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Interview: Ask John McAfee What You Will
samzenpus (5) writes "Founder of the computer anti-virus company McAfee Associates, John McAfee gained world-wide attention eluding Belizean authorities in the jungle. Since we last sat down with John, he's been working on a device that blocks the government's ability to spy on PCs and mobile devices, been asked by the GOP to fix Obamacare, and has seen his last name removed from his old company. The rebranding garnered this response from McAfee: 'I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet. These are not my words, but the words of millions of irate users. ... My elation at Intel's decision is beyond words." John has agreed to answer your questions. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post."
Do you ever intend to return to Belize to face the charges leveled against you? Or do you enjoy being a fugitive from justice?
CDE open sourced! https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/
Any mind altering recipes worth sharing?
Everywhere this psychopath goes, something bad happens- someone always ends up dying, whether he's messing with ultralights in the Southwest US or antibiotics in Costa Rico- but it's never his fault, things just "happen".
Most of his ideas are bullshit and vapor that, for some reasons (always "legitimate", of course) never make it into production.
Why is Slashdot giving this guy a forum?
This topic belongs on TMZ or the National Enquirer. What Tripe.
Your coke snorting with hookers video was pretty awesome, any new ones coming out soon?
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
An observation more than a question, but feel free to comment (especially if you have information on the subject).
Starting shortly after your Belizian adventure I've noticed a rash of radio advertising, touting Belize as a tax haven and secure retirement site for those ith substantial assets, and trying to sell land to them. These adds always strike me as funny.
Since their authorities went after you, has Belize suffered a sudden drop in interest as a "safe haven" for the retiring well-off, or perhaps an exodus of others already there?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
You mean like they state, right there, in the second sentence of the summary?
Seems like if you didn't want to be associated with the software, you could have asked them to remove the name years ago.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
I promise I'm not a cop. You can't say that on the internet if it's not true.
I think McAfee anti-virus has a bug. I just installed it scanned my hard drive with it.
It did not detect that "McAfee" was installed. Are you sure that it's the best malware detector out there?
Have you considered selling the rights to a movie about your life? Your life story is too amazing not to become a feature film.
This topic belongs on TMZ or the National Enquirer. What Tripe.
Controversy brings more activity / page views. The more controversial, the better, no? It wouldn't surprise me to see a post about feeding dead puppies to orphans next week on Slashdice.
Everywhere this psychopath goes, ...
Why is Slashdot giving this guy a forum?
Because they can?
---
(For those not familiar with psychopathy, that's a psychopath joke. It's funny, laugh.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Does he have good prices?
"Why is Slashdot giving this guy a forum?"
He's /.s Joe Biden
Hey John, I ended up spending a week sailing with friends in Belize last year over summer vacation - lovely place! We actually ended up sailing with a skipper who used to work with you, and he told me you had some wild times together! We didn't spend a lot of time together, but he left a huge impression on me and my sailing buddies. Unfortunately, he very recently passed away, as I'm sure you've heard. Okay, that's a bit besides the point, so on to my question: I was seriously wondering on what kind of technology your device incorporates. Does it use existing technologies like Tor, or is it based on a new protocol. If it's a new thing, is the technology dependent on a number of exit nodes a la Tor, or does it depend on the number of peers using the software in order to obfuscate identifying information. In either case, will you consider releasing the software side of things under an open license?
Would you say that your level of awesomeness is around that of a honey badger with surgically implanted, razor-sharp metal talons or closer to that of, say, Lemmy?
You clearly have a knack for doing outrageous, dangerous, or even illegal things and getting away with them, while others would get pinched.
What do you attribute that to? Why do you think you've managed to violate so many laws, customs, and mores and get away with it, compared to your average resident of San Quentin?
-Hentai [in vita non pacem est]
Like the subject says.
No sig? Sigh...
Why are you such a media whore?
... with another 68-year-old guy I know who lives well-off in Palo Alto. Instead of indulging himself like this circus freak, he volunteers at children's FIRST robotics competitions and such. I don't know how he made his successful living before he retired; he could have been a drug lord for all I know, but if so he's certainly atoning for it now. This useless meat sack by comparison is still taking while giving nothing back.
I thought this was pretty funny: John McAfee on How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus
Mr. McAfee, thanks for taking questions!
