Jamie Johnson, a heir to the
Johnson & Johnson fortune, uses his family connections to gain a critical insider’s perspective and remarkable unguarded interviews of those who hold 50% of America’s wealth in two self-made documentaries: The One Percent (parts
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7 and
8) and
Born Rich, along with a
Vanity Fair blog. From the other side:
Elizabeth Warren, The Woman Who Knew Too Much.
[more inside]
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul
on Oct 16, 2011 -
60 comments
"Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told CNET he was saddened to learn of Roberts' death. 'He took a critically important step that led to everything we have today,' Wozniak said." Ed Roberts, creator of the
Altair 8800, the first personal computer,
died Thursday. [more inside]
posted by longsleeves
on Apr 2, 2010 -
37 comments
Newsfilter: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and
Paul Hewson named by Time Magazine as their persons of the year in recognition of their efforts against HIV-1, malaria and debt in Africa. "For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time's Persons of the Year."
said the mag's editor-in-chief.
posted by docgonzo
on Dec 18, 2005 -
123 comments
Bill Gates May Blog. Always
ahead of the curve, the astute visionary's groundbreaking foray into the virginal internet territory, known by computer hackers as "web logging,"
won't be all business, either. He's expected to share personal details such as tidbits from recent vacations. I for one am trembling on the edge of my seat.
1.0 lacks that special something.
posted by scarabic
on Jun 26, 2004 -
18 comments
Bill Gates proposes an end to free email If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
posted by wsg
on Mar 5, 2004 -
46 comments
Earth to Bill Gates: Thank you This little editorial that appeared recently is (obviously) dancing on the fringe of cheesiness, but it begs an interesting question about philanthropy and the world's richest man.
Gates appeared on Bill Moyers'
NOW last night, and was reasonably candid (he used the phrase "failure of capitalism"), mentioning more than once that he intended to
give away ~95% of his wealth, mostly to aid public health. Our
perceptions of his politics aside, it would seem as if Gates intends to go out with a humanist bang.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly
on May 10, 2003 -
41 comments
Is Bill Gates behind the times? (NYT link - reg req'd) Microsoft today introduced designs for "a new class of watch" which can "provide weather information, text messages and other data." The simplest versions "will cost less than $150," the story says.
But Timex currently offers its own, cheaper version:
the Internet Messenger Watch for only US$50, and a year's free service, for almost the same features.
Is Microsoft actually
behind the times with their 'innovation'? Is this embarrassing for the software giant?
posted by busbyism
on Jan 9, 2003 -
33 comments
Guttenberg, Babbage...Gates? [via Techdirt] Reading this caused me to question what caused Salon.com to publish this glowing valentine/commercial endorsement for Microsoft's .NET (a general catch-all marketing phrase covering MSFT's implementation of a number of standards supporting web services). Ignores most of the security shortfalls of .NET and compares Gates to Guttenberg. Should this bear the title "Paid Advertising"?
posted by O Boingo
on Feb 14, 2002 -
20 comments
Microsoft announced a month long moratorium on new coding in order to fix bugs. Purcell,their privacy chief is
quoted as saying Gates "is really annoyed by the incredible pain we put everyone through in computing" . Microsoft's bug problems and security vulnerabilities have lately been getting out of hand. There has also been rumours last month that Gates wants the entire company reoriented towards ..well providing bug free products. Do you think that serious changes are underway in Microsoft? What does it really take for an sofware development enterprise the size of Microsoft to have to provide secure, reasonably bug free products? (via
GMSV)
posted by justlooking
on Feb 6, 2002 -
23 comments
Gates, Bono, unveil 'DATA Agenda' for Africa "We have an agenda," said Bono at a news conference, "which we're calling the 'DATA Agenda': 'Debt, AIDS and trade for Africa, in return for democracy, accountability and transparency in Africa.'
