and engineering.
2) Read over the project requirements, legal notices, and decide if it’s something you want to take a stab at.
3) You submit your work to us. We let you know if we’re going to accept it, or if you need to do some more work.

Like any bounty, the first submission that gels for us, gets the bounty… any other submissions get returned to their creators. We only use submissions that we pay for, so there is some onus on you to complete the task quicker than others.

Getting Things Done

We’ll be posting more specifics about our review process over the next week, but essentially the first person/group to complete the tasks listed below, will receive the cash awarded for each project (like, how we’ll handle two submissions sent in around the same time). But, we’ve posted more than enough to get started.

Our commitment is to keep this process open and fair, so that developers are both motivated and excited about the offerings.

Want to know more, email us with any project-related questions or inquiries. Regardless of if they’re technical (like, will this work to satisfy the requirements?) all the way to how do I get paid (we prefer PayPal, but check works too).

We welcome and encourage inquiries from everyone, but especially interested developers throughout the project’s process.

Open Source Projects

XBMC / Boxee

Ubuntu Wi-Fi Control for XBMC

XBMC is an excellent media center offering, but it lacks accessibility in key areas in regards to operating-system level interfaces.

Your task will be to create a fully-functional Wi-Fi interface for XBMC. This will be coded in a standard XBMC plugin with support for the range of skin modifications. Your plugin must replicate the menu bar level functionality of Ubuntu’s GNOME Wi-Fi menu, including Wi-Fi passwords, signal strength display, and support for hidden and ad-hoc networks.

Ubuntu has been chosen for this project as it is the common underlying operating system for XBMC, Boxee, as well as iConsole.

Support for a constant interface overlay, alerting of Wi-Fi disconnects is welcomed, but not required. Error handling and relaying is also required to provide a consumer-friendly experience.

License terms: This code will be released under GPLv2 at the project’s completion.

Award Amount: $500
Due Date: On or before March 1, 2009

Ubuntu Bluetooth Control for XBMC

XBMC is an excellent media center offering, but it lacks accessibility in key areas in regards to operating-system level interfaces.

Your task will be to create a fully-functional Bluetooth interface for XBMC. This will be coded in a standard XBMC plugin with support for the range of skin modifications. Your plugin must replicate the standard support for Bluetooth HID device communication, including pairing and unpairing, as well as any device-level configuration prompts. Error handling and relaying is also required to provide a consumer-friendly experience.

Ubuntu has been chosen for this project as it is the common underlying operating system for XBMC, Boxee, as well as iConsole.

Support for a constant interface overlay, alerting of Bluetooth disconnects is welcomed, but not required. Your plugin must be stable enough to not interfere with Ubuntu’s automatic repairing, however.

License terms: This code will be released under GPLv2 at the project’s completion.

Award Amount: $500
Due Date: On or before March 1, 2009