The future of spam according to Bill Gates

"During the past year, Microsoft has taken a number of important steps to help curb the epidemic of junk email, which is a major headache for computer users worldwide. We've made significant progress, including blocking more than 95 percent of all incoming junk email - an average of 3 billion messages a day - on Hotmail. But more work remains to be done. We're committed to finding additional ways to counter this costly nuisance."

A terrific review of my new book...

How to Pitch Your Startup: a free online tutorial

"It's your big chance: you've been talking with your friends and family about your business idea for months. You've convinced a colleague or two to join forces with you. You've even started down the road to creating some deliverables, have a small office lined up, and maybe even have some initial sales. But it's becoming clear that to aggressively pursue your marketing plan, to achieve your corporate mission, you're going to need to raise some capital. Not a few thousand, but millions."

Please spend a few minutes and learn all about how to pitch your startup to investors.

Weblogs are even in non-disclosures now!

"Representatives from Microsoft�s Macintosh Business Unit will be demonstrating and/or providing me with a beta copy of Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 and I agree to keep all mentioned dates, product features and other product information not yet available to the public under embargo until Virtual PC 7 is released to manufacturing, which Edelman will notify me of this date in advance. The embargo includes print, broadcast, electronic and Internet publications and blogs, and verbal disclosure."

Are you about to be a victim of digital terrorists?

Doesn't sound too bad (particularly since I'm getting about 1000 spam/day now), but you need to remember that most of the PCs that now send out spam are slave systems, not computers owned by spammers themselves. So the scenario that keeps playing out in my head is that I get a phone call from a colleague who complains "I can't send any email! I called Comcast and they say I'm a spammer and they refuse to let my system connect!"

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How do you get started writing a book?

My answer to this question is always the same, and it starts with the question of how much you love the subject your'e going to write about, because, just like the old saw about a PhD dissertation, you'll probably end your book project with less affection for the subject than when you started! I've known plenty of PhDs who find that their passion is spent by the time they defend their dissertation, and they end up needing a break.

But I'm getting sidetracked. Here's the real answer I gave Bryan...

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