My question: Do you consider Google in its current incarnation to be a "good company"? I ask in the context of revelations about the level of Gmail snooping, Google bus controversy, Google Glass failure, "only criminals want privacy", Larry Page refusing to donate to charity, Google Maps interface changes, etc. You used to be in security, so applying that experience & your recent public issues, do you "trust" Google?
Thank you Dave Raggett
You have a documented interest in psychoactive drugs. Which is your favorite, and why?
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
This is slashdot. Nobody reads the links or the summary. Most don't even read the whole title for the post.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Only reason I can think to work in security is because it's hot, been hot since 9/11. $. But interesting? It can be, if you can stay away from the idiots. Useful? Maybe, if politics can be kept out of it. But that's the point-- the people with the purse strings are political and stupid. Look how Microsoft has handled security. Norton/Symantec once said that they would go out of business if MS ever fixed Windows. If I were to work in security, the very last place I would choose is anti-malware software for Windows because it is such a total waste of effort to slap bandaids on fundamentally broken models.
People want perfect security, until it becomes inconvenient, then they choose convenience over security and go blame the security people. Who finds SELinux more useful than painful? The moment SELinux prevents an app from functioning is the moment the user dumps the security. MS twists the meaning of security, and tries to sell their customers the idea that secuirty for MS against them being naughty pirates is really security for everyone. Uncle Bill will make sure you don't commit piracy and get sued, don't you feel safer now? Years ago, the Prodigy Internet service promised to keep their customers safe from porn, profanity and other naughtiness and found that they could not. The meaning of security became so broad it was nearly useless. Everything can be cast as a security issue. I love Google's Evil Bit idea. Makes it clearer that just trying to figure out which info is "evil" is hard. Others want unbreakable security with backdoors (hello there NSA!).
The people who want security are suspicious and distrustful of security workers. Paranoid. It doesn't take much for them to turn against their own security people. They'll do something that wrecks security, then blame it on the security workers and get away with it. As for security workers themselves, maybe some of them go off the deep end and hide in jungles and do other weird stuff that makes the stuffed shirts doubt their fitness to work in security.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
A drug-addled once significant technician. There are mountains of them out there who are worlds more interesting that John (Cliff Stoll comes screaming to mind). But /. of course tracks down the most successful attention whore of them all and trots him out in Jerry-Springer'st fashion. What a friggin waste of "ask what you will".
I like yoghurt.
Thanks for the questions, Tim.
- Do you have anything you'd consider unusual or otherwise notably every-day carry gear?
Why yes, I do: I like to make sure I always have a few ounces of bath salts on hand; I also make sure to carry at least 20 lbs of lime to help with body disposal- you never know when you might need it. Don't forget a 9mm and plenty of ammo.
- How do you keep documents safe / backed up / safe from prying eyes and fingers?
I've learned from experience that black magic, with its plethora of deadly spells, is always effective.
- Are there places that, however adventurous you are, you avoid because you consider them too dangerous?
Lately, I try to stay away from beach-side communities in Belize; you never know what may happen there.
Not sure whether to mod this informative or insightful...
Your are bound by US laws, the Patriot act that either you collaborate with the NSA or you go to jail.
How do you plan to get around this?
What the fuck, dude?
Hi. I don't know how much programming you used to do back when you were more closely related to the software field, but I'm going to assume that you used to have at least some experience with it. Do you still do any form of programming any more? Are there any specific programming languages, frameworks/libraries and tools that you prefer?
Well, now you've gone and commented and removed your moderation. I blame Obama.
I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
Same AC as the poster above; obviously NOT John; please don't hunt me down and kill me, John.
I have to admit that I loved your video How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus. Which raised the question, when mixing Jack and Coke, what is the perfect ratio?
Has he stated that MVPV is his favorite? That's news to me. If so, a citation would be nice.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
What are the drugs like when you're wealthy?
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Why would anyone want to ask this dipshit anything? He's not even funny anymore.
It is because he is so expert at being a dipshit, or at least appearing to be one (how would I know?) that he is still funny.
My question for him: Explain the business case for impersonating a world class dipshit.
Why is he eternally relevant?
I remember back in the 80s making my first FTP connection, on an Apple ][ at school. You could login with some silly username like "customer" (it was something different but I forget what, where are my meds?) and the password was 12345 or something. You could then download the whole (commercial) software package for free. In a time before most open source, when most of my software was "Cracked by The Nibbler," McAfee ("or however you spell it") would just give it away to anybody who would rather download an unlicensed copy than buy one. He probably recognized that actual companies would buy it anyways.
