Slashdot Mirror
Around the World In 14 Days
An anonymous reader writes: "Adventurer Steve Fossett succeeded Tuesday on his sixth try to pilot a balloon solo around the world, crossing the meridian where he started his historic journey June 19, his ground crew at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, announced. Here is the official site, while there's also several other articles, including this one."
Now we don't have to hear about him trying and failing anymore!
...if he had just gone to the Antarctica and walked around in a circle?
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but look at the polar view of his flightpath. He's not near the equator, and he never crosses it. It looks more like a circumnavigation of Antarctica than a circumnavigation of the globe. It only looks like a circumnavigation of the globe if you use the 'flat' map, and only because it smears Antartica out.
Well atleast the average slashdotter would have a bedroom that doesnt stink as much as the balloon would.
Hey, look! I just crapped on some Taliban..
Man, I am glad he didnt fly over me.
Rapid Nirvana
Ok i am no geographer but that flight path looked like a big circle not around the world. I demand a recount, oh wait don't do that i am sick of them covering this lame ass story. Get back to investigating martha stewart now thats entertainment.
Your going down MARTHA
***I GOT NUTHIN***
Silver only because he went around an easy part of the world, basically he mostly just circled Antarctica. Heck, you could go to the south pole and walk in a circle and say you've been around the world ;) But still its not a small feat and I congradulate him on it. It would have been a gold star for making it around a lot closer to the equator but then I can understand why he gave up on that, what with countries like China and such refusing to let him cross their airspace...
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs
Though a remarkable accomplishment...I fail to
be impressed because success was largely a
function of money, technology, and the weather
playing ball. No doubt there are many thousands
with the requisite skills (and many millions
that can be trained). As such, my respect
goes to whatever technology allowed him to
accomplish the task.
"Fossett holds world records in ballooning, sailing and flying airplanes. He also swam the English Channel in 1985, placed 47th in the Iditarod dog sled race in 1992 and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race in 1996"
What's the point? Those ballooners have blown millions of dollars to do this. Why? Plus, as a previous poster pointed out, did he really go around the globe? I say they should have to cross the equator once on each side of the earth, say within a 1000 mile buffer zone.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
So when is he going to travel the full distance? (not necessarily on the equator, but at least a respectably close path in related distance)
~ now you know
Not a great circle, but about 17% shorter.
Richard Branson must be pissed. Hasn't he been trying this for years and always ended up falling about half way around?
"Moderate drinking can help prevent amputated limbs" -- Abigail Zuger, NYTimes, 12/31/02
"Adventurer Steve Fossett"? This must be the first report I've seen in years that didn't say "Multi-Millionaire Steve Fossett". I had become convinced that Steve was his middle name.
Piloting a balloon solo around the world. That is incredible---if this was 1899!! :)
Brian Ellenberger
In other news, Bud Light Scientists recently announced they were nearing the end of their ground breaking high altitude sleep deprivation beer party study.
The Earth is about 24,000 miles around, and he's about 8,000 miles short of that. Obviously, as you said, if he had gone on a 15-minute 1-mile trip around the South Pole, nobody would have considered it a round-the-world trip. At what point does it count?
Sure, he set a record for the longest distance solo flight, I'll give him that.
That you have to survive the landing for 48 hours, something that Fosset has thus far not demonstrated.
There was joke going around during the construction of Rutan's Voyager round-the-world-nonstop-nonrefueled plane, back in the mid 80's. Nothing was spared to reduce weight on that project, because every pound of additional structure required six or seven pounds of additional fuel, requiring more structure, and so on. Unfortunately, that philosophy turned the cockpit into a bit of a hellhole. The saying was, though, that any more than 48 hours of survival was excess design capacity; unneeded for the record attempt.
thad
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
So, this guy is from Chicago. You can't imagine the amount of press coverage it has gotten here. Some jacknuts millionare decides he's too bored with squashing the poor so he gets in a blimp and flies around the world.
--What, you ain't know about them country fried sessions?
Man with too much money has finally accomplished a completely useless feat after only 5 previous attempts to do so.
What a great day for humanity.
