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Considering the high-profile nature of their partnership as it pertains to the Gates Foundation as well as potential down-stream impacts e.g potentially around

Considering the high-profile nature of their partnership as it pertains to the Gates Foundation as well as potential down-stream impacts e.g potentially around which projects are picked up by the foundation, strategic philanthropic decisions, etc., this post would seem to be pretty relevant to the HN community. Please stop flagging it. Feel free to downvote me for complaining about the flags, but don't flag the post. No, I'm not OP.

krapp 5y ago
No, it isn't. It literally is just mainstream news and celebrity gossip, with nothing to stimulate intellectual curiosity, nothing related to technology, and no new or interesting phenomenon worth discussing. It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads but this is a bridge too far. Two rich people got divorced. Who cares? Flag it into the ground.
- eganist 5y ago
  > No, it isn't. It literally is just celebrity gossip, with nothing to stimulate intellectual curiosity, nothing related to technology, and no new or interesting phenomenon to discuss. It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads but this is a bridge too far. No...... It's literally a tweet from their verified account. It's literally the exact opposite of gossip; it's their official announcement, and this thread provides room for readers here to analyze the effects of the split in our technical, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic context You know what's gossip? r/relationship_advice, which this isn't. (discl: I run the subreddit) Please contribute positively.
  - krapp 5y ago
    I contributed my flag and downvotes. And fair enough, it's not gossip. Celebrity news still doesn't belong here.
  - DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
    it's also a textbook example of how to announce such news in a positive way (together and without dragging each other to hell).
- quenix 5y ago
  This is not gossip. It's about as official as you can get.
- heartbreak 5y ago
  > It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads It seems your personal relevancy radar is out of sync with the larger HN community. Not a problem in itself, but probably not something you should get up in arms about.
great_reversal 5y ago
I agree that the post isn't flag-worthy, but I don't think the content is very relevant to the community either. Although the Gates Foundation and Microsoft share the same founder, the former is nothing like the latter.
detaro 5y ago
Plenty people saying it shouldn't be flagged, but then not actually commenting on the substance? Why not, if it is relevant?
- eganist 5y ago
  Largely because the flagging consumed the oxygen in the room. But there are still comments talking about potential outcomes. My main concern is around whether the foundation ends up splitting from its current areas of focus (climate change and disease research). There's been a wealth of innovation around both as a consequence of GF's investment and I worry that less focus might mean less funding at a critical time for both.
  - __blockcipher__ 5y ago
    I hope it does mean less of both of those things, but especially the disease stuff. I am not okay with Bill Gates pushing vaccine “passports” (read: domestic movement licenses) nor the whole social distancing narrative, and I am particularly disgusted by the fact that Bill Gates and the WHO partnered to “offer” free circumcisions to African boys based off of pseudoscientific and absurd research. The kicker is that even if their research claims that circumcision reduces HIV were true, which is unfounded (the “study” was flawed across every dimension imaginable) even if true it’s still multiple orders of magnitude less cost effective than offering and teaching condom usage. Sorry for bringing up a classic controversial topic but it is probably the most disgusting thing Gates has ever done / is actually doing.
    - eganist 5y ago
      > I am not okay with [...] the whole social distancing narrative Yikes. That's a flag. At least one reputable study: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110824.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110824.h... > free circumcisions to African boys based off of pseudoscientific and absurd research. On the compound impact of a 1% difference: https://www.politifact.com/article/2016/apr/18/hiv-africa-6-million-circumcisions-and-counting/ https://www.politifact.com/article/2016/apr/18/hiv-africa-6-... The WHO analysis, for independent reading: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43751/9789241595988_eng.pdf https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43751/97892... > even if true it’s still multiple orders of magnitude less cost effective than offering and teaching condom usage. Announcement of condom innovation funding: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-condom-campaign-effort-save-lives-africa-170919837.html https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-condom-campaign... Progress check: https://www.mic.com/articles/128850/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-condom-contest-where-are-they-now https://www.mic.com/articles/128850/bill-and-melinda-gates-f... One potential MVP five years after the initial grant round: https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-invent-self-lubricating-condom-bill-gates-funding-2018-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-invent-self-lubri... Seems like a multi-layered approach: tackle risk from one side through improved rubbers and further reduce risk on the flip side through medical procedures given the sustained aversion to traditional condoms. --- It's not really healthy to harbor this amount of unfounded hatred for someone you've (presumably) never met, and I'd advise bringing fact-checked sources next time.

