Calls for cooperation among natural competitors and other adversaries seem to be breaking out across the nation, all presumably for the greater good of the Citizen Consumer. It's about putting information, and the power that results from having it, in the hands of the people, of course. There will be skeptics.

When I was growing up, adolescent boys came in two varieties: DC Comics fans and Marvel Comics fans. I was the former even though I knew, in my heart of hearts, that the latter were somehow cooler, just like the Rolling Stones were just a touch hipper than the Beatles.

You had to admire the marketing genius behind George Ball declaring 2011 "The Year of the Vegetable" in a Wall Street Journalopinion piece last month. Ball is, after all, chairman of the W. Atlee Burpee Co., purveyors of fine seeds and plants. But the time is right; there's a feeling in the air. Daniel F. Akerson could declare it "The Year of the Internal Combustion Engine" until he was literally blue in the face and he would not get any traction.

Customer service has become such a lost art that we are thankful when an organization stands behind its products with a minimum of fuss and voice jail. It's rare that a company not only exceeds our expectations but also does so with a personal touch that is more reminiscent of the days of correspondence written on fine stationery with fountains pens. Fittingly enough, Faber-Castell has proven to be one of those exceptions.

"Nothing to 'LOL' about here....," a Facebook friend had written and, like a car wreck on the side of the road, I could not ignore the message that flashed across the TweetDeck app on my laptop. She'd linked to a video posted on a Facebook page called The Waking Circle, where the dire tone continued: "this is not easy to watch, but watch it. it will make you think before you start texting while driving. it will make you think before you get in a car with someone who is texting and driving. and, i hope -- it will make …

Anytime I'd pass a Container Store, an old "Saturday Night Live" skit would pop into my head. You know the one I'm talking about, right? "The Scotch Boutique," wherein nothing but tape products of the "sticky" variety are sold by proprietor Fred Willard and his trusting, cheerful but increasingly skeptical staff. Or, as the case may be, not sold.

None of this year's 62 entries in the Marin Institute's "Free the Bowl" contest is anywhere near as slick as the five spots Anheuser-Busch InBev rolled out for three of its brands during last night's big game. But the messages are far more direct, if a lot less insidious, than those delivered to kids by alcohol-beverage advertisers game after game after game after game.

I went to a screening of "Transcendent Man: A Film About the Life and Ideas of Ray Kurzweil" last night not exactly sure what message I'd be bringing back to marketers except to point out that any of you who offer lifetime warranties might want to rethink your parameters.

I possess one of the most priceless gifts that fortune bestows on a mortal: An excellent relationship with a trustworthy and competent auto mechanic. Just this Monday afternoon, I handed Phil Reid 10 crisp $100 bills with nary a whimper for work he'd done on my daughter's Toyota Solero, now with 107,000 miles on it.

At first I thought that customer service reps at T-Mobile and GoDaddy.com ruined the story I was planning for this morning when they rendered exceptionally perceptive and patient help last night when I was attempting to set up the email account on my wife's new Android device. Almost, but not quite.