Bill Gates: how he became so rich

        Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, was born as a baby on October 28, 1955 in Seattle. His parents were William H Gates II, an attorney, and Mary Gates, a schoolteacher. By no means under privileged, but neither was he born to a fortune.

       From an early age he had an interest in computers and started programming them at age 13. He went to study at Harvard, but dropped out to pursue his 'small' business called Microsoft. He and Paul Allen adapted the BASIC programming language for use on the Altair 8800 - the first successful personal computer.

The real visionary deal Bill Gates made was buying a disk operating system (DOS) from another company and providing IBM with MS-DOS for their personal computers. And as the saying goes, the rest is history.

      He married Melinda French on January 1, 1994 and the couple have three children Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.

      In 1995 Bill Gates ventured into writing with the book The Road Ahead. He followed this up with Business @ the Speed of Thought. Both books have spent numerous weeks on the New York Times' best-seller list.

       He ranks as the richest person in the world. So how rich is he? Estimates in 2004 put his wealth around $46 billion. Lucky kids, you might think, but Bill Gates reckons he'll give away most of his wealth and leave only a small portion to his kids. He has already created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation whose aim it is to bring technology to the under privileged.

       Though there seems to be continuous investigations into Microsoft's business practices, the fact remains that Microsoft software made computers accessible to everyone. And we have Bill Gates to thank. Thank you Bill!

Article from here.

Bill gate's new idea about cell phones

2Most of us think of cell phones primarily as a convenient tool to stay in touch with people and store information. But increasingly, scientists are exploring ways to use cell phones to deliver critical health care to people in developing countries.

     If you’re like me, you’ve probably become quite attached to your cell phone. These amazing devices allow us to do things that previously could be done only with a computer, such as search the Internet, read books, watch TV and movies, and purchase things online.
      But what I find even more impressive is how researchers are examining ways to put cell phones to use to improve health in developing countries. This week, the foundation announced grants of $100,000 each to eight scientists who are pioneering the use of cell phones to improve health care in communities where resources are limited. The grants are part of Grand Challenges Explorations, a foundation-funded effort to jumpstart unconventional projects that we believe have the potential to improve global health.
      For example, Peter Lillehoj and Chih-Ming Ho of the University of California, Los Angeles, received a grant to develop a disposable malaria biosensor based on a SIM card platform. The SIM card-biosensor will allow malaria detection to be performed using a cell-phone, which will make diagnostic testing more widely available in rural and remote areas.
      Terry Ferrari of World Vision will be field testing the use of two cell phone modules that will help community health workers in Mozambique caring for pregnant women and newborns to assess, to take action, and to refer cases with complications and emergencies. Another mobile-phone based tool being developed by Marc Mitchell of D-Tree International uses clinical algorithms to quickly identify women at risk during labor and delivery and assist with emergency transfer to a hospital. If these tools are successful, they could significantly reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
        Mark Thomas will be leading a team at VaxTrac to field test a mobile phone-based vaccination registry that uses fingerprint scans to track people who have received immunizations. The goal is to reduce redundant doses and increase coverage levels in developing countries.
       I shared information about these and other innovative cell phone projects that we’re funding today at the 2010 mHealth Summit, an international conference focusing on the use of mobile technology to improve health care in the developing world.
       Cell phones are amazing tools. For some of us, they’re about staying in touch. For millions of people, it could be about staying alive. 

-Bill Gates

Article from Bill Gate's Website