Aggregated identity … and other creepy things

I just was doing a little lunch-hour MSN browsing and came across an interesting article (People Search Engines: They Know Your Dark Secrets … and Tell Anyone) profiling the eerie reality of social search and online identity. As a professional working in online search and advertising, I certainly see the value of  using deeply contextual and meaningful search and social data to serve users relevant content–both editorial and advertisement-based. However, I’d have to say that this is the first that I’ve heard of companies out there which, for a fee, will complete data and identity lookups across deep web-content. Sort of like modern techno private investigators, these companies can profile individuals across multiple website, social media, and blog activity and report out to any interested party.

As someone who had their bank account information stolen and had to go through the identity theft experience of changing credit cards and other accounts a few years back–this certainly makes me think twice before posting my Saturday morning ritual of walking the dog on Facebook for all to see.

Between Live Messenger, Facebook, Linked In, Classmates.com, Twitter, Flickr, etc. I can hardly keep my passwords straight. Now, add to the mix a little fear of corporate marketing induced online stalking, yikes!  But I think the benefits of the social media communications revolution far outweigh the risks. At least for now, I’m comfortable keeping my blog identify ambiguous (first name, geographic region, marital status, dog owner, etc.), using good judgment when posting to my online accounts, and imploring proper discretion when engaging on any website as a community or social experience.

However, it is just a friendly reminder to be cautious with your online social identifies in the same way that you protect your credit card info!

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Time to enjoy a little teen vampire romance, again

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but Twilight is available on Fios on demand starting this Saturday. Guess what I’m going to be doing on my lazy morning?

We all have our vices.

Besides, one can’t be faulted for wanting to watch the tale of star-crossed human-vampire lovers Edward and Bella unfold. It’s so dramatic, so artificial, so incredibly seductively distracting from real life. That is why you read novels and go to movies right, to forget about that deadline at work.

But, my concern is not over the sweet indulgence of a little cotton-candy, adolescent romance movie. I’m more interested in trying to understand what exactly compels me to pre-determine several days in advance, that I am going to pay, yet again, to watch this movie. Mind you, I already joined the ranks of 10-millinon plus readers toward the end of last year, and devoured the full series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn), and also paid $12 to see the film the week after it released. I don’t need to be shy here, I can divulge that I may have also read the Midnight Sun manuscript on Stephanie Meyer’s website.

Heck, living in Washington state, it was hard to avoid the Twilight hype. Given that the book takes place in Forks, WA… I did get a few e-mails and phone calls from mid west and east coast family and friends wanting to plan trips to visit and maybe drive by Forks. Mind you the small community (for which the bulk of the movie was not even filmed in) fully embraces this, see their tourism website spouting the connection to the book.

As a professional in online marketing, I’ve been impressed by the wide-variety of techniques and web promotion activities employed for Twilight, although I cannot say those are causing me to open my wallet in these harsh economic times for movie viewing take two.

What is particularly fascinating to me is that I can simultaneously enjoy the vivid fictional world of Twilight and be deeply irritated and envious at the prowess of the authoress in charge of the teen-vampire empire. I have to admit, although some of the writing drove me a little nutty (if I read “his crooked smile” one more time I might have thrown the book out), the books were for the most part, real page-turners. And, there is some evidence that the series has even encouraged sales of classics like Wuthering Heights. As a creative writing and English major in college, I cannot complain about that impact on popular culture and literature sales.

Maybe it is my inner writer who is secretly jealous of Meyer’s success. Perhaps my subconscious wants to watch the film again to try to un-code how she came up with this highly marketable and extremely successful franchise. That way, someday soon when I awake from a mesmerizing dream in the middle of the night, I am motivated to grab a bedside notebook and capture the potential cryptic scenes of the next world-wide fiction bestseller.

Whatever the case, I’ll be waking up at 10 AM this Saturday, and pressing the “Buy Now” button to purchase a $4.99 on demand movie. Across the country, I’ll be joined by teens and moms alike turning to their TV sets to watch adoringly as Edward and Bella (meaning Rob Pattison and Kristen Stewart) bring the pages of Meyer’s saga to life.

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Dreams of drinking chocolate in London

Last September, right before the financial downward cycle, I was on a business trip with my manager in London, when I spent about 7 pounds (yes, about $14 U.S. dollars out of my own pocket) on a 4 oz. cup of dark drinking chocolate. It might have been the single most memorable chocolate consumption experience of my nearly 30-years of existence.

I found a great NW blog post from Luna Café detailing the distinctions between hot chocolate, hot cocoa, and drinking chocolate. Essentially, drinking chocolate is literally melted high quality chocolate with cream and cocoa butter, making a very rich and decadent beverage. You might recall Starbucks a few years back tried to market a drinking chocolate, Chantico (which was my first exposure to this delicacy), but they pulled the product after the first season much to my dismay.

But back to my London drinking chocolate memories …

I have to set up the experience that surrounded this gourmet endeavor. Because, for the most part, the discovery of the Chocolate Bar and indulgent purchase of said drinking chocolate was completely spontaneous. First, we spent the Saturday morning before flying home to Seattle wandering the city by foot–both agreeing that the best way to see and enjoy any new city is to explore organically and not pay for predictable tours.

So we meandered with little agenda nor timetable from our hotel in SoHo to Buckingham Palace, Victoria, Knightsbridge, through Hyde Park, down Piccadilly, through the Theatre District and Covent Garden–the whole journey relaxing and lively, taking something like four hours.

It was somewhere between Knightsbridge and Hyde Park that we entered the Harrods department store. I have to note, though my second trip to London, this was my first time in Harrods, which I can only describe for those who have never been as the combination of Bloomingdales, Dean and Deluca, and a Vegas casino. You could eat sushi, buy an expensive steak, visit a Princess Di memorial, gander at 2,000 pound painting for sale, listen to live opera music, and buy a designer gown all in the span of 45 minutes. We opted to explore the many floors and ran into a mention of a chocolate bar on a sign. Knowing my love of all things chocolate, my manager was kind enough to attempt to find this location within the massive Harrods retail extravaganza.

As soon as we came upon the Chocolate Bar, my heart skipped a beat (I’m not actually kidding, here, my knees probably swooned a little too!).

Chocolate Bar at Harrods

 I was smart enough to take some photos of the before and after-I do recommend making this a must-see and taste activity for anyone in London. Each warm, intense sip only more deeply affirmed my passionate love affair with chocolate. Screw the calories or fat count-this stuff is supposed to have health benefits or something. The cup was served with a metal spoon that doubled as a straw. Yum.

Before

After

It is fairly obvious from the state of the “after” cup that I enjoyed my beverage thoroughly. Pictures are worth a thousand words, are they not?

So, I digress. Something about the recent March cold weather and intensity of the depressing headlines has reignited this memory and grown into a full bodied craving. Last night, in Kent, WA before going to the minor league T-birds hockey game with my husband, I ordered a extra dark Dutched chocolate at Dilettante mocha café  with little success. The $3 overly milky crud was served in a paper cup with plastic lid and honestly it was not worth the words to describe disappointment.

But, a few web-searches while compiling this post resulted in some potential Seattle locations to get my chocolate fix: http://www.chocolopolis.com/  and http://www.sschocolatebox.com/. I’ll be exploring these in the coming weeks to see if I can recreate my London experience. I may even shell out a few bucks for the ingredients and attempt to concoct the recipe in my own kitchen. Until then, I only have my pictures and dreams of the Chocolate Bar to satisfy my taste buds.

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