have been a dedicated, passionate Facebook user since 2004, when I was a sophomore magazine journalism student at Syracuse University. In fact, one might call me an "early adopter" of "social networking" technology. I have witnessed the site blossom - nay, explode - in popularity, applications and innovations during the past five years. In fact, when I am an elderly, lonely man, I plan on sharing the thousands of wall posts with my suitemate at the retirement castle during one of his fits of dementia, to reflect on my long-lost youthful vigor.

On Bravo's FLIPPING OUT, OCD-suffering real-estate speculator Jeff Lewis has turned his focus to interior design, choosing to flip off his aggressive buy-sell impulses, at least until the real estate business perks up a bit. Likewise on The Learning Channel, Flip That House has given way to the more buyer-leveraged Deals on the Bus. "We've done a bit of a shift to reflect what's happening in the market," says Nancy Daniels, senior vice president of production and development for TLC.

It ain't exactly TicketMaster-Live Nation, but when country crooners Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour kicks off this June, it will mark yet another example of corporate sponsorship's continuing domination of the music world. In conjunction with the launch of JCPenney's American Living collection, the two-year sponsorship deal will require Rascal Flatts members to do everything from compose and record a tribute song titled "American Living" to driving around in a fleet of tour trucks and buses wrapped in commercial signage. They'll even wear JCPenney clothing during all concerts and appearances.

Waterboarding might be too lenient (if satisfyingly appropriate) a punishment for Craig Zucker, the founder of Tap'dNY. Tap'd is a company that rented a Brooklyn warehouse, opened up a water main in it, and started bottling the stuff, which it now peddles under the tongue-in-cheek brand name.

Cell phones. texting. email. Social networks. There are many ways to avoid confrontation - and all of them technical. For Gen Y, learning to seduce face-to-face may be a bigger challenge than deciding to vote. Yes, technology is a blessing. We stay in touch quickly and effortlessly. But it also condones the worst sin: boredom. How else can you justify 500 Facebook "friends" sharing every banal, insignificant detail of their lives? If the average blogger invested as much time in an actual relationship - or recycling - we might have a cleaner, more connected planet.

It's in the nature of the media and communications industries that those employed in them spend inordinate amounts of time deeply immersed in its minutiae. The effort and intellectual capital that goes into such things on a daily basis is almost suggestive of obsession. While at its best - and such effort undoubtedly pays off to varying degrees - it is, in all cases, at odds with the amount of time and attention consumers give those efforts and the brands they intend to promote.

Devices are gateways. People use and consume media. They don't really think much about their device so much until it doesn't work. Like a doorway, you don't think about what it is or what it does until it doesn't do what you expect it to. Content is; it is the intent and the goal of its audience.

When i sat in on a research panel last year, someone said, "The fact that anyone can lead a luxurious life shows that the meaning of luxury has changed." Even though the research was only from several months ago, there's something about that sentiment that seems incredibly dated and irrelevant now, which made me wonder why. And if indeed it is dated, and things have changed so much, so fast, what does it mean for the luxury business?

The Gray Lady has thrown her petticoat up over her head and invited you in. When The New York Times Corp. held its bring-a-hacker-to-work day last month (more formally known as Times Open), it faced the digital future forward instead of backing into it as so many of its peers have been guilty of doing.

Let's begin by talking about some human beings. They are, after all, what this media thing is all about. We sometimes lose sight of that. We get so caught up in the process of what we do that we forget it is about connecting people. Connecting people to content. Connecting people to brands. And increasingly, connecting people to each other.