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.
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.<p>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.
I wonder if there is a generational difference between people, say, 30+ and the under 30's of their view of Bill Gates?<p>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?<p>As for me, if he keeps this up I'm going to have to start liking the guy :-)
Bill Gates: when you reach your first billion dollar, you are back to cheese burger.<p>Point. He is just being what everyone else us are here. a normal human being.
I love Reddit Secret Santa for the comedy value. So far I've seen this year people have been given:<p>1. A pig foetus preserved in alcohol.<p>2. A selection of root vegetables, petroleum jelly and gloves.
After a gushing review of how great Bill was and what a wonderful experience. <i>"...ps: Sorry for the apple ipad on my wishlist, that was really awkward..."</i><p>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.
reminds me of this... <a href="http://lesswrong.com/lw/6z/purchase_fuzzies_and_utilons_separately/" rel="nofollow">http://lesswrong.com/lw/6z/purchase_fuzzies_and_utilons_sepa...</a>
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.
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...