Gates Gets Government Guards for Gala 328
Nick Irelan writes "The home of the world's richest man was a 'temporary security zone' when he held a party for members of the National Governors Association. Bill's guests included Newt Gingrich, Tommy Thompson, and Leon Panetta. Gates also put in $150,000 for the governors' meeting held the next day. News.com covered this story very well." If your invitation to Gates' place got "lost in the mail", you can read about a Microsoft intern who got to have dinner with the big cheese.
In all fairness..... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:In all fairness..... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:In all fairness..... (Score:2)
My favorite part.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In all fairness..... (Score:4, Informative)
Apparently, this is how Bill tries to separate the wheat from the chaff; he attacks your idea (and you) and expects you to defend it, if it's worth defending.
I've read accounts where Microsoft has taken massive risks on the basis of a single engineer shooting back at Bill and defending an idea.
Re:In all fairness..... (Score:4, Interesting)
My secret suspicion is that Microsoft's cult of pesonality hides a deep-down fear on Gates's part that maybe he really doesn't know it all. A few times I've seen him cornered by some techie who is not from Microsoft and is not in awe, a techie who knows more about that subject at hand than Bill Gates ever will. I've seen a flash of fear in Gates's eyes then. Even with you or me topics can range beyond Bill's grasp, and that's when he uses his "I don't know how technical you are" line.
To take this particularly degrading weapon out of his hands forever, I propose that should you ever talk with Bill Gates and hear him say "I don't know how technical you are", reply by saying that you don't know how technical he is. It will drive him nuts.
As for the intern (Score:2)
Yeah, there's nothing like an "understated entrance" that screams.
Movie time? (Score:2)
sadly, (Score:2, Funny)
The richest? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The richest? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The richest? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The richest? (Score:2)
ok, he may not be richer than gates but his coffee table shaped like a Ying-Yang is to die for.
Re:The richest? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The richest? (Score:2)
Re:The richest? (Score:2)
Better Title (Score:5, Funny)
Nah.... (Score:2)
Re:Better Title (Score:2)
you forgot Homeland Security. (Score:2)
Note that the Government convention itself did not rate such mind numbing paranoia.
God help us if the owner of our worst artificial clerks should perish! Obviously, every frustrated terrorist in the world is targeting Bill Gates. Ali-Babba and his ilk must look up from his blue screen every day and curse old Bill. They got the little sticker, paid their money, registered, submitted and e
Re:Better Title (Score:2, Funny)
Human after all? (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as people love to hate Bill and his company, he is just one guy after all. We seldom here about this side of him (albeit for security reasons in relation to his kids?). Perhaps a Bill Gates book in the vein of Linus' "Just For Fun" is due?
The coolest part (Score:5, Insightful)
I may not agree with all that Microsoft does as an entity, but I sometimes wish our world would let the man talk about his kids.
Re:The coolest part (Score:2, Insightful)
> Disneyland and go on the rides like everyone else
There are days when I wish I could just hire the whole bloody place for a day and be the only person there.
> I sometimes wish our world would let the man talk about his kids.
I'm sorry - what's stopping him from doing that?
Re:The coolest part (Score:2)
Its security through obscurity and I'm not making a joke.
Re:The coolest part (Score:2, Funny)
Some they just brainwash and release, like Cory Doctorow. Sad.
Re:The coolest part (Score:2, Insightful)
Not to mention that this will more than likely just be passed on generation to generation for some time to come, producing William Gates VII the incredibly rich Senator from Washington, etc, who'll be shining beacons of the ever widening gap between the rich and poor. While we may ignore the sins of t
Re:The coolest part (Score:4, Insightful)
I am not saying that we should put Gates on a pedastal or build a monument to him but we should respect was he does try to do.
PS - He is not even close to being the richest man on the planet. If you think that the wealth of all of those Saudi oil Princes is even close to what Forbes reports you are looney.
Re:The coolest part (Score:3, Insightful)
Why? Since when is it reasonable to expect people to NOT acquire wealth? Why is it sad that the man made a fortune and has set his family up for life? Why is it his job to help people who can't (or won't) help themselves? You seem to assume that acquiring wealth is somehow immoral.
