Category: Let's talk
I'm on the BBC's website and I see that Bill Gates is gonna get a honorary knighthood. Oh good grief, you build a computer and give away millions of dollars for aids and you're gonna give this guy a hounary knighthood? I think the guy is completely wierd and greedy. So he can't be technically called Sir Bill Gates because of he's a American citezen. But they're allowing him to use the initals KBE behind his name. What next? A blessing from the pope? Anyone else wanna comment on this?
you are far too harsh pal and you have forgotten the long exhausting hours of effort and struggle and the sheer balls, required to reach the dizzy heights of Mr Gates .He may not be popular, but the men/women who achieve great things, are often ridiculed by those who are content to sit in the shadows and wish...
BindVi, ... exactly, he gives away millions and millions of dollars for aids research and for desease prevention around the world .. he actually gives away a bigger part of his income than any other rich guy has ever done. Sure, Microsoft's practices are at times a bit unscrupolous and questionable, they are no angels but what company really is, everyone pushes the limit. Bill Gates himself is in this because this is his passion, not for the money, We interned at Microsoft in 2001 (me, a few other Yalies and bunch of folks from other universities) and he invited us to his house for a barbeque and hang out and talked to us for about 4 hours. It was fun, he was a very normal guy, he was really interested and what struck me was that he knew everything about the teams all of us were in (we are talking 80 or 90 people) and what we were doing and he showed interest in all the projects we were working on. He watches powerpoint presentations from all his teams and groups and he really makes you feel appreciated and that you are contributing. He could just be somewhere, like most guys, on a private Caribbean island but he's not. He's no angel I am sure but he's a good guy and I think if anyone deserves an honor he does .. I mean Paul Mccartney is a great song writer and pop star and he's done a lot good but I don't see how he e.g. deserves knighthood more than Gates does, both are remarkable men and I am happy they are getting the recognition they deserve.
Thanks
-B
It's terrifying and baffling
Again, ... what type of people should get these honors and why is Bill Gates unsuitable for the task .. I'm still waiting to see good reasons :) I'm not saying I'm right but I'd be curious to see why you think this is so bad .. beyond the "oh, Microsoft, oh they're bad) nonsense, they are good and bad just like most companies but the fact remains, the open source community still has not come up with a fully functional screen reader and until very recently Apple hadn't either so at east MS were somewhat forthcoming and co-operative that way.
cheers
-B
How does an open source screenreader make it's way into the convorsation? Is Narrator opensource? Well I was originally going to express my minor incredulity but upon reading wb's post I sort of changed my mind.
James
I seriously think just giving money away to research and scholarships means alot to people..... But it shows that those who'd maybe want to stride to be the best to come close to that kind of title not get it because he/she doesn't splash moneys around? I'd rather see people who are given knight/damehoods (even the honors) to those who really work hard at what they do: Like finding a cure for a ilness, charity work (getting your hands in it not with the green stuff.... money.)voulenteer work, finding new things.... Achieving something that might take more work and more time for like I think I heard on the news that a wheelchair racer got a damehood for something olypic related. Or to diplamats who put hard time on something thats worth wild. I mean heck I understand Gates puts alot of money to these charities but even still, money doesn't buy things like that. Not that I wanna be nasty to the guy or anything.
Blind/vi the money from Bill Gates may mean the difference between finding a cure and AIDS remaining incurable..some are still dangerously complacent about this disease,{which is evloving as we speak} so if Bill Gates can keep AIDS in the spotlight, and finance the drive for a cure, then he should be congratulated...
well BlindVi, it all depends what the rules for the honors are and what they are meant to signify really.
I mean, in terms of research or cure e.g. someone who does well in wheel chair racing is not contributing anything, in terms of pure achievements, yeah that's different, it's inspiring to other peole in the same situation, shows them they can go out there and achieve some new goals, be active and compete and win, which is a great thing in itself. I personally think olympic achievements should not be considered for social awards like this, you get the olypmic medals for that, you get recognition and you should get a lot of attention from the media and the public, niceceremonies and everything but I feel these types of awards are to recognize those who are not given these types of honors, the people who work more behind the scenes (e.g. may be a coach who has trained 20 olympic winners should be eligible for these types of awards because of his contribution to creating star athletes).
And, I think those awards should recognize both those who work hard to achieve a goal and those who make it possible financially. There would be no research without money, the bst scientists are in high demand by comercially more sound companies who are willing to pay them big sums and we all need to make a living, therefore they need some financial incentive to be able to concentrate on the research at hand that is not directly comerically beneficial (not in the short run) they need to feed their families and they need to feel rewarded for their ressearch while it is going on, because it can be frustrating at times, they have no guarantee of even a success so they need something to get them going. This is where I feel Bill Gates with his enormous wealth steps in and makes opportunities possible, without his money this is not achievable (scientists need equipments, labs, plane tickets so they can meet up for conferences, test subjects, access to libraries, computers etc etc in addition to making a living, all of this costs money).
So, all this being said, I understand and I would agree with you if none of the people working hard for these causes were rewarded but I think just because he's rich and famous should not exclude Gates from being recognized for his contributions and I, personally, feel happy about it. :)
cheers
-B