Bill Gates Unleashes Mosquito Swarm On Audience

[n2doc]

By Owen Thomas, 4:01 PM on Wed Feb 4 2009, 107,194 views
TED, the annual gathering of the most pretentious people from the fields of technology, entertainment, and design, just got punk'd. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitos into the crowd.

Ending malaria is a particular passion of Gates's, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent millions fighting the disease. But he apparently didn't feel like TED attendees were taking the threat seriously. "Not only poor people should experience this," Gates said as he let the bugs loose on his audience, according to Facebook manager Dave Morin. (eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter CEO Ev Williams confirm the report.)

A showman's way of making a point, perhaps. But it doesn't do much to undo Gates's reputation, borne out of the Microsoft antitrust investigations of the 1990s, that the man considers himself above the law. Doesn't California's Health and Safety Code have something to say about insect infestations?

http://valleywag.gawker.com/5146508/bill-gates-unleashes-mosquito-swarm

[Runcible Spoon]

1. ummm

onion?

[bunnies]

2. People act live they've never encountered a mosquito before.

Its silly. I dont understand what all the fuss is about.

[sakabatou]

3. He also noted that the drugs to combat the malaria-laden misquitos

would only be distributed if you bought Vista.

[TK421]

14. lol!!!

[anonymous171]

4. At least it's interesting, unlike 95% of all other "awareness raising" stunts.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. They're not bugs, they're features!

(SOMEone had to say it. :) )

[napoleon_in_rags]

7. LOL! Classic! hehehe nt

[n2doc]

9. If there still were DuZY's.....

This would be one!

[Enrique]

12. lol

:-)

[LiberalEsto]

6. It takes a bloodsucker

to know a bloodsucker

[Earth_First]

8. Has this man lost his mind?

Seriously.

[vanderBeth]

10. Eh, I'm sure all the mosquitos were disease free, at least I would think so

Though this does make it seem like he does have a few loose screws.

(I guess it really did get attention as we are all talking about it.)

[Kilroy003]

13. How many mosquitoes comprise a swarm?

The author seems to make very little of any real quantitative difference between a 'swarm of mosquitoes' and 'a jar of mosquitoes'. It seems just a bit disingenuous to me.

[Warpy]

11. It was hardly a swarm

It was just a few in a jar. and done mostly for effect. He'll be liable only if someone in the audience develops a mosquito borne illness in the next couple of weeks. He can afford it so it was a calculated risk.

There are mosquito net projects all over the world. One in Kenya is http://www.againstmalaria.com/Fundraiser.aspx?fundraiserID=164 but a quick Google of "Project Mosquito Net" will turn up others.