As for the last part, I agree with
Re:The coolest part (Score:2)
I have no idea what any of his kids look like - or what Melinda looks like and I'm sure most of you don't either. They could very well be at Disneyland right now and hardly anyone would be any wiser for it.
Simple Solution (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like music and movie celebrities who complain about paparazzi: their salary is based on their worship by the masses, but they expect the masses to worship them without idols?
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
probably 3 times as much as the intern was paid to post the article about Bill Gates.
There ya go, proof that RedHat is willing to pay 3x the amount that Microsoft pays for word of mouth advertising!
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
They gave you a license to run linux.
Find the Obligatory Simpsons Quote! (Score:2)
Gates: Those slashdotters...are they booing me?
Intern: Uh, no, they're saying "Boo-ill Gates! Boo-ill Gates!"
Gates: Are you saying "boo" or "Boo-ill Gates"?
Slashdot: Boo! Boo!
Hans: I was saying "Boo-ill Gates"...
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F31 [snpp.com]
Re:Human after all? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think the invitation to the party would be payment enough.
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
Astrotufing sounds and feels like an internet-myth. Got a real, proven case of it?
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
Re:Human after all? (Score:3, Informative)
Sure. [csmonitor.com] There are many confessed ex-astroturfers. There's a continum from traditional product-sponsorship to non-celebrity product placement (college hotties paid to show off their new camera phones in the top clubs) down through to anonymous, non-copywritten advocacy. To them, it's all just marketing, and there are no qualms to spilling the beans once the contract is over (unless the contract went further, of course)
Mor
Re:Human after all? (Score:2)
choice? (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't confuse slashdot readership (that would also inlcude you and me) with the "market" in general. Microsoft got where they are via industry collusion, bribes, threats, kickbacks, etc in some very high places, not from normal consumer "choice" at the computer store. Heck, I've even got an older 1996 IBM computer here I bought severely discounted but still brand new in a sealed box, it didn't have os2 on it, it had NT on it when I bought it.
"Choice" is only relative when it actually exists in enough of a widespread manner that it is available to most consumers where they shop. It is only in the last two years that there has been any significant breakthrough in operating systems choice, and even now it is still mighty thin on the ground. I did a look in my area, there are 6 stores total that sell computers near me, none of them carry anything but XP boxes, nor are there even any alternative OSes on the shelf with the various software for sale. This is NOT "consumer choice selecting the best product".
I've always seen him as a good man (Score:5, Insightful)
The journal of the intern is not the only one I've seen where people who meet and spend time with Gates end up with a surprisingly pleasent experience. Geek + Dad + Down to Earth. Of course, people here will continue to flame Gates as if he is CEO, continue to say what a greeding person he is and ignore the intern's journal, or say that the intern is a Microsoft employee.
I hope people can eventually look beyond the company and see the man behind what started it. He's not half bad if you give him a chance.
"well it was the dumbest thing I've ever read!" (Score:2)
Re:"well it was the dumbest thing I've ever read!" (Score:2)
Yes, sometimes we get pissed off. But as responsible adults, we deal with our emotions. If he wants to punch a hole in a wall when he is alone, that's great. But to write off someone else's wowrk as "dumb" shows that this guy really ignores everyone else's ideas except his own. Sounds like he's actin
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2)
Most people who are really really rich got that way by being selfish. Gates included.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sorry, but abusing monopoly power to make tons of money is wrong, no matter what you do with the money.
-Z
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2, Offtopic)
I'm not selling this short. Some people are very happy with such an arrangement. But, after almost ten years in the service, I'm happy to be working for a small company that doesn't have that attitude -- independence has its risks, but greater rewards.
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2)
but they cant. when you are a company that large you can pretty much dictate to insurance companies the rates. WE do it here, we have outstanding coverage and rates have not gone up a bit. a few bean-counters 2 years ago tried to show they can save about $180.00 per employee per quarter by u
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:4, Insightful)
Only a meager decade or so ago, we adored him, and Microsoft, because they screwed over the Worst Company in the World (tm), IBM.
