With the discussion of philosophy lately, I'll share with you a URL for an interesting article about the _real_ philosophical dilemma:
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000207/news/current/superstar.htx?source=blq/yhoo&dist=yhoo
An excerpt:
"LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) -- OK, so you're a millionaire. Now what? Well, for one thing, folks, more and more Americans are asking that question. Rephrased, it is life's most fundamental question: What is the meaning of life? Or better yet, what is the meaning of my life? ..."
OK, so I retired 14 years ago and faced this question many years ago. It explains why I'm not particularly fascinated by petty schemes to make money.
(Though a dozen or more Internet billionaires have made their fortunes over ideas we would have considered to be "obvious and therefore boring" a few years back.)
I wouldn't turn down a billion if someone gave it to me, but I have (had) no interest in setting up a software company to market backend billing and accounting software software for ISPs. This is not a manufactured example. An acquaintance of mine redirected his company from being a run-of-the-mill ISP to being a provider of this kind of ISP backoffice accounting software. He's now worth a half a billion to a billion or so, depending on the exact value of Portal Software (PRSF).
Interesting times.
--Tim May
print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<>
)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<J]dsJxp"|dc`
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Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
"Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
