In a previous column, I discussed two of my core investment themes for the next 12-18 months, gold and bonds.

FORBES: More themes for the coming year

As I pointed out in a previous column ( How SAP is Betting its Growth on Partnerships), this openness is not only a matter of making customers happy.

FORBES: The Technology Of SAP's Open Strategy

In a previous column titled, Jeff Bezos and the end of PowerPoint as we know it, I made the point that Bezos as well as other well-known business leaders are using a more visually engaging method of delivering presentations and doing so with the aid of traditional presentation software.

FORBES: PowerPoint: The Extreme Makeover Edition (Before and After Slides)

As Microsoft slowly leaves the legacy world behind in order to keep up with its rivals, a tension will be introduced into the market along a fault line I highlighted in a previous column: the x86-ARM divide, which falls at the bottom of the stack shown in the graphic at the top of the page.

FORBES: Windows Devices: The Future Is Called RT

We discussed its legal problems in a previous Forbes.com column.

FORBES: "Genetically Engineered" In California: A Food Label We Don't Need

As noted in a previous Crotty on Education column, in the fall of 2011 Stanford University Professor, Sebastian Thrun, launched a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on artificial intelligence that attracted more than 160, 000 students.

FORBES: Distance Learning Has Been Around Since 1892, You Big MOOC