I truly believe that fundamentalism stems from unemployment. A man without a job is desperate; he doesn't want to live anyway.

Our partnership with the American Warren Buffett, from my perspective, is aimed at creating more jobs.

For us to become a nation, everyone - including Arabs, Druze, ultra-Orthodox and new immigrants - must feel that they belong. Their success is extremely important to us. If they succeed, they will come to understand the advantages of democracy and freedom.

The problem with our region is that there are areas with oil and too much money, and then there are places such as south Lebanon and the Palestinian territories where there is no work, and instead of developing industry, they become dependent on oil money - this results in extremism.

One of the ironies of a conference dedicated to all things digital and virtual is that the best ways to connect with people are surprisingly old-school. Social media tools can improve the odds of a serendipitous encounter at SXSW, but old-fashioned hustle, palm-pressing and - above all - creativity go a long way.

What if Hiram Bingham had the technology to find hundreds of other archaeological sites at the same time and create entire 3-D maps of the ancient landscape accurate to within a few inches?

I don't know when the Return of the Living Dead are happening. That's been on the Internet for years.

My high-school friends and I felt part of a community of smart, forward-looking space and technology freaks.