
Bill Gates takes part in Reddit's Secret Santa - rb2e
http://redditgifts.com/gallery/gift/spoiler-alert-bill-gates-did-not-get-you/
======
sethbannon
Things like this are neat because they remind folks that tech titans,
billionaires, celebrities, and the like are, at the end of the day, people too
-- not that dissimilar from everyone else. It's so easy to forget that.

~~~
knowtheory
It's awesome that Bill Gates decided to participate in the gift exchange.

This is also quite assuredly one of the best ways he could have possibly
advertised for Heifer International.

So, yeah, he's a regular dude in a lot of ways. He's also still a ruthless
billionaire who created a company that was known for crushing its competitors.

People are complicated, and just because he can be nice doesn't mean that he's
not other things too.

~~~
commandar
I really can't think of another person that I've had to reevaluate my opinion
of as drastically as Gates.

In the 90s he was widely seen as the face of the evil empire of Microsoft by
the technorati, completely cutthroat and unfairly crushing anyone that stood
in his way.

But over the past decade, he's arguably been one of the single greatest
contributors to good in the world. He's been a staunch and consistent advocate
for the overall betterment of humanity. He's put his wealth and influence to
use in beneficial, high-impact ways. He's directed his ruthlessness away from
business and toward hunger, poverty, and disease. And it's making a very real
difference in the lives of people around the world.

He's gone from somebody I viewed as a reviled caricature of a man to one I
can't help but profoundly respect.

Yeah, people are complicated. In the Mr. Gates' case, maybe that's not such a
bad thing.

~~~
tombrossman
A quick browse of his foundation's Wikipedia page [1] makes me think old
habits die hard. I hope all the positive press coverage is true (and not the
work of extremely well funded PR agencies) but these questions keep coming up.
I don't know enough about this to decide yet but I'd like to see some more
impartial examination of the foundations net benefit to society, as I think
the coverage so far is lacking.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation#Criticism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation#Criticism)

~~~
njx
Does anyone know why he is associated with Monsanto?

[http://www.infowars.com/bill-gates-dodges-questions-on-
why-h...](http://www.infowars.com/bill-gates-dodges-questions-on-why-he-
owns-500000-shares-of-monsanto/)

~~~
PhasmaFelis
I've been reading up on Monsanto recently, and I've grudgingly come to the
conclusion that they aren't _as_ bad as propaganda paints them. There's a
couple of big stories that paint them as heartlessly oppressing helpless small
farmers, but if you look into them further you find that they're not nearly so
black-and-white.

That, and GMO as a concept is absurdly demonized. Like everything else, it
needs to be done carefully and with suitable oversight, but people act like
genetic engineering means "putting poison in it." As the population keeps
rising and arable land keeps disappearing, we're gonna _need_ GMO crops to
keep large parts of the world from starvation.

~~~
gurkendoktor
> people act like genetic engineering means "putting poison in it."

Well, but isn't that pretty much it, in the form of pesticides? Does Monsanto
do GMO that is not just roundup-readiness?

~~~
Blahah
Monsanto makes two types of GM crop products.

The first, Bt crops, have the gene for a Cry protein from the bacterium
_Bacillus thuringiensis_ inserted so that they are toxic to the larvae of
lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). The Cry protein works by aggregating into
crystals in the lepidopteran larval digestive tract which then pierce the
lining of the midgut, killing the larva. It doesn't affect any other animals,
including us, because the crystallisation requires strong alkalinity and the
presence of certain bacteria that are unique to the lepidopteran larval
midgut. _Bacillus thuringiensis_ is also widely used in organic certified
agriculture. So no, this isn't poison.

The second are glyphosate resistant plants. These have a bacterial form of the
ESPS gene inserted that doesn't get inhibited by glyphosate. We ingest many
different forms of the ESPS gene every day - it's in basically every organism
- and it's harmless. Glyphosate is one of the most harmless pesticides ever
invented, which is precisely why resistance is desirable. Using glyphosate
means we don't have to use the much more harmful pesticides we used to use. So
no, this isn't poison.

In summary: no, it's not poison.

