Fun with Mozilla Ubiquity
So by now you've probably heard of Ubiquity for Firefox by Aza Raskin. If not, watch this:
Yay. Done? Excellent. This app ran through the office like Databanana on a skateboard this week so POKE Charles and POKE Chuck here in NY decided to add a few plugins to it's already growing list of awesomeness.
They are:
Seeqpod: Click to download / install
Our Seeqpod tool allows you to search for any MP3 using the Seeqpod API directly from your browser. Just type "sp" and whatever song you're looking for and it will give you direct acces to the Seeqpod search results page (by pressing enter) and direct acces to the audio file (by clicking on a result).
UPl8: Click to download / install
A little easier access to our UPL8 app. Learn more about UPL8 here. Just type the word Bored and the thing you'd like to see video about to cure your boredom (ex: Bored Boobies) and off you go, to a "boobie" channel rolled just for you.
Tumblr: Click to download / install
Yet another easy way to post to your Tumblr. It covers all types of Tumbr postings except audio: text, photo, quote, video, chat and link. (All the instructions are behind the download link.) Rock.
Embrace Your Grace!
Hey there. Please help us welcome EmbraceYourGrace.com, a fan site centered around TNT's hot new show Saving Grace. This isn't your everyday fan-page though-EmbraceYourGrace pulls together the show's creator, Nancy Miller, and a few of the TV show's writers to craft discussions about the themes found in this provocative drama. Fans are invited to share the moments from their own lives that they feel connect them to Grace Hanadarko, the shows fiery main character.
We've also introduced the theme of competitive commenting, an idea that Tom won't shut up about. Not only can fans share their inner Grace moments, they can also comment and cast their vote in agreement (or not) with others' statements as well.
And comment they have! Fans have been flocking to the site since the start of season 2 just a couple of weeks ago, and the comments have come flooding in. Swing by the site to read through some of what these fans are saying about Saving Grace.
the internets killed the video star
YouTube has become the world’s largest pile of videos, sure. But for all its inter-excellence there's one thing the new tube hasn't been able to reconcile with the boob tube: channel surfing. Mindless, 2am *next...next...next...* channel surfing. You know, the kind that invariably ended up on Skin-a-max, HSN, or some bizzarro japanese gameshow...
POKE is 1!
Yes, it's true! Believe it or not, POKE NY stepped into the world just over a year ago now! We've come a long way in a year — learning to walk, mumbling our first words... Go ahead, you can say it, "Awww, they grow up so fast."
As you can see from the shot above, we've filled out a little bit since our first days. Though, to be fair, we've welcomed some friends to share a corner of our space. Ya know, just to keep things interesting.
You can have a look at what we've accomplished over the last year by clicking through to our portfolio. We've poured our hearts, along with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, into our first year of work. We've redefined the way that people shop online with Teroforma. We've been told how people like to Keep Life Sexy. We've even won an award for innovative design with our work for BBC's Love Earth. And, of course, our POKE Cam has received plenty of love. Overall, not a bad start for a bunch of passionate geeks doing what we love. And fear not, we've got plenty more lined up to make the upcoming year even more exciting than our first!
So, what did we do to celebrate our first year? Well, we thought about cupcakes, but those just didn't seem to do it. We debated grabbing a beer or two, but we do that every Thursday (and we've been joined by some amazing people along the way!). We considered doing something fun like driving go-carts, but they told us no-way after looking at our driving histories. So instead, we closed the office, threw everyone in a bus, and went away for a weekend. The POKE NY 1-year anniversary party was held on Block Island. That sleepy oceanside retreat never knew what hit them, especially when we spent an afternoon racing around the island on mopeds during our very own POKE scavenger hunt. Some Pokers even wore lipstick for the event — they had to keep life sexy!
And, of course, we're never without a camera handy. We've documented our adventures over the last year in the POKE NY Flickr Group. Feel free to take a spin through it if you'd like to see how we've grown up. And don't be shy! Swing by the POKE Cam and say "Oh Hai!" sometime.
SynchStep for your iPhone
SynchStep, meet world. World, meet SynchStep!
