Posted on 02/04/2009 7:47:30 PM PST by beagleone
TED, the annual gathering of the most pretentious people from the fields of technology, entertainment, and design, just got punk'd. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitos into the crowd.
Ending malaria is a particular passion of Gates's, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent millions fighting the disease. But he apparently didn't feel like TED attendees were taking the threat seriously. "Not only poor people should experience this," Gates said as he let the bugs loose on his audience, according to Facebook manager Dave Morin. (eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter CEO Ev Williams confirm the report.)
A showman's way of making a point, perhaps. But it doesn't do much to undo Gates's reputation, borne out of the Microsoft antitrust investigations of the 1990s, that the man considers himself above the law. Doesn't California's Health and Safety Code have something to say about insect infestations?
Hey bill and melinda, it’s called DDT.
Look it up and then ask why malaria is such a killer.
Bill Gates has been releasing clouds of “bugs” for years now in each and every version of Windows.
I hope the audience called in a bug report.
It does seem to me that Bill should have checked with his Director of Unintended Irony before pulling this stunt. This isn’t a goof from a web site is it?
You already released the bugs, Bill - it’s called Windows 7!
Evidently, Bill Gates owns stock in the companies that make “Off!” and other insect repellants.
Bill could have released the blood suckers on a lawyers convention, but it probably wouldn’t have had the desired effect.
Out of professional courtesy, the mosquitoes wouldn’t have bitten them.
That’s bordering on an act of terrorism. Insects are vectors of disease and he dispersed a large number of them into a crowd of people with the stated objective of causing suffering. If I saw a muslim doing something similar, I would... stop typing in order to comply with Free Republic rules.
You can still buy a copy of Windows XP Pro here:
Save your data, back it all up, wipe your hard drive, install Windows XP Pro either the 32 or 64 bit version. Much leaner and faster.
Or, all the MacHeads will write in and tell you to switch to a Mac. Then, there’s Linux.
Makes you wonder what he would have unleashed if this had been an AIDS convention...
What an arsehole.
West Nile outbreak in the making. Jerk!
Yeah... Bill and Co. should be brought up on charges of electronic terrorism for actually getting people to pay for the computer virus known as "Vista"....
Bill Gates and bugs. Why does it seem to fit?
I believe it was that act which caused the Internet Bubble to burst. It's silly to pick on Windows at this point with a decent alternative available for free.
I’m curious, what do You hate most about vista? I haven’t decided yet.
Amen.
One would think Bill would have more to do with his Money than grow mosquitos , but attendees GET what they deserve for showing up.
Mosquito Nets are a better solution for the Tropics, either that or MOVE out of the Tropics.
Don’t let the Global warming Idiots learn of this, or they will play the “Death by Global warming mosquitos” card.
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