~~~
gurkendoktor
I would still consider things that are _designed to kill_ moths and herbs to
be poison, conceptually - especially in contrast to GM crop that is designed
to be bigger/healthier/more resistant to weather/quicker to grow. I don't
think people would be as skeptical towards the latter group.

~~~
Blahah
That's a good technical point about the vocabulary - it's poisonous but to
very specific species. I should have said not poisonous to _humans_.

Regardless of how people feel, the need to use toxic pesticides and
insecticides are a huge problem in agriculture and Roundup-ready and Bt crops
tackle those problems.

Next-generation GM crops will be much more geared towards disease and
salt/drought stress resistance.

------
mynameishere
That's a fun gift. I used to get solicitations from Heifer international years
ago, and the sad thing is that they advertise themselves such that if you
donate 50 dollars, a family will get a flock of chickens; if you donate 100
dollars, a family will get a baby goat. Etc, etc. But all the money goes into
a common fund.

I know charities have to use modern marketing, but that left a sour taste when
I found out about it. On the other hand, I suppose Bill's underlings conduct
proper due diligence.

~~~
qohen
_I know charities have to use modern marketing, but that left a sour taste
when I found out about it._

Amusingly, this exact issue, of Heifer International putting money into a
common fund vs. buying a water buffalo as expected, led Philip Greenspun to
make a blog post on Dec. 26, 2006 (which I just stumbled on yesterday) wherein
he wrote, "We are trying to decide if this is the crummiest possible Christmas
present."

Then he went on to he ask what it would mean to actually buy water buffaloes
for poor families. It turns out, a guy named Robert Thompson, an American
living with his Chinese wife in China, left an informed answer in the comments
and, long story short, Greenspun and his business partner put up the money and
Thompson, with the help of his wife and her family, bought a deserving family
a real live water buffalo.

You can read about it (be sure to read comment #1, which is from Thompson)
and/or watch the short film Thompson made of the buying and presenting of the
animal to a Chinese family, which shows the impact such a gift can have:

[http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2006/12/26/water-
buffalo-...](http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2006/12/26/water-buffalo-
worst-possible-christmas-present/)

~~~
mooreds
Or just watch the movie:
[http://www.t2.com/waterbuffalo/watch/water_buffalo_flash_hi....](http://www.t2.com/waterbuffalo/watch/water_buffalo_flash_hi.html)

------
bambax
The last line is so funny:

> _ps: Sorry for the apple ipad on my wishlist, that was really awkward._

------
gadders
I wonder if there is a generational difference between people, say, 30+ and
the under 30's of their view of Bill Gates?

For people my age he was "evil" personified during the Netscape/IE/Anti-Trust
era. I wonder if people who came of age after that period see him more as a
global good guy and philanthropist?

As for me, if he keeps this up I'm going to have to start liking the guy :-)

~~~
silverlake
I'm way over 30 and I've always had a positive view of Gates. That's largely
because I don't view business competition as a gentlemen's duel. It really is
cutthroat as hell. In my early 20s I found the strategy docs for my mega-tech
corp on an insecure network drive. Spent the weekend learning about how
companies really compete: backroom deals, legal maneuvers, strange contracts,
and even political pressure. Very few companies can be the Ghandi of the
Fortune 500.

Everytime Gates is mentioned on HN we get the _exact same_ 200 comments
detailing his alleged crimes. Gates bought a cow? Sure, but he killed
Netscape. Gates built an AIDS research center? Sure, but he added the Office
ribbon. Can't we all calm the fuck down and just appreciate 1 rich dude trying
to do some good his own way?

~~~
gadders
I remember reading about one of the robber barons in the gilded age - a
Rockefeller or similar - and it was along the lines of (forgive any
misquoting):

"People always commented that although he was a ruthless businessman, how kind
and considerate he was in his private life. But isn't that the same as most
sportsmen? They are determined to win when competing in their sport, but once
off the field are not expected to be the same."

~~~
absconditus
The difference is the impact that corporations have on the world.

------
adamnemecek
Someone in the reddit thread asked a good question, what would you give to
Bill Gates if you are his Secret Santa?

~~~
tjmc
641K of RAM. More than anyone deserves!

~~~
BillyMaize
There is no documented proof he ever said this. I'm sure he is sick of hearing
it repeated when he has had to tell everyone how he didn't say it and no one
listens.

~~~
smackfu
It would still be a cute gift.

------
ck2
What a great guy Bill Gates turned out to be and he didn't do it only on his
deathbed like some billionaires.

------
CurtMonash
Bill gets it from his mother. I only met her once, yet she fell all over
herself to be gracious, try to do me favors, etc.

