MANILA, Philippines — It has always been a risk that creative types have to live with.

In a field that values creativity and originality, something presented as new might turn out to be too similar to something created or done in the past. A song might include some elements that sound like those of an older tune, or a poem might have some verses that rhyme too closely with those of an epic written a century earlier, or a movie might have the same plotline as an obscure play.

The Department of Tourism’s latest slogan, “It more fun in the Philippines,” might be one such case. And some online critics promptly pounced on this, accusing the DOT and its marketing agency of lacking in originality. Some even alleged plagiarism. This might just be a case of “great minds think alike.” Or the DOT copywriter was perhaps not aware of Switzerland’s 60-year-old marketing slogan.

Microsoft Flies

Microsoft’s Flight Simulator is perhaps the world’s longest-running computer game series. Older even than the software giant’s main cash cow, the Windows OS, the flight simulator game practically defined its market segment.

It therefore made not a few market observers to scratch their heads and wondered why Microsoft shut down ACES Game Studio, the developer of the game series, in January 2009.

First developed in 1977, the flight simulation game has been satisfying gamers’ lust for flying albeit virtually for more than 25 years now.

Last week, however, Microsoft announced the resurrection of the Flight Simulator franchise, which has been rebranded as the Microsoft Flight. Retaining most of the game’s realistic flying experience, Flight has become a free-to-play game and will be released in spring 2012.

Microsoft hopes to remind fans of the original game about their love for virtual flying. At the same time, the company wishes to attract today’s gamers, both those who wage virtual wars and those who tend to their virtual vegetables or blast digital zombies away.

Render Unto Pirates

Sweden’s government has exempted a file-sharing group from the country’s anti-piracy laws. The reason? The Swedish authorities concurred that the group is a religious organization, and that the files that the group’s more than 3,000 members share are sacred.

Also, the government agrees that the group’s act of file sharing is a sacrament.

The moral of the story: If you want to do some hassle-free digital piracy, do it with a touch of the sacred.

Unfriend This Virus

If you’re a Facebook user and happened to be living in France or the United Kingdom, you better check your FB account’s security settings. According to some media reports, a malware called Ramnit has stolen some 45,000 users’ login details (usernames and passwords).

IT security research group Securlet has disclosed that the worm can infect Windows executables, Microsoft Office, and HTML files.

I guess it’s time for safer social networking.