Do you think the above 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. I think it is purely a time-wasting hoax and I am betting a shiny dollar that it is just 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 pictures seem 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?
P.S. Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken in this post. Thanks.
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