I'm tired of hearing about these people that have more money than one human being needs. This guy and others (Bill Gates) have enough money to change the world if they wanted to. Why dont they put their money to some good use rather than stupid crap like this. They could change a small country that is dying off due to starvation or lack of water but what do they spend their money on. Balloons. I can understand wanting to do all these things just to say you did it, but I would feel horrible about myself knowing that I have that much money and I am flaunting it around while children are dying all over the world.
Flight 93 was shot down.
I know because I was ordered to shoot down the plane. Due to the classified status of that day's events, I can not divulge my name or the method I used to bring down the target. After I touched down back at the base that day, I found that the passengers on flight 93 had successfully overpowered the hijackers moments before I killed them all. I have suffered immeasurable guilt since then, to the degree that the unit shrink has grounded me indefinitely.
You will probably never know the full story. I do not think I can bear another six years of service before retirement and may be medically discharged by then, in which case I have nothing to live for any more.
I bet it would be much easier to cross back onto the meridian from where you started near a pole. I'm sure its colder, but its cold up there anyhow.
Now they just need to send an empty balloon around the world and then we won't have to hear about these attempts anymore.
It was really hairy during the bullfight, not to mention when they rescued the princess! Congratulations on a job well done!
;)
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
That my lawn chair with some weather baloons could go faster due to streamlining.. 195mph pffft.
The greatest right given is the right to be wrong...
If he really wants to burn millions of dollars to have his name remembered, why not donate the money to the construction of a neonatal ICU or something and get a little brass plaque out of it? How do idiots like this become millionaires, anyway?
Thanks for helping out the human race, buddy. Enjoy your fame.
I would like to say that Bud Light made this journey possible. Remember the next time you are driving on a long trip that Bud Light will help you reach your final destination, it worked for Steve
It's all good.
Don't you think that Mr. Fossett has endured enough without the criticism being heaped upon him by the Slashdot crowd.
You have no idea how stressful and agonizing it is being a millionaire dilettante, having to indulge yourself constantly with testosterone and ego-enhancing 'sports' like yachting and ballooning.
Feel his pain.
Who gives a shit what this guy does...the average guy can't obviously compete with all the gear and shit he can afford.
Sorry but this record means nothing whatsoever.
It appears that the rules for balloon flights are established by The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI):
http://www.fai.org/ballooning/rtw2-98.asp
There's lots of interesting info on their website at http://www.fai.org/
It's a good read, if for no other reason than gaining the ability to drop "homologation" into your next conversation.
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
Or whoever knows about wind patterns... I read this book in high school, don't remember the name off hand but basically there's a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere. Everyone up here dies. Everyone in Australia is flipping out, because slowly the radiation seems down and kills all of them too. (Is it called _On the Beach_?) Anyways, the point being, winds DONT occur for like a 40 mile band on the equator right? IF this is true, then a balloonist would not be able to cross the equator, no?
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
Jeez, this guy spent I don't know how many years of his life, and millions of dollars, trying to reach this goal. How is the science logo appropriate for that? Is there an artist out there who could whip up a good looking balloon icon?
It's the least we can (collectively, I'm no artist) do.
Of these rich assholes with nothing better to do with their money than this? Seriously, is there any skill involved? I am guessing your chances come down to the amount of money you are willing to spend. Do something good with those millions.
good info i guess, even though it's blocked from my work connection... boo IT! :P
That's great! No more slowpoke airplanes for me! Now I can finally hope to see in my lifetime my dream come true of cheap, reliable, balloon flights anywhere in the world. I'll keep my eyes set on Travelocity for the moment when they add a 'balloon' search and I'll be the first to book my flight.
/. not working but you know what I mean - not just blow through cash in pointless excercises.)
(Stupid millionaires with nothing better to do with their money. Lord, some of us have to WORK - okay, fair enough, I'm playing at
Mark
To me the test of going "around the world" is to go through two points that are on the opposite sides of the planet, point A to point B, then back to A. With all due kudos to Fosset, he didn't do that.
Miko O'Sullivan
trip, while he did circle around the world in a ballon, the distance he truely covered was small. I mean, I could go around the world by walking around the edge of the south or north pole. And by that I do not mean the ice sheets or edge of the continent, I could do it by walking in a 5ft. diamiter around the south or north pole.
