William Henry Gates, III, was the countryis richest man, worth some $100 billion.... But his life ended here, on this day...

Introductory audio to www.billgatesisdead.com

In the movie "South Park: Bigger and Uncut," there is a scene in which Bill Gates is shot to death for creating Windows 98. I remember the crowd in the movie theatre breaking out into cheers and laughter when that happened. Iim sure that wasnit the first time that a major media release made morbid fun of the Microsoft CEO and uber geek. It most definitely wasnit the last.

For example, Brian Flemming wanted to do a JFK-esque documentary about Bill Gates, but didnit want to wait for the billionaire to be assassinated. So he didnit.

At the Sundance Film Festival, in Park City, Utah, Flemming released the film "Nothing So Strange," a conspiracy-theory-laden feature that explores the idea of a contemporary assassination. According to Wired.com, he chose Bill Gates, because he felt it would be within reason to play with the dynamics of class warfare and its most extreme result. Imagine a world in which the gap between the rich and the poor gets so big -- sure, thatis not too far fetched -- that desperate actions are sure to follow, along with thoughts and deeds of class envy.

But the movie isnit what attracted this Mac fan. What was really appealing was the fact that the producers created a virtual world for this movieis plot, a world of web sites dedicated to conspiracy theories about Gatesi "death," as well as memorial sites for the "slain" monopolist. Even if you donit see the movie, the concomittant sites are worth browsing for giggles.

Bill Gates is the man everyone loves to hate, and even without seeing it, the film gives us more fodder for poking fun at the worldis richest nerd.

Now, letis just hope that we donit contribute to planting ideas in the head of some fool with a gun.

Rodney O. Lain was nowhere near Bill Gatesi murder scene. Youire just accusing him because he is a BLACK MAN! When he isnit being held down and oppressed by The Man, he writes his iBrotha column for The Mac Observer, as well as the occasional editorial. Rodney lives in Minnesota, where he is an IT supervisor for The Man at a Fortune 50 company.