Bill Gates

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Gates Sees Stars, Donates $10M to 'Scope

Joins 2nd Microsoft mogul in backing plan to photograph heavens

(Newser) - Bill Gates and Bill Simonyi—space geeks and Microsoft billionaires both—are donating $30 million to the Chilean-based Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Guardian reports. The $400 million endeavor, scheduled to be working in 2015, will snap pics of the sky with a 3,200 megapixel digital camera every 15...

Stop Picking on Nerds!
Stop Picking
on Nerds!
NEW RELEASE

Stop Picking on Nerds!

US needs more brainiacs, even if they are unsexy, new book argues

(Newser) - Americans mock nerds ad nauseum, and psych prof David Anderegg says it's time to lay off. In his new book, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them, Andregg breezily but thoroughly critiques a cultural prejudice that he claims dates back to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Washington ...

Best, Worst Celeb Do-Gooders
Best, Worst Celeb Do-Gooders

Best, Worst Celeb Do-Gooders

Jolie tops list of high-profile humanitarians

(Newser) - From Angelina Jolie (nominated as a UN Goodwill Ambassador) to Madonna (the Malawian adoption controversy), these stars topped a Reuters poll that asked: Who gave the best—and worst—name to “celebrity humanitarianism” in 2007? The best:
  1. Angelina Jolie
  2. Bono
  3. Desmond Tutu
  4. Bill Gates
  5. Bill Clinton

Gates Charity Creates New African Woes

AIDS dollars distort fragile health systems, undermining basic care

(Newser) - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given $8.5 billion to global health causes and is slowly defeating AIDS in Africa, but it’s creating unexpected new problems for the continent, the LA Times reports. By pouring money into the treatment of AIDS, TB and malaria, it has lured...

Gates Aims $100M at Polio
Gates Aims $100M at Polio

Gates Aims $100M at Polio

Foundation aims to eradicate disease

(Newser) - The world stands at the brink of eradicating polio, Bill Gates says, and his foundation yesterday awarded $100 million toward that end. One of the foundation's largest challenge grants will fund programs in four countries where the disease is still epidemic, notably Nigeria. The Rotary Foundation received the grant and...

US Schools Not in Dire Decline, Study Says

Report blasts myth of kids lagging in math, science, reading

(Newser) - Despite dire warnings, US students rank well against worldwide peers in math, science, and reading, according to a new study. In fact US scores are rising, and students are graduating with more science and engineering diplomas than the US market can sustain. So why all of the hullabaloo about US...

Microsoft Sees Office Phone as Next Frontier

Software giant likely to butt heads with Cisco in lucrative market

(Newser) - Microsoft is famous for ever-more-complicated programs for ever-faster computers, and now it's taking aim at an overlooked piece of hardware: the phone. Yesterday, Bill Gates launched a line of software designed for office telephones that aims to make phone tag a thing of the past. It's a multi-billion-dollar sector, Fortune...

It's Forbes 400 Time Again
It's Forbes 400 Time Again

It's Forbes 400 Time Again

You now need $1.3B to make list of richest Americans

(Newser) - In the 25th year of Forbes magazine's rankings of the 400 riches Americans, the net worth at the poor end of the list is $1.3 billion, up from a flat $1 billion a year ago. Microsoft founder Bill Gates still tops the list with $59 billion, closely followed by...

Microsoft Defends Silent Windows Updates

Calls download practice efficient, not shifty

(Newser) - Microsoft is reconsidering its updating practices after coming under fire for "silently"downloading a Windows patch—even for users who had opted for notifications. Microsoft defended itself, pointing out that the silent fixes affected the update software itself, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Skeptical opponents maintain similar situations in the...

Apple Takes a Bite Out of the Competition

iPod maker replaces Microsoft as industry bully, monopolist

(Newser) - Apple has replaced Microsoft as the tech industry’s “biggest bully,” according to PC World. The iPod dynamo has shed its rebel rep and assumed Microsoft’s former mantle as a monopolist, copycat, and bully. “Bundling,” a tactic Microsoft used to tie together Windows and Internet...

Panel Rejects Microsoft Standard Bid

As open document formats catch on, software giant meets resistance

(Newser) - Microsoft got a surprise smackdown from an international panel yesterday in its bid to have its open document format recognized as an international standard. The effort to certify Office Open XML met with resistance from 26% of the voting nations, and anything over 25% is a deal-breaker, the Times reports....

The Heart of Geekness Will Save Us All

Nerds grasp large-scale human suffering much better, Wired says

(Newser) - Why is Bill Gates, “practically a social cripple,” going to save the world? Because of numbers, says Clive Thompson in Wired. More than most, the Microsoft maverick -- who spearheads tireless crusades against poverty and AIDS -- can comprehend large quantities, while research shows that most of us...

Judge Declines to Dismiss Vista Lawsuit

Consumers may press case that 'Vista Capable' label was deceptive

(Newser) - A federal judge has denied Microsoft's motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging its "Vista Capable" campaign misled consumers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Although PCs bearing "Vista Capable" stickers run the new OS, many can handle only the bare-bones Vista Home Basic system, which lacks highly touted features included...

Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled
Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled

Gates Plans to Log Off as Scheduled

Despite most volatile market ever, Microsoft chairman will bow out

(Newser) - Bill Gates says that, despite a surge in competition from all sides of the market, his phased exit from Microsoft has been bug-free so far. His two-year transition period halfway done, the chairman and former CEO says that his handpicked successors have been successfully picking up the slack. But doubters...

Mr. Slim Is New Global Fat Cat
Mr. Slim Is New Global Fat Cat

Mr. Slim Is New Global Fat Cat

Mexican telecom chief Carlos Slim beats Bill Gates as world's richest man

(Newser) - Move over, Bill Gates. The Microsoft founder, who has  been the world's richest individual for a decade, has lost his lofty perch to a little-known Mexican telecom tycoon, Carlos Slim, the Guardian reports.  His wealth has been estimated at $67.8 billion compared with $59.2 billion for Gates.

Gates Gives $105 Mil to Track Global Public Health

UW center will eye effectiveness of giving

(Newser) - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given $105 million to the  University of Washington to study the effectiveness of public health programs around the world. The money will be used to create a center to track such measures as child mortality, the prevalence of major diseases  and the availability...

Gates and Jobs Banter in Rare Face-to-Face

Tech gods praise each other, discuss the PC guy from the Mac ads

(Newser) - Long-time rivals Bill Gates and Steve Jobs quipped and reminisced their way through their first joint public appearance in two decades at last night's D: All Things Digital conference in San Diego. The two tech kings ditched their traditional rivalry for a cozy, back-and-forth love fest. We've been "secretly...

Billionaire's Club Welcomes New Members

The Forbes rich list is bigger—and even wealthier—than ever

(Newser) - The rich are getting richer, younger, and more geographically diverse, Forbes reports, with the number of billionaires up a whopping 19 percent, and their total worth up 35 percent to $3.5 trillion. Not only have billionaires been galloping away from the pack, they've been doing it earlier, bringing the...

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