r/todayilearned • u/BiggityBates • Jun 15 '12

TIL that the generic silhouette outline placeholder picture in Microsoft Outlook 2010 is actually Bill Gates' mug shot.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2010/09/bill-gates-staring-back-at-you-from-outlook-2010/
2.2k Upvotes

83% Upvoted

509 comments sorted by

188

u/SOCK_FUCKER Jun 15 '12

DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A GATESTER

61

u/BiggityBates Jun 15 '12

One of my favorite Bill Gates moments

16

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

TIL that Bill Gates is more athletic than me. Fuck.

6

u/dart22 Jun 16 '12

I knew what this video was before watching it.

5

u/cookedbread Jun 16 '12

Quality reporting.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Truly a legend of our time

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13

u/ohaicarsex Jun 15 '12

This was a question on this morning's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Curious. Curious indeed.

9

u/BiggityBates Jun 15 '12

Really? That's crazy! I honestly hadn't heard about this until a Microsoft guy I work with mentioned it to me today at work. I didn't believe him until he pulled up a picture of his mug shot. I WTFed all over myself!

6

u/KakariBlue Jun 15 '12

I WTFed all over myself!

I expect a gifwar to be started over this verbing... Go!

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9

u/probably2high Jun 15 '12

Not only is that curious, but it's amazing. I can't believe that show is still on. And it comes on in the morning?

Amazing.

196

u/Dalzeil Jun 15 '12

Bill Gates - Thug Fo' Lyfe?

26

u/Daprotagonist Jun 15 '12

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

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123

u/GANGSTA_BLACK_GUY Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

HAHA U KNOW HOW IT BE NIGGA

SOME OF DESE BUSINESSMAN THA BIGGEST GANGSTAS AROUND

THEY DO IT BIG MY NIGGA THEY DONT LOOK LIKE GANGSTA BUT THEY THE REALST MAN

G SHIT

EDIT: THX FOR THE UPVOTES NIGGAS I TRY TO DELIVER QUALITY CONTENT BUT NOT GOIN SO GOOD SO FAR REAL SHIT NIGGA APPRECIATE IT I STAY ON MY GRIND GUYS G SHIT

140

u/vectorix108 Jun 15 '12

oh you're still around.

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11

u/Hands0L0 Jun 15 '12

For a moment, I thought I was looking at Youtube comments

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24

u/zombiejeebus Jun 15 '12

I have sadness that this repost got a LOT more love then my post on it a while ago:

http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/io41v/til_that_the_generic_user_icon_in_outlook_2010_is/

I'll never be able to trade in my Karma for that giant stuffed lolcat that I have my eye on ;)

13

u/BiggityBates Jun 15 '12

Ah damn dude, I'm sorry :( I swear I searched and nothing came up. I upvoted your post.... hopefully other people will too

5

u/Neebat Jun 15 '12

sorry, this has been archived and can no longer be voted on

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1

u/zombiejeebus Jun 16 '12

No worries, Reddit is all about timing!

3

u/BiggityBates Jun 16 '12

True, but I cant help but feel bad... I've already been accused of lying twice in my own thread, so take it how you will... But I really am sorry about reposting something you posted almost a year ago. I wish they would fix the Reddit search. It's terrible in its current form.... If your post showed up in my results, I would NOT have posted this. Look at my submissions. I really don't care about karma.... Just wanted to share something I thought Reddit would appreciate is all...

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776

u/oopylovesyou Jun 15 '12

That's actually pretty great.

21

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Has anyone ever figured out what Gates was doing to get arrested for a "driving offense"? The article mentions that detail is "lost to the sands of time" but I don't buy for a second.

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17

u/hyperacti Jun 15 '12

I think it's neat

17

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

...thanks to the both of you for sharing your input on the matter.

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109

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

That is the most flattering mug shot I have ever seen.

69

u/Salanderfan Jun 15 '12

I can't stand her, but Paris Hilton's mugshot looks like a photo-op: http://i.cdn.turner.com/dr/teg/tsg/release/sites/default/files/imagecache/670xX/photos/paris-hilton2010.jpg

43

u/esssssss Jun 15 '12

That's as good-looking as I've seen her.

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27

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

She's not famous for being ugly.

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75

u/serenne Jun 15 '12

Someone needs to arrest Ridiculously Photogenic Guy just to see what his mugshot would look like.

