Why didn’t I think of this?

Makin' bacon

I like to play a little game called “Songs For Egoists.”  The rules of the game are as follows: take a popular song, change the title and chorus to the first person, then sing a few bars (some players have observed how beverages can enhance the pleasure of this game). Cheesy songs are improved immensely — “I Light Up My Life,”  ”Can’t Help Falling In Love With Me,” and my personal favorite above, Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of Me.”

We’ve all Googled ourselves, checking out the clout of our personal graphs and those of our namesakes. I even registered with Google Alerts to monitor Lloyd-O’s web activities and see if anyone mentions my name.  Setting up Google Alerts is simple — see my friend Christopher’s blog post on getting started — and you can choose how often you’d like to receive email alerts (daily, weekly, monthly or even “as it happens”). Imagine my surprise when, after months of bubkis, the mother lode appeared in my inbox:

Lloyd Scott

Welcome to Lloyd Scott Music. Enjoy browsing the newly developed site. Make sure to check out our site again for. updates,photos,merchandise and more! …
lloydscottmusic.com/

As my 5-year-old would say, “so much awesome!”  Dig that great band name, VH1 Behind The Music-ready bio, logo that screams volume turned way up to 11, and influences ranging from Zeppelin to Paganini! You gotta admit, the violin does add a new dimension to a rock’n'roll sound. So much awesome, indeed.

From Zeppelin to Paganini

I love me, baby,
And if it’s quite alright,
I need me, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love me, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don’t bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found me, stay…

I’m not really sure how or why lead singer Michael Lloyd added “Scott” to the band name, but we mere mortals sometimes just don’t understand pure genius. I eagerly await the “Lloyd Does Floyd” tour (performing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon), debut PHAZE I album in August and fan friendly swag. You can’t stop the impending Lloyd Scott invasion — you can only hope to contain it.

When I was my son’s age, every Lego package came with suggestion booklets for what you could make, but there were no painted on faces or kits telling you where bricks “had to go.” As Michael Chabon observes in his fabulous essay, “To The Legoland Station,” they were “abstract, minimal, ‘pure’ in form and design, they echoed the dominant midcentury aesthetic, with its emphasis on utility and perfectibility.”*  Lego constructions didn’t look like reproductions of people, places or things, but rather Lego-idealized versions of them. “Where Lego-building had once been open-ended and exploratory, it now had more in common with puzzle-solving, a process of moving incrementally toward an ideal, pre-established, and above all, a provided solution.”

RIP: V-119 Torrent — We hardly knew ya

Like Chabon, I resented this change. I REALLY resented that it took mere seconds to demolish the 471 piece Star Wars V-119 Torrent that my son demanded I buy for him, the one that I had spent 3 arthritic-inducing nights assembling (suitable for ages 8-12… and not a year older). After finishing the V-119, I had declared it could only be looked at, but NEVER touched again.  We could admire it, from afar, on a shelf — “The Force,” I explained, said it must be this way. Needless to say, ‘”The Force” was not with me.

The irritation I felt at the destruction of my back-breaking Lego opus turned to joy as we played with the rubble of the V-119. The familiar tactile pleasures and purity of abstract play and imagination came over me.  As we carefully and lovingly combined blues and yellows (ignoring the greens) to construct a Laker Repeat Championship Trophy, I realized how much Lego had changed over the years.

Just 4 years earlier, the company completely restructured the product development process with a dual focus placed on innovation and profitability, reversing a long slump. New product development time was aggressively decreased from 26 to 12 months. The portfolio was reduced by over half, leading to a higher percentage of concepts getting developed and launched, and Lego devoted more resources to marketing.  The end result was increased sales with fewer products.

But reducing product portfolio and product development time doesn’t tell the whole story. Lego became a paragon of brand strength in the digital age by leveraging enthusiasts and harnessing the energy of their fans, young and old alike. They listened (to customer research and focus groups), observed (developers watched as children played with new product concepts) and learned (feedback was then used to reformulate the new toys).

