Crowdfunding has now officially become a cheap arcade game    If
the now-out-of-work Paula Deen started a Kickstarter campaign
for a new line of wigs made from butter, would people fund it? I
wish the answer was no, but I bet that project would raise money
left and right, regardless of her recent fall from grace.   The
crowdsourcing model started out great, absolutely: a way to help
people with a dream achieve their goal. It was about
putting cameras on roller skates and turning any TV into a smart
TV. Being a part of these projects once felt fun and inclusive.
You probably even got your money's worth, with an advance
version of the product in exchange for your investment.   That's
all changed now. Sure, you can still fund passion projects and
help small-scale inventors and creators turn their ideas into
reality. But you can also give money to Zach Braff so he can
make a movie (that will make him money), or you can hand over
cash to support a sleazy pick up artist. Crowdfunding has gone
from niche, community-