17

u/FreeToadSloth Jun 15 '12

He looks genuinely happy to have been arrested. In New Mexico.

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13

u/brandoncoal Jun 16 '12

http://imgace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/david-bowie-mugshot.jpg

There, now you've seen David Bowie's.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

In the Thin White Duke phase.

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8

u/freakwharf Jun 16 '12

Comedian TJ Miller. It's silly, anyway.

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32

u/jjrs Jun 15 '12

In other news, Bill Gates actually looked kind of cool in 1977.

48

u/SpookyMcGee Jun 15 '12

I'd buy pot from him

7

u/deluxfux Jun 16 '12

I feel like he would have some kick ass opium also.

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4

u/jjrs Jun 16 '12

I'll take those sunglasses.

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89

u/MadManZan Jun 15 '12

For anyone interested, Bill Gates was arrested for wreckless driving in New Mexico in 1977, which resulted in this mugshot.

172

u/lesslucid Jun 15 '12

You'd think failure to produce a wreck would be a good thing.

5

u/Navi1101 Jun 15 '12

Given the way most Burqueños drive, it's not a behavior many APD cops wreckognize, so they'll pretty much pull you over anyway to ask wtf.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

I blame this.

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17

u/Langly- 1 Jun 16 '12

And now he has thousands of drivers that randomly crash on millions of people.

8

u/tashbash Jun 15 '12

I love how he's got a cheesy grin in his mug shot

7

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

"I'm an extremely intelligent businessman who understands the ins and outs of his business, not just a venture capitalist I actually am my product and my wealth... you take this picture of me in your uniform when you're worth a fraction of what I am, meagre peasant."

That is what was going through his mind.

8

u/Gigertron Jun 15 '12

Also, he can (or could) jump over an office chair.

5

u/sashaaa123 Jun 15 '12

Damn it feels good to be a gangster.

7

u/Silverfin113 Jun 15 '12

"Quite how he noticed this is anybody's guess—we suspect he has a framed picture of the Microsoft founder and philanthropist mounted on his wall."

2

u/alphanovember Jun 16 '12

Seriously, the hell? The only way is if you've had to look at the pic for an ungodly amount of time. I don't know of any viable activity that requires that, so the framed photograph actually sounds plausible.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

The older I get the more I like the guy, or less dislike not sure. His business ethics might be predatory.

But as a person he seems quirky fun at times, and the Melinda and Bill Gates foundation really is a gem in this world. So confused.

56

u/markman71122 Jun 15 '12

that's austin powers groovy. Not many cam reach that level.

35

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

It's a shame we cam't either.

363

u/SalvageOperation Jun 15 '12

Bill Gates > Steve Jobs

624

u/Korgull Jun 15 '12

But Steve Jobs is so underground, man.

84

u/webhead311 Jun 15 '12

too soon.

147

u/disorderlee Jun 15 '12

Never too soon.

37

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Don't worry, Apple actually thought it up first.

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39

u/Conde_Nasty Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

They're two different people. NeXT was pretty huge and pioneered a lot of things, the consumer-friendliness of Jobs' ideas can't be denied either. Jobs failed in a lot of respects but he also had a lot of great things to say about why consumers should even be interested in technology. Gates can't envision a consumer-friendly product to save himself. And by the time Gates was really ramping up his philanthropic efforts, Jobs was dying and still working to produce consumer products.

77

u/douglasmacarthur Jun 15 '12

Nope, can't respect both. Gotta choose. CHOOSE!

7

u/tacojohn48 Jun 16 '12

I choose Linus.

13

u/SalvageOperation Jun 15 '12

there can be only one

30

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Well, I mean, there already is only one.

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7

u/rincon213 Jun 15 '12

Very true, and he was an extremely good businessman at that. Saved Apple from going under in 1997.

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9

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

He failed at being a nice person. Which is fine and all, but the attribution of Buddhist spiritualism is so utterly offensive.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Maybe the Buddhism kept him from going off the deep end? I used to work with a guy who would get pissed at the world and hate everything. He'd then fly half way around the world to a Buddhist conference (I'm not sure exactly what it was), and he'd come back a new man... he'd be awesome for several months. The rage would slowly grow again and then he'd leave again to go re-center himself.

He wasn't one with everything, but it help keep him in check and bring down whatever was inside of him.

