In some ways book publishing is still a quaint business. Writer writes a book, publisher prints it on paper, bookstore sells it. But with the Internet and the Kindle and the iPhone turning everything topsy-turvy, publishers and authors are reinventing their products.

I left my iphone in the cab." it was both the panic in our usually stoic analytics director and the scramble to locate the phone that said everything. Mobile phones are not just devices, they are 24/7/365 lifelines. (BTW: Phone was recovered and returned by a NYC taxi company. Thanks.)

With all the hype about the growth of online video viewing, I decided to check it out for myself by watching all my TV shows online for an entire week. My plan was to watch Hulu or abc.com and to supplement with iTunes on the big screen via Apple TV. I also wanted to experiment with Boxee, a start-up company that aspires to provide a common user interface for enabling consumer viewing of online video on a TV screen.

In media, you live or die on your ability to keep up-to-date, and to see what's coming around the corner. Right now, social media is both what's now and what's next - and it's an absolutely necessity to know what it is, what it's about and how it works. No longer just a trend, but a fact of life, social media is a full-fledged and still-expanding facet of our industry.

For nine years, cats and dogs loomed large over a parking lot on Avenue A as part of an iconic Advocates for Animals mural on the side of a tenement building in Manhattan's East Village. Created by well-known local muralist Chico, the mural tugged at the heartstrings with an assortment of animals - including a sweet kitty with pleading eyes and a trusty German Shepherd - urging local residents to spay and neuter their pets, and providing a number to call for assistance.

Up in Rochester, N.Y., there is a bar locals affectionately call "Oli's." The Genesee beer is served in cold cans and the winds off Lake Ontario keep everything else chilled. Recently, I traveled there for a reunion of sorts. Richard and his wife, Caroline, were part of an extended group of friends I met years back through my friend Teeser. Caroline is an educated Republican and The Teeser (as we refer to him), a well-informed Democrat. The two like to spar, and this particular day they quickly engaged in a debate over President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. Caroline's suggestion that …

Our colleague set forth on what was to be a run-of-the-mill business trip to San Francisco. His quest to find the lowest price, as demanded by his company's new travel policy, led him to Virgin America's relatively new service between New York City and the City by the Bay.

According to a recent Nielsen study, in the last year, people spent 73 percent more time on social-network sites. In February, such usage exceeded email for the first time. Did personal conversation just become passé? Is staring into someone's eyes as you either a) try to seduce them, or b) visually telegraph your wish for their immediate demise, old-school?

Whether it is classic or new media, networks are integral to the advertising industry. Yet so many misnomers exist about what the term "network media" really means. A network is a collection of individuals grouped together in order to form a larger, interconnected system. Networks permeate every aspect of the media business, and even so-called local media relies on network affiliations.

Have you ever wondered what television would be like if invented today, following the proliferation of the personal computer and Internet? Practicalities aside, if given the chance to remove the shackles of TV history, how different would our modern creation be?