The latest example, reports  John Miller in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, is that "The European Parliament effectively scuttled a sweeping overhaul of the bloc's fragmented phone and Internet rules, opting instead to attach an amendment protecting the rights of bloggers accused of Internet piracy."  Most of us bloggers have nothing, not in the material sense or even in terms of conventional influence.  MORE

Cue scary music a la video piracy ads. Voiceover: You wouldn’t make a serious presentation wearing a RED CLOWN NOSE. You wouldn’t get up in front of a conference with a REVOLVING BOW TIE. You wouldn’t leave a WHOOPEE CUSHION under the lectern for the next presenter. So why would you create your presentation graphics in COMIC SANS ? Using Comic Sans is a DESIGN CRIME. If you’re doing a presentation for a kindergarten party or children’s charity, you have special license to use Comic Sans. MORE

This year’s theme, back to fundamentals [good – you’ve done your research] gels very well with what I talk about - the fundamental difference between right and wrong when it comes to piracy and competition, especially in relation to the software industry [good – links to the conference topic]. I make the case that piracy is not something companies and individuals should always necessarily fight, but compete with instead. Business of Software Blog The business of software. MORE

Indeed, our efforts in this young century have led us to a new concept for NATO that will give us the capabilities needed to meet new threats: threats like terrorism and piracy, cyber attacks and ballistic missiles. PART 1/3 The whole speech can be watched HERE , 'embedding' of which has been 'disabled by request' and full transcript at the bottom of the page. MORE

The decision handed down by the US Supreme Court in King vs. Burwell, redefined what the word “the State” means. As such, here is the Constitution as rewritten by the Supreme Court (illegally as written in what was Article V). Rewritten text is in red. MORE

He mentions piracy, but iPhone users who have not jailbroken their phones can't install the stolen software. Infoworld is one of the many tech news outlets that I read daily (well, M-F) that contributes to a well-rounded understanding of what's going on in the industry in which I work. Unfortunately, I have yet to see that kind of cross-domain & cross-discipline approach in my daily travels, but I digress. MORE

It’s time for the results of our December Joke Contest. The theme for the contest is Creative Business. The challenge was to combine two unlikely businesses under the same roof and come up with a name for the new business. . New Joke Contests are announced on the first of the month. Here are the top lines for the December contest. ** FIRST PLACE **. Security Devices. Bird Habitats. Specialty Cheese: Locks Nests Muenster. Scott Tredwell, Advance, North Carolina. ** SECOND PLACE **. MORE

 Piracy is suspected. The experts, reports Bloomberg, have put together the scenario that Flight 370 traveled for several hours after it veered off its scheduled plan. Low on fuel, it could have gone down in proximity to the Indian Ocean. Here is Bloomberg's coverage. That would mean one thing: The passengers and crew not directly involved in that divergence endured prolonged emotional suffering. It might have also been physical. They might have been hungry and thirsty. MORE