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No sir, but Gates will be knighted

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEW SERVICES

Bill Gates will be knighted in recognition of his contribution to enterprise in Britain.
photo
Gates

Gates, 48, who is the world's richest man, will receive the honorary knighthood at an unspecified date that is "mutually convenient," the Foreign Office said.

Because he is not a British citizen, the Microsoft Corp. chairman cannot use "Sir" in front of his name, but he can put the letters KBE -- Knight Commander of the British Empire -- after it.

Honorary awards to foreign nationals are conferred by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "He is one of the most important global business leaders of this age," Straw said. "Microsoft technology has transformed business practices."

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(Please note they didn't say "transformed business practices for the better.)
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 01-26-2004, 02:50 PM:
 
I liked the "recognition" they gave him in South Park The Movie, better.
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 01-26-2004, 03:49 PM:
 
No wonder the british empire collapse when they hand out that type of knighthood
 

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Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 01-26-2004, 04:41 PM:
 
I would call him Sir Spamsalot!
 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 01-26-2004, 05:08 PM:
 
Ken--

Amen to THAT!

fjn
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 01-26-2004, 07:53 PM:
 
Ummmmmm... Who the f*ck cares?

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-26-2004, 08:38 PM:
 
Question: Does being knighted make you subject to Noblesse Oblige?

In other words, is Bill now obliged to do "favors" since he was knighted?
 

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Posted by Matt Hale (Member # 1518) on 01-26-2004, 09:46 PM:
 
Well first Mick Jagger and now Bill Gates!

If this keeps up I'm going to have to renounce my British cititzenship.
 

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Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 01-26-2004, 11:40 PM:
 
This just keeps getting stranger. Now Gates thinks he has learned all he needs to know about knighthood from the movies (and from the folks who gave junk e-mail its processed-meaty name)...

From Reuters UK:

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Gates looks to Monty Python's tips on knighthood
Mon 26 January, 2004 18:13

LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft's Bill Gates, the world's richest man, is looking to classic comedy for clues on what to expect when he receives an honorary knighthood from the Queen.

"All I know about the ceremony is what I saw on Monty Python," Gates told a conference in London on Monday.

He was referring to the cult comedy troupe, whose film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" featured the mythical King Arthur roving through mediaeval England recruiting knights.

Gates, co-founder and chairman of the software giant, will receive the honour from the queen in recognition of his contribution to enterprise.

The ceremony will take place at Buckingham Palace, but no date has yet been set.

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 01-27-2004, 12:40 AM:
 
Well, to be fair, the man was majorly instrumental in creating the present e-world. I remember when we were all on DOS 3.something, being on FidoNet, Linus Torvalds was in there all the time putting together his OS & asking questions about who thought what about his present little chunk of code, & thinking this guy was weird & just has too much time on his hands & undirected restlessness to be wanting to do something as small & dead-ended as make his own OS.

MS-DOS really changed the world, but I think also huge props got to go to IBM for the open architecture PC. IBM now hooking up with Linux is an interesting turn of the merry-go-round.

All hail the a)bort, r)etry, f)ail? & the Null Pointer Assignment.
 

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Posted by Ron Keillor (Member # 1790) on 01-27-2004, 01:20 AM:
 
from Chambers Dictionary:
" benighted : overtaken by night; lost in intelllectual or moral darkness; ignorant"

not to be confused with "be knighted", maybe.
 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-27-2004, 06:35 AM:
 
Let's get Prince Philip to do the honours... with his shotgun. Princess Anne's pit bull could help, too.
 

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Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 01-27-2004, 06:37 AM:
 
Mick Jagger I can cope with but this takes the biscuit. Don't blame all of us in the UK.

Anyhow things could be worse for you guys , Billy boy could have his eyes on the White House
 

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 01-28-2004, 02:36 AM:
 
Are you sure that shouldn't be "ignited".
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-28-2004, 09:00 AM:
 
If Bill Gates is ig-knighted would he then be an ig-noble?
 

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Posted by Howard Johnson (Member # 62) on 01-28-2004, 02:51 PM:
 
It shows the value of these awards when you realise that that Romanian dictator Ceausescu was given a similar decoration by Maggie Thatcher (then UK PM) in the 80s, mind you another of her buddies was another dictator, Pinochet of Chile. I'm not sure if they stripped Ceausescu of his award before he faced the firing squad!
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 01-28-2004, 06:58 PM:
 
good one, randy!
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-28-2004, 09:39 PM:
 
From the Seattle Times:

According to the British rules, we cannot call him Sir Bill. That is fine. As Americans, it is not our way; we did not say Sir Bob for Bob Hope, or Sir Rudy for Rudy Giuliani or Sir Alan for Alan Greenspan, all of them also Knights Commander of the British Empire.

