Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the ok-that's-awesome dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria. 'Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,' Gates said while opening a jar on stage at a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars. 'I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected.'" Say what you will about the guy, that is showmanship. Well done.

18 of 841 comments (clear)

  1. Just Like When He Led Microsoft by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Releasing bugs into the wild while complaining about viruses.

    Although this time around, I'm on his side.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Just Like When He Led Microsoft by noundi · · Score: 5, Funny

      Agreed. I only wish his words were "Say hello to my little friends." instead. Anywho, cudos there Billy.

      --
      I am the lawn!
    2. Re:Just Like When He Led Microsoft by lordmetroid · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmm, not a bad idea, trading HIV for the experience of sex. Not everyday a geek will get such a tempting opportunity.

    3. Re:Just Like When He Led Microsoft by chemisus · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmm, not a bad idea, trading HIV for the experience of sex. Not everyday a geek will get such a tempting opportunity.

      And it's not even guaranteed you'll get HIV!

    4. Re:Just Like When He Led Microsoft by palegray.net · · Score: 5, Funny

      That depends on what your definition of "is" is.

      --
      512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
  2. Been done by hansamurai · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bill does this all the time at the office for target practice for Ballmer.

    --
    Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
    1. Re:Been done by Crazyswedishguy · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a lot harder than you think to hit a mosquito with a chair.

      --
      This space up for sale.
  3. Consistent by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Funny

    Jeez, even his philanthropy has bugs!

  4. And next up... by yorgo · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he ever gives a speech about rabies, I'm not going...

    1. Re:And next up... by Fx.Dr · · Score: 5, Funny

      But how awesome would it be if he gave a speech about unicorns? That would be sweet! And you know he has a few tucked away some where.

    2. Re:And next up... by cj1127 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Meh, I'm still hurting from his speech on herpes...

  5. Not a good Crown for Mosquitos by stokessd · · Score: 5, Funny

    "...politicians, and Hollywood stars" Those types will suck the juices out of those poor helpless mosquitoes.

    Dear god, won't somebody think of the mosquitoes?!

    Sheldon

  6. Next week's trick by eagl · · Score: 5, Funny

    For his next trick, to highlight the need for stricter gun control laws, Bill Gates will fire a gun into a crowd while shouting "there is no reason why only poor people should suffer from gun crimes!"

    I think Al Gore plans on having a volcano erupt in downtown Manhattan to emphasize that ecological disasters are not just some fringe pacific "ring of fire" problem, but I hear he's having trouble getting a permit from the city.

    1. Re:Next week's trick by MiniMike · · Score: 5, Funny

      Bill Gates will fire a gun into a crowd while shouting "there is no reason why only poor people should suffer from gun crimes!"

      Cheney has him covered on that. Beat him to it, actually.

  7. That's nothing by Cornwallis · · Score: 5, Funny

    You should have been at the function where he released 100 screaming Rhesus monkeys into the audience to highlight the problems of Ebola virus. It was great fun watching the attendees trying to avoid being bitten.

    1. Re:That's nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's more than one way to eat a rhesus

  8. Re:Why do we have a problem with Gates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What has Gates done PERSONALLY to make slashdotters so hateful of him?

    OK, True story: Back in the early 1980s I was working for a small startup company in eastern Idaho... we did lots of vertical market stuff for home construction companies and lumber mills. All written in C, with Assembly language libraries and a smattering (*gasp*) of BASIC. So one day, I was working on debugging our B-Tree retrieval libraries using the new state-of-the art 80386 machine (all the other machines in our shop were '286) when suddenly Bill Gates bursts into the office. He does a couple of flips over the office partition walls and killed two of my co-workers with a karate chop to the neck....one was the HR person who, of course, has all our home addresses, so Bill grabs the sheet of paper with all of them and yells "I'll be back". Well, after the police interviews and crisis counselling and cleanup... I go home only to find my wife and four triplets all stabbed to death and my dog pregnant. On the kitchen table was a note from Bill Gates saying "I did this"

  9. Re:Why do we have a problem with Gates? by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I go home only to find my wife and four triplets ...

    You are a computer programmer!

    Always remembering to zero reference your kids.

    --
    My work here is dung.