NIELSEN 101 -- In the days since Nielsen Media Research began measuring TV viewing of students living on college campuses, some surprising patterns have emerged. Cautioning that the data is preliminary and may not be "projectable," a source deep inside the TV ratings giant tells The Riff that contrary to conventional beliefs that the 18- to 24-year-old crowd are light users of the medium, the college students in Nielsen's new "extended home sample" are watching disproportionate amounts of television.

PEER-TO-PEER PRESSURE -- Tobacco. Alcohol. Even food. The next big media category to face a backlash over its youth-oriented marketing will be, well, media.

THE BLIND GENERATING LEADS FOR THE BLIND -- Recently - this afternoon, in fact - we showed one of the smartest media guys we know how to make a media buy. Weirder still, until a few hours ago, we had never actually made a media buy.

IN GOOD COMPANY -- VNU, the Dutch-based company known best for being the parent of Nielsen Media Research and ACNielsen, has changed its name to The Nielsen Co. While that sure has a better ring than its previous name -- an acronym for "Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven," which, in case you don't have your Dutch translator handy, stood for United Dutch Publishing Companies -- we couldn't help wondering what some of the other finalists were in the corporate rebranding initiative.

BACKCHANNEL TO SCHOOL -- If you're anything like us, every now and then you probably find yourself waxing nostalgic for your school days. So much bright promise.

IT'S 11:55, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE? -- Well, if you listen to some of the world's smartest minds, they are in grave peril - perhaps their gravest yet. But hey, what do they know? The real focus of today's column is a magazine.

AND NOW A FEW ADWORDS FROM OUR SPONSORS -- It's time once again to talk about the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Actually, make that the $10.8 billion gorilla.

GRABBING THEM BY THE SHORT AND CURLIES -- Attention PR sure knows how to get some. And we mean that in the most literal of ways.

V IS FOR VAPID -- The name MTV once stood for "music television." Aside from the fact that it rarely, if ever, plays music anymore, some people have taken to using it phonetically to describe its parent company: "Empty V.

THE APPLE OF YOUR I -- Apple knows how to get ink. All it need do is adopt "Inc.