When you write a high-tech thriller, and then people in the defense establishment start calling you - people I can't name - you feel you've hit a nerve.

Oh but it is Mr Bernstein, it is the ultimate game. And, once you take this folder you will have precisely 14 days in which to decide whether or not you would like to play.

Neal Stephenson is great. He can write about a white wall for six pages, and it sounds fascinating. I read the whole 'Baroque Cycle' and 'Cryptonomicon.'

It is awesome to feel you are carrying on the family name.

We need to build change in to our systems and let these systems evolve as circumstances change. Change is inevitable, but we need to do a better job of dealing with it, because when we start building huge gleaming monoliths, I think we start getting into trouble.

If your data is out there earning money for somebody, you should have a say in it.