The swamps are finally drained and channeled today, in part courtesy of Mussolini, but the old, defensive pattern of settlement is still visible: Nearly every town of antiquity was built inland, on the hilltops, while an explosion of postwar development has crowded the once-deserted coasts.

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His pattern of accomplishment following these choices--Microsoft's meteoric rise and an eventual settlement that didn't much restrict the company's monopoly on its browser and operating system--reflects Gates' understanding of how and when it's actually a good idea to break the rules.

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