Designed and developed single-handedly by Greg Elliott, SynchStep is a fun and easy experimental way to plays songs from your music library that match your pace. That means when you're out struttin your stuff down "My Favorite Street", every step you take lands in-time with a drum hit, a bass slap, a piano chord. It's kind of like being in your own music video, where your your music becomes the soundtrack to your life. Ya, it's just like a your own music video, except you don't have to pay 3 hundo to some smug director and let his smarmy crew use your bathroom.
The idea behind SynchStep was to create an interface-less device. See, each person has a unique gait, and SynchStep is built to adapt to your individual walking style. It doesn't require people to wrap themselves around bizarre, non-ergonomic devices (keyboards? are you listening?).
Originally, Greg created SynchStep was a hand-made, custom built MP3-player in 2005. His experimental interface didn't even have a display - only an on-off switch. He gave it to people from age 10 to 65 to play with. Without explaining the device to any of them, each tester was told to go for a walk. Surprisingly, everyone got it, probably because the "user interface" is really the user's body. Unfortunately, it was tough to hand out hundreds of hand-made, fragile gadgets that cost $250 each and countless hours of sanding and cursing.
Then along came the iPhone and iPod Touch, both packed with all the hardware needed to run SynchStep. This meant that if SynchStep was re-written, it could be given to everyone who had one of these little gadgets. So, Greg rebuilt SynchStep from the ground-up to run on this new, shiny platform.
While eventually SynchStep will be available to everyone for free, it's currently available only as a private beta. It's being tested pretty intensely to make sure it's a great experience.
The final version will be a one-stop shop, with minimal setup required. Installing SynchStep will make you happier, wealthier, and more satisfied*
*SynchStep in no way promises to make you happier, wealthier or more satisfied.
ZOMFG! Teroforma is (was) live!
Quietly one night on the LES, a new baby was born at POKE New York. The labor was intense (I believe I heard someone say "passing a watermelon throught a garden hose is easier"? But it happened...
It's (was) live. It (was) called Teroforma. And we'd loved for you to have played with it.
Poke was contracted last Fall to begin ideation in collaboration with a few great folks from Norwalk, CT on a new kind of tableware company. This brand, its values, its vision and its identity were all born here at 44 Bond street. In October of last year we even launched the Tero blog (http://blog.teroforma.com) to detail and track our progress bringing this new brand and company to life. But alas, none of this is available for the public. All you need to do is contact us if you're interested.
Where's the Poke 'cam?
Well...hopefully you're looking right at it! If not, click below: live.pokenewyork.com
Hey! We're Poke. Nice to meecha.
Click this link to chat with POKE live at live.pokenewyork.com
It started out pretty simple. A live feed in front of the “Don’t give up” sign. If you show up and don’t see anyone, you can ring the POKE-bell to see if you can coax a Poker in front of the camera. It all sounds good…however, the constant ringing of the POKE-bell by excited internetters sometimes makes us a wittle crazy.
We're still amazed by how many cool interactions we’ve had with people on the site. Job interviews, new business conversations, chats with loved ones and even magazine interviews! It's funny, sometimes we'll log in after hours and people will be up there just talking away. About the darndest things.
It's really become an ongoing experiment. Truth be told, we didn’t really have a plan for adding the webcam - just some messing around a little with Red5 - then came the added chat feature. Before we knew it, people actually started using it. Lots.
Even a year into it's existence, our little cam still has a few bugs but boy has it really been a fun ride. Below are some funny highlights to check out:
- High_five gave us our first ever ASCII Shout Out.
- POKE friend, David Armano dropped by and we just shot the breeze. Then he very kindly blogged us at Logic+Emotion’s after playing with us for a bit.
- The folks at pocketfuzz.com took turns with us turning our cameras and touring around our respective offices. They've got a great pad!
- We've received heaps of responses to our webcam driven recruitment campaign.
- The cam even caught Data Bananna filming his pilot show!
The cam has most recently found redefinition as the masthead of our new and improved Pokenewyork.com. But fear not! Follow the link "live" link above to be taken to the cam/chat experience in all its glory.
