Being around some of the bright lights of the technology world and having them expect great things helps you sit down and do it seriously.

Without the ability to talk about government power theres no way for citizens to make sure this power isnt being misused.

Information is power. But like all power there are those who want to keep it for themselves.

With the death of bin Laden its finally time for Congress to bring back the pre-9-11 legal norm before we decided it was okay to toss out our civil liberties if the bad guys were scary enough.

Most people it seems stretch the truth to make themselves seem more impressive. I it seems stretch the truth to make myself look worse.

The worlds entire scientific and cultural heritage published over centuries in books and journals is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations.

The library world is set up on this model where the library is a physical building and has a number of books and serves a geographical community.

When I go to a library and I see the librarian at her desk reading Im afraid to interrupt her even though she sits there specifically so that she may be interrupted even though being interrupted for reasons like this by people like me is her very job.

We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file-sharing networks.

What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale or every important book or even every book in English but simply every book – a key part of our planets cultural legacy.

Writing an encyclopedia is hard. To do anywhere near a decent job you have to know a great deal of information about an incredibly wide variety of subjects. Writing so much text is difficult but doing all the background research seems impossible.

Real education is about genuine understanding and the ability to figure things out on your own not about making sure every 7th grader has memorized all the facts some bureaucrats have put in the 7th grade curriculum.

Computers will be able to do all the mundane tasks in our daily lives.

I first met Jimbo Wales the face of Wikipedia when he came to speak at Stanford.

Even among those who I would not count as friends I have met many people online who have simply commented on my work or are interested by what I do.

Normally I just sit in my quiet little room and do the small things that bring me pleasures. I read my books I answer email I write a little bit.

I have developed my most meaningful relationships online. None of them live within driving distance. None of them are about my own age.

At the end of the day we have an economy that works for the rich by cheating the poor and unequal schools are the result of that not the cause.

Im not such a nuisance to the world and the kick I get out of living can I suppose justify the impositions I make on it. But when life isnt so fun well then I start to wonder. Whats the point of going on if its just trouble for us both? My friends will miss me

Through the Internet Ive developed a strong social network – something I could never do if I had to keep my choice of peers within school grounds.

I was around computers from birth we had one of the first Macs which came out shortly before I was born and my dad ran a company that wrote computer operating systems. I dont think I have any particular technical skills I just got a really large head start.

We must erase bin Ladens ugly legacy not extend it: by ending the Patriot Acts erosion of our civil liberties we can protect the freedoms that make America worth fighting for.

Seriously who really cares how long the Nile river is or who was the first to discover cheese? How is memorizing that ever going to help anyone? Instead we need to give kids projects that allow them to exercise their minds and discover things for themselves.

Theres all sorts of stuff people want to publish anonymously.

Assume nobody else has any idea what theyre doing either.