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Would You Pay $35k For a Tour of Bill Gates's Home?

GeekSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:15:00 -0800

As part of Microsoft's charitable giving campaign, founder Bill Gates is again auctioning off a tour of his Medina, WA, home. Last year the tour sold for $8,600, but this year the bidding has already reached $35,000. You have to be a Microsoft employee to bid in the auction (which reportedly also includes "the world's best bologna sandwich," selling for $500), with all the proceeds benefiting charity.

When you're Bill Gates, the sky is the limit when it comes to designing your home. See if you can guess the answers to a few questions about his pricey pad.

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Heidi and Seal Get Schooled Together in LA

Molly — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:00:00 -0700

Heidi Klum draped her baby bump in a chic dress at the Get Schooled initiative conference hosted by Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation in LA last night. Heidi looked especially happy considering she had Seal as her date for the event after recently talking about her "gentle giant" husband and her body in the final month of pregnancy. Her due date is right around the corner but she has three other kids to remind her of the importance of education especially during back to school time.

Bill Gates Gets Overwhelmed by Facebook

GeekSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:45:25 -0700

Well wouldn't you know. . . On Saturday, Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates told an audience in New Delhi that he became bombarded with friend requests on Facebook and was having trouble figuring out if he really knew them. He said:

"It was just way too much trouble so I gave it up."

So just how many friends were trying to befriend one of the kings of tech? Approximately 10,000, which became unmanageable for Gates. During the event in India which was honoring his charity work, he also revealed that he's not that into text messaging and isn't a 24-hour-a-day tech person.

Two things I take from this: Gotta love the guy for admitting that he not only maintained his FB page himself (rather than having a lackey do it) and I also love his honesty about his tech habits. He may be a geek, but who says he needs to be updating his FB profile 24/7 or that he must become a Twitter member? It's OK Bill, we understand.

Daily Tech: Microsoft Retail Stores Coming This Fall

GeekSugar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:11:00 -0700

Microsoft plans on opening the doors to its new retail stores in the next few months - Engadget
Ironically, Wired's Chris Anderson's book Free is available for free on the Kindle - TechCrunch
If you downloaded iTunes 8.2.1, here's how you can still put tunes on your Palm Pre - Gizmodo
TripAdvisor is warning travelers of fake reviews to lure visitors to their hotel - Switched
Bill Gates makes physics lessons available for free from the Microsoft Research website - Bill Gates

Daily Tech: Technology in the Year 1994

GeekSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:42:44 -0700

"It's very hip to be on the Internet right now," said Bill Gates back in '94. - CrunchGear
The Amazon Kindle 2 could be better with these improvements. - CNET Crave
AT&T will offer MMS at no extra cost to customers who get a text messaging bundle. - PC World
Virgin Media has just launched a music download subscription service in the UK. - USA Today
Check out Switched's list of gadget gear for dads.- Switched
iPhone 3G S preorders have started shipping. - Engadget
President Obama lists video games as health concern in a speech to the American Medical Association. - Kotaku

Daily Tech: Bill Gates Sr. Talks About Raising a Tech Mogul

GeekSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:01:43 -0700

Bill Gates Sr., who acts as cochair of the the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, sat down to chat with the Wall Street Journal about his life and discusses the trials and tribulations of raising Microsoft's cofounder Bill Gates Jr.. - The Wall Street Journal
Firefox 3.5 beta is now available for download and offers better performance and stability as well as improved private data tools like Private Browsing Mode. - Gizmodo
These simple yet effective keyboard shortcuts are guaranteed to save you so much time. - Switched
Get to know MySpace's new CEO Owen van Natta, who will replace former CEO, Chris DeWolfe. - The Silicon Alley Insider
Belkin's new CushDesk for your laptop may not be worth the $30. - Engadget

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Forbes List Reminds Us Billionaires Are Suffering Too

SavvySugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:15:44 -0700

Billionaires! They're just like us! Well, they still have better Summer homes, private planes and much bigger blocks of gold, but Forbes reports the richest people in the world have gotten poorer along with the rest of us over the last year. Bill Gates lost $18 billion this year, but won back his title as the world's richest man and is estimated to be worth $40 billion. Last year's champ Warren Buffet and Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim Helú came in second and third place. How bad are the numbers for the rest? This year the billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23 percent in 12 months.

The world now has 793 billionaires, down from 1,125 a year ago.
After slipping in recent years, the US is gaining dominance on the list. Americans account for 44 percent of the money and 45 percent of the list's slots, up seven and three percentage points from last year.
Warren Buffett was last year's No. 1, but saw his fortune decline $25 billion as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50 percent in 12 months.
Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim Helú maintains his spot in the top three, but lost $25 billion.

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iPods and iPhones Are Not Allowed in the Gates Household

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:02:16 -0800

This month's Vogue has a great interview with Mrs. Bill Gates, the lovely philanthropist Melinda Gates. The interview focuses on the Microsoft founder's better half, but there's a fun Apple rivalry moment in the piece, when the subject of the couples' kids is brought up.

She says: "There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids."

Gates does admit to being swayed - a little- by Apple's smartphone, though: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'."

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Biggest Headline of 2008: World's Richest Person Is a Different Name

SavvySugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:30:29 -0800

What's the first word that comes to mind when you hear the name Bill Gates? Billions, perhaps? The self-made billionaire owned the title of World's Richest Person for 13 years until this year, when another household name, Warren Buffett, took it away. When the announcement was made back in March, Buffett's fortune was valued at $62 billion compared to Gates's $58 billion.

Both billionaires likely took a hit, along with the rest of us, when the stock market spiraled downward. Still, Warren Buffett stepped in to boost investor confidence when he bought $5 billion of Goldman Sachs shares during a crucial time for the firm and the whole financial services industry.

Warren Buffett's admirable business mind made him the billionaire he is today, and has earned him a place in the Best of 2008.

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The New and Improved (?) Microsofts Ads

GeekSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:11:52 -0700

Now that Seinfeld is out and the new "I'm a PC" commercials are in, most of you feel the same way that I do about them - they are totally copying Apple's "Get a Mac" ads! The first installment with Seinfeld was at least somewhat original, but waay too long to be used as commercials. These ones? Catchy, but lack originality. Microsoft, you had my attention with Seinfeld, and lost me at "I'm a PC."

To see the other two Microsoft commercials, just read more.