Of course, IBM is now exploitin^H^H^H using open source, which makes them the Greatest Company in the World (tm).
It's all such silly stupid bullshit. Not a year ago everyone here got hard for SCO. They sold linux. Hooray SCO! Now we hate them. In a year or so we'll hate IBM again.
Corporations act like corporations, and in a very predictable way if you sit back and look at it, without trying to demonize or canonize them as if they were humans. They're neither evil nor benevolant. Yesterday we found that even our beloved Apple has no problem whipping out the DMCA to prevent real competition.
For all of what Microsoft has done in the past, none of it should really reflect on Gates. They didn't run it like Enron, he ran it honestly albeit aggressively. Sure, you can argue Windows is a monopoly now. But the route they took to get it there, was frankly, brilliant.
Ah fuck it. This is slashdot, home of 13-year-olds who type "emerge -u world", and think that sitting there watching text scroll by for hours makes them a unix guru.
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2)
Thank the good lord there are people other than me who remember what the IBM-dominated world was like and how MS and the microcomputer revolution freed everyone -- and how nice it would be _not_ to go back there.
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:4, Interesting)
The self-professed technical-elite began to harbor widespread Microsoft-hatred in 1987, and it was cemented in their culture by 1994, long before Slashdot ever came online.
Not a year ago everyone here got hard for SCO
SCO was never adored, only tolerated- it was viewed as a company prehaps trying to do the right thing, but too incompetent to amount to much.
beloved Apple has no problem whipping out the DMCA to prevent real competition.
Anyone who thought Apple was pro-competition simply hasn't been paying attention, especially to their old experiment in clone-licensing.
They didn't run it like Enron, he ran it honestly albeit aggressively.
The numerous falsehoods that have supported Microsoft through the years are well known and documented. The very terms "vaporware" and "FUD" were invented to make it simpler to talk about how Microsoft works.
But the route they took to get it there, was frankly, brilliant.
Brilliance is not virtue. There is nothing contradictory about the concept of an "evil genuis" (or an amoral genius) (or a repetentant, evil genius, who dispurses ill-gotten treasure to the world's indigents)
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:3, Insightful)
Not true. In the early days most hackers were doing open source because it was a community and sharing helped everyone. It was Gate's famous letter that was at the fore front of trying to putting an end to hacking and open source, so he could make a business out of it. He was a borderline rip off artist in his early days, with both Basic and DOS. No, I don't think Gates has ever really been liked by the hacker community.
"It's all such silly stupid bullsh
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2)
With all due respect to your opinion, the same thing has been said about Hitler and members of his Nazi party. Just because a person is
Re:I've always seen him as a good man (Score:2)
So what is with the "Gates in the Borg suit" for?
How to Win at Lawmaking (Score:4, Insightful)
Politics can be pretty distateful, especially when it involves things like shutting down public roads so that rich people can talk to politicians in private.
Anyway, it sounds like Microsoft is lobbying the National Governors Association (NGA) to have more forward-thinking opinions on the things they have influence over: The 'Net sales tax moratorium, VoIP regulations, etc. While I doubt many people agree with MS's thoughts about their monopoly, it is nice to have someone 'legitimate' pushing the NGA in a more Libertarian direction, at least a little bit.
----------------------
Freedom or Evil: Freevil.net [freevil.net]
G. W. Bush says, "You decide!"
This is news? (Score:4, Insightful)
Look, I don't like the guy and I don't like Windows, but what he does with his own time and his own money is his business. You don't see a Slashdot article about "John Kerry and John Edwards host celebrity-laden post-convention gala with celebrity personal security" do you?
I mean, I know Slashdot is heavily biased, but you ought to go back to at least trying to hide it.
Re:This is news? (Score:2)
Re:This is news? (Score:4, Insightful)
As it always has been.
Re:This is news? (Score:2)
Re:This is news? (Score:2)
You get as much support as Gates does by getting involved with politics just like Gates.
You can write/talk to them for FREE.
You can join political groups.
Most importantly, you get to choose who next year Gates want to be talking to.
