Lightning Quick Gas N Go, Parker's, Kum & Go and Plaid Pantry are on the list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. The list is compiled annually by Inc., which publishes the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000, its expanded online version.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, or UMTRI, are preparing the largest experiment ever to test vehicles that communicate with each other via wireless signals to improve highway safety while also easing traffic congestion.

In a global study on how prepared marketing chiefs are for technology and social changes, SapientNitro found that 15% of senior marketers feel prepared to deal with the rapidly changing consumer, and just 8% believe agencies are succeeding in their support of global brands. At the link, the five big challenges in the six-month research study of 114 CMO-level marketers.

Boo, a 6-year-old Pomeranian dog with Hallmark Card cuteness, is now official pet of Virgin America. The dog, which has a hugely popular Facebook page, is owned by Facebook executive Irene Ahn, who will certainly have made up in spokesdog revenue what Facebook has lost in share price.

Contributor Jonathan Gardner has some suggestions: give consumers choice, control and relevance; give them content and keep your strategy simple. Says Gardner, "Let's move away from strategies and metrics that aren't really relevant for branding. Brands always look for some kind of number and stat to justify their online spend -- CTR, view-through, attribution, 'likes.' Does that make sense at all? Did brands worry about measuring the impact of a full-page spread in Vogue back in the day? The issue is over thinking the numbers and not thinking enough about advertising in the interest of consumers."

Wal-Mart confirmed on Thursday that it is part of a new company developed with other retailers to develop and deploy an m-commerce solution. The group, Merchant Customer Exchange, will make consumer offers, promotions and retail programs accessible via smartphone. CVS/pharmacy, Hy-Vee, Publix, Sears Holdings Corp. and Target are among participants.

Could others who are frustrated with the performance of companies whose stock they hold follow Richard Schulze's example? The founder of Best Buy is offering $24 to $26 a share for the company, which before the bid, was trading for $17.64 a share. So far this year, there have been 20 U.S. take-private transactions valued at $15.9 billion.

First there was the Nissan Leaf electric car, with cord. Now there's the cordless by luxury sibling Infiniti. The LE will let you simply park over a special plate on the floor, from which it will charge automatically. You still have the option to use cables at charging stations. The plate charges the car -- shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance -- by magnetic connection.

Procter & Gamble has operations in 41 countries, has 126,000 employees, and annual sales of $84 billion. But the giant's stock price has been set in near-stone in the $60 area for years. In the past year it missed its profit projections twice. Is the company just too big?

A new survey called Eco Pulse found that 39% of Americans feel guilty about “wasting food.” In comparison, only 7% felt guilty about “not sticking to an energy-efficient thermostat setting,” and just 6% felt guilty about “using chemical lawn or plant fertilizers.” The survey was conducted by the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Shelton Group.