Do you think this young lady is Bill Gates‘ daughter? Many people seemed to think so and the photo has been forwarded around the internet via emails and posted on blogs. This is purely a time-wasting thing and I am betting a shiny dollar that it is a hoax.
First of all, Gates’ eldest daughter Jennifer Katharine Gates is not quite 12 years old yet (born in 1996). (Note: see bottom of this Taiwan MSFT page, interestingly the US site has no such info.) And according to this blogger, the charming lady in the above photo is the actress Alyson Stoner and the photos in her official site do show some resemblance.
I think the photos have been forwarded because Bill Gates is rich, the girl is cute, and the act of forwarding the picture seems so harmless.
May be I am too allergic to chain emails and internet hoaxes, I think the act of forwarding chain mails is harmful as it waste our time, spread lies, and teaches us to be very uncritical of things we read, believe, and then pass on. And in this case, a hoax that involves a 12 years old child just seem so wrong, regardless of who the child’s parents are.
The one “possible” side benefit, assuming the lady in the photo is indeed an actress, is that her agent may now have a slightly easier job in getting her new acting assignments as her face is now more familiar with thousands and thousands of people. Even that, if the girl is indeed Alyson, I wonder how she feels about all these misguided attentions?
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Thursday, 20 March, 2008 at 8:29 PM
It’s not Alyson
Friday, 21 March, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Hi John (or other readers),
Have you seen the original use of the above photo? Can you provide a link and do you know who this lady is?
Cheers,
Kempton
Friday, 21 March, 2008 at 6:36 AM
She is very Cute what she studied
Sunday, 13 April, 2008 at 8:44 AM
She is Rachel Leigh Cook, an American actress
Sunday, 13 April, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Thanks, Rachel Leigh Cook does look like the girl in the phone but I can’t be sure.
P.S. Here are links to a tribute video to Rachael on YouTube and her on CBS Late Late show.
Saturday, 14 June, 2008 at 1:13 PM
it looks more like rachel leigh cook
Friday, 27 June, 2008 at 6:55 AM
That is convincing enough. This girl is definitely cute and has got some resemblence with Bill Gates. Maybe that might have ignited some crazy brains to make all this stuff. I had recieved this pic in my email too
Friday, 27 June, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Ha ha, she is certainly cute while I am not sure about the resemblence with Bill Gates. :)
Wednesday, 9 July, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Ha ha.. months b4 i too got this mail..at that time i had checked through google search and found out the truth..Yeah thn i got the info as u mentioned :) Have u ever seen the photo of Gates’ daughter.Anyway wat u did is really appreciable .
Wednesday, 9 July, 2008 at 10:47 PM
@Janaki
Thanks for your kind words, I hate chain mail so I thought I might as well post what I found.
P.S. I don’t think there are any public photos of Gates’ kids available online for safety and security reason.
Monday, 28 July, 2008 at 6:41 AM
see……… all of you ……. all the guesses r wrong she is niether bill’s daught. nor racheal and also not any other actress.
i also dont know who is she……
but i can certainely tell u she cant be a actress.
Monday, 28 July, 2008 at 7:01 AM
Now, how can you be sure she is not an actress when you don’t know who she is?
Anyway, enough time wasted on her. :)
Wednesday, 13 August, 2008 at 4:12 AM
Agreed!
That’s exactly what I was thinking. The girl in the picture hardly looks like a 12 year old :o
I wonder why people send such chain emails and pass on without thinking twice.
Wednesday, 13 August, 2008 at 6:28 AM
It just sadly showed how uncritical people have become when they forward things along.
Friday, 15 August, 2008 at 5:48 AM
its Rachel Leigh Cook alright!!! i am definite
Friday, 15 August, 2008 at 5:50 AM
check this out
Friday, 15 August, 2008 at 8:06 AM
Thanks Tony for your comments and links. The girl in the picture do look like the one in the links you sent but I can’t be as sure as you.
Now, thinking about it, this chain mail hoax is STILL wasting your time and my time. May be it is about time I close off the comment for this blog entry and stop us wasting more time.
Well, I’ve posted this entry for five months now, And five months of time wasting is enough for me. I am closing off the comment for this entry.
I hope everyone that reads this blog posting will think more carefully before forwarding emails because if we are each individually more careful, we won’t become part of a hoax that continues to waste people’s time long after it started.
Thanks for reading.