We’re back, which means we didn’t purchase one of the three lottery tickets that won the record-breaking Mega Millions drawing on Friday.

That hasn’t stopped NBC for upping the morning news stakes. The network sees its your Katie Couric, ABC, and raises you a Sarah Palin. The former GOP vice presidential nominee joins “Today” on Tuesday as a special co-host during Couric’s weeklong stint with “Good Morning America.”

Doesn’t seem like an even wager to us, maybe that’s why NBC is holding out to sign Ryan Seacrest.

Lottery or no lottery, we did spend our weekend “Draping” about the city—a “Mad Men” inspired photo meme trending on the Web.



The New York Times reports on a trend that’s hit athletic programs at schools across the country. It appears more universities are tracking their athletes’ online activity, actions that some argue not only invades the students’ privacy, but also violates their constitutional rights.

Athlete or not, if a student isn’t on scholarship, chances are he or she might someday contribute to the current $36 billion debt facing seniors citizens as a result of college loans.

The “pink slime” industry faces a dilemma far greater than student loans, but it’s not going at it alone. PR agencies such as Ketchum—which represents Wendy’s that claims it has never used the controversial meat—are caught in the crossfire as they fight what seems to be a losing battle on behalf of their clients in the beef industry.

Fast-food restaurants have to worry about more than just pink slime. They should be concerned about their cooking oil, and it’s not because of diner’s health risks. “Grease gangs” have apparently been stealing the lucrative deep-fat fryer liquid lard to sell on the black market, where it’s used for biodiesel purposes.

Walmart is more worried about e-retailers such as Amazon stealing its consumers. Sales at similar brick-and-mortar stores have been hurt by savvy smartphone-equipped consumers who “scan and scram,” which Businessweek describes as “when would-be customers use their smartphones in stores to scan an item’s bar code and then buy it online from a rival merchant.”

In the future, March Madness fans might turn online for game updates. Viewers of Saturday’s Kansas-Ohio State game missed the final seconds due to CBS showing a replay rather than what was occurring live on the court.

With the live shows of NBC’s hit “The Voice” starting Monday night, the singing competition has added a Facebook app for viewers to vote on their favorite contestants.

Everyone’s favorite former Goldman Sachs exec, Greg Smith, landed a $1.5 million advance as part of a book deal with Hachette Book Group after his condemning op-ed resignation letter published in The New York Times. The book will cover his 12-year career with the Wall Street giant.

In the wake of the Smith debacle, smaller banks may want to avoid emulating the hiring practices of Goldman; however, any start-up could learn a thing or two—or in this case, five things—from the way Google hires people.

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