Bill Gates Goes goes nuts during conference

[brettdale]

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has released a swarm of mosquitoes into an audience at a technology and design conference in California.

High profile members of online networking service Twitter reported the incident on Wednesday (US time), which reportedly occurred during Gates's talk on malaria eradication, a cause the entrepreneur is pushing through his philanthropic foundation.

"Bill Gates just released mosquitos into the audience at TED and said 'Not only poor people should experience this'," Facebook manager Dave Morin wrote on Twitter.

Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter chief executive Ev Williams confirmed that Gates released the insects on their Twitter accounts.

The official TED Conference Twitter profile confirmed that the mosquitoes were real.

"No they were not malarial. An amazing TED moment." TED tweeted.

TED (technology, entertainment and design) is an annual conference that attracts some of the world's leading thinkers. Past speakers include Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Nobel laureates James D. Watson and Murray Gell-Mann.

This year's conference is being held in Long Beach, California.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service where people post short, text-only comments or updates on what they are doing.

[Heidi]

1. Here are some links:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/bill-gates-releases-swarm-of-mosquitoes-on-ted-audience/2009/02/05/1233423357082.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10157380-75.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29022220/
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/philanthropy/2009/02/04/bill_gates_buzz_sting.html

[Earth Bound Misfit]

2. Swarm?

While giving a presentation on malaria, Bill Gates opens a jar of mosquitoes at TED2009, a technology conference.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Good for him.

We've got it so easy here and we have no idea how bad things are for people everywhere else.

As a country, I think it's pathetic that we would need to get a kick in the ass (or share a room with flying bugs) to have any compassion for poor people around the world.

[silverojo]

9. I'd fucking kick his ass

You can make a point without injuring others...he deserves a solid asskicking for this.

And for Windows Vista. :evilgrin:

[bunnies]

10. Injuring others?

You've got to be kidding. :rofl:

[Chulanowa]

5. Even been in a house you know has fleas?

Your body makes you itch. Same thing here. Unleash a jar of mosquitos into the crowd, and pretty much everyone will start to get itchy. Some may even develop welts as if actually bitten by the mosquitos.

Psychosomatic, but it really, really works.

[Demit]

3. He explained that they weren't bugs, they were features.

[B o d i]

6. DUzy, imho

:applause:

[Nostradammit]

7. FTW!!!

:toast:

[ipfilter]

13. Pure brilliance. nt

[hileeopnyn8d]

15. OMG!

:spray:

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. Good on him!!!! nt

[Javaman]

11. "I said Booo-urns". nt

[ogneopasno]

12. WTF? "Not only poor people should experience this"? Experience what, getting bitten by mosquitos?

This doesn't make any sense and fails to make a good point.

[ThomWV]

14. You know, its funny. I'm not particularly poor but I have malaria, so did my father.

My father used to get so sick now and then when I was a boy, but he just called it the jungle fever he caught in the Pacific during the war. I got bit in Viet Nam. I've only had two recurrences in all these years and the last was a long time ago. I expect that if I had one now it would kill me, I'm pretty sure of that.

[Strong Atheist]

16. Given the way our country runs, if any one of them EVER gets

malaria for any reason in the future, I guess they could sue him...

[brettdale]

17. yep if someone got bitten and fell sick

Then gates would be in serious trouble.