No Kickstarter this time. But Diaspora, the NYU-engendered, Bay Area-incubated, occasional Facebook shit-talking startup is asking for money, again, after a protracted development period. Last night, Diaspora blasted out an email to users. "You’ve been incredibly patient in waiting for an invitation. We’re still working as fast as we can to get yours to you, and we’re sorry it’s taking so long," they wrote. "In the meantime, though, we’re reaching out to ask if you’d be willing to help us go faster."

"Can you contribute $25--or any other amount you feel comfortable with?"

The money goes to the Diaspora Foundation. We're going to bet this is a bad idea. The Diaspora team got on the order of $200,000 when they initially asked for $10,000 last year, and the product isn't done. We're skeptical that users will pony up more.

Also, if you can give any amount at all, we’ll be sure to get you an invitation to join us at joindiaspora.com right away. (Just to be clear, you’ll still get your invitation regardless. But if you make a gift, we’ll get it to you now, so you won’t have to wait any longer.)

This thing about dangling invites over users' heads? Pretty annoying, Diaspora. Sorry--Diaspora*.