As bracing as it is to see a picture of Bono with Bill Gates, there is an interesting message here. Bono compares Africa today with post-WWII Europe, describing it as vulnerable to extremism. Bill Gates is fronting the cash to improve health care and raise living standards in third-world countries.
posted by planetkyoto
on Feb 2, 2002 -
12 comments
Bill & Melinda Gates' $24 Billion Charity "The Gates Foundation often makes grants only on condition that governments or other nonprofits match them, and requires that recipients meet regular goals for performance—or risk losing their funding. (That hardball approach has met with criticism from some members of the philanthropic community, who argue that holding people to ambitious standards may make sense in Redmond but not in places where millions can’t read.) And experts have calculated that improvements in health care themselves have a huge ripple effect in the poorest countries: if parents believe their children will live longer, they save more and reproduce less. That will help create capital for investment, which will spur more development and so on, in a "positive feedback loop," as the techies like to say in Redmond."
posted by owillis
on Jan 31, 2002 -
41 comments
Microsoft to make products more "trustworthy." A lot of buzz words floating around here, like "trustworthy" and "security." Does this mark a true sea change in Microsoft strategy, or is it just a PR stunt, too little, too late? One thing I'll say, though - I never thought I'd hear this coming from Bill: "Users should be in control of how their data is used... It should be easy for users to specify appropriate use of their information, including controlling the use of e-mail they send." (from the
AP report)
posted by topolino
on Jan 17, 2002 -
14 comments
Nader to Gates: "It is significant that a small number of persons who run the company hold a substantial share of the stock in the company, a fact that is very unusual for such a large publicly traded corporation."
"This also raises questions about whether or not these persons, including yourself, are accumulating these staggering sums of cash to advance other agendas, rather than to advance the interest of shareholders."
Nader Nader Nader
posted by crasspastor
on Jan 8, 2002 -
29 comments
Microsoft, DOJ settlement close... but the deal apparently would not place significant limitations on functions that Microsoft could "bundle" into its Windows operating program. The judge is said to be concerned about the "national psyche," but will slapping Bill on the wrists really help things?
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 1, 2001 -
6 comments
speaking about socio-economic investments (whether the $200 billion the government is investing into producing the joint service fighter will benefit
our society more if invested elswhere)... the seattle times carried
an interesting article about the bill & melinda gates foundation on sunday. with an endowment of $24.2 billion, it must find ways to give away the equivalent of $3.3 million each day, in order to meet federal tax rules to remain a non-profit/tax-free organization.
with so much fund at his disposal, it seems bill gates is attacking neglected social and health problems around the world with more resources than the u.s. government has been doing in some areas. with a small (and less bureaucratic?) staff, the foundation appears to be efficient and focused (reflecting the drive, passion, and result-orientation of bill gates). it will be interesting to watch the progress (and impact) bill has on the world besides what he does at microsoft. i wish him success.
posted by kliuless
on Oct 29, 2001 -
12 comments
Microsoft vs. AOL Gee, who do you root for in this one? Personally, I'd love to see a Pay-Per-View kickboxing match between Steve Case and Bill Gates.
posted by Rastafari
on Jul 30, 2001 -
3 comments
Gates interview with ZDNet. Open source advocates and *nix users will enjoy his comments on publishing source code and the GPL. Anyone care to do a line-by-line accuracy check?
posted by goto11
on Jun 25, 2001 -
19 comments
News Flash! Gates loses billions! Yet,
he still sits comfortably atop the list of the wealthiest people in the world.
Larry Ellison, meanwhile, lost $21 billion, but fell to only #4.
The
Billionaire Club now includes 538 members in 46 countries, with an average net worth of $3.2 billion. Is it more disturbing that, for a comparison, the GDP of Afghanistan is a paltry $21 billion (bested by the list's top 5)? Or that the GDP per capita of the U.S. is a relatively microscopic $36,144?
posted by padjet1
on Jun 22, 2001 -
11 comments
