HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down • Hacker News Board

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#11

Post by shareme » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:51 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #2

At this point they're going to just have to change the name of the company.

WESuckAtSecurityButThriveOnIllegalSpying

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#12

Post by GHFigs » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:51 PM UTC

georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

Likewise for GoDaddy, hhgregg, and scores of startup names. It's like my brain is looking for a meaningful word and halts briefly when it can't find one. Textual basilisks?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Langford#Basilisks

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#13

Post by m0nastic » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:52 PM UTC

This is the first positive thing I've read to come out of this fiasco (and I don't say that lightly, as I am particularly sensitive to companies suffering security breaches; but they've handled this about as poor as one could).

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#14

Post by jonknee » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:54 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #2

At this point they're going to just have to change the name of the company.

It's stupid/frustrating in this day and age that changing the company's name after a big fuck up actually works.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#15

Post by Splines » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:55 PM UTC

georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

Whenever I was reading the news about HBGary, I kept scanning the articles for someone named Gary. I don't think I ever found any (is there one?).

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#16

Post by _b8r0 » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 9:58 PM UTC

Without Barr, it's likely that Federal is over (that is assuming that it isn't already over regardless), which is probably not a bad thing for HBGary but will be for anyone who invested in federal.

I think the lesson for everyone here is not to fund a company sharing your brand name without some degree of control over what they're doing and the ability to immediately fire the guy in charge if they endanger the parent.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#17

Post by wmf » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 10:00 PM UTC

jaredmck wrote: post #10

bane wrote: post #2

At this point they're going to just have to change the name of the company.

Aaron Barr might want to change his name as well...

Maybe it's a common enough name that he can just say "no, I'm the other Aaron Barr".

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#18

Post by sp_ » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 10:01 PM UTC

georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

The name comes from the three co-founders. The H is for Hoglund (Greg). The B is for Bracken (Shawn). The Gary is for Jon Gary who left the company shortly after it was founded.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#19

Post by gojomo » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 10:02 PM UTC

georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

I had just assumed it was based on names of people associated with its founding, like JDEdwards, JDPower, TD Waterhouse, HP, Lockheed-Martin or even the Debian project. (Do those other arbitrary names trigger a similar irritation?)

With HBGary, though, only the 'H' can be clearly attributed to a founder declared on their 'about' page, Greg Hogland. But they probably had other people in mind for the rest at the founding.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#20

Post by smhinsey » Mon, Feb 28, 2011, 10:05 PM UTC

m0nastic wrote: post #9

bane wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, or Blackwater -> XE

Or ValuJet, or Ryder truck getting rid of the yellow trucks...

I never made the connection with Ryder trucks, that's an interesting one. It's sort of a reverse Q-tip effect, where instead of your brand being generically associated with your product, it's associated with the worst possible thing it could be used for. Few products have been so spectacularly misused as to warrant such treatment.

Anyway, my personal favorite has always been Philip Morris turning into Altria Group. I can just imagine the meeting where they came up with that one: "you know what, fuck it, let's just make up a nice sounding word."