Amid the cacophony of ad spending forecasts, some gloomier than others, there is something marketers and media types can and should place their bets on: creativity. The "big idea," investing in the talent, along with unusual creative and media plans will always be in vogue whether ad spending forecasts are up or down. It's the Minute's version of a sure thing - the more emphasis you place on the quality of the content, the ideas, and their execution, the better off your business is.

Here's something new for your iPod today. Apple introduced new software that's supposed to make the device easier to use and offers a podcast directory that offers more than 3,000 free audio programs and a menu that enables users to automatically send new podcasts to their computers. Apple also launched color screens for the iPod. Podcasts on Apple's iTunes Music Store include a variety of topics ranging from movies to technology, and are offered by blogs and major news organizations.

Media mogul Tom Rogers finally got what he wanted all along - to become head of TiVo. He's been vice chairman of the company for more than a year and successfully negotiated a deal with Comcast to integrate TiVo into the company's digital cable set-top boxes. Rogers has been chomping at the bit to lead TiVo and now he's the top dog; he'll assume the role of president and CEO on July 1, succeeding Mike Ramsay, the company's founder, who announced he would step down in January as CEO. Now, it's up to Rogers, the ultimate dealmaker, to forge …

The Supreme Court ruled today on Grokster v. MGM Studios that Internet file-sharing services will be held responsible if they plan to offer their customers software used mostly for swapping songs and movies illegally. The unanimous decision sends the case back to the lower court, which had ruled in favor of file-sharing services Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. on the grounds that the companies couldn't be sued. The decision indicates that the justices felt there was enough evidence of unlawful intent for the case to go to trial. Essentially, file-sharing services aren't going to get a free pass.

Yahoo! continued its ongoing Summit Series of events for marketers and agencies yesterday with a financial-themed event dubbed, "Selling Money." It featured a cast of smart folks that included a futurist, an analyst, a researcher, two Ivy League university professors, and the wry funnyman Ben Stein. (We must confess, we didn't stick around to hear him but we trust that he was a gas, as well as incredibly self-deprecating). Can anyone out there confirm this?

A new study by consulting firm Accenture projects that nearly 10 percent of all TV commercials in the United States will be skipped by 2009, or $6 billion worth of ads. Why? Digital video recorders. TiVo. Cable company DVRs. That's why. The study finds that nearly 40 percent of U.S. homes will have DVRs by 2009. Currently, about 8 percent of homes have DVRs with 2 percent of all ads skipped.

Google says it's building an online payment system. The system could eventually become a competitor to eBay's PayPal. However, Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the online payment system will be different than PayPal. For example, Google's online payment product won't have the same stored value payments system as PayPal, which stores funds for a short time under its control. Schmidt was very short on details.

After months of planning America Online today began the rollout of its free portal site, AOL.com. With the new offering, AOL has made available for free a wide variety of content that previously was available only to subscribers.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Times launched a "wikitorial"--a site for people who thought they could improve on the paper's editorials. By Sunday night, the paper shut down the feature. "Unfortunately, we have had to remove this feature, at least temporarily, because a few readers were flooding the site with inappropriate material," states a note on the site.

U.S. online donations in 2004 hit more than $3 billion -- up 58 percent from $1.9 billion in 2003, according to a study by technology provider Kintera and Luth Research, an online market research firm. The Kintera/Luth survey found that more than 8.6 million U.S. households gave online to their favorite charities or nonprofit organizations. More than 65 percent of all donors visited at least one of the Web sites of the nonprofit organizations or fundraising events to which they gave.