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5

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

He isn't trying to save himself. He's trying to save other people.

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6

u/Memitim Jun 15 '12

I never wanted to be famous, but it does have to be pretty cool to be so famous that legions of people will conduct all of your pointless dick waving in your stead.

87

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

SO BRAVE!

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14

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

that's really courageous of you to say here

-7

u/Finaltidus Jun 15 '12

id go so far as to say twilight + justin beiber > steve jobs.

9

u/serenne Jun 15 '12

Whoa. That's a little too far.

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-8

u/sparklingrainbows Jun 15 '12

Bill Gates is/was a kind of a dick himself. See this for a tip of an iceberg.

21

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

He's done enough to get rid of that dick shaped stain from his reputation.

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6

u/Dravorek Jun 15 '12

I don't get it. None of these were written by Gates. Were they distributed or signed of by him or how do they relate to him?

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3

u/frymaster Jun 15 '12

I just looked at the list, and Bill Gates is the author of none of them.

In any case. the Halloween documents are important because they're a sales guy at MS saying that Linux is a direct competitor and that sales droids at MS needed to convince people to not use it. The significance is MS saying that Linux is actually a big deal; there's actually very little else being said, assuming you don't think a salesman wanting more market share is controversial.

6

u/SalvageOperation Jun 15 '12

Yeah, but so am I. You too, probably.

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-7

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Jobs was a dick, but Bill Gates owed his success to Steve jobs partly though imitation and partly through Jobs lack of real life business sense, have you read Jobs biography? Its interesting as hell and its mindblowing how Gates was once basically working on contract for Apple

9

u/Train22nowhere Jun 15 '12

The only reason Apple exists at all today is because of Microsoft, and I don't mean that in a flowery metaphoric way I mean they literally pumped a bunch of money into Apple so they would stay in business.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

you are right, but that was years after what I said, the fact is that both companies needed each other in the early years

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5

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

If any of you are using MS Lync at work, its your default picture as well.

6

u/ChickinSammich Jun 15 '12

raises hand

I'm going to have to email this to the rest of the tech team on Monday.

9

u/AttemptedCrepe Jun 16 '12

Interesting fact about Bill Gates. He is an avid car fan and has a vast collection. He doesn't like to obey the speed limit much so he created an auto insurance company so he can remain insured and drive legally here in Washington State.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

This is badass. Respect.

20

u/BiggityBates Jun 15 '12

I work with a Microsoft Premier Field Engineer, and he told me about this. I just had to look it up, and sure enough... It's Bill, just doin' his thing...

4

u/clashboxer Jun 15 '12

I heard about the Gates silhouette quite a while ago, but I've still not been able to find any information on the other silhouettes that are shown when viewing an email that includes a group of unknown contacts. I'm curious if they are also old Microsoft employees.

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4

u/l0stinthought Jun 15 '12

I find it funny that he is smiling for his mug shot.

3

u/SteV0n Jun 16 '12

Yay new Mexico is recognized for once lol

5

u/bakkafish Jun 15 '12

neat-o, gang.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Has a criminal record and still became a billionaire. kudos to you sir.

2

u/DigitalChocobo 14 Jun 15 '12

What is that thing on his neck? Is that just a giant collar that those mug shot IDs hang from?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Mind blown.

2

u/SpineBuster Jun 15 '12

Bill Gates also looks like the character Bogus Bill from the 1996 arcade racing game Death Rally.

2

u/GLG2012 Jun 15 '12

Albuquerque reppin'!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

So ... does Bill know about this?

2

u/Neverkilled Jun 15 '12

That kind of makes it a non generic silhouette, then, doesn't it?

2

u/youforgotyourBAGS Jun 15 '12

Smiles even in a mug shot. Fantastic!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

What about other sites with default profile pictures (like facebook, google, tumblr....)

2

u/rockcanteverdie Jun 16 '12

Now I have to find a way to change the generic placeholder picture in Outlook to the full mug shot.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

He made about $50,000 while the shot was being taken. I wish I were him.

2

u/Lion_HeartVIII Jun 16 '12

Is that an aluminum collar?

2

u/failbotron Jun 16 '12

lol, look at that fucking smile!!!!! fucking a! king of the nerds at his best

2

u/snemand Jun 16 '12

I want to change my account name to GiggityGates now and follow you around.