~~~
shdon
Not just his mother. It was his father who instilled in Bill the need to do
something good for the world. Bill Gates Sr. was also in charge of the
charitable giving when Bill Gates Jr. (fun little piece of trivia: nicknamed
"Trey" in his family to avoid confusion) was still very much involved in the
day to day running of Microsoft.

~~~
CurtMonash
But this is a story about pleasant personality and small gestures. As noted in
[http://www.softwarememories.com/2009/04/25/wsj-article-on-
bi...](http://www.softwarememories.com/2009/04/25/wsj-article-on-bill-gates-
family-and-other-stories/), I got that vibe from Bill's mother but not his
father.

------
frankydp
The vitriol in this thread is astounding.

~~~
socalnate1
Hacker News is really good at finding something wrong with anything good.
Reminds me of my grandmother...

~~~
frankydp
I have been on the fence for a couple months. I am moving to a post only
reader.

------
sifarat
Bill Gates: when you reach your first billion dollar, you are back to cheese
burger.

Point. He is just being what everyone else us are here. a normal human being.

------
csmuk
I love Reddit Secret Santa for the comedy value. So far I've seen this year
people have been given:

1\. A pig foetus preserved in alcohol.

2\. A selection of root vegetables, petroleum jelly and gloves.

------
vacri
Great story with a fun typo - "Exactly just what kind of charity is _Heifner_
International?"

------
kylelibra
How celebrities behave on reddit seems to be a good indication of how they
actually are in real life.

~~~
matthudson
How can you possibly know that without knowing one of the celebrities
personally, and then extend that as a general rule?

~~~
dsl
I know celebrities with have done AMAs, and I can say with the exception of
proxy PR people coaching (usually when they have a movie coming out soon or
something), you end up getting pretty honest and direct responses on reddit
from them.

~~~
vidarh
Of course you don't know how many of them have proxy PR people that are good
enough to not get caught out.

------
rschmitty
The thing I was most impressed with is Bills ability to write a cursive
capital G.

------
DanielBMarkham
After a gushing review of how great Bill was and what a wonderful experience.
_"...ps: Sorry for the apple ipad on my wishlist, that was really awkward..."_

This was a great article, and a reminder that the internet allows us to make a
difference in people's lives in ways we never could before.

------
joshaidan
Now, I wonder what Bill received. Bill should make a similar post about his
gift, would be cool.

------
Tossrock
reminds me of this...
[http://lesswrong.com/lw/6z/purchase_fuzzies_and_utilons_sepa...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/6z/purchase_fuzzies_and_utilons_separately/)

------
mburst
Reddit Secret Santa is definitely a very cool project. Kudos to Bill and all
the others for participating. Though as other people have mentioned Heifer
spends quite a bit of money on advertising, like most other charities I
suppose. My roommate donated $10 about a year or 2 ago for a contest and every
other week we receive letters, magazines, and photos asking for more money
(way more than $10 worth of material). It would be sweet to see a charity
spend their money on the actual cause rather than just promotional material.

------
gnator
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN0K58EfJSg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN0K58EfJSg)

------
davidgerard
That's ridiculously heartwarming.

GEEKS! When you're rich and famous, REMEMBER TO STILL DO COOL STUFF!

------
Julianhearn
ggg

------
kimonos
Two thumbs up! A great inspiration for everyone!

------
mrmondo
Can anyone say... Publicity stunt?

~~~
smackfu
Publicity stunt for charity? How dare he.

------
talon88
I think this is really cool, though the cynical part of me thinks that so will
the social media strategists of quite a few celebrities out there, looking to
promote things around Christmas...

~~~
tnkd
If throughout the unwrapping of the gifts, there was a Microsoft Surface, then
I'd agree with you but for the most part I believe this reads as genuine.

~~~
goldenkey
Microsoft was a means to a beginning for Gates. Some CEOs die with their
product, not Gates.

------
monksy
Hes bill g, I call him money for short... he even does my tech support.
[Something something white and nerdy]

~~~
ByronT
Wrong song.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos)

~~~
elmodoll45fo
I was at ACE computer camp when this song came out.

