We all know that the backs of innovators and pioneers are often riddled with buckshot, which often dampens the spirit of others to dare to go where they have been. Those that do go forth often prosper, as I was reminded in a story about disposable diapers recently. Procter & Gamble's Pampers weren't the first mass-marketed disposable diapers out there. Johnson and Johnson had a now-defunct line called Chux that was trademarked in 1932 (note to fact-checkers: yes, we're aware that Milkweed leaf wraps may have been used in ancient times but there's little evidence of a global ad campaign).

Today's the big day. Nah, we're not talking about Apple's new iPad. We did that last week. We're talking apple slices. Specifically, the ones served up with the McNuggets and McDoubles.

Hollywood is making headlines this week and even if the news is not all positive, the editors are at least spelling the names right. And if that drives ticket sales and sells banner ads, everybody goes home happy (even if some killjoys posit that there's "no such thing as bad publicity" is an outdated notion.

Ad Age's Rupal Parekh writes about a soiree she attended last week in the Manhattan penthouse apartment of former Ogilvy & Mather chairman-CEO Ken Roman to celebrate the publication of Jane Maas' Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond. The piece signs off with Maas telling a roomful of advertising luminaries that "her proudest moment recently" came after she'd done an interview on NPR and overheard someone ask the receptionist who was on air."

The New York Times' Bruce Chen presents a sublime quote this morning portraying a consumer's reaction to having the flow of data slowed on his mobile device.

Two decisions by judges in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., yesterday -- one finding that companies that distribute prescription painkiller are responsible for making sure they are not diverted to "street sales" and the other batting down the requirement that cigarette packs carry graphic anti-smoking images -- may have major implications for marketers although the judges' rulings are not likely to be the last word in either case.