Remarkable team spirit

Since we first set foot on board, th’ atmosphere at Pirates o’ th’ CaribIN be nothin’ short of grand. We arrived on Thursday mornin’ and got everything set up, and since then we’ve been havin’ a blast! We’ve printed everything from pirate ships to gold doubloons, and we’ve lent a hand to our neighbors and gotten help in return. Here be two snaps that show off our mighty fine team spirit. First day, and mornin’ of th’ third day. We were up late last night makin’ improvements to our PoS system, ye scallywags!

A jolly group of pirate trackers
We were having a blast last night. Our work space shows it well

The Bastards Brand Guide

Claiming Glossy Pictures:

We asked AI to create a pirate color theme:

Here is a color palette that would work well for a pirate-themed app:

  1. Deep Sea Blue (#0E4A7E) – This shade of blue represents the vast ocean that pirates roamed and the mysterious depths that lay beneath its surface.
  2. Sun-kissed Gold (#FFC72C) – Gold is a symbol of pirate wealth and adventure, and this shade of gold has a warm and inviting feel, like the sun shining down on a pirate’s treasure trove.
  3. Rusty Red (#7B2E16) – This color represents the worn and weathered elements of pirate life, such as old ships and rusted treasure chests.
  4. Weathered Wood (#6F5F3E) – This color is a nod to the wooden deck of pirate ships and the rough-hewn timbers used to build pirate hideouts.
  5. Sandy Tan (#D7C3A3) – This color represents the sandy beaches where pirates buried their treasure and the warm, sun-drenched environment of the Caribbean.
  6. Stormy Gray (#5E5E5E) – This color represents the stormy seas that pirates often had to navigate and the treacherous conditions they faced on their journeys.

These colors work well together to create a cohesive and visually appealing palette that captures the essence of the pirate theme.

Based on the colors we drew a logo free hand using Microsoft Whiteboard and added the colors from the color profile.

The logo should appear everywhere to create cohesive branding.

UPDATE!

We updated the brand guide based in feedback from our pirates and this is what the new logo looks like:

Font

All good brands with some selfrespect has special fonts that is designed to give the user crafted associations. Never underestimate the effect of a good font.

We use two fonts in our designs.

Headers and body text we use Lato Hairline in Canvas Apps and Lato Thin wherever this font is too thin.

Lato on Google Fonts:
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Lato

For decorative contrast we use the font “Dancing Script”.

Dancing Scripts on Google Fonts:
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Dancing+Script

Color contrast

OF course we also checked that having that dark grey background with white text is accessible, and it is.

We used these graphics in our app that capture new pirates into our system:

Tap the chest to reveal your new pirate self.

Microsoft could api <3

Let’s face it first rather than later, we do work with Microsoft technology, and what is better than combine a lot of them together in the same solution? Look at the screenshots under, with the text to every picture, and we’re sure you also think this is a stairway to heaven!

First of all, the canvas app we have created is connected to AD so I get my profile picture from AD when I open the app
And then we have a live sync with my Office account so I can se my calendar and shedule for the days i select.
And, of course we use PowerAutomate to update my personal information directly to the F&O tables so I can be used as it’s needed by the P-level management!

If it wasn’t for the team, then what would we be?

To keep up the energy and team-feeling throughout the day, we really need to make an efford together. No one should feel left behind and everyone is included. For us, we have done this by dressing the same way, make sure everyone always have something to drink (either with or without the fun in it). And, we have played music all night to make most of stay up late to work with the solution and to give all the other team-members still here at 3am to have as much fun as they can! 🙂

It’s all about that glossy app

Our main solution is an app for the Pirates to use on their phone when they are out on their raids. So, it might not be a shock that we will claim the bagde for an App. But, of course it needs to be shiny and glossy as well. We are here to create the besgt user experience for the Pirate as we ca, and even if pirates come out as rough and hard-core, they still want their tools to be as easy and up-to-date as they can 🙂

Arrr, the scrawp (script) be mighty powerful in this one!

Pirates love talking trash, and where better to spew out all the fun than Microsoft Teams?

As a pirate you don’t have too many tools at hand at any given time. The same is true in 2023. Why learn something new when you have your trusty old swiss army knife at hand?

This time around we’re stealing from our own team mate, Mikael, taking one of the most powerful and mis-used plugins of all time, the PnP Script Editor Web Part, and we use it to easily embed our “Pirate “Capture a pirate” canvas app into Teams.

Teams App Admin

It’s as easy as rum and grog, add the Teams Tab, configure it with and <iframe> tag and you’re all set. Because everyone knows iframes as it has been a trusted valid tag for over 20 years now. Who knew you could embed and use a PowerApp within Teams????

Script editor web part – iframe

Once set up – it works beautifully!

Canvas Apps in Teams – such a novel concept

The beauty is that it even works on mobile! Pick the tab and embrace.

Capture a pirate responsibly on a device

And for some extra fun, here’s PirateGTP pirate in SVG – well hidden 😁

The input
The output

Badges and why – because why not

Client side salsa – Everyone knows teams tabs are browser tabs, and iframe’s are all about browser love. No monolithic front-end used, only simple and easy html and scripting.

Thieving bastards – We stole and borrowed the open source PnP script editor web part solution, even though inception was involved. PirateGPT is our API on crew mate generation, and Stable diffusion (via automatic1111) is our image pirateer solution. And not free I tell you as we had to purchase a used Nvidia RTX3060 gfx card to get this going.

Chameleon – What can we say, Teams, stand-alone, browser, native app, what not – you will not get away from being onboarded with out solution. It adapts portrait, landscape, even black and white. PirateGPT will get you!

Plug’nPlay – We stole it with inception, it plugs into anything SPFx plugs into. Showcased in Teams as we just love the purple.

Power User Love – All stored in Dynamic, all surfaced in Teams and SharePoint – we love ya’ll!

Capitan’s log

The Capitan has his own Native app with a useful set of tools to manage the crew and the boat. The App is made in React Native and prepared for mobile phones and tablets.

Features:

Weather forecast

A captain needs to monitor the weather before departure because it can greatly impact the safety and success of a voyage. Dangerous weather conditions such as strong winds, high waves, storms, fog, and ice can affect navigation, visibility, stability, and increase the risk of damage to the ship and crew. By monitoring the weather, the captain can plan a safer and more efficient voyage.

Counting the crew when boarding

A pirate captain would need to count their crew before departure for safety, morale, planning, and order. It helps ensure everyone is accounted for, tasks can be properly allocated, and order is maintained among the crew.

more to come.

The code can be found at: https://github.com/TheBastards-ACDC2023/Bastards-NativeApp