*AmongMany

Was doing some searching this morning and came across a Digg post for our WallBlank give-away. A big thanks to user slvrfrg for getting the word out there! Don’t forget to vote and to enter!

Tee shirt companies are cropping up right and left these days and sifting through is getting increasingly more difficult. Especially when you can’t try them on first (or if you’re extremely picky about how your clothes fit like I am). But when I stumbled onto Topo Ranch recently, I was pretty excited.

Their unique line of tees is made up a of variety of quirky, fun images. Some make a more political statement while others are just…out there (I’ve got the Disarm tee sitting on deck). And don’t for the fixie/hipster crew, don’t forget to check out their cycling tees. All of their tees are organic cotton and available in a variety of colors. Of course, they do more than tees as well, with a solid selection of hoodies, button-downs, etc. all in laid back colors and patterns.

And, while we’re on the subject of cycling, these guys outfit the Garmin/Chipotle professional cycling team with all their casual-wear. They also put out special, limited-edition prints for major cycling events. Check out this year’s Tour De France tee or Giro d’Italia tee.

Pics of my new Disarm tee coming soon!

Tom (aka. meat99) caught my eye with an interesting response this morning on Made With Computers. The question came from Tom Raftery’s Social Media blog. Tom (Raftery…this could get confusing) asked:

What is Social Media’s ‘big thing’ for 2008?

Here’s a quick excerpt from Tom (Raftery’s) post:

Looking back at Social Media, we have had a significant advance (a ‘this year’s big thing’) every year since 2004.

In 2004 - blogs started to really take off
In 2005 - audio podcasts started to take off
In 2006 - video podcasts started to take off
In 2007 - microblogging (Twitter in particular) started to take off
In 2008 - ???

We are in November now of 2008 and I still don’t see any big transformative Social Media technology which has occurred this year.

Has it stalled? What am I missing?

Tom (meat99) responded with:

2008 is the beginning of the “Curation” process. There is a quality revolution taking place in social media - video’s, blogs, photos, microblogs, etc will get more specific and more focused. Content will be much more focused on “how good it is” not on “how many people have seen it”.

As usual, an insightful answer from Tom (meat99) - hence why I love working with, and learning from, him. I don’t disagree with his response in the slightest; the idea of curation, especially through digital media, is something we’ve been looking at a lot this year at POKE. Just look at all the different digital services that have cropped up around culling down and presenting the “best of what’s out there”. Urban Daddy comes to mind quickly. So do Yelp, Going, and a slew of iPhone apps that could fill the rest of this page.

Of course, repeating his answer here doesn’t make for much of a thought - kinda wish I could rewind to before I read his post so it wouldn’t be stuck in my head. But after mulling it over for a few minutes, another important idea came back to me. This is an insight that I picked up on a recent project, and it’s something that has stuck with me. So here’s my response:

Perhaps the big evolution of social media in 2008 is the movement - or the acknowledgment and embracing of the trend - away from “collecting as many friends as possible” and toward the “advancement to the inner circles” of social media communities.

If we think about the history of social media for a minute, it’s pretty clear that some sort of caste system exists in almost every social site out there. Take a look at I’mInLikeWithYou, a dating site that masquerades as a gaming site that still works like a dating site (but functions like a social network)… Users “earn” the opportunity to get in touch with people who catch their interest by bidding and/or betting on a game started by the other person. But why are some games worth thousands of points while others barely jump above the 100 mark…?

Even simple message boards, perhaps the oldest form of “social networks” out there, often display a member number for each user. And the crew that’s been there the longest - those with the lowest numbers - have an unspoken seniority within the community. When they talk, others listen. And, of course, those members are often tapped to become the moderators and administrators of the community.

Recently, especially in the last year or so, we’ve seen more and more communities that make this a central focus. These social networks are no longer centered around how many friends you have, but rather overtly celebrate your status as a user within the community. Edopter, the “social trendcasting” site where users share what they believe will be the next big trend, is a perfect example. Rather than showing your friends on your profile, your rank within the system and your level of influence are placed front-and-center.

