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Medium's Series feature looks a lot like Snapchat Stories
Snapchat is the muse of virtually every app right now. Everybody from Instagram to Tinder is borrowing ideas from the platform, and now it's Medium's turn. Today, the self-publishing site is introducing a new feature for its mobile app called Series, and it looks like a wordier version of Snapchat Stories.
Gates Foundation: Empowering women is key to fighting poverty
In 2006, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet donated $31 billion in company stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As a way of outlining just what the Gates family did with the "single biggest gift anyone ever gave anybody for anything," the couple have penned a lengthy report. The big takeaway is that the most impact will come from social change -- not tech. Considering where Bill Gates worked, that might surprise you.
Bill and Melinda Gates back an implant that could prevent HIV
You don't have to wait until after an infection to fight HIV. A technique known as pre-exposure prophylaxis has you taking preemptive medicine on a regular basis, greatly reducing the chances that HIV will take root in the first place. Needless to say, such a treatment could change the world if done well -- and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make sure that it's as easy as possible. They're investing $140 million in an Intarcia Therapeutics program that will develop an under-the-skin pump implant (you're looking at it above) that will deliver a steady stream of anti-HIV drugs in 6- or 12-month batches. Instead of having to remember to take medicine every day, you'd only have to top up once or twice a year.
Clinton campaign considered Tim Cook and Bill Gates for VP
One of the nuggets of information to come from the Podesta emails leaked by Wikileaks is a correspondence that lists business and tech leaders as potential running mates for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. If you're running against a business man, you might as well fight commerce with commerce.
Melinda Gates' initiative is about getting more women into tech
Melinda Gates has been supporting the global fight against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS with her husband since 2000. And she'll continue to do so, but now she's also building her own office and dedicating resources to tackle gender inequality in the tech industry. In an interview with Backchannel, Gates said her new initiative's goal is to get more women working in technology and to get them to stay there. Gates is more than just the Microsoft founder's wife: she worked in Redmond for a decade after getting her undergrad and MBA in computer science from Duke.
No Apple products in the house of Bill
Last March, Melinda Gates told the world that though there were "very few things that are on the banned list" in her household, the iPhone and iPod were definitely not allowed. Today, we're learning the house of Gates has expelled Apple computers for good. The philanthropist's better half told the New York Times Magazine that when one of her children asks for an iPod, the reply is, "You may have a Zune," and that the rumors of Bill himself using an Apple laptop are completely false. "Nothing crosses the threshold of our doorstep," she declared, opening up a plausible loophole -- perhaps a family member will one day taste the forbidden fruit while comfortably seated on the porch.
Melinda Gates secretly pines for iPhone, actually doesn't even like Africa
In a recent Vogue interview, Melinda Gates confided that she's battled some iPhone envy in her day: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'." It's just too bad for her that Apple is forbidden fruit in the Gates household. "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," said Melinda. Stay strong, Mrs. Gates, we're hearing good things about Windows Mobile 7. Oh, and we made up that part about Africa.[Image courtesy of Save the Children]
Gates to spend more time with Bono
Microsoft announced today that Bill Gates will be transitioning out of his current role at Microsoft effective July 2008, though he will maintain an advisory role in a part-time capacity. After his departure, Gates plans to work full time on his chartable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates, his wife Melinda, and U2 lead singer Bono were jointly awarded Time's Persons of the Year in 2005 for the foundation's humanitarian efforts. Speaking of the move, the webslinger richest man in the world had this to say: "I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility - the responsibility to give back to society and make sure those resources are given back in the best possible way, to those in need ... It's not a retirement, it's a reordering of my priorities." New responsibilities were also relegated to Ray Ozzie -- who will become chief software architect -- and Craig Mundy -- who will take on the role of chief research and strategy officer. Mundy and Ozzie, realizing the comic nature of their names, plan to begin shooting a buddy comedy -- appropriately titled Ozzie and Mundy -- in the fall of 2009.* * That last bit is a joke and not true. Best of luck to Ozzie, Mundy, and Gates.
