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A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

wired.com

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Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#31

Post by world32 »

Am I the only one who found this to be very poorly written? Its like the author keeps telling me how cool and mysterious this story is, why doesn't he just tell me the story and I'll decide if its mysterious or not?

"Like a handful of random jigsaw-puzzle pieces, each one was incomprehensible without an understanding of the larger picture."

He keeps going on about how unrelated these events are, and how mysterious it is they are happening all over the world - well if you don't know whats going on of course you will not know that two things are related?!

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#32

Post by TomMarius »

cryogenic_soul wrote: post #30

For those who are interested in TrueCrypt history, here (it is in Russian) https://news.softodrom.ru/ap/b19702.shtml ( https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... ) author did a small research and came to conclusion that TrueCrypt most likely was created by a Czech guy named David Tesařík. Update: IMHO this research is the most comprehensive one which I saw regarding TrueCrypt authorship

Interesting, so many Czechs pop out regarding things like this.

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#33

Post by sudomakeup »

world32 wrote: post #31

Am I the only one who found this to be very poorly written? Its like the author keeps telling me how cool and mysterious this story is, why doesn't he just tell me the story and I'll decide if its mysterious or not? "Like a handful of random jigsaw-puzzle pieces, each one was incomprehensible without an understanding of the larger picture." He keeps going on about how unrelated these events are, and how mysterious it…

Great point! This reminds of of the film concept of "show, dont tell" but applied to prose instead of a visual medium

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#34

Post by bobbyadamson »

world32 wrote: post #31

Am I the only one who found this to be very poorly written? Its like the author keeps telling me how cool and mysterious this story is, why doesn't he just tell me the story and I'll decide if its mysterious or not? "Like a handful of random jigsaw-puzzle pieces, each one was incomprehensible without an understanding of the larger picture." He keeps going on about how unrelated these events are, and how mysterious it…

> well if you don't know whats going on of course you will not know that two things are related?!

This made me laugh so hard. You're completely right, it's like someone setting up a joke by saying "THIS IS HILARIOUS YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT" why don't you just get on with it then

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#35

Post by jpdb »

gpm wrote: post #28
thecatspaw wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Explosives - It's the only thing that is illegal to make. doesnt the US restrict import/export of encryption over a certain keylength as well?

Uh, I don't think so? Pretty sure they either gave up, decided it was unconstitutional, or both. Either way, "make", not "export". I'm almost certain it's illegal to export missile guidance systems under ITAR.

> Uh, I don't think so? Pretty sure they either gave up, decided it was unconstitutional, or both.

I think it's technically still a law that's on the books and the American federal government did try to claim PGP was "munitions" at one point in the 90's, but the feds were skirted by PGP being printed in a book which is protected by the 1st amendment.[0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#Criminal_i...

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#36

Post by acdanger »

jamisteven wrote: post #21
iamben wrote: post #2

Longer version of this story here (2016): https://magazine.atavist.com/the-mastermind -- fascinating story and these articles captivated me. Have had them bookmarked for ages :-)

Incredible read indeed, someone needs to make a movie about this.

apparently, there is one in the works https://deadline.com/2018/04/paul-le-roux-michael-mann-book-...

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#37

Post by superhuzza »

sudomakeup wrote: post #33
world32 wrote: post #31

Am I the only one who found this to be very poorly written? Its like the author keeps telling me how cool and mysterious this story is, why doesn't he just tell me the story and I'll decide if its mysterious or not? "Like a handful of random jigsaw-puzzle pieces, each one was incomprehensible without an understanding of the larger picture." He keeps going on about how unrelated these events are, and how mysterious it…

Great point! This reminds of of the film concept of "show, dont tell" but applied to prose instead of a visual medium

The expression actually comes from prose originally, but applies very well to writing, theatre, movies etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell

Re: A Coder Who Became a Crime Boss

#39

Post by canada_dry »

world32 wrote: post #31

Am I the only one who found this to be very poorly written? Its like the author keeps telling me how cool and mysterious this story is, why doesn't he just tell me the story and I'll decide if its mysterious or not? "Like a handful of random jigsaw-puzzle pieces, each one was incomprehensible without an understanding of the larger picture." He keeps going on about how unrelated these events are, and how mysterious it…

> this to be very poorly written?

Yah, sadly most of the stuff coming out of Wired the last couple years has been pretty low quality... this is typical. It was painful to read.

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