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Call the Apple Store and Get Bill and Melinda Gates
oosid writes "The area code in Seattle is (206). Right across Lake Washington in Bellevue the area code is (425). If you're trying to reach the new Apple Store in Bellevue from Seattle, don't forget to dial the area code or you'll find yourself talking to the reception desk at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The 7 digit number, coincidentally, is the same for both places. If you make the mistake I'm sure that the Foundation will be able to suggest some solutions to all of your Apple problems."
From the Gates Foundation contact info page:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
PO Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
Phone: (206) 709-3140
For general questions or grant inquiries, please contact the foundation via email, info@gatesfoundation.org
From the Apple Store page:
106 Bellevue Square
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-709-3100
Someone please tell me, am I missing something here?
"I won't mod you down - I feel the need to call you a twit explicitly, rather than by implication."
Keep in mind that this is the business man whose sliding scale pricing practices on the original version of DOS caused it to become the de facto operating system for all computers sold in America--a pricing system that was later declared anti-competitive and illegal.
Bill Gates is a shrewd businessman, and he knew what he was doing all along. He was just better at it than anybody else.
Most people do not dislike billy because of his vast oceans of cast, but rather the methods he employed to get the cash. I'm amazed that this is continually overlooked.
m$ has left a trail of corpses of other vendors over the years that they've pummled into insignificance: novell, lotus, word perfect, borland, dr. dos, etc...
there's no way in hell i'm gonna feel bad for gates. and i'm also not going to treat his philanthropy as some 'awakening' to the humanitarian plight. this guy is directly and indirectly responsible for probably ruining as many peoples lives as he is helping. his and m$' biz tactics are deplorable yet smiled upon by various other biz people because the name of the game is to win uber alles!
frankly i might start to believe that most of his motives don't have some back door clause to m$ when there are contracts and such - in writing - that specify that there is free money to charities with no strings attached and the software and computers come with signed documents stating that the charity/school/whatever will have free, unlimited upgrades for as long as either m$ or the particular institution exists. and they're free to sell any of the stuff they want at any time without and bullshit reprocussions.
bill and m$ are kings of lock in. at some point, they've done it to everyone that's used any of their products. why should i think that his philanthropy is much different and ultimately doesn't benefit him in the form of various tax breaks (ya know, if you have a shitload of money and don't get rid of a percentage of it via charities/donations, then u end up owning a bunch of taxes).
for me, this guy's got a long way to go to wash away the mud. his company is still as predatory and unethical as before. and while i'm glad there are entities out there receiving money - from ripped off customers i might add -, i'm still suspect that there is some hidden.... something. time will tell and i'm not giving the guy anything that he hasn't given anyone else.