LOST: Simply the best show on televison

While I'm not a huge TV fan,  I do like to watch sports, news and Seinfeld reruns.  It has been a long time since there was a series that interested me enough to pay attention week in and week out.  In September of 2005 I had rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder.  I came home from the surgery the day that LOST had the recap episode from season one and the first episode of season two.  As I lay on my side, somewhat drugged up, I watched and immediately became hooked.

LOST interests me for three reasons. First, the show is extremely well acted.   Michael Emerson is amazing and well deserving of his Emmy nominations.  Other actors on the show are equally engaging.  There is an interesting mix of science fiction, action, romance and even comic relief.  The balance built by the producers and delivered by the actors is impressive.

The second aspect of LOST that I like is the plot.  It is incredibly complex and woven together by interesting dialogue, unexpected twists and turns and intense dramatic moments.  I am not easily impressed, but the story of LOST has kept me guessing now for several years.  I have no idea where it will end but am confident that all aspects are well thought out and will converge in a way that makes sense to me.

The third part of the show that I find remarkable is the music.  The intensity of the drama and action is magnified by music that penetrates your mind in a way that draws you in.  It fits perfectly with the plot and enhances the experience instead of distracting from it.  There are two types of music on the show.  There is the amazing background music played as the drama unfolds.  Then there is the music that is filled with clues to help unlock the mystery of the show.  Songs like "Walking After Midnight" and "Building a Mystery" lead to clues to the the show.  Others such as "Good Vibrations" or "Xanadu" offer a fun way to break the intensity of the show.

There are a million little clues embedded in the show LOST.  Watching them unfold and try to piece the show together has become a fun pastime the last few years.  I even supplement my LOST watching with LOST listening to podcasts.  ABC has an excellent podcast and I enjoy listening to Jay and Jack, two guys that comment on the show in an entertaining way.

So if you have not gotten "lost" its not too late!  The show starts again this week for season five and concludes next year.  There is a definite end point and while it will take some time to get caught up, it is well worth it.  Two thumbs up for ABC on LOST and I look forward to seeing the last 32 episodes play out.  Then, I guess it will be back to Seinfeld reruns  :-/

Tom

"Digitize Me" Take Aways...

I enjoyed leading the seminar, "Digitize Me: Practical and Useful Tips for an Online World".  I wanted to provide links to the presentation as well resources.  They are all listed below.

Digitize Me
View presentation.

NBC Today Show - "OMG My Mom's on Facebook!"

Handouts:

Social Networking Summary

Students Rules for Online Safety

Family Contract for Online Safety

USA Today article ' "Kids Reveal a lot about themselves online"

Resources:

Social Networking: A Parents Guide (FTC)

MySpaceMyKids

NetSmartz.org

WiredSafety.org

The Child Safety Network

GetNetWise.org

SafeTeens.com

Books:

MySpace Unraveled

MySpaceMyKids

Facebook for Dummies

Monitoring Software:

CyberPatrol

CyberSitter

NetNanny

Facebook Poll Question

I've been asked to teach a Facebook seminar and have been working on it over the holiday. I'm curious as to how others are using Facebook, please take a moment and answer the question below. I'll share results and my presentation in a future blog post. Feel free to add a comment... thanks!

[polldaddy poll=1249020]

Jack FM, Not Your Father's Radio Station

Let me be clear, I really don't like commercial radio. I spend a lot of time in my car and usually listen to podcasts. (Some of my favorites include the LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack, The Onion Radio News and Today in iPhone). No commercials, I listen to what I want when I want and it's always fresh... three things radio is not!   Sometimes I will listen to CD's or music on my iPod but rarely the radio, when I do... it's sports talk.

Somehow, I stumbled onto Jack FM. I have to say I like it! Rarely do I hear the same song twice and the variety is amazing.  I have fairly diverse tastes in music (ranging from Rascal Flatts to Van Halen to Pavarotti).  Jack FM seems to play a little of everything (minus the Pavarotti!).  I learned today that Jack FM has over 50 stations nationally (and a few around the world).  Interesting concept that seems pretty efficient.

So wherever you are, there may a be a Jack FM near you.  Tune in, crank it up and dance away... unless of course you are driving~

Tom

Connections, Followers and Friends... Oh My!

 

I’ve been studying and thinking about social media.  I began studying social media for purely business reasons in early 2008.  I was wondering how Facebook got its start, what Twitter can do to make money and why no one is using MySpace anymore.  I read several books, nosed around the net and jumped onto several sites.  Today, I use social media a lot and it has become woven into my everyday and workday life.   Essentially, there are three sites I use and each serves a different purpose. 