But for the normal person would that count as going around? No! Maybe I'm being too hard and all, but around the world in my opinion is going around the area of the planet where the most distance is covered. Otherwise, he only went for a jaunt.
Om, nomnomnom...
Hypocritical man with too much time on his hands goes online to flame others for attempting to set records or do something they enjoy.
What a great day for humanity.
About a year ago there was some tour to visit the actual communciation station (I happen to go to WashU) to talk to Steve. I passed and the very next day he crashed, but it didn't phase me much because I just assumed he was going to try again..and again...and again...and fail, fail, fail. Looks like he proved me wrong and I'll never be able to visit the communciation station..I hate my life.
"Stop trying to control everything and just let go."
They didn't even say what his class was!
And Look! What kind of Bio is this for an "adventurer":
Fossett's other adventures have including swimming the English Channel, piloting a dog sled in the Iditarod race in Alaska, driving in the LeMans auto endurance race in France and finishing the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.
I see no Dragons! No Kobolds! Not even a little steenking goblin.
Heh, some adventurer he is.
-GiH
Come here, that I might BRAIN thee!
that this guy isn't dead. That would give me wood.
G to the Goatse.cx
T to the Tubgirl.com
fo' shizzle my nizzle don't try and posst about linux because you're all gay.
HAPPY TROLL TUESDAY!!
TweeKinDaBahx
Yes, the book is Called "On the Beach".
Lawrence Lessig is my personal hero.
oh and look, it's sponsored by Bud Light...i swear WashU is Ansheucer-Busch University in every retrospect...
didn't francis drake circumcise the world with a 30-foot clipper?
Some ass wasted a Mod point by modding me down, yaayyy!!!. Now do it again, comeon, mod this down too!!!! Asss. THis IS a troll.
Went around on the small end, not the equator, therefore he is a pussy! Dotfreakincom. I could go around the north pole WALKING and "circumnavigate" the globe is a few seconds! Still would not be "CIRCUMNAVIGATING" the globe. Circumference you asswipes. not almost part of the circumference!
According to a story on CNN.com He's done a whole lot of other impressive stuff too.
To quote;
"Fossett's other adventures have including swimming the English Channel, piloting a dog sled in the Iditarod race in Alaska, driving in the LeMans auto endurance race in France and finishing the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii."
"The Living Earth® image is a highly accurate composite of multiple high-resolution satellite images that has been color-enhanced to appear natural to the human eye. "
I hate this kind of crap talk : it's stressing totally silly, useless details, buzwords and nonsense. A Black and white map with only the outline of the continents would have been just as clear.
And who says they didn't just scan it from a stupid $10 atlas from one of their kids ?
BAH
Even when he's having fun, a millionaire can't stop blabbering peptalk. Doesn't anyone else feel like puking on his fucking balloon ?
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
Ground crew. People who made the balloon, equipment, and supplies.
It's like the space program -- people act as if the money is just shot into space and lost. It wasn't -- it is spent on the designers, builders, support crew.
Whether or not those people should have considered getting "real" jobs is another question which you seem to know the answer to. I personally would rather they got it than some jacknape too lazy to get off his ass and look for a job. And if it comes down to a spacecraft or balloon engineer or ground crew, vs someone equally deserving in some other country, I'd just as soon it went to the locals.
Infuriate left and right
Everyone knows his name is "Steve Tap". ;-)
How about the walk I do every year to raise money for disabled adults. The money I donate for Mitochondrial disease, AIDS, Jimmy fund, and the salvation army whenever I can. And the Childrens museum at the local youth group that I volunteered at. Or volunteering for repainting the playground. Sounds to me like you all should put your money where your mouth is.
While it's certainly a shorter trip than this guy but it's not around the world either (and a lot less expensive).
a) This dude is a moron. b) The fact that there are even "rules" set by some "federation" for this is amazing.
So, this guy is from Chicago. You can't imagine the amount of press coverage it has gotten here.
I feel for you, pal. I don't live anywhere near Chicago and I've already heard way too fucking much about this.
Most mass media outlets are billing this as one of the major stories of the day. Why? Does anyone really give a shit? I mean really, really care? How many of us really care about ballooning? How many of us know anything about ballooning? Why is this a major news story?
