Bill Gates Is the Antichrist - Analysis

Text of email

Comments: Not long after I first posted this specimen of apocalyptic lunacy - which, at the time, I thought fairly well debunked itself - regular reader Martin Hagstrom wrote to take me to task:

In your article "Bill Gates is the Antichrist", it is stated that "WINDOWS 95" is 666 in ASCII.

The real value is 665:

W = 87
I = 73
N = 78
D = 68
O = 79
W = 87
S = 83
9 = 57
5 = 53
------
665

...and I don't follow "the same procedure" mentioned in the email (counting 95 as 95), which would give an even lower result.

You probably knew all that already, but in my opinion you should say so in your comments at the end of the article. When you don't comment it, your readers are bound to believe it's unchallenged and therefore true.

Regards, Martin Hagstrøm

M = 77
A = 65
R = 82
T = 84
I = 73
N = 78
H = 72
A = 65
G = 71
------
667 (damn close, again)

Thanks, Martin. Actually, the problem you point out has been fixed in some versions of the text by the addition of a " 1" -- with no attempt made to explain or justify it -- to the numerological calculations above. It's just that easy to make numerology work for you!

To tell you the truth, I stopped reading the document after I came upon this statement:

One way to write WWW is V/ (VI)
WWW
V/ V/ V/
666 ...

Something to ponder upon, right?

I found it so disheartening, so not worth "pondering upon," that I never got around to checking the math. Mea culpa.

Anyway, I prefer anagrams to numerology. Did you know that "WILLIAM GATES" is an anagram for "I SWIG MALT ALE?" True!! Something to ponder upon, right?

Satanic Easter egg?

For the record, there actually is a "Hall of Tortured Souls" hidden in that older version of Microsoft Excel mentioned in the email. But it's neither a Satanic message nor a cry for salvation from wage-slaves of Bill Gates. It's a harmless "Easter egg" created by Microsoft programmers who designed the software and wanted to sneak themselves a little credit -- a very common practice in the industry.

Apparently, the "something really eerie" that you'll find if you make it all the way through the set of instructions is a photo gallery of the programmers themselves.

Scary in its own right, perhaps, but no cause to fear the apocalypse is at hand.

Recommended reading:

Have a Nice Millennium!
Reader responses and more 666 lore

Bill Gates has $1000 (and a virus) just for you!
Is the Antichrist giving away money? Yes! (It's all part of the plan)

Last updated: 06/15/98

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