Tax day cometh, but the dreaded day also marks the 50th anniversary of the American Dream tale of the Bloch brothers. In 1955 they ran a $100 newspaper advertisement that changed income tax filing forever. That year, Henry and Richard Bloch, who owned United Business Co., a small but successful bookkeeping business on Main Street in Kansas City, Mo., placed an ad in the Kansas City Star advertising "Income Tax! $5.00."

The next time you visit the Statue of Liberty, use the rental lockers. For heightened security purposes, the tourist attraction opted for biometric lockers ? a system that implements fingerprint access technology.

Topic A: Consumer-generated media. If 2004 was the year of the blog, some pundits and industry insiders are pointing to wikis as the new "it" media of 2005. Unfortunately, many are completely clueless when it comes to wikis, which are, by their very nature, continuously evolving forms of media. Literally.But what the heck is a wiki, anyway?

Have you ever noticed that the science side of the advertising equation, considered the more sensible of the media siblings compared to that artsy wild child, creative, is as susceptible to fashion trends as, well, fashion?

What i do for a living is very simple. I study human nature in order to sell things more effectively to people. In this pursuit, I use several techniques, such as inviting myself into people's homes to raid their refrigerators, peeking in their bathroom cabinets, and asking them to let me watch them as they go through their mail or watch tv. My hope is that I will uncover some nugget of truth that will help me and help my clients make a lasting and effective connection with the consumer in question.

"Consumer" isn't a poetic word. Instead, this most-used word in our marketing vernacular is arguably a patronizing, uni-dimensional word. Marketing thought leaders have tried to rename the consumer for years. I've heard the consumer called "customer," "boss," "god," "partner," "human being," you name it. I call the consumer "Evan." Let me explain.

When I introduced this column last month, I promised that one of the criteria would be a relatively high personal jealously factor. When you read this month's column, you'll understand why. You might also imagine yourself hearing the team at Nike, a company known for its fair share of groundbreaking work, chafing, "Why the hell didn't we think of that?"

My winter breaks as an undergraduate at ohio university were spent on the sales floor of the Limited Express and The Limited Stores in Columbus, Ohio. It was the early '90s and the Limited stores were where the in-crowd shopped. Although sales was the name of the game, for other seasonal associates and me it was all about the clothing discount. Who cared if you only made slightly above minimum wage and spent a significant portion of your paycheck on the Limited clothes that you were required to wear to work? Where else could you get paid to shop?

Paraphrasing an old adage, there are liars, there are damnable liars, and there are statisticians. I cut my earlier professional teeth in national politics. And it never ceased to amaze me how both sides of a debate could find some statistic to prove with undeniable accuracy the truth of their position while, at the same time, their positions were 180 degrees apart.

Marketing econometric models are helping marketers find their way through the challenges of a fractured market. For agencies to maintain their strategic relevance and a balanced budget, they must embrace quantitative techniques and experts.