I hear a lot of people complaning that this guy should have used his money to help needy causes rather than attempt this record. I understand this frustration and disgust. However, it is his money after all and he's entitled to spend it however he likes. The thing that galls me is that the media fawns over him like he's accomplished some monumental achievement on behalf of the human race. Yeah, yeah, it's a record. So what? I don't hate this millionare. I hate the media for hyping him up as some kind of hero or celebrity.
The super rich will always find ways to amuse themselves with their money. That's fine. So why the hell is this a news story?
GMD
watch this
When Dick Rutan piloted the Voyager around the world near the Equator in 1986, it was a far more impressive feat. They flew just over 24,000 miles, which is slightly further than the circumference of the Earth.
For people not involved with FAI records: there are several classes based on aircraft type, engine type, task etc. A record would look something like "production single-engine land monoplane, less than 200 HP, fastest flight over a distance of 500 miles."
Unlimited growth == Cancer.
just spell it aloud
Now maybe he will leave us alone. And how in the hell did this article make it here? News for Millionares stuff that no one cares about.
Jackie Chan will star in a remake of the classic around the world in 80 days
Judging on the pic of the map I'd hardly call this "around the world". A person could walk in a 10 foot wide circle and cross all longitudes too. This just doen't seem to be that great a deal to me. If he followed the equator or something like that, sure, then I'd call that a DAMN big deal, but this is kinda minor IMHO...
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
I don't think it should count if he didn't. And it sure looks like he didn't.
I could do the same thing. Just take me to the South Pole with a air balloon and I'll make a little circle around it. Heck, I'll do it a dozen times. Technically, I'm crosses all the lines of latitude, so thats "around the world", right?
To me, unless you make a Great Circle, its not really "around the world".
You blind lemming slashdotters may not want to hear this, but Bill Gates gives away the absolute most amount of money compared to anyone else in history, literally over $20 billion. He has already said that he intends to donate 99% of his wealth by the time he dies.
Can you imagine the good'ol'boys down in Texas that are pumping oil doing the same thing? Not a fucking chance. Bill Gates may want to take over computing, but he fully intends on helping out people around the world with his money.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but look at the polar view of his flightpath. He's not near the equator, and he never crosses it.
What people seem to forget is that Fossett is flying a balloon, not a plane.
Unlike planes, balloons are at the mercy of the wind. As any sailor, pilot, or meterologist knows, there is very little wind at the equator. In order for Fossett to make his trip, he needed to find good, strong winds. He's no dummy, so he also charted a course away from ornery countries who don't appreciate millionaires flying through their airspace.
While it may not have been an equatorial course, it was still challenging nonetheless. Most people would have given up well before their sixth try.
Well, it depends on what you're talking about...
It is well-known that near the equator and near the surface, the winds are generally light. But there is what's called the "Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone", an area of convergent winds. You can see that on a satellite picture of the western Pacific (look at the bottom edge, near the equator, obviously...). The latitude of this zone varies by season, moving always toward the summer hemisphere. It is an important component in what is called the "Hadley cell", which is an important circulation since it carries a great deal of heat from the tropics to the mid-latitudes and helps explain the placement of the major deserts. A good discussion of the very general "General Circulation of Earth's Atmosphere" can be found here, however some of the more interesting "facts" in it are currently in debate (for example, the existence of the Ferrel cell... the Hadley cell is definitely there, though).
So, the tropics aren't totally wind-free and are actually quite important to what happens through the rest of the world. I believe that it's been calculated that the average residence time of an air parcel in any one hemisphere is about 2 to 4 years, meaning that most parcels travel between hemispheres decently frequently.
Other factors to include is what's called the "Quasi-Biennial Oscillation" or QBO. This is strictly a lower stratospheric phenomenon (30 hPa is a pressure with sea level around 1000 hPa... 30 hPa is somewhere around 30 km above sea level.)
For some info on the QBO, check out:
http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~cwhung/qbo.html
http://tao.atmos.washington.edu/data_sets/qbo/
Hope this helps. In short, a balloonist could be able to cross the equator. But you'd want to avoid it since the equator is normally pretty stormy.
-Jellisky
Wouldn't the millions of dollars he wasted achieving this been better spent on donating it to something? Cancer research? AIDS Research? Something other than pissing away your money from a freaking balloon?