Lego reached out to online communities and targeted key influencers with whom to share concepts, sending them prototypes for feedback. Lego listened to their hardcore fans — their suggestions often led to the creation of entirely new concepts.  Lego’s “Mindstorm NXT” launched in 2006 was the first company product to use online communities from start to finish in the product development life cycle, from concept generation to product launch. Mindstorm sold 150K units in the first year and now virtually all Lego projects leverage the power of online communities from the early development phase. The Lego.com site reflects this philosophy of embracing the fan base, but there are numerous online communities, including the Lugnet user group and From Brick To Bothans, a fan site devoted to the intersection between Lego and Star Wars, that have mobilized younger and older fans. Also, check out the free Lego Photo app in iTunes — which allows you to capture precious moments and Lego-ize them.

Psychiatrist sold separately

I used to think those Lego kits stifled imagination by forcing kids (and their parents) to follow intricate step-by-step instructions with the goal being a finished construction that actually looks like the real thing.  Now I realize the kits hold the allure — getting kids interested in the brand and the lifelike constructions of Star Wars (characters, spacecraft and weaponry) and cities (if I close my eyes, I can almost smell the tasty aromas of the pizza parlor we built last week). Lego kits provide the best of both worlds — puzzle solving and abstract play. Like Mr. Bubble’s slogan “makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty,” Lego’s should be “makes putting together almost as much fun as demolishing.”

*Michael Chabon, “To The Legoland Station,” Manhood For Amateurs, 2009, p. 53.

In “Facebook Privacy? Who Cares?,” Mark Cuban positions this as merely a media issue: “Facebook privacy is very simple at its core. You joined because you wanted to give up some of your privacy in exchange for the benefits that Facebook offers. If you think it’s a problem, de-activate your account. If you think it’s a problem, but really want to be on FB, RTFM (Read the Frickin’ Manual). The functionality is there.”

Harumph. When I signed up, I did give up some of my privacy in exchange for the benefits of the sharing Facebook offers. And, though I was annoyed with each change that made public things that I had designated as private, I knew how to update my privacy settings. I’m guessing most of the 400 million users aren’t as tech savvy as Cuban and would appreciate some simple notification on what these changes mean for them. Social networks and online communities are new concepts — some people I know are even going to graduate school to study it — and most people are simply unaware of the ramifications of these changes.

Cuban argues “you can’t share information with strangers in hopes of possibly adding them to your social network and then bitch about the lack of privacy,” but this wasn’t my reason for joining Facebook.  Cuban has  78,083 “friends,” while I have somewhere south of 200 (but I’m really great at parties). Cuban is a public figure using Facebook as a free media outlet, as many users do. However, others like myself are either sharing with smaller networks or just trying to figure out which Gilligan’s Island character we most resemble (sadly, it’s the Professor and not Thurston Howell III). We were never looking for targeted ads based on what we thought were our private conversations.

I also disagree with Cuban when he says, “the complaints about FB privacy are pretty much a joke. It’s a social network, not your voting record.” Putting aside the fact that your party affiliation and whether you voted in a recent election is a matter of public record, the recent Facebook changes and corresponding increase in transparency came about ONLY because of the vigilance of tech leaders and bloggers. Let’s hope the tech leaders and bloggers continue to keep a watchful eye on Facebook because they’ve consistently proven themselves to be, at best, careless with our private profile information.