Re:This is news? (Score:2)
Re:This is news? (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, since the courts of the land has deemed MS to a monopoly, there is little relation between MS and the free market. Unless, of course, you don't believe in law and order. In which case I must assume you are a democrat or a socialist or a communist. Just joking.
But seriously, the issue is that a few people with a bunch of money is not free market or
Re:This is news? (Score:2)
Umm, sorry, but I have to call BS. Find me a court decision where Microsoft was decreed to be a "monopoly." You'll fail, because no such thing ever happened. The DOJ is investigating MS for unfair competition, not being a monopoly. The two are not equal.
In fact, Microsoft can't be a monopoly, and you yourself prove it. A monopoly requires the absence of competition, yet last I
Re:This is news? (Score:3, Insightful)
So, to put it in your own words, "you're either misinform
It was unusual, dumbass. (Score:2)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a "temporary security zone" earlier this month around Gates' Lake Washington home ... Security zones prevent any person or watercraft from entering the area without explicit government permission. They're normally used to tighten security around military bases and naval facilities, and it's exceedingly rare for them to be erected around a private residence.
The government guests amounted to much less than national security
Re:It was unusual, dumbass. (Score:2)
In this day and age of terrorism, any gathering of a bunch of rich or powerful is cause for extraordinary security, not just the PotUS. The Oscar have no heavy political figures present, but security was tight as a drum. Ditto for the Golden Globes.
What's the big deal here? (Score:2, Funny)
Special treatment of Gates?
Taxpayer money wasted on a private party?
Personally, I don't see something to be hugely concerned about here.
Awesome Alliteration Aggravates Anti-MS Attitudes. (Score:4, Insightful)
I've argued at length with Bill Gates, He's sharp! (Score:4, Interesting)
It was a little over 10 years ago, and the man and i argued about computer technologies and programming.
He had a variety of perfect angles at defending his position, and was fully up to date on all the latest trends and tools. This should not have been but was. Perhaps it was his hobby.
Mevertheless the guy was packed with info and loved a heated loud debate with a non-employee.
I will always respect that man's brain, even if I hate every microsoft product except some early mac products of theirs.
By the way he had NO SECURITY DETAIL of any kind at this San Jose party. (This was before his pie in the face attack in Belgium, but after Bill Joy (?) abduction).
Bill Gates is a super geek giant, and truly knows it all.
Why should I be outraged? (Score:3, Insightful)
I mean, come on, guys. Save the outrage for the outrageous. Would you be happier if Bill hired a private army equipped with military weapons to do the protection?
-Erwos
aaaaaaah (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has reached and held on to the current position it occupies by destroying competitors in the most appalling and brutal way possible. They did it to Lotus making sure that 123 couldn't work on each new release of Windows, they did it to handwriting pioneers Go, they did it to Netscape (trying to destroy the reputations of a number of genuine innovators like Tim Bray who was subject to a vicious, deeply personal extended attack by Microsoft in which they tried to destroy his career and took lethal action against a small struggling company because his wife worked there, all because he'd signed a consulting engagement with Netscape), they more or less did it to Apple and they're having a damn good go at Sun, and they will do it to Linux if they can work out how to. Now if Gates, as the starry-eyed intern suggests, actually believed passionately in software and computing (as I do) he wouldn't work for a company that sets out to kill anything interesting or innovative that he comes across. Perhaps its all Ballmer's fault, but I doubt it.
gates is cool (Score:3, Interesting)
And despite all the useless mud that open source fanboys sling at Gates, I say Gate's effort in donating and founding organizations to promote education; world health as well as civic and arts organizations in perhaps the neediest regions of the globe makes him #1 in my book.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Five years ago, in a story on Bill Gates' philanthropy, Salon asked the question, "Is Bill Gates a Closet Liberal?" At the time, Gates had not yet really opened the floodgates of his charitable giving, but a close look at the causes he had supported indicated he was interested in reproductive health and family planning issues, and fighting the spread of infectious diseases, with a focus on the Third World. Since then, Gates has publicly promised to give away 95 percent of his wealth -- $43 billion as of September 2002 -- and he appears to be living up to his words.
