Last week I got some people really riled up about viewable ads. Thankfully, that was my intent! The fact is, this is an opportunity to discuss how to make online advertising more effective and more efficient, which will pave the way for the next 10-15 years of growth!

It seems as if every new business-tech venture positions itself around "big data." Not surprisingly, so do VCs. So do business and tech publications and blogs, which are dedicating increasing resources to covering big data. Even the PR spin-sters have caught on, as demonstrated by the pitches I regularly receive. The problem is that "big data" is jargon. While it may mean something specific in data and software engineering circles, it is too easy to find myriad definitions and interpretations, even from people who work in the technology industry.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Steve Farella, the co-founder and CEO of media agency Targetcast. Steve and his business partner, Audrey Siegel, founded the company right after the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001. Over time, they built a great company with major clients that loved their work. Last month, Targetcast was rewarded for its efforts by being acquired by MDC partners, the acquisitive agency holding company that earlier this year also bought RJ Palmer. Success stories like Targetcast make it seem like you'd be crazy not to try to start your own company. However, before launching …

I agree that an employer should never ask you for your Facebook password as a condition of employment. Actually, they should never ask you for your Facebook password, period -- just as they should never tap your phone or install a closed-circuit camera in your bathroom. Some things are just common sense.

If an ad shows up on a Web page, and it's below the fold where no one can see it, did it make an impression? The buzz this month is viewable ads, and the issue of whether or not your ads are being seen on the Web. It's a big issue because, as we all know, click-through is a horrid metric and actual click-through rates are abysmal, to say the least. The only metrics that we've had left to champion have been exposure and engagement, and you can't engage with something you never actually see.

A few weeks ago, fellow OnlineSpin columnist Matt Straz described his resolve to build his personal brand by becoming more active in online networking. I chuckled, because it coincided with my return to this column, following a deliberate year-long hiatus. I underwent a self-prescribed period of less online networking so I could invest myself in other areas.

"Mad Men" returned last night after a 17-month hiatus, and it is good to have the show back. Because I'm a fan of advertising and its history, it's almost impossible for me not to think about the show each time I'm in Manhattan, especially when I visit agencies like Y&R at 285 Madison Avenue. It was here that the real Don Draper, Draper Daniels, toiled as a copywriter a half century ago. When I drink at former industry haunts like Keen's Steakhouse, I quietly raise my glass to the industry giants that came before me. The very last vestiges of …

The politically correct answer, obviously, is, "Yes." The statistically correct answer is, "Yes," as well. In 2009, according to The National Center for Women & Information Technology, while women held 58% of professional jobs overall in the U.S., we only held 25% of professional computing positions. Similarly, while 57% of 2009 undergraduate degree recipients were women, only 18% of recipients of computer and information sciences degrees were female -- down from 37% in 1985.

The future of news is likely to be all about personal production, not just big media publishing and packaging. At least that's the sense I got after participating in "The Next Big Thing in Digital News Innovation" at the Paley Center.

The role of the digital evangelist inside a large brand can be a thankless job, as you spend every waking hour developing innovative strategies, evaluating an endless stream of intelligent, venture-backed companies and holding one-on-one meetings to educate and expand the horizons of your colleagues. But don't lose hope! The day of reckoning is upon us (or at least it's very, very close).