Is there anything original anymore? One of my recent favorite sayings from a chamber exec I know is using " R&D " or "rip off and duplicate." I'm fairly sure that this phrase was severely R&D'ed before I heard it and you know what? It's fine that it was. There are certain places where duplication and, more likely, improvement occur all the time and we applaud it! HD-TV, new drug regimes, and cell phone technology is improved all the time and we love it. Image via Wikipedia In lab conditions, we want know that extensive use of "R&D" has occurred. Where we don't want to see it? In pretty much any form of writing, most particularly, educational settings or even online. It is EXTREMELY hard not to at least "R&D" most good ideas that are captured online. When you read as much as I do, you can easily see- people share the same thoughts, a lot. With RSS feeders, Google alerts , and pretty mu...