In "Health, Wealth, and Bill Gates," a new installment of "NOW With Bill Moyers" airing Friday night on PBS, Gates talks at length about his involvement in global health issues. The interview is a fascinating, detailed look at how and why Gates is giving away his billions. And while it doesn't definitively answer the question of whether Gates is a liberal -- saving dying children is not the province of a particular ideology -- one thing emerges: Gates may go down in history as the single individual who did more to help the world's neediest people than anyone who has ever lived. In the interview, Gates comes off as knowledgeable, sincere and determined to use his wealth to effect massive change. Whatever you think of his business practices, when it comes to global health he is one righteous dude.
Source:
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003
>>>>>>>>>>>
Re:gates is cool (Score:5, Funny)
Re:gates is cool (Score:5, Insightful)
It's unimpressive....it's all about relative wealth and disposable income. The money he gives is a drop in a tiny tiny tiny bucket for him. While it is admirable that he is doing good things with extra money compared to others, it's not really out of his way.
What irks me is that he, and microsoft, have so much cash and such a profit margin that they could retool their whole image and whole process and become a benevolent company. Instead they choose not to, and continue doing things like pushing around smaller companies and bankrolling sco.
It just amazes me. It would be so easy for them to do a 180 and start becoming better in the publics eyes. And I'm not talking geeks. The majority of regular people are frustrated with the lackluster quality of the software even if they don't realize the monopoly or the practices.
But, the reason Gate's got to where he is is his "never enough" mentality. While it may have made him one of the richest people in the world, and may have allowed him to do some good...the harm his company does by maintaining a monopoly and stifling innovation outweighs those benefits. It's called pulling a fast one people. Look, look I'm giving these people free cookies! Look! (Please don't look at the other people whom I'm beating down with my corporate moneystick.)
Re:gates is cool (Score:5, Insightful)
Call me when your net worth is tens of billions of dollars and you're giving away 95% of it. I really suspect the basis of this comment is a mistaken belief in your own decency, viz, "If I had billions of dollars, I'd give it all away except a couple of million to live on." Everyone SAYS that. I suspect it's much harder than it sounds. I might be way off the mark here, but if you are a working geek, chances are you have disposable income. What are you doing with it? It's a fair question because if it really is just about relative wealth and disposable income, some dirt farmer or kid going through the garbage in a third world country could justifiably look at you and say, "Wow! If I had that guy's cash, I'd be giving it away like mad!" And then he would wonder, unless I miss my guess, why you aren't.
While it may have made him one of the richest people in the world, and may have allowed him to do some good...the harm his company does by maintaining a monopoly and stifling innovation outweighs those benefits.
I could buy the argument that the ends don't justify the means. But to argue that the harm MS has done really outweighs the good Gates has done with his personal wealth is mindboggling. So some relatively affluent people have been put out of work (in a country where the government would take care of them, worse case scenario), and your favorite software isn't as popular as maybe it might otherwise be. A lot of the money he is shoveling out is going more or less directly to save people's lives. Do you really think the two compare?
Re:gates is cool (Score:2)
Interesting. Do you also think Microsoft's competitors should be outlawed in order to provide more income to the benevolent Mr. Gates? Is sending money to needy people in other countries which are too backwards to h
Re:gates is cool (Score:2)
You are exactly right. Compare that to Eric "it's mine mine mine and no-one else is getting a cent" Raymond's attitude.
Cigar anyone? (Score:3, Funny)
If your invitation to Gates' place got "lost in the mail", you can read about a Microsoft intern who got to have dinner with the big cheese.
Anyone wonder if this Bill (antitrust guy) gets as close to his interns as the other Bill (impeachment guy)?And he's only a "t-" (Score:2)
Oh well, gotta keep humpin' for that blue badge and those great child adoption benefits. (a little personal goal)
Hidden Agenda (Score:2, Funny)
Dart^C^C Bill Gates:
Newt Gingrich:
The security is actually the clone army in disguise!
The House (Score:2)
Am I the only one wondering what the hell this room looks like? Thanks for providing so little detail - now I won't be able to sleep for days
World's richest man? You mean Ingvar Kamprad? (Score:2)
Eyeball Bill's house at cryptome (Score:5, Interesting)
See aerial photos of his house.
