Oh, look, it's a video!
A while back (read: when it was still warm enough for me to wear a tank top) I headed over to the Infosys Technologies building to check out a wacky new contraption created in collaboration with The Big Space. Called the Magic Mirror, it's an interactive touch-screen computer designed for store dressing rooms so that they can improve the customer experience while simultaneously boosting profits. And here's what we saw.
Awesome? Creepy? Annoying? Just plain cool? You decide.
I'm practical, no-nonsense, and down-to-earth, despite what other people who write for this blog may tell you. So when our local CNET TV honcho, Rich DeMuro, told me I might want to check out the Holiday Preview event held by trade magazine Toy Wishes earlier this week, I kind of rolled my eyes. I'm not really one for kid stuff. And indeed, the entertainment tie-ins and crazy web-enabled light-up flashing gadgets are kind of insane. I'm still not understanding the appeal of a Darth Vader action figure that morphs into the Death Star.
But you kind of have to suck it up, embrace your inner eight-year-old, and try to ignore the fact that the proliferation of Wi-Fi-enabled toys at such an event is going to make you feel really, really old.
What do you call it when people have started to bust out the fake snow and start talking about holiday gift buying before you've even begun to plan your Halloween costume? I'll tell you what you call it. You call it scary.
But such is our culture. Last week, Jeff Bakalar and I went over to the "Holiday Spectacular" event held by Pepcom, that company that has turned a combination of open bars, schlocky decoration themes, and display cases of cell phones and cameras into a cottage industry. I saw cool gadgets. Enough said.
But Jeff, being the anti-materialist that he is, wouldn't have anything to do with the holiday gift-scouting fever. No, he was just really interested in chatting with those long-suffering booth babes. What a sociable fellow he is.
I know it sounds a little trite, a little stereotypical, a little girly, etc., but I really did find the idea of learning the ropes of mobile poker to be slightly more accessible when I was told that I could have a pedicure in the process. That was the thinking behind an event to publicize Hands On Mobile's latest release, World Poker Tour: Texas Hold'em 2, which introduced a handful of curious females to the seemingly boys-only world of poker by providing lessons and demonstrations in the context of an afternoon of spa treatments at midtown Manhattan's luxurious Cornelia Day Resort.
And what I learned: Poker is sneaky, underhanded, sly, and a total power trip; just like Rachel McAdams' character in Mean Girls. No, really. It was fun.
P.S.: Producer Extraordinare Wilson Tang, i.e. "the guy holding the camera," declined to receive a pedicure. But he did get a very nice foot rub from some reflexologists. I have photos that he doesn't want you to see.
Our esteemed CNET reviewers are always making those "First Look" videos, in which they talk about the latest smart phone or LCD flat-screen TV or overpriced home theater system. Well, here's a look at one of the First Looks that the CNET overlords deemed unworthy of a second look. It's somewhat shocking, really. I had no idea that our seemingly mild-mannered reviewers could stomach that sort of thing. If you don't believe me, I guess you'll just have to watch it.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. We here at Crave would like you to know that Jeff Bakalar is not really anywhere near as sketchy as this video makes him seem.
There's a storefront in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood called Grand Opening, home to a table tennis venue that's actually a design studio, but won't be a table tennis venue for too long because then it's going to be turned into something totally different after July 1.
Oh, and there's a live webcam.
Confused? Just watch the video.
The Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU is very close to my heart. First, because it's one of those few magical places where you can say something like "That is so steampunk of you!" and actually have people know what you mean. Second, because its winter 2006-2007 student show was the setting of my very first video blog. Awwww!
So, this time around, I went over to the ITP spring semester show, which was held in one of NYU's building spaces on Tuesday and Wednesday, to see what the students over there have been coming up with over the past few months. There's some awesome stuff in there; ITP consistently rolls out some really neat fusions of art and technology that have a tendency to be rather mind-blowing.
Oh, P.S.: When you're dealing with interactive telecommunications, you actually want to "interact" with it--so that's why I took along CNET camera guy extraordinaire Wilson Tang. As a result, I was able to play with the fun exhibits without needing to wrangle a camera too. Thanks, Wilson!
Well, um, I'd like to treat you to some interesting footage that I took on Friday afternoon while hashing over a bunch of random Apple rumors that had surfaced throughout the course of the week. It was kind of driving me nuts. iTunes subscriptions? Leopard delays? The Beatles? I mean, I've got stake in this. I'm a potential iPod buyer, as you'll see in the video. I'd like to be confident when I purchase a new iPod that Jobsy won't just roll out the next generation of 'em the next day. (Knowing my luck, that'll happen.)
I wanted to see what people thought, so I asked around the office, and as it turns out, I was pretty much the only one who was being driven nuts by all the Apple rumors. Nobody wanted to talk about it; I mean, Dave Katzmaier wanted to talk about scarab beetles instead. I guess Friday afternoons aren't the best times to get people to agree to on-the-spot video blog interviews. Then I was off to my BuyYourFriendADrink coverage, and I haven't heard a single good Apple rumor since.
So I suppose I'm just a tremendous nerd. Perhaps Steve Jobs really doesn't run the world as I'd suspected he did. Or perhaps I just need to get a life.
So, that Grindhouse flick has made the phenomenon of the 'double feature' totally cool again, and lucky for me, I was able to hit up a double feature of casual gaming competitions last weekend. In this edition of the Craving NYC video blog is a look at a Cooking Mama: Cook Off tournament at the Nintendo World store, to commemorate its launch for the Wii; and a Guitar Hero II showdown at NYCLAN, a video gaming center in Manhattan's West Village neighborhood. (I wrote about their Halo players a few months ago.) It was really cool to see the mix of people who showed up to play, and to think about how games like these have completely changed the face of the video game industry. (I mean, cooking?)
So, there might not be any psychotic stuntmen, zombies, or Rose McGowan in my double feature, but I hope you like it anyway.
Everybody loves robots, despite what Mike Yamamoto may tell you. And these crazy musical robots at LEMURplex in Brooklyn are especially cool. These homemade 'bots are controlled by a single Mac, according to LEMURplex's Eric Singer. Cool stuff. Check out the video to see them in action. Happy watching!
Click here for previous episodes of Craving NYC.