I do think Cuban is ultimately right though — if you have a problem with Facebook’s view of your privacy, you are free to de-activate anytime. As I’ve said in a previous post, the best defense is for users to assume that anything posted on Facebook could be made public. In the meantime, I’m marveling that Facebook is a business so powerful it can betray my trust repeatedly and still have me reluctant to take Cuban’s advice and de-activate the social profile I’ve created. I believe THAT is Facebook’s brilliance — getting us to willingly give up our privacy incrementally with every change (albeit, with some kicking and screaming) in order to have better features for sharing who we are and what we like. We’re trading privacy for innovation. Ironically, as Facebook tests our trust, their innovation is supposed to create a more valuable Web, based on what we are sharing with those we trust, rather than simple Google searches.  I wonder if there a “tipping point” where our trust will be betrayed too many times and we jump off this juggernaut of a friend ship.

*Tip of the hat to Linda Obst.

New Social Networking Site Changing The Way Oh, Christ, Forget It

Bingo!

Three weeks ago, Facebook implemented their ironically titled “Open Graph,” reneging on their original privacy promises, converting what you originally thought was your private profile (your name, the city you live in, names of your friends, photos and causes you believe in) into public by default.  Remember when Facebook positioned themselves as the private social network in response to Myspace’s sex predator controversy, where family and friends could share their authentic profiles and real information? Those days are so… 2 years ago. In search of the mother-Zucker of all business models, Facebook would like to extend what is now the largest data base of connections (500 million strong) into a data base of what we like and share, because there’s even more money to be made if the advertiser can better target us.

I have to confess I didn’t join Facebook to share. I joined because I was addicted to another open graph, Scrabulous, the now extinct and legendary black market version of Scrabble. Scrabulous was like the classic board game, only the online version was better. I could play multiple games simultaneously, play fast or slow, with friends around the world.  And then, one day, it was all taken away from me… until it reappeared again as a Facebook-only game. Any hesitation I had about joining this social network was assuaged by their promise of privacy (and the promise of more “bingos!”). So I signed up, and played on. Then Scrabble-maker Hasbro sued — Facebook pulled Scrabulous and replaced it with the clunkier official Scrabble app, but by then, I was one of hundreds of millions of Facebook users spelling high-school reunion.

I’m a private person. I like to share some experiences and information with various friends, but I usually don’t tell each of them everything (of course, I tell YOU everything). Facebook did make it easier to share photos, links and updates with family and friends. I accept their right to make a buck. I also understand I am free to turn the spigot off whenever I like — even though it takes a Mensa membership to figure out how to deactivate or delete your account. While I can see the incredible value and power of a Web with more accurate data on what I like (better music, movie, book and food recommendations), I still feel reversing their original brand position is a bait and switch. It’s really quite simple — when a platform decides for me who my group is, I lose trust with them, just like I would with any unscrupulous “friend” who betrayed my trust. It’s as if I ordered Niman’s exclusive applewood smoked bacon, and ended up with Spam (sorry Hawaii!).

I’m not ready to jump off the social network’s ship yet, but Facebook’s recent changes have clarified what I should have realized years ago: there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on the Web.  The burden is on the users, not the social platform (as there will always be errors like last week’s Facebook security hole exposing what were supposed to be private chats).  We need to be proactive, remembering that the Internet is a public forum by default. Anything you say on, post or upload on the Net will be there forever and searchable by both those you love and hate either because of an “accident” or a policy change.

In response to the barrage of criticism and threats of boycotts, Facebook has announced they will now introduce a simplified set of privacy settings (albeit with the default still set to public sharing).  For those of us who are concerned about privacy rights, this is probably a short-lived victory, as I sense there is an inevitable truth to what Zuckerberg said when he introduced “Open Graph” — society’s mores are changing and the boundaries between public and private are blurring rapidly. Likewise, those of us who are concerned about the recent changes to Scrabble — allowing names of celebrities — had better get used to it.

The good news is Facebook’s hegemony and attempts to seize more control over our user profiles has inspired some great tools.  If you’re not comfortable sharing everything, here’s a couple of tools I’ve found helpful:

ReclaimPrivacy.org is an open-source-browser bookmarklet that let’s you inspect your Facebook settings and let’s you know what areas are at risk.

YourOpenbook.org shows you Facebook users who probably share TMI and could have used the tool above.