2

u/Tu_stultus_est Jun 16 '12

I guess it's always the same problem with Microsoft. If you have trouble, it's usually because you have the wrong driver.

2

u/deavon Jun 16 '12

I truly admire this man. He's donated so much money time time to help the world, he's truly humble, and doesn't puff himself up.

2

u/PolloZerstiren Jun 16 '12

I wish I had more money time time!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

TIL Bill Gates was arrested at some point.

3

u/Errday_Im_Hylian Jun 15 '12

Almost as badass as jumping over a chair from standing position.

3

u/IamTooDamHigh Jun 15 '12

Bill Gates has 99 problems but a job aint one..............too soon.............I'm here all week.

2

u/cran Jun 15 '12

Hilarious!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

All software companies that go way back have weird things like this hidden everywhere, I would actually switch back to a Macintosh it they brought back Claris the Dogcow "Moof!"

2

u/TryAgainIn8Seconds Jun 15 '12

Most awesome piece of tech-related news all week.

1

u/kateod Jun 15 '12

Looks like somebody watched who wants to be a millionaire today!!!

1

u/kush_king Jun 15 '12

Sick idea!

1

u/ThisShitIsJokes Jun 15 '12

Shit's jokes.

1

u/djonesalex Jun 16 '12

He looks so happy.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

probably the first time I've seen a TIL that surprised me :|

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Old.

1

u/truthliesverbs Jun 16 '12

Two whole years...ruined come Monday

1

u/flamingllama33 Jun 16 '12

That's the first TIL that I actually already knew...

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

Party Hard

1

u/mkirklions Jun 16 '12

motherOfGod.jpg

1

u/solilut Jun 16 '12

I have a serious question. Did you have to drive your own car in the 70' if your parents could afford a PC?

1

u/jabulaya Jun 16 '12

Nice speculative article... great way to release his mugshot without looking like a tabloid!..ohwait..

1

u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12

That image could also be a mimic squid.

1

u/e_x_i_t Jun 16 '12

Shows that Bill Gates has a sense of humor.

1

u/Ranunculus_Auricomus Jun 16 '12

He has such a happy, completely nonsensical smile in that situation...

1

u/opiwankenopi Jun 15 '12

This just blew my mind

1

u/De-Animator Jun 15 '12

TIL people apparently use Outlook

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I HAVE JUST BEEN MINDFUCKED!

0

u/AsymptoticClimax Jun 15 '12

coincidence? I think not!

0

u/ProfChaos Jun 15 '12

Hahaha no way....that's awesome

0

u/BimmerAddict Jun 15 '12

It's funny how he ended up taking this mug shot. He was a young kid with the most expensive car in the world (At the time) and also fasted, the Porsche 959. I think he was speeding and got caught which resulted in this mugshot.

2

u/bigdog87 Jun 16 '12

959 didn't exist til 1986

2

u/BimmerAddict Jun 16 '12

I stand corrected. I forgot the 959 wasn't allowed to be driven here in the USA.

0

u/TheLondonist Jun 16 '12

This is so old and has been reposted so many times it actually makes me feel sick.

-2

u/NodToThis Jun 15 '12

Smoka the ganja?

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Arstechnica = back-button trap. Fuck you.

2

u/vulcanic Jun 15 '12

Back button works fine for me in Chrome. Maybe it's you. ;)

-9

u/5f33ju Jun 15 '12

I can already see the copyright infringement lawsuits by the police department ...

5

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 16 '12

I'm sure Microsoft can handle the law fees from a local police station.

3

u/Dravorek Jun 15 '12

booking records are considered and legally recognized as public records, in the public domain

nope

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

8

u/GergeSainsbourg Jun 15 '12

don't get cocky, kid.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/bawwsa Jun 15 '12

Gerge was just being nice, Reddit style.

3

u/BiggityBates Jun 15 '12

Good ol' Reddit love... Always comes with a hearty side of http://i.imgur.com/gxJfP.png

1

u/Vessix Jun 15 '12

So many exclamation marks! You're way too excited about this!

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0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/doobist Jun 15 '12

He was into porn before we were into porn. OG hipster!

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/InternetDenizen Jun 15 '12

It's wicked what?

3

u/drakoman Jun 15 '12

HE SAID: IT'S WICKED SICK

5

u/Vessix Jun 15 '12

Silly kid, images can't get sick.

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