B&M Gates foundation - Bill's annual letter

Quick skim so far. Looks good.
Polio his focus at present. Was Malaria a few years back.
He's recently (and here) been emphasising the importance of
measurement as a tool. (But we all knew that, didn't we ? :-) ).
Online version somewhat prettier than PDF. Short video starts after a
while -  Kill Bill or listen he's brief.

Introduction page
Link to letter.*

            http://www.one.org/us/2013/01/30/my-annual-letter-how-we-measur=
e-impact-to-improve-lives/

Letter - online version

           http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/#nav=3Dintro

PDF

          http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/pdf/2013_AL_English.pdf

* Pages will be virus free but they aggressively take maximum legal
rights re privacy etc. So it's reasonably likely that best possible
cookies will be left on your system - nothing worse than any web page
could leave at your existing security settings. If you ever decide to
email them *DO* read their privacy statement and terms of use, and
then think about using a dedicated email account.

______________________

He starts:

Over the holidays I read The Most Powerful Idea
in the World, a brilliant chronicle by William
Rosen of the many innovations it took to harness
steam power. Among the most important were a
new way to measure the energy output of engines
and a micrometer dubbed the =93Lord Chancellor,=94
able to gauge tiny distances.

Such measuring tools, Rosen writes, allowed
inventors to see if their incremental design changes
led to the improvements=97higher-quality parts,
better performance, and less coal consumption=97
needed to build better engines. Innovations in
steam power demonstrate a larger lesson: Without
feedback from precise measurement, Rosen writes,
invention is =93doomed to be rare and erratic.=94 With
it, invention becomes =93commonplace.=94

_____________

A comment on a Faceboook page that linked to the above read as below.
I've felt somewhat better in recent years about his tactics over
decades when I've seen what he's been doing with his gains. :

 An example of how to become a billionaire by crushing every
equally-greedy competitor around you, by sheer will-power and
ego....then using your billions (while you're still alive to save many
thousands of lives, and to make life more bearable for millions.

--=20
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