The disaster of Hurricane Katrina has been on everyone’s minds across the country and farther in the past week. Acknowledging the magnitude of the suffering, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates began a technology speech this morning by commenting on Katrina.“It’s a terrible disaster of large proportions,” Gates told the audience at the Microsoft Business Summit at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. “And so, our thoughts and prayers go out to the many people who have been impacted by the storm,” Gates said. “Recovery is going to take a long time,” he said.Gates then added a technology perspective. “I think it has been great to see people rallying around to help out, including many of the companies in the technology industry,” such as Microsoft and partner companies participating at the business summit, said Gates.“It’s great to see that technology can help in terms of re-establishing communications and tracking people and hopefully helping businesses get going and get back on a strong basis,” Gates said. — by Paul Krill, reporting from the Microsoft Business Summit. Technology Industry