Bill Gates

William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, and computer programmer. In 1975, Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft, which became the world's largest PC software company. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. Gates has authored and co-authored several books.

Starting in 1987, Gates was included in the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest from 1995 to 2007, again in 2009, and has been since 2014. Between 2009 and 2014, his wealth doubled from US$40 billion to more than US$82 billion. Between 2013 and 2014, his wealth increased by US$15 billion. Gates is currently the richest person in the world.

Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by numerous court rulings. Later in his career Gates pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.

Laffy Taffy

Laffy Taffy is a brand of taffy manufactured by Nestlé and sold under their Willy Wonka Candy Company brand. Laffy Taffy is a brand of candy first produced in the 1970s as "Beich's (Name of Flavor) Caramels", though in fact they were fruit-flavored taffy squares. The original company later changed the name of the product to "Beich's Laffy Taffy", which occurred some years prior to the acquisition of distribution rights and later purchase of the product line by Nestlé. The candies are small (about 1.5 oz or 45 g) individually wrapped taffy available in a variety of artificial fruit flavors, as well as a chocolate mousse flavor. The candy was advertised as having a "long-lasting" flavor. In 2003, Wonka introduced a variety called "Flavor Flippers", a piece of taffy that had a soft center with a different flavor.

The name refers to both the texture of the taffy as well as its embodiment of silliness; jokes are written on the inside of each wrapper. For example: "What do you call a cow with no legs? -- Supper." Some jokes are pun-based, such as "What is Labor Day? -- That's when mommies have their babies." Other jokes are based on silly word play, such as "What's an owl's favorite subject? -- Owlgebra." These jokes are usually sent in by children who are credited on the wrapper. Laffy Taffy used to come in thick, square shaped pieces, but today, it is sold in thinner, rectangular shaped pieces. Laffy Taffy comes in many different colors and flavors, including green apple, strawberry, grape, banana, watermelon, blue raspberry and Cherry.

The Rapper

"The Rapper" is a song by The Jaggerz, written by band member Dominic Ierace, better known as Donnie Iris. Released as a single, it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1970 (see 1970 in music) for selling over a million copies. (Iris later launched a solo career; his biggest such hit was Ah! Leah!.)

The song is addressed to a girl, or girls in general; it describes the method of a man who seduces women with untruths ("rapping".) The singer says, "You know what he's after"; he concludes by saying there comes a point at which the man has his target where he wants her. The girl has to "face reality." The record ends with a small group of applause heard in the studio.

Covers

"The Rapper" has been covered by two Jaggerz members. Since beginning his solo career, Donnie Iris has covered the song numerous times in concert. Additionally, live recordings of the song have appeared on his compilation albums.

Also, "The Rapper" was covered by Jimmie Ross during the time period when The Jaggerz weren't together in the duo Cooper & Ross with Kathy Cooper. Additionally, the single was covered by Wolfman Jack. Canadian hard rock trio Santers recorded the song for their 1981 debut album Shot Down In Flames.

Chance the Rapper

Chancelor Bennett (born April 16, 1993), better known by his stage name Chance the Rapper, is an American hip hop recording artist from the West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. In 2013, he began to gain major recognition following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap. Chance is also a member of the Chicago collective SAVEMONEY with frequent collaborator Vic Mensa, and lead vocalist for the band The Social Experiment.

Life and career

1993–2010: Early life

Chance grew up as the oldest brother in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham in Chicago's South Side, his younger brother Taylor Bennett is also an aspiring young rapper. His father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was a prominent presence in the city: He first served as an aide to former Chicago mayor Harold Washington and then worked for Barack Obama, who was a senator at the time. Williams-Bennett, who is now a deputy chief of staff to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, dreamed that his son might one day hold office.