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Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

krebsonsecurity.com

131–140 of 164 posts

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#131

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Its one of the primal needs. Its why some companies are so effective at selling Veblen goods to status seekers. When I was growing up, I got abercrombie/american eagle because it was cool to girls. Today teens get Apple/Nike products. Not that any of these actually change your status, but the marketers were able to sell that idea/feeling. As an adult, you see people buying/leasing Tesla's or more expensive cars to do…

I think it does change your status. If you go on a date a pick a girl up in a Hyundai and test her with an Android phone many will have a different opinion than if you text with apple and pick her up in a audi.

It might changed perceived status by people who can't afford the illusion. (It wont change the way they talk, which is a dead giveaway to people within that class.)

If you can't easily afford an iphone or Audi, someone who can lease an audi and have a payment plan on an iphone looks like they have money.

Where once you make 6 figures, these seem like just another car/phone. Heck, when you buy cheap veblen goods like an Audi/iphone, it makes you look like you are compensating for your lack of income. Even 250k cars are barely impressive to a 6 fig earner because they can afford it too.

To a 6 fig earner, a hyundai and android are just the best tools for the job.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its one of the primal needs. Its why some companies are so effective at selling Veblen goods to status seekers. When I was growing up, I got abercrombie/american eagle because it was cool to girls. Today teens get Apple/Nike products. Not that any of these actually change your status, but the marketers were able to sell that idea/feeling. As an adult, you see people buying/leasing Tesla's or more expensive cars to do…

I have a pet theory that all humans spend roughly 30% of their disposable income on status products. And that there's no way to escape this. No matter how hard you try. If you escape spending at LVMH you'll spend it on cars, indie brands or ascetic holidays. Keep going and your money will go towards pseudo-educational leisure activities that make a social statement like submarine exploration or building web apps in O…

Uh... my retirement account?

My status is being FIRE in my 30s.

But probably not status related and more security related.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a pet theory that all humans spend roughly 30% of their disposable income on status products. And that there's no way to escape this. No matter how hard you try. If you escape spending at LVMH you'll spend it on cars, indie brands or ascetic holidays. Keep going and your money will go towards pseudo-educational leisure activities that make a social statement like submarine exploration or building web apps in O…

I'm no exception to your rule, but are you really so confident that all of humanity shares the same appetite for status signalling? I'm not a particularly social person, but even I can think of some counterexamples in my personal life. Obviously, we can also consider most of the extremely wealthy (Zuckerberg, Bezos, etc) as well.

My income has recently 5x'd and I already was making over 6 figs.

I'm doing the opposite of status signaling. I'm hiding my wealth. I don't need people to know I just bought an expensive computer or 3D printer. Heck, that makes me a target.

It also alienates friends who are insecure. I already ran into this when I graduated college, got a real job, and my blue collar high school friends got weird about it.

Heck, I knew I was going to be very well off. When I had my home built, I made sure the front-most peak of the house was on the first floor rather than the second floor. I didn't want my home to appear grand.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#134

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"James was totally cool, but when I found out he used an Android phone, I was so over him..." -some girl to her girlfriends, somewhere, probably...

I’m not a part of app dating world, but from my understanding the way these apps work is a series of snap judgements. Android vs iPhone is but one of these. I don’t think the problem is really about Android or iPhone at all, but rather that we live in a reality where people make snap value judgements on these apps based on limited information very quickly, and it just so happens that Android/iPhone is one of those fa…

This kind of shows how out of touch we get when we make 6 figures.

Android or Iphone shows wealth? A $1000 dollar purchase for something you use daily is supposed to be expensive?

But when you are in poverty or lower-middle class, $1000 is a lot of money.

It just doesnt have the same meaning when you have money. I imagine the dating world has a bunch of things like this because you meet people of different classes.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#136

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No. It's specifically the "Mary Sue" part that he's annoyed by. That term is never used online to refer to male character. Of course, a dude that can not only be athletic, can read every inscription in every ancient language, is an expert in every ancient civilization, and use a bull whip as a grappling hook at will gets a pass.

No, then they're called a Gary Stu, Marty Stu, Marty Sam or Tom Sue and they exist too. They too are annoying and numerous, but less common. Harry Potter, Scott Pilgrim, James Bond, any character Vin Diesel plays, etc. Mary Sues are called out rightly because they're a shitty trope used by lazy writers. Nobody (with any intelligence or credibility) ever said that George Lucas was a particularly great writer. It's pop…

How could Harry Potter be a "Gary Stu" when he is the main character of the series?

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, then they're called a Gary Stu, Marty Stu, Marty Sam or Tom Sue and they exist too. They too are annoying and numerous, but less common. Harry Potter, Scott Pilgrim, James Bond, any character Vin Diesel plays, etc. Mary Sues are called out rightly because they're a shitty trope used by lazy writers. Nobody (with any intelligence or credibility) ever said that George Lucas was a particularly great writer. It's pop…

Don't forget Wesley Crusher. I don't know why people pretend that the male version isn't also disliked, but I don't think it's a rational stance. People don't like either.

Other characters on the show find Wesley obnoxious, and he nearly washes out of Starfleet Academy after covering up a stunt that killed one of his friends. I don't see him as a wish-fulfillment character at all.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#138

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Come back when any of those characters you listed are called Mary Sue. Let’s use Star Wars for an example. A teenager with little education, grows up on a backwater desert planet immediately uses the Force and flies an advanced space craft into battle, becoming the focus of attention of a galaxy spanning fascist military, and a hero in an under resourced underground partisan movement. You’re hard pressed to find anyo…

> You’re hard pressed to find anyone complaining about Luke Skywalker That's just not true. The whole "chosen one" premise is extremely common in fantasy and scifi and widely criticized by people with sufficient taste and media literacy to become aware of the pattern and grow weary of it. Media that fits this pattern is considered adolescent; adults who are obsessed with Star Wars or Harry Potter are called manchildr…

"Mary Sue" doesn't mean "Chosen One", though, right?

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#139
post #135

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https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue

Unclear to me how this fanfic concept could apply to a character in an official movie.

How could this be unclear? They are both narratives. They both have characters. Why wouldn't a concept about characters from one map to the other? Do you think fanfic characters and official movie characters are incompatible types? I have never read or written a fan fic and encountered this term countless times in discussion of media.

I'm honestly baffled how you can't imagine a movie with a character embodying the qualities described in the tvtropes entry.

Re: Top suspect in 2015 Ashley Madison hack committed suicide in 2014

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it does change your status. If you go on a date a pick a girl up in a Hyundai and test her with an Android phone many will have a different opinion than if you text with apple and pick her up in a audi.

"James was totally cool, but when I found out he used an Android phone, I was so over him..." -some girl to her girlfriends, somewhere, probably...

You jest, but it happens.

The mystery to me is why a guy's reaction to it would be "damn I wish I had an iPhone so that girl would like me" and not "I'm glad I don't have an iPhone so I can weed out these nutjobs".

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