For all our optimism and excitement, the first full week of 2015 has looked a lot like 2014, with terrorist attacks inside and outside the US reminding us that fear is making an early bid for “Omnipresent, Soul-Crushing Feeling of the Year” yet again.
(On the NAACP bombing, this is a good read, and on the Charlie Hebdo murders, this is worth reading; otherwise, we’re not sure we need to add anything more to what you already know about both stories.) Outside of those dual horrors, however, other things did in fact happen over the last seven days on the Internet. Here’s what you might have missed while you were struggling to get back to work after the holidays.
Bill Gates Drinks Poo
What Happened: Really, we’re not sure what that headline leaves to the imagination. Oh, alright: In his secret identity as billionaire philanthropist, the Microsoft founder visited a factory that burns human waste to produce water and electricity and he sampled the output.
Where It Blew Up: Blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: Gates wrote about his visit to the Omniprocessor, a facility that turns crap into … well, not gold, but something better: water and electricity, which is more useful in certain parts of the world. As part of the blog post, he included a video that saw him sampling the water produced by the processor (see above).
Needless to say, the Internet loved seeing this. Bill Gates drinking poo? How could they resist?
The Takeaway: Our love for seeing celebrities do disgusting things—even if, as in this case, it’s not actually disgusting at all—is strong. Nonetheless, if this is what it takes to draw attention to worthy causes, then we should at least be glad that it’s not as obnoxious as the Ice Bucket Challenge became. Hey, maybe we can get more celebrities necking down feces in the name of positivity!
Bill Gates Drinks Poo
What Happened: Really, we’re not sure what that headline leaves to the imagination. Oh, alright: In his secret identity as billionaire philanthropist, the Microsoft founder visited a factory that burns human waste to produce water and electricity and he sampled the output.
Where It Blew Up: Blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: Gates wrote about his visit to the Omniprocessor, a facility that turns crap into … well, not gold, but something better: water and electricity, which is more useful in certain parts of the world. As part of the blog post, he included a video that saw him sampling the water produced by the processor (see above).
Needless to say, the Internet loved seeing this. Bill Gates drinking poo? How could they resist?
The Takeaway: Our love for seeing celebrities do disgusting things—even if, as in this case, it’s not actually disgusting at all—is strong. Nonetheless, if this is what it takes to draw attention to worthy causes, then we should at least be glad that it’s not as obnoxious as the Ice Bucket Challenge became. Hey, maybe we can get more celebrities necking down feces in the name of positivity!
source: wired.com By Graeme McMillan
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