He is legend for real reasons, and a mixed bag of reasons.
And for the curious, no, we had no need for a DOS virus scanner on an Apple ][. It was just really awesome to download "real software" for free.
Yep. That's right. So why do we care about the opinion of this man? I'm not feeling it.
Charlie Sheen would end up dead in the jungle, the ring girl would get a major magazine cover shot, and John McAfee would be found on the beach a week later muttering, "Those ring girls are powerful"
I'm stealing a line out of that for my sig.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
How do you propose to create a regional , nation leased, geek republic? somewhere where people can be free of doing and experiment anything they want (with the no-3rd-party-harm clause). Is Belize available? Thank you
What advice would you give to Pete to get his name off the second worst software on the planet?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
What does it feel like to kill a man?
Hypothetically speaking of course...
So much for "one question per post" eh? ;)
*scuttles away*
You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
Many countries, namely Colombia and Ecuador have significantly less intolerance than Central and North America. The dollar is strong, food is fresh and cheap and the current political situation there is stable and welcoming. Why Belize over Colombia or Ecuador?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
One at a time /., we are still waiting for Theo de Raadt's Interview as well as RMS and Jonathan Coulton.
The only interviewee to respond in a timely manner was Eric S. Raymond.
Given McAfee's penchant for making up wildly outlandish responses to questions he's bored with or finds uninteresting, do we have any reason to believe we'll actually get responses which are anything other than works of fiction?
Do you realize that you're a stark raving lunatic or do you really not get how disconnected from reality you are.
You seem to have this 'the rules don't apply to me' mentality followed by an 'everyone is out to get me!'; with that in mind, do you recognize that you're a laughing stock in tech circles?
Are you aware, even a little bit, that you have absolutely no credibility on anything, anywhere, every again?
Sorry to be an asshole with my questions, but I really want to know what kind of fucked up goes through your head.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
How hot do you like your peppers?
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Costa Rico, on the other hand, is best known for having a football thrown over it.
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
Oh, Belizean. My bad.
Fuck the moderators, that's funny. Creepy, but funny.
Not that I'd know about such matters, of course.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
Holy shit. Best. Question. Ever.
You know, I remembered the last interview, but I didn't remember reading it. All the time, I was reading the comments and the vitriol about JM, and I couldn't think for the life of me why. I was thinking, "okay, so he's a bit eccentric. What's the big deal?" Then I read the last interview.
Nuttier than squirrel shit, and more dangerous than a pack of rabid hamsters. But this question kicks ass!
Hi John,
How might I find my way to a posh life on tropical islands, with young women at my beck and call? I'll deal with the locals.
Warm regards,
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Didn't you write a long time ago that it was wrong to try to use an infected machine to remove viruses because it couldn't be trusted -- and then go on to found a company that did just that? Care to comment?
Competition Good, Monopoly Bad.
Hi John!
Since your life has taken same rather big and strange turns over time (heck, Peter Norton, the other PC software pioneer, is now collecting contemporary modern art, you are collecting young women, guns and designer drugs!), I would like to ask you: If you could do your life over again, what things would you change? Or, maybe put in a different way, if you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?
Since you seem to have a history of funding and helping fledgling new technologies, can you say which ones you are supporting now? Also, would you support mine? (Yeah I know it's a long shot, but hey, I have to try.)
... back pre-Larson when McAfee was on Bowers or before, did you guys really keep score on who hit it in the conference room? was there a point system? how did you score?
We have seen huge efforts by contractors to sell malware with key logging or tracking to different govs using deep insights into consumer OS over many years.
With quality AV efforts from around the world and more realtime networked behaviour analysis who is winning the dissident watching game?
Thanks very much.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
SO?
Wackos are responsible for the majority of scientific breakthroughs throughout history.
Wackos are responsible for the best things that ever happened in politics throughout history.
Wackos are responsible for initiating ritual sex acts in underground brotherhood lodges with your wife.
Two out of three aint bad, so whats your damn problem with wackos?
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
So, John,
What could be on the horizon? You seem to have done most everything else. Ever thought about starting a religion? There is definitely money in it and a place for the pioneer who can figure out how to digitize it in an executable and give it to the masses in high def 3d. I mean, the efficiency of delivery has got to beat the current paradigm. I think you could be the man!
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
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