krapp 5y ago

No, it isn't. It literally is just mainstream news and celebrity gossip, with nothing to stimulate intellectual curiosity, nothing related to technology, and no new or interesting phenomenon worth discussing. It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads but this is a bridge too far. Two rich people got divorced. Who cares? Flag it into the ground.

eganist 5y ago
> No, it isn't. It literally is just celebrity gossip, with nothing to stimulate intellectual curiosity, nothing related to technology, and no new or interesting phenomenon to discuss. It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads but this is a bridge too far. No...... It's literally a tweet from their verified account. It's literally the exact opposite of gossip; it's their official announcement, and this thread provides room for readers here to analyze the effects of the split in our technical, entrepreneurial, and philanthropic context You know what's gossip? r/relationship_advice, which this isn't. (discl: I run the subreddit) Please contribute positively.
- krapp 5y ago
  I contributed my flag and downvotes. And fair enough, it's not gossip. Celebrity news still doesn't belong here.
- DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
  it's also a textbook example of how to announce such news in a positive way (together and without dragging each other to hell).
quenix 5y ago
This is not gossip. It's about as official as you can get.
heartbreak 5y ago
> It's bad enough we have to entertain obituary threads It seems your personal relevancy radar is out of sync with the larger HN community. Not a problem in itself, but probably not something you should get up in arms about.

great_reversal 5y ago

I agree that the post isn't flag-worthy, but I don't think the content is very relevant to the community either. Although the Gates Foundation and Microsoft share the same founder, the former is nothing like the latter.

detaro 5y ago

Plenty people saying it shouldn't be flagged, but then not actually commenting on the substance? Why not, if it is relevant?

eganist 5y ago
Largely because the flagging consumed the oxygen in the room. But there are still comments talking about potential outcomes. My main concern is around whether the foundation ends up splitting from its current areas of focus (climate change and disease research). There's been a wealth of innovation around both as a consequence of GF's investment and I worry that less focus might mean less funding at a critical time for both.
- __blockcipher__ 5y ago
  I hope it does mean less of both of those things, but especially the disease stuff. I am not okay with Bill Gates pushing vaccine “passports” (read: domestic movement licenses) nor the whole social distancing narrative, and I am particularly disgusted by the fact that Bill Gates and the WHO partnered to “offer” free circumcisions to African boys based off of pseudoscientific and absurd research. The kicker is that even if their research claims that circumcision reduces HIV were true, which is unfounded (the “study” was flawed across every dimension imaginable) even if true it’s still multiple orders of magnitude less cost effective than offering and teaching condom usage. Sorry for bringing up a classic controversial topic but it is probably the most disgusting thing Gates has ever done / is actually doing.
  - eganist 5y ago
    > I am not okay with [...] the whole social distancing narrative Yikes. That's a flag. At least one reputable study: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110824.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200910110824.h... > free circumcisions to African boys based off of pseudoscientific and absurd research. On the compound impact of a 1% difference: https://www.politifact.com/article/2016/apr/18/hiv-africa-6-million-circumcisions-and-counting/ https://www.politifact.com/article/2016/apr/18/hiv-africa-6-... The WHO analysis, for independent reading: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43751/9789241595988_eng.pdf https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43751/97892... > even if true it’s still multiple orders of magnitude less cost effective than offering and teaching condom usage. Announcement of condom innovation funding: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-condom-campaign-effort-save-lives-africa-170919837.html https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gates-condom-campaign... Progress check: https://www.mic.com/articles/128850/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-condom-contest-where-are-they-now https://www.mic.com/articles/128850/bill-and-melinda-gates-f... One potential MVP five years after the initial grant round: https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-invent-self-lubricating-condom-bill-gates-funding-2018-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-invent-self-lubri... Seems like a multi-layered approach: tackle risk from one side through improved rubbers and further reduce risk on the flip side through medical procedures given the sustained aversion to traditional condoms. --- It's not really healthy to harbor this amount of unfounded hatred for someone you've (presumably) never met, and I'd advise bringing fact-checked sources next time.