Mashable: 5 Essential Facebook Privacy Tips

I never got that douchebag badge

I’ve tried… I’ve really tried to engage with you Foursquare, making a commitment to “check-in” as much as possible. And, while it was fun (for a little while) to enter the “WABAC machine” and compete against my network of friends for badges and Mayoral status from my favorite places, this “game” didn’t have the same immediacy as the schoolyard version. Of course, I was 8 or 9 back in those days and nothing was more important than winning a game of four square or dodge ball… except taunting my friends about the win.

I’m now somewhere north of 9 years old… far north… like the North Poll. Millennials may be finding real world satisfaction in their digital accomplishments, but I don’t have time for that stuff. For me, rubbing my friends’ faces in my ascension to Mayor of the Center for the Digital Future can be satisfying, but the stakes are too low. While Foursquare and merit badges seem to be one of the hottest social media trends — even The Huffington Post has recently gotten into the “game” (readers can earn badges by frequently commenting on posts) — the “game mechanics” of using virtual rewards to reach out to loyal customers doesn’t resonate for me like a real reward (see my previous post on Foursquare).

I often forget to “check-in” or just don’t want my network to find out where I am — what if I am enjoying a “Double Down” from KFC? CNET’s CarolineMcCarthy points out the obvious: “The badges all mean, for the most part, literally nothing, though Foursquare is attempting to build a business model out of tying real-world rewards to in-app achievements.”

I’m a former TV executive who spent most of my career trying to capture eyeballs with a programming lineup, and I like to think of myself as being immune to marketing hype faced by mere mortals. I view Taco Bell’s new ads announcing the Tortada (“You Say Sandwich, We Say Tortada”) with a jaded gullet, knowing it’s nothing more than a tostada wrap (it also makes me think of this classic article from The Onion). Of course, I really only have “selective immunity,” as I am under the spell of Apple’s new iPad, the crispy bacon of devices. PepsiCo recently partnered with Foursquare, introducing special offers on products for loyal customers. I’m not a soda drinker so I’m not going to modify my purchasing behavior just to get a discount on a Sierra Mist, but I’d welcome a loyalty program at Intelligentsia, my coffee home away from home coffee.

We had some good times Foursquare, but it just didn’t work out. Since we’re talking about badges, one way you could counter is to come up with better iconography. You might have had me with a “defibrillator” badge when I was surreptitiously — research purposes! — enjoying that “Double Down.”

Hint: it’s sow sow good.

Tough to argue with Dahlia Rideout’s meaty logic, “bacon is the great equalizer in American cuisine. It brings lofty dishes down to earth and elevates the mundane to new heights.”

Let this tasty flow chart, courtesy of It’s All About the Bacon, guide you:

Perfectly designed, with a great UI — bacon’s had a new surge in popularity after centuries of enjoyment. New iPad owners are claiming the device to be a life-transforming tool. Will the iPad continue to climb in popularity and application, just like our most beloved side meat? Hey… Moses’ tablets caught on. The iPad is poised to elevate the mundane and bring the lofty down to earth… into my clutches.

I read cartoonist James Sturm’s excellent Slate piece, “Life Without the Web,” detailing his experiment in “disconnectivity” with a Kübler-Ross-esque hallucination of the stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  Why would anyone willingly refuse to use the greatest invention since bacon? My stage 1 state of denial was interrupted by the incessant pleas of my 5-year-old addict:  ”Daddy, can I used your iPhone to play Labyrinth?”  The auto reply was “no.”  I was now (stage 2) angrily pondering what kind of lunatic mind would give up the Internet when I realized things had gone too quiet around the house.  I found the kid swiping away — playing Labyrinth on his newly constructed Lego iPod Touch.  Even a 5-year-old had figured out how to get his methadone… the thing even had a built-in reserve battery pack (I hope you’re listening Steve Jobs).

