A long, long time ago, you asked questions of Mark Shuttleworth -- astronaut, entrepreneur, activist, and now chief of Debian-and-GNOME based distribution Ubuntu Linux. Mark's been understandably busy running the world of Ubuntu, especially considering the imminent release of the group's newest version, Hoary Hedgehog. He's answered below questions on everything from what makes it worth paying for a trip to space to how software offered with source, for free, and under a liberal license (aka Free software) can sustain itself and its creators. Read on for his answers.

Below is another sampling of the email and comments that Jon Katz inspired with his "Voices From The Hellmouth" series about the events that rocked Littleton, Colorado.

Irrational Exuberance -- a provocative, even scary new book by Yale economist Robert J. Shiller -- is sending shock waves through Wall Street. Shiller argues that the techno-fueled stock-market boom is based on emotion, rumor, pyschology and herd instincts (like excitement about the Net), rather than on any rational facts or data -- and that it can't last. In fact, he writes, technology may be driving the market mad. If he's right, the market has to fall, and technology companies will be among those most significantly affected. (Read More).

Scott McCartney's Eniac is a beautifully researched, immensely readable, and surprisingly poignant look at the two men who worked for three years in the frenzied atmosphere of World War II to successfully build Eniac, the world's first digital, electronic computer.

One of the most amazing things about their very overdue story is that most of us have never heard of either of them.

Technology is overwhelming journalism when it comes to stories like the death of John Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law. Increasingly visual, techno-driven media distort reality, drown out all other news and information, and pump manipulative, highly emotional imagery continuously all over the globe.