Why was this rated "Science"?
fucking so what?
A circumnavigation is anything where latitude is between -60 and + 60 degrees. (i.e. at least 30 degreees from the poles) with allowances for brief transgressions as he did in the south Atlantic.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
There are many positive tech spin offs from this seemingly pointless trip. Better weather forcasting to predict killer hurricanes. Cheaper transportion that does not emit noxious greenhouse gasses. Or perhaps just cheaper ways for us to study the atmosphere, or whats left of it.
Who fucking cares.
I hope they shut up about this.
It doesn't look like a global circumnavigation as much as a global circumcision.
What was your username again? -BOFH
The guy didn't really go around the world, he went more in a pentagon shape around Antarctica. Granted, if he went around the equator, the temprature is liable to be more extreme, but I don't think this is such a great milestone. After all, we all know that balloons are capible of going great distances- what's the point of accomplishing a polygon around the world with one, besides to get your name slapped in a record book that's already 500 pages thick? The first airplane was a major accomplishment, because it was truly something new and innovative; but balloons have been around for ages, and personally, I'm not impressed by another one of them going a couple thousand miles in a few weeks.
The only amazing thing about this as far as I'm concerned is that they could build a balloon big enough to lift the FAT RETARD off the earth in the first place.
Gotta hand it to Fossett though. He's persistent. I don't think I'd have gotten back aboard the thing after that time when lightning snapped the cables in the middle of the night and his capsule fell like 15 thousand feet into the ocean. Pretty freaking scary if you ask me.
What was your username again? -BOFH
Given the definition of 'global circumnavigation,' I think I'll go walk in a four-foot diameter circle at the south pole and consider myself a world traveller. Now maybe Fossett will fut the shuck up and let amercia go back to envisioning martha stewart behind prison bars.
In the meantime, Fossett will be busy over the next few weeks screwing a model on a pile of cash.
What was your username again? -BOFH
Millionaire pounds "me first" record into submission. A world yawns...
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
So what exactly does piloting a balloon entail, anyway..? Utilizing your valuable hoping skills to wish you'll be blown in the right direction?
What was your username again? -BOFH
This is NOT an "orbit" of the earth. Skimming around the edge of Antarctica is NOT an orbit of the earth. It's like the guys who work at the south pole, there's a marker to indicate the true geographic pole, you can walk around it and claim you orbited the earth in a few seconds. I'll save my praise for someone who orbits around the equator, like Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger did.
This goes under the "Man I really don't care" file.
That I am your philosophical enemy brings me great joy and satisfaction.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
The first non-stop circumnavigation of the globe in a hot air balloon was achieved in March 1999 by the Swiss Bertrand Piccard and his British co-pilot Brian Jones.
Their voyage lasted 19 days. It started in Chateau d'Oex and ended in a desert in Egypt.
Bertrand is the grandson of Auguste Piccard and the son of Jacques Piccard.
More information
Doesn't this seem more than usually self-indulgent in the light of our post-9/11 world.
It would be too much to ask, of course, for him to use his time and wealth to help others. After all, he probably made his millions squashing other people.
Good riddence. Glad I won't need to hear about that spoiled brat anymore.
You mean like the theory of evolution?
(B) + (D) + (B) + (D) = (K) + (&)
All of us would love to be able to do all those wonderful things, but we are, by our own hand, chained to our "jobs", and will never, I repeat, never find the time to do any that. History books will be written, and we will be left out.
Rapidweather's Linux Screenshots.
I know I'm nitpicking, but what do attempts to get into the guinness book have to do with science?
Where's the science in this? Engineering, yes. Aeronautics, yes. Adventure, yes. Science? I don't think so.
You didn't see the Salon article. Their headline was "Tycoon completes global balloon trip." Talk about spin. "Fosset..." would have been a much better/unbiased headline, and for the same number of letters.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
He is about 6k miles short. He went around the southern hemishere, but not around the world.
If he did then, he should have went a shorter route, like once around the south pole at the 89 degree mark.
How can you say that you've flown around the world if you only travel 18,000 miles? I mean, the world is 25,000 around, so you can't just pretend that 18,000 is the same as 25,000 simply because you end up near where you started, can you? Of course not.
