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A tough, tasty steak of a book, Justin Fox's "The Myth of the Rational Market" arrived last fall just in time to explain how and why the smartest economists and best-managed institutions on Wall Street nearly detonated a bomb in the world's underpants. At the risk of oversimplifying: The abstract thing we call markets (trading in stocks, bonds, options, securities, etc.) is indeed rational -- predictable, mathematical, knowable. It's the human actors who are irrational, if not downright insane.

If you can't beat 'em, you can always join 'em. Demand Media Inc., often pilloried by the media pundits as a factory for online content, has struck a deal to provide travel articles and videos for one of the nation's biggest media brands, Gannett Inc.'s USA Today. The arrangement calls for Demand Media to create and maintain a new travel section for USA Today's website called Travel Tips. The section, which debuted Wednesday, is populated by thousands of how-to articles created by Demand's editors and freelancers.

If you can't beat 'em, you can always join 'em. Demand Media Inc., often pilloried by the media pundits as a factory for online content, has struck a deal to provide travel articles and videos for one of the nation's biggest media brands, Gannett Inc.'s USA Today. The arrangement calls for Demand Media to create and maintain a new travel section for USA Today's website called Travel Tips. The section, which debuted Wednesday, is populated by thousands of how-to articles created by Demand's editors and freelancers.

This may come as something of a shock, but I am a liberal progressive environmental do-gooder. I know. Just keep breathing. You'll come around. I am also a car guy. As such, I am precisely the sort of prospect Renault means to cultivate in its film "Drive the Change" (Publicis), a two-minute corporate manifesto that declares the company's intention to radically reinvent personal mobility around electric-vehicle technology. The film debuted at the Frankfurt auto show in September, and various "Drive the Change" campaign works -- multiplexed across TV, Web and social media formats -- will circulate globally as Renault ramps up to sell four new electric models by 2011.

My Christmas gift to you, dear reader, was to be that I would not write about Tiger Woods -- philandering golf god, emotionally retarded frat boy and straight-up liar. I think we're all pretty sick of it. Unfortunately, his sponsors keep dropping him like wormy fruit (Tag Heuer bumped him off their billboards last week). And so, given my charter, I am obliged. My take-away is simply this: Sponsors, run. It doesn't matter if you're backing Davis Love III or Ernie Els or Vijay Singh; save your money.

This may come as something of a shock, but I am a liberal progressive environmental do-gooder. I know. Just keep breathing. You'll come around. I am also a car guy. As such, I am precisely the sort of prospect Renault means to cultivate in its film "Drive the Change" (Publicis), a two-minute corporate manifesto that declares the company's intention to radically reinvent personal mobility around electric-vehicle technology. The film debuted at the Frankfurt auto show in September, and various "Drive the Change" campaign works -- multiplexed across TV, Web and social media formats -- will circulate globally as Renault ramps up to sell four new electric models by 2011.

Terri Michael Group Inc. has opened in Irvine. The advertising, design and public relations firm lists among its clients Hasson Publishing, Prudential Equity Funding, Village Green Furnishings and Harbor Escrow.

A Fountain Valley advertising agency--David, James & Roberts Advertising/PR--has been selected as the U.S. representative of an association of 13 ad agencies located throughout Europe. Chris Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for David, James, said the association, called Eloquente, was especially interested in a member from California. The hope is to market high-tech companies in the western United States to European companies, and vice versa.

A tough, tasty steak of a book, Justin Fox's "The Myth of the Rational Market" arrived last fall just in time to explain how and why the smartest economists and best-managed institutions on Wall Street nearly detonated a bomb in the world's underpants. At the risk of oversimplifying: The abstract thing we call markets (trading in stocks, bonds, options, securities, etc.) is indeed rational -- predictable, mathematical, knowable. It's the human actors who are irrational, if not downright insane.

My Christmas gift to you, dear reader, was to be that I would not write about Tiger Woods -- philandering golf god, emotionally retarded frat boy and straight-up liar. I think we're all pretty sick of it. Unfortunately, his sponsors keep dropping him like wormy fruit (Tag Heuer bumped him off their billboards last week). And so, given my charter, I am obliged. My take-away is simply this: Sponsors, run. It doesn't matter if you're backing Davis Love III or Ernie Els or Vijay Singh; save your money.

Barry Diller, who warned last week at a media industry conference that the transition from old media to new media would be "bloody," is turning to Ben Silverman for help with triage.

AdClub Job Bank: In response to the heavy loss of jobs among its members, the Orange County AdClub formed a volunteer job bank in early December--and, so far, has placed five people in new jobs, said Denise Federspiel, who runs the job bank. Estimates are that 4,000 people out of about 11,000 once employed in the local industry lost jobs due to the recession. About 40 of them have sent resumes to Federspiel at the job bank.

A Fountain Valley advertising agency--David, James & Roberts Advertising/PR--has been selected as the U.S. representative of an association of 13 ad agencies located throughout Europe. Chris Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for David, James, said the association, called Eloquente, was especially interested in a member from California. The hope is to market high-tech companies in the western United States to European companies, and vice versa.

DeYong Ginsberg Weisman Bailey Advertising of Irvine, one of Orange County's largest agencies, is not letting the recession slow it down. The agency just opened a new wing in its Executive Park building and added five people to its 40-member agency. The company's steady growth is remarkable considering that nearly a third of the 11,000 jobs in the industry in Orange County fell victim last year to the recession.