SFFn, Minutiae and Kimera Industries

[confusis]

All,

With the Kickstarter for Kimera Industries' Cerberus now live, I thought that it was as good as time as any to ensure that the community understand the links and non-links between SFFn and Kimera Industries.

Histories:
Small Form Factor Network was started in July 2015 as an expansion to the existing SFF Forum (launched in Feb 2015) as a news and review site. The project is a collaboration between @Aibohphobia (James), @PlayfulPhoenix (Joshua) and myself (John). This came about as I was looking to re-start my hobby (and hopefully eventually a career) of reviewing and testing SFF hardware, formed in my time with LOSIAS.net and SFFReview. James and Joshua had already built a great community to add this feature to, so I approached them asking if they wished to collaborate and expand SFF Forum. An agreement was formed and the result is what SFFn is now. @tekeverything (Jay) joined us on a freelance basis late last year.

Minutiae, the company we made to unify all of these projects (as well as Low Volume) is owned by Joshua, James and myself, and currently comprises of the aforementioned things, plus SFF Wiki, ITXGamer (a WIP), SFFReview (currently a redirect; was a predecessor to SFFn), and related domains, IP, etc.

Kimera Industries, comparatively, was started in 2014 by James and Joshua to for the purposes of manufacturing designs for PC products for enthusiasts, including the Cerberus case. It is owned by James and Joshua.

—

With the launch of the Kickstarter campaign, I felt it was necessary to explain how the two organisations are linked. And in short, they aren’t, in any way. We have ensured, throughout the development of both organisations, that there are no conflicts of interest, or links between the two, other than staff. This is much like a CEO being on the board of two unrelated companies.

To ensure that this is the case, we implemented a few internal rules a while ago to make sure we stay as unbiased as possible across all that we do within Minutiae. For example, no Kimera Industries products will ever be featured on the SFFn news/reviews site, or the LowVolu.me podcast. Furthermore, James and Joshua are not to review products that exist in the same market segment as a product they have, or are actively developing. Finally, no funding or assets are to be transferred between the two organizations, and neither organisation owns any part of the other.

To expand on all of these:
1. No Kimera Industries products are to be featured on the SFFn news/reviews site, or the LowVolu.me podcast. This means the Cerberus or any future products will not be featured on the front page or on the podcast. Note that this does not exclude the forums as this is a community entity. We are happy for companies in any form to have a presence on the forum - be it a major manufacturer or an indie company.

2. James and Joshua are not to review products that exist in the same market segment as a product they have, or are developing. This means that if SFFn is to review (at present) a case or related product, either I will review it, or we will pass it to Jay to review.

3. No funding or assets are to be transferred between the two organizations. SFFn does not financially support Kimera Industries or vice versa.

4. Neither organisation owns any part of the other. I personally do not gain in any way if Kimera Industries makes a profit, for example, nor do I lose anything if there is a loss.

TLDR:
SFFn and Kimera are completely unrelated, beyond the fact that James and Josh help to run both. Jay and I have no input to Kimera Industries, and Kimera Industries products will not be reviewed or featured in SFFn publications, nor will Kimera Industries be treated any differently in the eyes of SFF Forum or otherwise.

 

[Phuncz]

This level of seperation is something one rarely sees online and I was expecting the two entities to intersect more, although I understand why you don't want to mix these and I respect the focus on integrity.

 

[BirdofPrey]

it's actually slightly disappointing that SFN can't/won't review the Cerberus. I can definitely understand not having the creators review it, but to have it not show up at all is highly disappointing.

 

[confusis]

Don't get me wrong, as an unrelated party (i.e. I don't have any interest in Kimera Industries) I'd love to review the case, but the decision was made

 

[iFreilicht]

I think it was the right call, it keeps your integrity as a review site. As soon as you review the Cerberus and give it a good rating, which it would probably get deservedly, there will be people that immediately point out the potential bias there, which will hurt the credibility of SFFn as a review site and thus lower the chance of companies sending you review copies in the first place, or, even worse, make users not trust your reviews to point out all significant flaws of a product.

Thank you for explaining how it all fits together, this is important information to all users.

 

[TheInternal]

It sounds like y'all are referring to the long lost art of journalistic integrity. I heard about it on Fox News. They said it was a stupid and outdated concept and that I needed to buy more firearms because of America.

(In case it's not apparent: That's my cynical take on the state of journalism in the US, an attempt at humor, and my trying to express appreciation for making a difficult but ethically sound decision wrapped up in one little package.)

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

it's actually slightly disappointing that SFN can't/won't review the Cerberus. I can definitely understand not having the creators review it, but to have it not show up at all is highly disappointing.

I'm sorry for those who are disappointed, but the integrity of Minutiae and SFFn specifically is too important. Many tech journalists and resources are pretty loose when it comes to journalistic ethics and standards, but we've been very strict and transparent from the start.

That means we lose out on some opportunities in the short run, but it also means that we build trust in the long run. As we slowly expand, that's critical to the success of our efforts. And, frankly, it's our responsibility to the community as a whole - SFFn and SFF Forum are all resources for you all, first and foremost. How we do everything, from product reviews to financially supporting the organization, is predicated on the intention of doing the best we can for readers and forum members.

It sounds like y'all are referring to the long lost art of journalistic integrity. I heard about it on Fox News. They said it was a stupid and outdated concept and that I needed to buy more firearms because of America.

(In case it's not apparent: That's my cynical take on the state of journalism in the US, an attempt at humor, and my trying to express appreciation for making a difficult but ethically sound decision wrapped up in one little package.)

It's a shame that, as an American, only one of my primary news sources (The NYT) is actually based in the US...

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I think local US news sources are fine - 90% of the articles you read on CNN or Fox are just rewritten AP or Reuters reports. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the source to find the one with the opinion taken out!

 

[LocoMoto]

Minutiae is not something that rolls off the tongue very well but it and the mouthful that is SFFn does have some links in the name at least unlike that Kimera Industries which is pretty smooth all round to say.
And with this perfect logic, there is no way they can be linked!

 

[confusis]

Necrobump (may be my fault for reminding LocoMoto of the links)

 

[danger]

This clarifies things. I was wondering why it always says no questions about Cerberus in the podcast discussions.

 

[ricochet]

Respect the transparency and professionalism of this policy; I, as many others, support the decision you three (3) made 100%!