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Posts with tag philanthropy

Bill Gates Leaving His Fortune to Charity, Not His Kids

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 4:01PM

Bill Gates Giving All His Money to Charity

While being the child of Bill and Melinda Gates no doubt has its share of perks, financial security may not necessarily be one of them. Bill Gates has promised that he will leave his vast $58 billion fortune to the charity started by him and his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and not to his offspring.

Gates -- who is officially stepping down as the chairman of Microsoft next Friday -- said of the decision that he and his wife made, "We want to give it back to society in the way that it will have the most positive impact."

The money will go to fund educational and health projects around the globe, which is certainly a much more positive use than buying a yacht for the kids. [Source: Daily Mail]

Gallery: Bill Gates at Microsoft -- a Look Back

  • Posing for Teen Beat Magazine Back in 1983
  • At the launch of Windows 95
  • Introducing Windows 98 in 1998
  • Pie in the face in 1998
  • Unveiling Windows XP in 2001


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Prepaid Cell Phones Could Earn an Extra $11 Billion for the Nation's Poorest

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 7th 2008 at 10:58AM


Nicholas Sullivan at the MIT Media Lab has reached a similar conclusion to the one driving Google's Grandcentral for the homeless push -- communication is the key to success. The report out of MIT claims that putting prepaid cell phones in the hands of the 38 percent of the poorest Americans without one could earn them between $2.9 billion and $11 billion a year through increased business (for the self employed), and increased hours or wages.

The two surveys used to generate this report also found cell phones provided an important security blanket effect for the owners, with a vast majority of Americans agreeing that a cell phone was "very important" for emergency situations. This safety blanket effect is important because the poorest among us who would stand to benefit most financially from a cell phone are also disproportionately affected by crime.

That two for one shot, finances plus safety, makes us feel like some filthy rich philanthropist should start buying up and handing out every prepaid phone he/she can find.

From Textually and Cellular News

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Google Gives Free Phone Numbers and Voicemail to Homeless

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 29th 2008 at 9:03AM

Google Gives Free Phone Number and Voicemail to San Francisco HomelessGoogle's one phone number for everything service, GrandCentral, is getting a new trial of sorts. Google is taking its 'Do no evil' mantra to the streets of San Francisco -- literally. A partnership between Google, the San Francisco city government, and Project CARE (Communications and Respect for Everybody) is offering a free phone number and voicemail box to every homeless person in the city for life.

The philanthropic program is aimed at helping the homeless not just communicate with friends and family, but also land jobs. One of the big stumbling blocks for the downtrodden is their inaccessibility. When emerging from job training programs, folks need a method of contact, preferably a phone number. By calling from any phone, including pay phones, the homeless will also be able to get a phone number and set up the voicemail box.

Project CARE also sees the voicemail box as a doorway to proper medical testing and care. If the project is successful, Google will expand it through the rest of the state, and hopefully the country.

From MSNBC

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