He didnt fly around the world, he flew in a tiny circle around the antartic.
The rules should say they have to fly close to the equator
Sure, it's a one-party totalitarian dictatorship but it's combinded with a free-market economy. They'd probably welcome someone like balloon-boy, btw. Now lets see. . .what do we call a one-party dictatorship + capitalist economy? Oh yes, that's right--Fascism.
Is it just me or do most of you secretly desire for this man to crash and burn in the ocean?
What a waste of time and energy. It's year 2002 and you accomplish something using 1900 technology helped by 2002 gadgets. Big freaking deal!
Don't give in to the media hype. Ignore all coverage of this gluutonous event and focus your lives discussing "REAL" topics.
eTrade SUCKS
Yes, but did he remember to subract the extra day from when he went over the international date line? Both Philious Fogg and the 3 Stooges made that error.
"We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
please, this guy didn't fly "around the world". He flew a circle around the south poll. There's a pretty big diffrence.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
"He's going to try to put down some place safe. A safe landing is the key to everything right now," says the Sydney Morning Herald
The print version of the story goes on to describe a safe landing was a large open area, dotted with a few trees to avoid dragging him around.
The catch ? He was planning on flying over the Nullarbor plain in Western Australia. Nullarbor is not Australain Aboriginal - it means "No Trees" in Latin for obvious reasons.
So they are going to skip that, stay south and will probably hit South Australia in a couple of hours, continuing to clock up the miles.
What does it have to do with science?
Isn't it just another stupid to spend money?
The NEWS from Australia: He's well PAST his start point. Steve Fosset expects to be near the Queensland border by daybreak (local time).
The speed of the airflow (wind) is making it dangerous to land.
If this keeps up, he should have travelled 24,000 miles (have a look at a good map for the West-East distance of Australia's coasts).
Remember, he took-off in the South-West corner of Western Australia.
Unfortunitely, I don't think he has enough fuel and supplies to go around a second time!
.
(David Bowman, EVA near HUGE Monolithic Win-PC in orbit around Jupiter) "My God - its full of Malware!"
" "My next big project is to fly a glider into the stratosphere (between 9 and 31 miles high), and will make the first attempts at that around the end of July," he said. "
End of July?? As in this July?? Exactly how much planning does it take to fly a glider into the stratosphere? If it only takes 3 weeks of preparation and planning, why isn't every millionaire doing this, and why is this impressive?
I take more time to plan a one week vacation, and you don't see me calling the press!
Savvy Balloonist Starts Round-World Trip Halfway Round World
He didn't make it yet. They are still looking for a place to land. They want a place with light winds and lots of trees to stop the balloon from dragging too far. Unfortunately, they are looking on the Nullabor Plain. Gee, I wonder what NULL ARBOR means. And I wonder if they're going to find any trees out there. You should have studied Latin, Fossett.
The funny thing is he has not landed yet (last time i heard the news at least) and strange as it might seem he is looking for trees to crash into, to help slow down his landing presumabley.
Problem is he is currently flying over parts of Australia not likely to have many trees.
If you had millions in the bank what you spend it on? Assuming he is reasonably charitable this seems like as good a way as any to spend his disposable income.
BFD - another rich boy does something totally useless and selfish. How better a place the world is now.
How many people could have been fed or clothed or housed with the millions wasted on this crap?
People suck.
Even casual involvement excludes total freedom by it's inherent nature. John Valby
The Gates Foundation gives money to humanitarian causes, to the tune of several billion so far! I worked at Johns Hopkins when the GF gave $25M for Public Health research. Additional $ went to other parts of the university. As a philantropy, the GF is there with the best of them. His OS plans may be suspect, but not his humanitarian plans. Bill makes a difference. Do you?
OK, so he obviously has to go to the bathroom while up there. The question is, what does he do with it once he's done. :)
Wouldn't that be a tale to tell. You're outside mowing your lawn. You start to hear the scream of an incoming object. You glance up just in time to be nailed in the face by...
I admit he does a lot of good things but its mostly because he legally has to and doesnt give much more than the law requires. (At least he used to. I havent kept up on that recently). Even though it is a considerable amount of money, I'm not complaining about it, just mentioning it.