Bill Gates shares his notes

Bill Gates is launching his "Gates Notes" Web site on Wednesday, featuring his thoughts, travels and more.

(Credit: CNET)

SEATTLE--Now you have a chance to compare notes with Bill Gates.

The Microsoft chairman is launching a Web site on Wednesday designed to to share his thoughts on everything from his foundation work to musings on other topics including energy and the environment.

Bill Gates

(Credit: Microsoft)

Dubbed "Gates Notes," the site is launching with postings from Gates himself, and in the works are plans to allow for more discussion on the topics he raises.

"Bill has been spending time learning a lot from thought leaders in their fields," Gates' staff said in a note. "He has been taking notes and sending emails, and the site is a collection of the conversations, books, articles, trips and people who have inspired and informed Bill."

In its initial form, the site features articles on education reform, lessons from the swine flu pandemic, and the need for help in Haiti. There's also a podcast series with Gates speaking on climate change and the challenges of developing friendlier alternatives to today's energy sources. (Along with being available for download from the Gates Notes site, the podcasts will be on both iTunes and the Zune Marketplace, I'm told).

Although energy and climate issues are not something the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has directly focused on, it is an area of keen interest for Gates and will be the focus of his talk at next month's TED conference.

Gates Notes also features a section on Gates' travels, where he narrates some of the video footage taken on trips, such as last year's visit to India. Another section includes notes on some of the books Gates is reading.

Another section, dubbed "conversations," is designed to include both interviews with Gates as well as excerpts from some of the long e-mail exchanges he has with various thinkers as well as question-and-answer sessions with students from around the world.

The launch of Gates Notes comes a day after Gates joined Twitter, where he quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of followers.

Although Gates Notes draws on work from the foundation, as well as from Gates' work at Microsoft and at Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures, the Web site is a project of his personal staff.