Things change in business and industry all the time. Some changes have little or no impact on personal/professional activities while others can (at least potentially) become a direct hit.
Nik Software has gained a sterling reputation in the image editing field and has found a big niche in many photographer’s workflow. Not long ago Nik was acquired by Google. This isn’t necessarily either a good or a bad thing (we’ll have to wait and see which part of the Nik product sphere receives continued development and support), but it can have consequences, the first of which may be that if you use NIK products now, you need to transfer the customer information you provided Nik to Google in order to continue to receive technical support and upgrade information. Here’s a link to help make that happen if you’re so inclined. December 7, 2012 is the deadline.