The quote above is attributed to Steve Jobs, now the former CEO of Apple. What the quote means is the reason I admire what he has accomplished and will continue to influence as Apple's chairman. More on that below.

Make sure the programming you pay for is going to entertain viewers who are interested in purchasing your product. Minimize freeloaders. Don't cut your ad budgets, cut the waste out of them.

This is the time of year when I find myself contemplating many of the new series that will soon begin rolling out on the broadcast networks. Overall, I am so not impressed.

The dynamic nature of Set-Top Box data makes for a dynamic series of terms to describe them, so "dynamic" in fact that there has been recent expansion in dynamic advertising capabilities for VOD. Improved technology enables more relevant ads to be served in real time rather than in hours or days.

Mike McGuirre, VP MSA Media, and Eric Bartko, Senior Marketing Research Manager Business Analysis, MSA Media, work in a unique and pivotal part of the media contract fulfillment industry. Mike is a 20-year veteran of MSA, with expertise in the post buy auditing area.Eric's expertise started with CPG clients examining media mix modeling and has extended into STB and C3 analytics with network clients. In this interview, Mike and Eric talk about MSA and work in commercial analytics, addressable advertising and some upcoming industry trends.

On June 24, location-based social network Foursquare trumpeted an infusion of $50 million in VC capital -- a piece of news that deservedly received the attention of hundreds of news outlets. The day earlier, however, Foursquare announced a myriad of strategic alliances, which included one with American Express, allowing users of the Foursquare mobile app to receive credits applied directly to their Amex cards when purchasing goods (after checking in) from participating Foursquare-tagged locations. The $50 million announcement quickly overshadowed the prior day's release -- but in hindsight, the Amex news will likely have much more historic value.

I wrote something several months ago about Peter Rabar, an agency legend I had the privilege to work for, and to learn from. It was called "In Peter We Trust." The piece, on one level, talked about the nature of the client-agency relationship -- that is, what it takes to achieve a long-term, productive one. And it questioned whether we were talking ourselves out of the notion that such a quaint concept can apply today, with so much more specialization, technology and pace. There was another lesson Peter taught me, which happened on a very busy winter day.

The media landscape shifted seismically yet again last week with Google's announcement of plans to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. In what appears to be a brilliant move, Google managed to consolidate its positions in the three screens of media -- computing, television, and mobile -- in one fell swoop.

I have been in Los Angeles for the last few weeks, and at every turn I have heard somebody talking about ABC's silly sophomore series "Bachelor Pad," which made its season premiere August 8. At the beginning of my trip the talk was all eager anticipation. During the last two weeks it was all about the show itself. Thank God I'm heading home soon.

The word "augmentation" generally conjures up... ahem... physical enhancement. While we are not talking biceps or chests in this column, we are talking about more than just an average and expected program, commercial or viewing experience. In the STB world, augmentation -- whether real or virtual -- is made possible through the use of Advanced Advertising capabilities. It provides the viewer and content user unique and enhanced experiences. More, in this case, is certainly better.