Bill Gates files a bug report: "There's not a day that I don't send a piece of e-mail ... like that piece of e-mail. That's my job."
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jun 26, 2008 - 66 comments

The Bill and Steve show: Jobs and Gates sit down together and discuss the past, present and future at the D5 conference.
posted by jaimev on May 30, 2007 - 12 comments

Welcome to Larry Brash's Microsoft and Bill Gates Joke Page.
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Apr 14, 2007 - 23 comments

Gates to Leave Day-to-Day Role at Microsoft in 2008. Following the tradition of previous capitalists-turned-philanthropists such as J.P. Getty and Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates has announced that in 2008 he will quit his full-time role as head of Microsoft to focus his attention on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (whose website seems to be having issues at the moment). [NewsFilter]
posted by justkevin on Jun 15, 2006 - 87 comments

Chef's death a ratings ploy. "The whole quitting thing was Matts idea. They were just starting their 10th season and were looking for a great idea to spark renewed interest in the show, and it did!" In other sad news, a real death HAS occured.
posted by UseyurBrain on Apr 1, 2006 - 17 comments

Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? Who is changing the world more for the better? Some people believe Bill Gates and Microsoft are the Spawn of Satan, while others praise him for his philanthropy. [subs. req'd] Steve Jobs has more buzz on the internets than Bill Gates and a near religious following for his products with Apple. One might not give like the other, but one definitely is much more Zen-like.
posted by Mijo Bijo on Jan 25, 2006 - 92 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

Inventor of CTRL-ALT-DEL ridicules Bill Gates. "'I may have invented CTRL-ALT-DEL, but Bill Gates made it famous". Video clip of the episode, via TUAW, who say "The funniest part is the expression, or lack thereof, on the face of Bill."
posted by nthdegx on Jul 28, 2005 - 50 comments

Bill Gates... so hot [via BoingBoing].
posted by digaman on Jan 17, 2005 - 60 comments

Bwahahahahaha - Take a shot back. Bill Gates promised to end spam. Now lycos is letting you take a shot back ala SETI. Get your copy and make love not spam.
posted by sourbrew on Nov 29, 2004 - 44 comments

Gates talks about our future. Bill gates shows a side that is rarely seen by computer users. Love him or hate him, I just want to know why he doesn't want me to have one of these some time in the next 15 years too.
posted by sourbrew on Jul 13, 2004 - 25 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 on weblogs and RSS. It was inevitable, wasn't it?! Embrace and extend, baby. Embrace and extend...
posted by insomnia_lj on May 21, 2004 - 17 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

Bill Gates to receive honorary Knighthood. Apparently for his contribution to enterprise in the UK and charity work. He will not be able to use the title "Sir" but will be entitled to put the letters KBE after his name
posted by MintSauce on Jan 26, 2004 - 30 comments

Bill Gates, the philanthropist. It's not mentioned enough that the world's richest man, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated more than $3.2 billion to combat disease and improve education for the poorest people of the world. Bill and his wife Melinda have pledged to give most of their money away before they die -perhaps following Carnegie's philosophy "The Gospel of Wealth" in which he states that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes.- Just last week they donated $168 million to combat Malaria in Africa, this came "atop $120 million" they already gave towards fighting the disease. Not only is "Malaria, the Terrorist's Friend," but worse every year it sickens 300 million and kills 1.1 million. -does donating Linux to the world make Linus Torvalds a Philanthropist?
posted by giantkicks on Sep 27, 2003 - 50 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

Kevin Bacon and Bill Gates spawn love child. In a surprisingly un-clumsy attempt to a) figure out what teens really like to do online, b) create an app to tap into this behavior, and c) rule world, a skunkworks project inside MS has beta released the surprisingly clued-in threedegrees. It most literally rocks.
posted by i blame your mother on Feb 25, 2003 - 33 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

The real challenge to Microsoft in the 21st Century? Wonder what the techies out there think of this - is it yet another pc false dawn, or - if and when Red Hat get on board - the beginning of the end for Windows? Checkout the heavyweight 'partners'... What with the developments in the pipeline for PlayStation Linux - and maybe even the XBox! - , and Linux making tentative inroads in China, how's Bill gonna embrace and extend this one? Please elucidate for the ignorant! Link courtesy of BBC Sci/Tech
posted by dash_slot- on May 30, 2002 - 25 comments

Bill Gates fooled by Quebec radio station. He may be the world's richest man, but that didn't prevent Bill Gates from falling for an April Fool's Day joke by two Quebec radio comics pretending to be Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
posted by ncurley on Apr 4, 2002 - 7 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