In Lego We Trust

Reading Sturm’s article, I found myself bargaining, pointing out inconsistencies like a film geek searching for continuity errors in Jurassic Park — doesn’t using the car GPS to find a conference or having his wife add things to his Netflix queue violate the spirit of the experiment?

Then I read about similar experiments in The New York Times, with teenagers giving up social media for 2 days. Without the distractions of texting, IMs and Facebook, the teenagers got their homework done quicker and spent more quality time with their parents.  Fortunately, it wasn’t too late for these kids, but a recent University of Maryland study found that college kids who eliminated social media from their daily diet exhibited “signs of withdrawal similar to those of drug addicts going cold turkey.” They could learn a lot from my 5-year-old (could Legos be classified as a gateway drug?).

Now depression was setting in.  I seem incapable of putting my iPhone down — spending so much time reading emails, texts, tweets, unread articles in my Google Reader (only 937 unread articles left) and, of course, checking in on my Mar Vista Droppers (5 wins – 4 losses – 1 tie for the week… another thoroughly mediocre performance) — who has time to be in the moment? Head hung in shame, I noted this other New Yorker cartoon and felt a strong sense of acceptance for my human limitations, and vowed to go outside and play with my son — both of us sans iPhone or Legos for 15 minutes, at least.

However, time spent eating doesn’t accurately reflect time spent preparing to eat — reading food blogs and pondering my next culinary adventure.  The general bucket of “Doing stuff” takes up way too much space. Perhaps a graph indicating how much time I devote to thinking about things would more accurately reflect my true “foodiness:”

As the second graph illuminates, at 34%, I spend a lot of time eating, snacking, noshing and thinking about my next meal… usually mid-bite.  Since we all have to eat, why settle for something mediocre, right?

The LA Times describes how the food paparazzi’s incessant flash photography and tape recording of daily specials (though I’ve never seen this anywhere) can annoy other patrons and slow down customer turnover, but these potential influencers have real marketing value for restaurant owners and chefs, particularly during a down economy. People are viewing their night out dining as their theater/dining entertainment.  When Andrew Knowlton, the restaurant editor for Bon Appetit magazine decries “what happened to the enjoyment of just eating the food,” that’s exactly what we are doing. Now that we’re all

excited, Bon Appetit’s guy doesn’t appear happy that we’re no longer reliant on “professional” food writers alone to guide our culinary adventures (though I’d willingly follow Anthony Bourdain anywhere). For me, food bloggers enhance my experience dining out (or in). Restaurants are no longer solely dependent on be-wigged professional critics to inform readers on where and what they should eat: there are many educated food bloggers that can spread the word. It’s up to the reader to filter which reviewer’s taste they trust. Restauranteurs should celebrate bloggers’ transparency.

I was pondering all of this while eating leftover “special lobster” from Newport Seafood in Alhambra, while my wife sits across from me enjoying a bag of Hungry Girl approved “House Foods Tofu Shirataki” which, she advised me, “had only 40 calories total.” While I’ve never tape recorded a waiter’s recital of the daily specials, I have been known to take a quick iPhone photo of a dish (if I eat something delicious and no one is around to document it — did it really happen?) like this one from Saturday night.  I could eat that succulent blend of lobster, garlic and onions all night… and I did, with leftovers the next day too!

Since I’m extolling the virtues of food bloggers, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to my new favorite, my last bite… My friend Jimbo and I have always talked about eating our way through all 300 dishes of Jitlada (and creating an iPhone app for our comments), but one day a friend emailed me mylastbite.com.  Jo was eating her way through the entire Jitlada menu and was much further along than Jimbo and I! Jo eats, Jo blogs, Jo tweets — about food, restaurants and life. Whether writing about “training” for Jitlada’s Dynamite Challenge by eating a habanero chili every day or coming of age in Okinawa, there’s soul (and sweat) in every word. Is that you lurking, Mr. Knowlton?

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