Most visions of extraterrestrial life are actually steeped in human hubris. The fictional extraterrestrials of 'Star Trek' or a hundred other space operas are less alien than many of my neighbors. And funny, the ones running the place are mostly WASPish men.

Why pay a fee for Internet content when a million free sites are just a click away? There's no incentive until people are too addicted to the Net to turn off their computers, yet are bored with what's available.

In the early days of the software industry, people cared about copyright and didn't give a damn about patents - they copied each other willy-nilly.

We collectively have a special place in our heart for the manned space flight program - Apollo nostalgia is one element, but that is only part of it. American culture worships explorers - look at the fame of Lewis and Clark, for example. The American people want to think of themselves as supporting exploration.

Making money from enforcing patents is no more wrong than investing in preferred stock.

Software sucks because users demand it to.

It's impossible that we're alone in the universe. Every time we think we're more special than others, we're proven wrong.