I’ve been on LinkedIn for several years and it has become the place for my “real world” work connections.  I have 427 connections and can honestly tell you I have personally met almost every single one.  I typically don’t accept requests from people don’t know.  It has been a valuable tool to connect others for business reasons.  I manage my network by trying to be helpful with networking requests and frequently contact people through LinkedIn.  I like it, for what it is.  Some of the recent app additions (Wordpress, TripIt, Amazon Reading List…) are quite useful.  LinkedIn succeeds because you can manage your network by both contributing to and benefitting from your connections.

I joined Facebook in early ’08 because it seemed to be the thing to do.  My daughters have been on it for years, along with MySpace.  As a parent, I have always disliked MySpace. It was way to easy to hack protected profiles and kids were prone to put stupid information (ie. home phone numbers) on the site.  While they have cleaned up their act from a security standpoint there is no doubt they are losing ground to Facebook. 

I was surprisingly impressed with the Facebook community and tools.  The first issue I had was who to be “friends” with.  My daughter initially wanted nothing to do with me in “her world”.  Most of my real friends my age could care less about Facebook.  I found a few and began connecting.  I now have 74 friends (including my daughter!).  These are all people I actually know and consider a real world friend.  I try and keep Facebook “friends” separate from LinkedIn “connections”.  I am much more transparent with Facebook friends and feel comfortable letting them into my world. When a business associate requests becoming my “friend” on Facebook, I connect with them on LinkedIn, thereby keeping my worlds from colliding! 

One other Facebook note, I have learned once you add someone as a “friend” on Facebook, this becomes an emotional attachment.  I once “defaced” someone from my list and inadvertently offended someone.  I invented a new term, “reface” and added her back.  I then sent this in to Urban Dictionary.  You might find it handy one day!  (WSJ article on this topic)

Twitter has become my favorite social media outlet over the past nine months.  I like Twitter because it is kind of a “stream of consciousness”.  I recently told someone I view it as a creative outlet, a place for me to make pithy, smart aleck comments!  I post about my travels, news items, random observations and relevant news for my industry.  I enjoy following people who post about news or interesting information and observations.  I have 289 “followers” and am following 288 (seems like a nice balance to me!).  I try and post a few times a day and recognize that everything I post will forever be archived by the search engines.  My Twitter feeds into my Facebook status updates, a feature I like.  While I certainly know many of my “followers”, there are many more I do not.  It has been a way to have brief conversations with others not usually accessible to me.  It’s funny, I feel a responsibility to my “followers” to entertain and inform!  One told me once, “Don’t let us down”… it is an overwhelming responsibility!

Overall, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are now part of my digital life.  Jump on in, the water is fine!  :)

Crocs: Fashion Disaster or Delight?

Ok so I broke down and bought a pair of Crocs two weeks ago.  I know, not my style and I probably look like an idiot.  But dang these shoes are comfortable!  I’m not really affected by trends and certainly not a fashion maven by any stretch.  But since I was going to spending a lot of time outdoors, last week I decided to give them a try.


They are awesome!  So far they have been durable in rough terrain, comfortable and lightweight.  Sure they look stupid but they are not any worse than Earth Shoes, Uggs or Birkenstocks!  Recently the Galveston, Texas paper ran an article titled, “Get rid of Crocs, other fashion disasters”.  (As you know, Galveston, Texas is the shoe fashion capital of the world and my fashion turns on whatever they say!)  The writer said, “Crocs are an unfortunate excuse for shoes that look like a combination of goulash and mule...”.  Thank you Galveston...

For those of you that would rather push the fashion envelope than keep up with the Galveston fashion experts, Zappos has a great selection of Crocs.  Eee-aww...

Tom

In Defense of the Brand

Advertiser brands are being used against them. 

Monday’s Wall St. Journal had an excellent article about “Piggybacking”.  (No they are not referring to throwing a kid on your back and jumping around the yard!)  This piggybacking is a form of brand infringement that is haunting thousands of advertisers.  It is the practice of buying a trademarked brand and profiting from it.  Google is guilty of facilitating this practice.

The Journal gave several exceptional examples of how brands including American Airlines and InterContinental are trying to fight back.  One example was the term, “Holiday Inn Orlando” which, when clicked, led consumers to www.LowFares.com.  This site is not authorized to use the Holiday Inn brand name.  To make matters worse, the site had Holiday Inn ads on the site.  Each time these ads were clicked Holiday Inn ends up paying both Google AND LowFares.com for the illicit click. 

Google, in a typical “do no evil” response, refers to their trademark policy.  Unfortunately, their policy is not carried out on their site.  This problem is similar to the geo-targeting issue.  When an advertiser tells Google they want their ads targeted to the US, they expect that this will occur.  We find that as much as 10% of the US targeted ads appear outside the US.

A high level of diligence is required to ensure advertiser brands are protected.  Time and time again Click Forensics finds violations for our clients and even our own brand.  These problems are generally fixed when we alert the search engine.  But without constant monitoring, the damage is done.

Who profits from this?  GOOG. 

Tom