William Gates III will have to make do with the initials "KBE" if he wants something more than the three sticks. He should be warned, though, that in this egalitarian land, the "KBE" will be made fun of, even in his own company.

He could take a cue from Wesley Clark, also a Knight Commander of the British Empire, for his services in the NATO war against Serbia. In his run for president, Clark is proudly "Gen. Clark" — but never "Gen. Wesley Clark, KBE." Americans would consider it affected, and some might not vote for him if they knew what "KBE" meant.

Some honorees have turned down knighthoods. Authors Roald Dahl, Evelyn Waugh and J.G. Ballard reportedly did, as did comedian John Cleese and actress Honor Blackman, best known to Americans as Bond Girl "Pussy Galore."

It was all right to accept the award. We appreciate that Jack Straw, the British foreign minister, honored our Bill for his "profound impact on the British economy." He impacts us with even greater profundity.

But this is an informal part of an officially de-royalized republic. People here might adorn a name with "Ph.D." or even "C.L.U." but "KBE" is beyond the pale.

Bill knows that; it can be seen in his house: $50 million made to look like $2 million. Also, soon enough, in his name — officially William Gates III, KBE; to us, as always, Bill.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
 

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Posted by Edward Jurich (Member # 1787) on 02-02-2004, 11:20 AM:
 
Microsoft is such a corporate giant that I doubt Bill Gates is more than a figure head. I've wondered why Microsoft has not come up with Windows systems for automobiles. But then they might actually be forced to recall their defective crap if safety became an issue.
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-03-2004, 09:01 PM:
 
Considering Microsoft has an Automotive Business Unit I wouldn't really say they aren't involved with the automotive industry.

Although, as far as I know, they haven't gotten into on-chip operating systems for vehicle system controls, they have been spending a lot of time and money on developing communication and entertainment systems for vehicles, all part of the Car.NET framework.

Cars and Computers: Microsoft Develops New Technologies for the Automobile Industry

As far as taking care of defective software, Microsoft is IMHO one of the most proactive players in the industry when it comes to maintaing their software.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/
 

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Posted by Edward Jurich (Member # 1787) on 02-04-2004, 11:14 AM:
 
Had to reboot XP again, Outlook locked up when I did spell check
 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-04-2004, 11:56 AM:
 
Outlook probably saw the words 'Windows', 'defective' and 'crap' in the same paragraph and decided that you're not allowed to communicate such thoughts. Try using Eudora instead!

Someone told me once that there's a clause in the licence agreement for whatever Microsoft's web authoring package is called, to the effect that you must not use it to produce websites which criticise Microsoft in any way. A bit of an oxymoron if you ask me - after all, if you believe that MS products are defective crap you're hardly likely to be using them to write your website, are you?
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-04-2004, 10:01 PM:
 
Oh, heck. I have heard Microsoft's top end specialized software for industrial and medical needs costs up to about $19,000.00 a pop. I never hear about those bitching about that software being defective.

Microsoft does write programs for Mac, too. I have heard that 'ole Billy Boy's company holds stock in Mac to prevent it from going bankrupt. Billy Boy does not want Mac to go bankrupt. I would guess that probably is because of a monopoly problems.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-04-2004, 10:11 PM:
 

quote:

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...medical needs costs up to about $19,000.00 a pop. I never hear about those bitching about that software being defective.

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Ummmmm...that's cuz they're ALL DEAD!

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-04-2004, 10:32 PM:
 
Apple occasionally gives away stock in trade for things.

The "original" Apple Stock trade was with Xerox PARC. Apple "paid" to use the concept of the mouse by giving them $1,000,000 in Apple Stock.

Later on Apple entered into a "Technology Sharing Agreement" with Microsoft that included some stock as well.

Further on down the road, it looks like Microsoft will buy-out PARC, meaning that IF Xerox still owns that original Apple stock (which should be worth FAR more than $1,000,000 by now) they will have even more of it under their control.
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-04-2004, 11:16 PM:
 
Phil, I trust Microsoft's high-end software. With the medical problems I have had or having, I ain't dead yet! So, There!!! Sit on it and spin!

All compliments of the United States Navy.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-04-2004, 11:19 PM:
 
Well Paul, there are exceptions... for ALL software... no need to get nasty about it... it was a general comment NOT meant specifically for/to you.

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-04-2004, 11:22 PM:
 
Just defending what I believe in.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-04-2004, 11:26 PM:
 
well goodie goodie... ya still don't have to get snotty about it...

Wake up! IT WAS A GENERAL COMMENT! JEEEZUS!

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-04-2004, 11:29 PM:
 

 

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Posted by Bill Bright (Member # 1998) on 02-18-2004, 10:46 AM:
 
I didn't even think U.S. citizens were allowed to be knighted.
 

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