Comment Feed for Bill Gates' departure (Coffeehouse on Channel 9)

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Ray7 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:46:30 GMT

I also enjoyed that short clip about the woman who refused Bill's invitation to go to the prom, and regretted it ever since.

Her fella must love hearing that story at the end of every kitchen bust-up ....

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Bas — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:31:00 GMT

Yeah, that Lotus guy was pretty hilarious. I mean, sure, you may not like the man's business, and you may hold a grudge, but what happened to grace and sportsmanship? It was almost sad to see him get so worked up about everything.

Alan Sugar was pretty cool about it, I agree. I also enjoyed that short clip about the woman who refused Bill's invitation to go to the prom, and regretted it ever since.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

me — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:05:08 GMT

there was no melinda then...

billg - drives up in bulldozer... "hey look what i found - wanna race?!"

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Minh — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:55:32 GMT

jamie wrote:

...why do i wish that group was still in charge of the company...

maybe its a 70's thing..

That'd make a good sitcom. A 70's MS in today's world.

Bill Gates: (DRIVES UP IN AN OLD EL CAMINO)
Melinda, baby, there's this new flick "Star Wars", wanna come watch in the drive-in with me?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

me — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:26:02 GMT

...why do i wish that group was still in charge of the company...

maybe its a 70's thing..

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

evildictaitor — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:17:18 GMT

It was a good show, but through it all the Lotus guy managed to come across with more than just a hint of 'sour grapes'. I think Alan Sugar got it pretty right. He held up his hands and said 'Bill's a damn good business man; he got it right, I got it wrong.'

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Bas — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:37:16 GMT

That was pretty cool. They also showed a clip of the famous chair jump. All in all, a pretty interesting portrait.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

me — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:01:32 GMT

Return of the ’70s Weirdos

http://www.newsweek.com/id/142636

Re: Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Rd_Falcon — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:50:57 GMT

The learning material on the BBC website is really good. I found some sections for learning foreign languages the other day, which may come in handy. Thank you for sharing that with me though. It's always interesting learning the differences between cultures. Globalization (or globalisation in Britain :)) is one of my favorite topics to study for this very reason.

Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Sven Groot — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:35:01 GMT

I got that from the BBC3 spelling and grammar quiz "Never Mind the Full Stops", which is most certainly British. They did cite some of the contradictions that GoddersUK mentions, but maintained that you are supposed to use 's for a singular name ending in s.

Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

GoddersUK — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:22:02 GMT

Not nesseceraly:

Singular nouns ending with an "s" or "z" sound

This subsection deals with singular nouns pronounced with a sibilant sound at the end: /s/ or /z/. The spelling of these ends with -s, -se, -z, -ze, or -ce. Traditionally it was more common to require and many respected sources still do require that practically all singular nouns, including those ending with a sibilant sound, have possessive forms with an extra s after the apostrophe. Examples include the Modern Language Association, The Elements of Style, and The Economist.^[4] Such sources would demand possessive singulars like these: Senator Jones's umbrella; Mephistopheles's cat. Some respected style guides such as the Chicago Manual of Style recommend the more modern addition of an s but specifically state that both habits are correct.^[5] Rules that modify or extend this principle have included the following:

If the singular possessive is difficult or awkward to pronounce with an added sibilant, do not add an extra s; these exceptions are supported by The Guardian,^[6] Emory University's writing center,^[7] and The American Heritage Book of English Usage.^[8] Such sources permit possessive singulars like these: Socrates' later suggestion; James's house, or James' house, depending on which pronunciation is intended.
Classical, biblical, and similar names ending in a sibilant, especially if they are polysyllabic, do not take an added s in the possessive; among sources giving exceptions of this kind are The Times^[9] and The Elements of Style, which make general stipulations, and Vanderbilt University,^[10] which mentions only Moses and Jesus. As a particular case, Jesus' is very commonly written instead of Jesus's, even by people who would otherwise add 's in, for example, James's or Chris's; Jesus' is referred to as "an accepted liturgical archaism" in Hart's Rules.

Similar examples of notable names ending in an s that are often given a possessive apostrophe with no additional s include Dickens and Williams. There is often a policy of leaving off the additional s on any such name, but this can prove problematic when specific names are contradictory (for example, St James' Park in Newcastle [the football ground] and the area of St. James's Park in London). For more details on practice with geographic names, see the relevant section below.

Some people like to reflect standard spoken practice in cases like these with sake: for convenience' sake, for goodness' sake, for appearance' sake, for compromise' sake, for peace' sake, etc. This punctuation is preferred in major style guides. Others prefer to add 's: for convenience's sake.^[11] Still others prefer to omit the apostrophe when there is an s sound before sake: for morality's sake, but for convenience sake.^[12]

Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Bas — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:19:55 GMT

Sort of, yeah. You don't have to 'start' playing again, you're always playing from the moment you hear about The Game. You lose when you think about it, and you're automatically playing again the moment you stop realizing that you're playing.

As for mind-boggling: that's the general idea. :P

Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Rd_Falcon — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:12:07 GMT

Wait, so you can never win the game. The object is to just not lose the game? But once you lose, there is no way to start playing again since there is no end to be able to start over again? The rules of that game are mind boggling.

Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Rd_Falcon — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:04:51 GMT

Hmm, that is how it was taught to me in school. If it counts for anything, word's spell check agrees. :)

Edit:

I did a quick search on the internet, and it appears that it is a difference of culture. My way is an accepted practice in America, while yours is more common in Europe.

Re: Bill Gates' departure

Sven Groot — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:36:57 GMT

Personal pet peeve of mine: it should be Bill Gates's departure. The single apostrophe is only used when making the possesive of a plural noun. When it's a name ending in "s", you should append 's. ;)

Re: Bill Gates' departure

Bas — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:24:44 GMT

Bah, now you guys made me lose The Game.

Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

brian.shapiro — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:23:32 GMT

Play Up -- and Play the Game

Re: Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Rd_Falcon — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:47:21 GMT

So are you saying that he IS the game?

Re: Re: Bill Gates' departure

Erik Porter — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:31:43 GMT

If you're someone is at the top of the game (or invented the game) doesn't that mean they're doing more than "playing" the game?

Re: Bill Gates' departure

me — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:50:32 GMT

improving society yes...

but what he did best was play the game.