11 February 2009

Bill Gates' talk on mosquitoes, malaria and education -- transcribed

We've transcribed Bill Gates' talk on mosquitoes, malaria and education and posted the full text below the fold. Here's a snippet:

But we have to be careful because malaria -- the parasite evolves and the mosquito evolves. So every tool that we've ever had in the past has eventually become ineffective. And so you end up with two choices. If you go into a country with the right tools and the right way, you do it vigorously, you can actually get a local eradication. And that's where we saw the malaria map shrinking. Or, if you go in kind of half-heartedly, for a period of time you'll reduce the disease burden, but eventually those tools will become ineffective, and the death rate will soar back up again. And the world has gone through this where it paid attention and then didn't pay attention.

Read the full transcript of Bill Gates' 2009 TEDTalk on mosquitoes, malaria and education >>

+ Watch Bill Gates' talk on TED.com
+ Read Bill Gates' bio on TED.com

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10 February 2009

How I caught the mosquito

We had two great editorial photographers at TED2009 in Long Beach -- the brilliant Asa Mathat and James Duncan Davidson. As luck would have it, Duncan was the shooter who happened to be in the right place to catch Bill Gates' now-famous mosquito release. Read how Duncan got the shot. In the enlargement above, it's clear that, yes, they were real.

Photo (enlargement): James Duncan Davidson

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06 February 2009

Bill Gates' Q&A with Chris Anderson: Video unveiled

And here's the much-discussed Q&A between Bill Gates and TED's Chris Anderson, which follows Gates' brand-new TEDTalk. Listen for the answers to more big questions:

Download the Q&A here:

Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Standard MP4)

Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Hi-Res MP4)

Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Zipped MP4)

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06 February 2009

Overnight: TED fan art

A few pieces of art cropped up last night after TED2009 Day 2. First, the TED Red Balloon:

(If you've seen the balloon, write to chris.lost.balloon@ted.com.)

... and the Bill Gates Flash game -- find it at feverbeater.com, and then take the site's advice to visit gatesfoundation.org to find out how you can help beat malaria. Read Bill Gates' annual letter for more background. Below, Yesenia from the TED staff plays the game:

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05 February 2009

How I'm going to change the world now: Bill Gates on TED.com

Bill Gates hopes to solve some of the world's biggest problems using a new kind of philanthropy. In a passionate and, yes, funny 18 minutes, he asks us to consider two big questions and how we might answer them. (Recorded February 2008 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 20:17.)

Watch Bill Gates' talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 370+ TEDTalks -- including more talks on the new philanthropy.

Read Bill Gates' annual letter >>

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04 February 2009

TED2009 minutes from Ethan Zuckerman: On Bill Gates

Ethan Zuckerman is liveblogging TED2009. Here's a snippet from his recent musings:

"It’s hard to introduce Bill Gates, I suspect. Chris Anderson, our host, explains that Gates hasn’t been at TED since 1992, when he wasn’t very warmly received by the Silicon Valley community. He’s not talking technology today, despite the fact that he’s in a session titled “Reboot”. Gates worries that he might be invited in this section because we’re all rebooting our PCs so often - instead, he wants to talk about ways in which his philanthropic work can help reboot society around some critical problems."

Read even more from Zuckerman for the complete picture. He's blogging -- as usual -- in vibrant detail.

Photo: TED / Asa Mathat

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04 February 2009

Twitter Snapshot: Bill Gates -- an optimist and a comedian?

We certainly saw a peak of activity on Twitter as Bill Gates gave his TED2009 presentation.

There were two main impressions of the talk, both not typical of the technological giant's image. People came away deeply inspired and amused. Take a look:

Gates is such an inspiring change agent. I wish that more people in the world took action 2 make change. What a world it would b! #TED -- leighleighsf

Bill Gates a comedian! Talking about malaria. Pretended to loose mosquitoes from jar. "Not only poor people shd have the experience" -- helenwalters

Bill Gates: "I am an optimist. Every problem can be solved. And there some important ones out there." -- heartnsoul

Anderson opened an Apple computer in front of Gates as Gates was saying "there needs to be a diversity of ideas." Everyone laughs. -- laureltouby

Gates: I'm as engaged in the new job as I ever was in software; these are amazing issues ... it's magic in the same way software was. -- samwise

Gates seems to have found a winning combination -- hope and humor.

Photo: TED / James Duncan Davidson

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