"I think it's a healthy sign that there are demonstrators in the streets. They are raising the question of 'is the rich world giving back enough?'" : Bill Gates (yeah, this guy). I think it's interesting that the "evil capitalists" seem to actually have some similiar beliefs to the protestors at the WEF conference. Perhaps we've moved a step beyond between the us=good them=bad analogies?
posted by owillis on Feb 4, 2002 - 50 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

Nothing So Strange is a mockumentary about the assasination of Bill Gates. This Gates doppleganger plays the Chairman, while Microsoft isn't happy.
posted by owillis on Jan 3, 2002 - 17 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

Bill Gates to appear on Frasier Maybe he could take some tech support calls for Windows. Or explain "Bob". What next, Larry Ellison on "A Very Special Smackdown"?
posted by owillis on Oct 23, 2001 - 17 comments

The operation is quite simple: we should all donate a buck to Bill Gates.
"Why is that?", you ask. Because small charities are robbing the poor guy, you silly!
posted by kchristidis on Sep 8, 2001 - 19 comments

Microsoft is hoarding child prodigies in order to breed the next Bill. You heard me.
posted by tweebiscuit on Aug 2, 2001 - 20 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

BillG still rules. Forbes says Sunday Times erred, Gates is worth $59 billion, Walton - a paltry $17 billion
posted by owillis on Apr 28, 2001 - 17 comments

Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest person. According to the Sunday Times, Gates has been superceded by an equally evil supermarket tycoon.
posted by andrewraff on Apr 23, 2001 - 36 comments

Gates for president But can he afford to campaign?
posted by Postroad on Apr 18, 2001 - 12 comments

Bettmann archive (aka Bill's Corbis images) moves to safer storage. Corbis is renting a mine to house the photo archive and slow deterioration. The point in this article that bothered me was the news that Corbis stopped digitizing this archive in January after a round of layoffs. Fewer than 2 percent of the collection is digitized and the new location makes it even less accessible. Will they just deteriorate slowly away and never be preserved in bits? The Corbis press release sounds more hopeful.
posted by girlhacker on Apr 16, 2001 - 8 comments

Bill Gates created MacOS X? I came across this memo written by Bill Gates on July 29, 1985 to John Sculley, then president of Apple Computer. In the memo, Gates writes about the possibility of licensing the Macintosh operating system to third party companies. Here's where it get wierd, Bill suggests that Apple talk to AT&T about migrating the MacOS as a GUI layer on top of their UNIX. Makes me wonder who had the idea first, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
posted by Brilliantcrank on Apr 10, 2001 - 7 comments

Microsoft Patents Everything! Oh dear lord, what will we do now? Has Mr. Gates finally found a way to take over the world?
posted by stew560 on Mar 26, 2001 - 14 comments

Bill Gates' dad in NY Times Mag Q&A on bequests, estates, philanthropy and work ethic. (He's involved in administering his son's charity activities.) NY Times link, so free registration or your own personal backdoor required.
posted by jhiggy on Mar 21, 2001 - 1 comment

Gates, Buffett & Soros unite to fight . . . the estate tax? I think this is a good thing. It's definitely odd.
posted by aflakete on Feb 14, 2001 - 81 comments

A garbage can full of lightbulbs? Does anyone else think that the newish picture of Bill Gates on his Web site is a bit...odd? At least Mr. Monopoly has moved away from the standard corporate publicity picture that's on his biography page, but still...
posted by tregoweth on Feb 7, 2001 - 25 comments

Bill Gates and 17 paupers appointed to National Infrastructure Assurance Council. [ couldn't beat their lead. Also from Cryptome. I'm done now. :-) ]
posted by baylink on Jan 22, 2001 - 2 comments

Pixelflo launches Web Trumps - a new Top Trumps style game where you can play with your favourite web celebs, down-at-heel webloggers, and gods like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Based upon Dan Hon's Blogtrumps. Several questions leap to mind, including the obvious one: it's fun, but why?
posted by barbelith on Jan 6, 2001 - 9 comments

So we've got opinions about Bill Gates. But what about billionaire George Soros? He funds, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year, various causes in the US, in Europe, and elsewhere. He's a critic of what he sees as the excesses of late capitalism. But does Soros represent a good thing? (More inside...)
posted by snarkout on Dec 27, 2000 - 9 comments

Is Bill Really that bad? Giving away money steadily, tens of millions of dollars at a time, Mr Bill Gates has become the single most influential force trying to reverse the growing health crisis afflicting the world's poor. With his wife, Melinda, he outspent the United States Government last year by nearly $US300 million ($538 million), to fight global health threats such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
posted by murray_kester on Dec 25, 2000 - 52 comments