Software Is A Gas ! It Expands

The Reason Societies With Democratic Governments Are Better Places To Live In Than Their Alternatives Isn't Because Of Some Goodness Intrinsic To Democracy, But Because Its Hopeless Inefficiency Helps Blunt The Basic Potential For Evil.

In Market Research I Did At Microsoft Corp. In The Early 1990s, I Estimated That The 'wall Street Journal' Took In About 75 Cents Per Copy From Subscribers, $1.25 At The Newsstand And A Whopping $5 Per Copy From Ads. The Ad Revenue Let Them Run A Far Bigger Newsroom Than Subscribers Were Paying For.

We're More Familiar With What Economists Call An English Auction - Prices Start Low And Rise As People Bid. However, There Is Also The Dutch Auction, Where Prices Start High And Go Lower Until Somebody Bites. Movies Are Sold To The Audience Via A Very Slow Dutch Auction, Where Each Phase Between Price Drops Can Last Weeks Or Months.

Making Money From Enforcing Patents Is No More Wrong Than Investing In Preferred Stock.

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.