(mirror site) http://cryptome.sabotage.org/gates-eyeball.htm [sabotage.org]
(main site) http://cryptome.org/gates-eyeball.htm [cryptome.org]
A suggestion (Score:4, Interesting)
I remember a story about the Russian Czar visiting the king of Denmark; and they went to look at one of the famous landmarks in Copenhagen, the 'Round Tower', which is a church tower with a (at that time) advanced observatory at the top and no staircase inside (another story is that one king used to drive his carriage up there, but I'm not so sure about that). The story goes that the Czar wanted to demonstrate his absolute power over his soldiers as well as their courage, so he ordered a young lieutenant to climb over the balustrade and jump to his death (they were standing at the top of the tower), and the man started doing so, somewhat reluctantly I imagine, but none the less.
The King promptly got this stopped, of course - he didn't want to have that kind of spectacle in his city, but he admitted that he was impressed. 'But I have another kind of power', he said, 'I can go out into the countryside, unarmed, to any farmhouse, rich or poor and stay the night, and the farmer will be my personal guard. When hearing this, the Czar fell silent.
Re:A suggestion (Score:2)
If someone tries to whack you, I mean really really really wants to do you in, they're going to, walls and barbed wire and guards or not.
2 more cents to the pile...... (Score:2, Insightful)
Yes applaud the fact that Bill Gates is a caring father (so are a lot of other males on the planet) and yes he has pursued the American (capitalist) dream to its greatest (clap clap clap) but the fact remains the company he founded and still has a strong controlling interest in has some very bad business practices. Software
I hope he didn't make the most common mistake (Score:4, Insightful)
Either way, I was a MS intern for 5 years, the first year I couldn't go but by my second party I had figured out that you don't talk to Bill for very long least for more than maybe 15 minutes. The reason? Because everyone else from MS, and then some is there, for example Tom Brokaw was at one of my parties because of MSNBC. I would ask you this question? When else in your life are you going to have a chance to talk one on one with a senior VP for MS for 4 hours, yes 4 hours. Or for that matter someone like David Cutler or Michael Kinsley (who was my choice as I am interested in politics) You can either do that or stand in the donut around Bill and ask two or three questions and get short one sentence answers.
I will admit that the house is quite impressive, when I was there I was informed by security that it's really two houses in one. The "conference center" part which is where you spend your time and a more intimate "living" part where the family actually spends thier time. I found the private little bungalow down by the beach with the adjacent boathouse the most interesting though, complete with lazy boys, a chess board and an interesting selection of books scattered around.
Dichotomy (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Dichotomy (Score:2)
Or John Kerry and his wife.
The Big Cheese (Score:3, Informative)
Another Gates-dining intern (Score:5, Interesting)
That's about all I can think of at the moment, it was an interesting experience but I didn't come away as impressed as some people have. If I had that much money to spend on a house I'd have hired a better architect and told him to do something genuinely innovative.
Re:*smacks micheal* (Score:2, Funny)
Michael: "Wow, the people look like ants from up here."
Bill Gates: "They are ants, Michael. They ARE Ants!"
Re:Potential (Score:2)
Happens all the time (Score:2)
Re:Potential (Score:2)
And honestly, if Gates had the foot the bill for this, do you really think he wouldn't have done it without batting an eyelash? His home's annual gardening budget is probably more than what the security cost that day.
Re:Potential (Score:2)
When that private citizen has a guest list including 50 chief executives of sovereign republics, people who also happen to be rather high in the chain of command for National Guard units and other state militias.
Re:Potential (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think homeland security intervention was at all justified.
It is justified if high ranking government officials show up. They are there to protect the government officials, Not Gates, or Gates' family, or Gates' property. Gates has his own security team who do that. Any time high ranking government officials go to anything like this, they bring their own security. And their security takes charge ove
Re:Potential (Score:2)
Also, perhaps you didn't read the Blog entry. The party-goers were ferried near Gates' estate by coach buses, so I'd say it was a pretty big party.