Bill Gates wants to reinvent the toilet, from the user interface to the back end

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Speaking to a crowd in Seattle earlier today, Bill Gates sounded at times like he was talking about a technology product in desperate need of an upgrade. Actually, he was. “The toilet that was invented 200 years ago, the flush toilet, really hasn’t had that many milestones. … Maybe a handle, toilet paper rolls, multiple… Read More…

What should Bill Gates read? Our top 5 books for his list

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A few weeks ago, Bill Gates posted his summer reading list. A self-confessed reading junkie — “sometimes I can get in as much as a book a day” — poking around in what is firing Gates’ reading lists these days is quite a treat. And he has some great taste to boot. Thinking, Fast and… Read More…

‘Slut factories’ and Super PACs: Melinda Gates on ‘Colbert’

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Did Stephen Colbert just get away with calling the Gates Foundation a ‘slut factory?’ Last night the cantankerous faux right-winger took aim at Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on The Colbert Report. Gates appeared on Colbert to talk foreign aid, especially the Foundation’s new initiative to make contraceptives more widely… Read More…

Gates Foundation’s Tweets reveal passive, insular global health community

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Guest Post: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is hosting a number of events today in anticipation of the opening of the philanthropy’s new public visitor center. Social media, and media in general, will play a big role in it. If they use Twitter or Facebook to tell people about it, chances are the story will… Read More…

Excerpts: Bill Gates on politics, education, and why his burger is same as yours

Bill Gates speaking at the University of Washington

One of the most interesting things about Bill Gates’ appearance at the University of Washington yesterday was the way the students brought out his widely varied interests — including not just technology but also education, politics and science. I posted my rough notes of the talk shortly after it ended  yesterday afternoon, but here are… Read More…

Gates to students: Don’t try to be a billionaire, it’s overrated

Bill Gates at the UW this week.

Bill Gates made a rare appearance at the University of Washington this afternoon, talking about how qualitative and measurable advances in technology are coming together for major advances in the areas he cares most about these days, including education and efforts to help the poor people of the world. But the appearance in the UW… Read More…