Gates calls for creative capitalism to help poor

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, last night called for a new version of global capitalism that delivered benefits to the poor as well as the rich. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the software entrepreneur and one of the world’s richest men said there was a need for “a creative capitalism” that would use market forces to address the needs of the world’s poorest countries. “We have to find a way to make the aspects of capitalism that serve wealthier people serve poorer people as well,” Gates said in a keynote address. “The world is getting better in many crucial ways,” Gates said. “I’m an optimist but I’m an impatient optimist. Things are not getting better fast enough and they are not getting better for everyone.” Gates added that the least needy were seeing the biggest improvements in their lives while the most needy were seeing the least improvement.

Is green the new sexy?

clipped from blogs.guardian.co.uk Recycling and turning off the standby are apparently the new ways to a woman’s heart according to a poll for men’s magazine Nuts. Women quizzed for the survey on the personality traits they found most attractive in men, put caring about the environment top of their list, surprisingly ahead of a good sense of humour. It may come as a surprise to learn that there are already a host of dating websites catering for the more “environmentally responsible” adult, from earthwise singles, to veggie romance and lovesorganic. Ironically ‘well travelled’ is a trait women also rated highly in the poll, just after confidence and intelligence. (No mention of good looks or being good in the sack). But isn’t it difficult to be well travelled these days, without flying vast distances and destroying the planet in the process? So perhaps bragging about the size of your carbon offset credits will become the new party chat up line.

A little green computing machine that made Intel see red

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk An interesting package arrived in my household the other day: a small bright green-and-white laptop with a built-in carrying handle. It looks as if it has been designed by Fisher-Price, an impression reinforced by two little ‘ears’ which, when unclipped, double as wi-fi antennae. The 7.5in screen rotates and folds back on itself to form a kind of tablet, rather like those pricey Toshiba laptops only Microsoft salespeople can afford. It’s the celebrated ‘$100 laptop’, the brainchild of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project (www.laptop.org). Its designers have christened it the XO. I paid $200 for it. Actually, I laid out $399, which got me two machines, on condition that one was donated to a child in a poor country where OLPC has an established programme in place. It’s what they call the ‘Buy two, get one’ initiative (www.xogiving.org). The machine has no moving parts, and can (so I’m told) be dropped from five feet without significant damage.