Yay Hooray!! is another excellent example - albeit one that I can’t speak to very specifically because I haven’t been invited to join yet. I do know, however, that it’s another community that labels its users according to a ranking system. Unlike some other communities though, on Yay Hooray!! it’s possible to skip over rungs on the ladder if an existing higher-up believes you’re worthy.

Of course, I guess Tom (Raftery) could argue that this doesn’t answer his original question if you take into account his reference to a “transformative technology” for 2008. But then, the difference between, say, audio vs. video podcasts (which Tom used as examples for ‘05 and ‘06, respectively) isn’t necessarily a big technological difference as much as it is a difference in the way that people are using the technology available to them.

So is this movement (shift in awareness? embracing of change?) THE ‘big thing’ for ‘08? I dunno. That feels like a heck of a claim that I’m a little hesitant to make (ie. commit to). But it’s definitely something that’s worth keeping in mind as we continue to move forward. Especially as more specialized, niche communities continue to grow across the web.

These days, you can find a Facebook group (or six) for just about everything under the sun. Want proof? Do a quick search through the groups section for “Saved by Zero” and you’ll find nothing short of 11 different groups dedicated to Toyota’s newest television commercial touting their extended 0% financing program. While most advertisers pray for their work to “go viral” (I shudder at the phrase), I don’t think this is what Toyota’s agency (Saatchi?) had in mind.

The backlash against this diminuative little piece of film is nothing shy of impressive. The largest of the Facebook hate-groups has swelled to more than two thousand members in only ten days. But the discussions don’t end on Facebook - in fact the social community is perhaps just the tip of the spear. Enraged (and rarely do I use that word to describe viewers of a TV commercial) viewers are coming out of the woodwork in communities of every type imaginable across the web.

Rants can be found on CraigsList (more than one), on sports forums, on gambling sites, and even on Esquire’s website. Major news sites including Forbes have picked up on the story. Someone even went so far as to create a petition to have the ad pulled.

I think we can safely say that this effort has “gone viral”. But perhaps not in the manner that anyone would have hoped for. In fact, I can’t imagine that anyone expected too much of this ad at all. At a glance, it just another mediocre-at-best car advertisment screaming about finance rates on a dozen models - something we’ve all heard thousands of times by now, unfortunately.

But tick people off just enough and you’ll find exactly how powerful an outlet the web can be. People who use the web to foster any number of diverse interests have found common ground on this one, and they’re not going quietly into the night this time. Sure, plenty of ads have been pulled because they outraged this group of fanatics or that one, but can anyone else remember a commercial that’s been pulled - not that this one has…yet - because it was just plain bad? Keep an eye out. This could set an unusual precedent.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen the spot yet, here it is:

Yup, most of us are fans on some level or another of Sofia Coppola’s 2003 hit Lost in Translation. Of course, as much as I enjoyed the movie (which I admittedly haven’t seen in a few years), I’m not sure that I could sit down and explain the plot too easily. I can, however, explain the plot of the new mashup by Charles Gallant (fellow POKEr and co-creator of RD4T) that he recently posted on Vimeo.

To demonstrate the reality of those “lost in translation” moments, Charles took the lyrics of NIN’s Closer and translated them from English to Japanese using Babelfish. He then retranslated the resulting Japanese rendition back into English (also via Babelfish) and set the newly interpreted translation in time to the original song.

The result is a humorous, intriguing look at why we don’t always understand one another, no matter how simply we believe we’re speaking. Give it a watch:

NIN & Babelfish from Charles Gallant on Vimeo.

NY-based designer Jeff Domke has just released yet another Obama-related design piece: Obamabats. A humorous adaptation of the popular “dingbats” font, Obamabats is a collection of 24 vector-ready Obama-esque images and design elements ready to be adapted for your next presidential project.

The download is free from Jeff’s site. Make sure to show us - and Jeff - what you use them for!

