Forget the fact that I just asked whether we want this new photo app called “Color.” We have no choice. It has to work. That’s what $41 million in funding from a few different firms including Sequoia Capital will do to increase air pressure in the Color offices.

Sequoia invested $25 million in Color, which is a lot; they only gave Google $12.5 million. So yea, there’s a lot riding on Color. And many experts say it could be the most innovative software since Google.

Unfortunately, in the world of PR, it’s off to an auspicious start.

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Butler Bulldogs celebrating their win on Saturday. Photo: David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune

I’m no bracketologist (nor do I know how one attains college credits to be one) but if you had VCU and Butler in the Final Four, I’d say you’re pretty good at picking the winners. Even if you don’t know a thing about college basketball, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. The ratings for the 2011 NCAA Tournament are the best since 2005. More than nine million people are tuning in.

CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ exclusive live coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT, and truTv was a massive undertaking. For the first time in tournament history you could watch any game you wanted. The reality is it was an gamble by CBS to keep it’s pride and joy — its “one shining moment“ — away from the worldwide leader in sports a.k.a ESPN. An $800 million gamble at that.

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The Google logo from March 6, Ghana's independence day.

From the sublime to the bizarre and from the bizarre to the ridiculous Google mines it. So it’s all the more interesting when an HR resource called “Project Oxygen” came online for Google early in 2009. It wasn’t created to find the next app or some sort of algorithm stream. It was meant to find something immensely more important to Google.

Project Oxygen started out as a fact-find mission to prove the age-old HR statement that people leave organizations because of their managers. They would also look at collateral damage it was having on the company as a whole. But Google’s big-dig ended up being a strike-oil scenario for management excellence.

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Wayne’s World has been making the cable rounds recently. At one point in the movie Wayne is forced to interview a major advertiser on his show. Wayne was happy to do it….NOT!

This morning, I see an Ad Age article that seems eerily familiar to that very subplot. MSNBC’s Morning Joe,which has quite the lucrative sponsorhsip deal with Starbucks, had the company’s CEO Howard Schultz on for seven minutes to talk about the coffee giant’s 40th anniversary. In TV terms, seven minutes is a lifetime. There were bags of brew on set and honestly, I was surprised they didn’t do the shoot “on location” at a Starbucks near 30 Rock to have Mika’s favorite barista in the background brewing a macchiato for her.

This is unethical. And as many of you know, I ain’t the first person to bring this up. But Ad Age vacillated with the issue in its article.

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Don Johnson aka 'Sonny Crockett'

For years we have watched TV wanting what Sonny Crockett wore or that jogging suit on Wisteria Lane. We did “The Rachel” and the Brandon Walsh.

But what if you could pause your DVR, click on that item of clothing Eva Longoria is wearing, and buy it. We’ve been dying to dress like our favorite TV stars for years. Glamour and iPad have taken the first step to do just that.

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Glenn Beck‘s ascension in the talk radio and TV news stratosphere had a pulpy blend of polarization, right wing Muscle Milk, and a pint of vitriolic I.P.A. The longer Beck stuck his neck out the more feathers he ruffled; the more feathers he ruffled the more people watched; and the more people watched the more he stuck his neck out.

Yet here we are today wondering if the future of Glenn Beck is simply a dark abyss. There are reports that since last summer, Beck has lost a third of his audience, or in more dramatic math, a million viewers. Granted, Beck is still drawing a would-be healthy two-million viewers. MSNBC and CNN might consider hiring Charlie Sheen as a political pundit to achieve those numbers at 5p.m. on a weeknight.

But even the great right-winged typewriter of Bill Kristol has been keystroking some seriously questionable thoughts about Glenn Beck and questioning Beck’s journalistic integrity.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs introducing the latest version of the iPad today in San Francisco. Photo: REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach

So after all the hype, the fact is I was all-in even if Apple brought out a dancing monkey and told me it was the new iPad.

Okay, let’s review. It’s thinner, faster, comes in white, and, yes, it’s Verizon-capable. Some tech writers dig it. Some writers suspect the minor upgrades – which also includes two cameras – are only the beginning. And it’s the same price point! Other writers…you can’t please them.

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Is this the new iPad? Image via Business Insider

Pardon my excitement, but Apple‘s big reveal today (at 1pm ET)with the new and improved iPad will have everyone abuzz. Yes, there were the haters when the iPad 1.0 jumped on the scene. But within months we learned this sleek piece of machinery was fun to play with and, dare I say it, special.

So today, Apple will show us what’s next. If you can’t wait any longer, Gizmodo breaks down the details on how they are expanding and potentially improving the iPad. And Business Insider has what could be some leaked photos.

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Google just can’t do much right these days. They took heat for allowing what is basically spam to show up in search terms. JCPenney isn’t always spam since they have some really cool deals. But the allegations weren’t pretty. Google said, “No problem!” They changed their algorithm in an effort to improve content in its search results.

Google makes about 500 search solution changes a year, many of which you won’t notice. However, this affects almost 12 percent of ALL searches, which is gonna make a lot of us notice. And it did. And a lot of people ain’t happy.

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Facebook is trying to bridge the gap between reporters and the social network (say that doing your best Jesse Eisenberg imitation…it sounds a lot more important.)

FB has posted a job for a “Journalist Program Manager” who will “utilize both partnership and program management skills to help journalists understand the value of using Facebook, get started, and use it effectively over time.”  The job is in New York which kinda bites because if you work for FB in Palo Alto, they do your laundry for you. Yes, I’m dead serious.

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