So after yesterday’s post about Wall Blank, I got a very nice email from Shawn Kelley, the man behind the scenes and founder of the newly formed company. He was thrilled to see our post and had some really exciting thoughts about the upcoming artists who will be featured on Wall Blank.

And, to top it off, Shawn was gracious enough to offer us two coupons that will cover the cost of a poster or two. And, as much as I need some wall-coverings of my own, I’m more excited to see what the readers around here are are in need of. So we’re going to give them away!

Here’s the deal:
Submit a comment on this post with a photo (or link to a photo) of the space you need to spruce up, along with a concise and compelling explanation of what you’re thinking about doing with it and why a fresh new poster would help. No novels, just a quick thought on what you’re excited to do with your space.

A week from today, on Wednesday the 12th, we’ll dig through the submissions and select our two faves to receive the coupons. Just be prepared to report back with fresh photos once your new posters are on the walls!

And thanks again to Shawn - I’m sure he’ll be interested to see the results as well!

Jenn, from a company I hadn’t heard of called Wall Blank, commented on a recent post. Curiosity got the best of me and I took a look at their site, only to find myself pleasantly surprised by the setup they’re using to sell posters:

A new piece of art will be posted for sale every weekday, available for one week or until it sells out, whichever comes first. Once an edition is sold out, it will never be available again.

Admittedly, some of their prints leave a bit to be desired right now, but I’m hoping that as they pick up, the designs will as well. (Come on guys, if it’s created in Wordle, I don’t really want to pay you for it, even if it is screenprinted.)

They’ve also got a non-profit initiative that happens every Friday:

Every Friday, the artist chooses a non-profit cause for all the proceeds to be donated to. That artist foregoes any payment, Wall Blank pays for printing costs out of pocket and other than shipping costs, every single penny received goes straight to the selected cause.

Keep an eye on these guys, hopefully we’ll see some good things from them in the future!

Since the Apple TV came out - under much scrutiny to say the least - the idea of streaming media from a “computer” source to a TV has become much more mainstream (and let’s not discount the impact of iTunes in that process as well). Netflix has followed up with a variety of streaming services as well, including the recent launch of it’s beta program for streaming content to Macs (check this link if you’re interested in joining that program) and the relatively new Roku set-top box for Netflix.

Well, now that the public is starting to understand what these offerings can do for their entertainment purposes, some newcomers are cropping up in the field with products that cater to this type of viewing. Perfect example is the new Archos TV+. Combine a DVR with a media player for video and audio content and you’ve got the gist of it. But, in my mind, what sets the Archos player apart is the ability to browse the web (though it does require a “plug-in” that they charge for). Suddenly your living room entertainment center has the potential to replace a second computer for those emergency situations when you need to book an appointment at the genius bar but can’t…because your computer is broken.

I’ve dug through the info on the Archos site, but can’t seem to determine what the potential is for moving media around (for example, what if I purchase something from iTunes?). But it does allow access to the major video hosting sites. It would be killer if they built streaming Netflix capabilities into the box as well!

If anyone’s had face-time with one of these bad boys, give us the run-down!

While many owners of this now-ubiquitous device would be hesitant to admit that its anything shy of perfect, the crew over at the FullSIX Group didn’t agree. While they’ll readily admit that they LOVE their iPhones, these guys were so adamant about some missing features on the device that they created a new site devoted to the missing pieces. Enter PleaseFixTheiPhone.com, a digital wish-list and peitition engine that anyone can add their iPhone wishes to in hopes that the God of all things Apple will hear their pleas.

Currently topping the list of desired features are copy & paste, MMS (picture messaging), and the inclusion of Flash in the phone’s capabilities. Of course, that’s only a few of the more than 1700 wishes that users have shared with the community in hopes of bettering their beloved devices. And those wishes have garnered more than a quarter of a million votes as of this morning.

But don’t mistake their wishlist as a fire-into-the-ether vocalization. The list of wishes that have already been fixed by recent updates is pretty impressive. So if you’ve got something that you can’t help but think would make your iPhone ownership experience just a bit better, get over there and let them know what it is. Hopefully someone in Cupertino is listening.