Slashdot Mirror


Hacker Adrian Lamo Dies At 37 (zdnet.com)

Adrian Lamo, a well-known hacker known for his involvement in passing information on whistleblower Chelsea Manning and hacking into systems at The New York Times, Microsoft, and Yahoo in the early-2000s, has died at 37. ZDNet reports: His father, Mario, posted a brief tribute to his son in a Facebook group on Friday. "With great sadness and a broken heart I have to let know all of Adrian's friends and acquittances that he is dead. A bright mind and compassionate soul is gone, he was my beloved son," he wrote. The coroner for Sedgwick County, where Lamo lived, confirmed his death, but provided no further details. Circumstances surrounding Lamo's death are not immediately known. A neighbor who found his body said he had been dead for some time.

137 comments

  1. Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Bad guy. Turned in Manning. A Linda Tripp.

    1. Re:Turn coat by jimmifett · · Score: 0, Troll

      Decent-ish Guy, exposed a traitor with severe mental issues.

    2. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Word. Mercenaries live by sword and die by the sword.

    3. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Himself?

    4. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Decent-ish Guy, exposed a traitor with severe mental issues.

      No, you're wrong. This stuff all happened before Trump was president. The person you're thinking of that's exposing the traitor is named Mueller. Decent guy.

    5. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which the summary hatefully calls a girl. Being a girl isn't an insult!

    6. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assange?

    7. Re:Turn coat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Traitor my ass you little dipshit, Manning is a fucking national hero and you can shove your bootlicking right up your ass

    8. Re:Turn coat by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Decent-ish Guy, exposed a traitor with severe mental issues.

      You forgot the "as"

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re: Turn coat by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 2

      Did you complain as loudly over the several years and multiple hearings over Bengazi that wasted far more money than this?

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
    10. Re: Turn coat by LinuxLuver · · Score: 1

      The "traitor" exposed war crimes.....and revealed a culture of impunity in the US military in Iraq. The traitors are the people who think murders and murderers are ok.

      --
      Only boring people are ever bored.
    11. Re: Turn coat by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 1

      Trump should be kissing the media's ass. They covered every fart he made, for free! The media got Trump elected.
      He got ten times the coverage of any candidate, just by being a bigger ass than anyone else. If the other candidates had been granted equal time, there would of been no time for regularly scheduled programming.

      As to the Bengazi hearings, the improper server was a 'meh' moment at best, and had nothing to do with the (IIRC) nine witch hunt investigations that uncovered nothing and wasted millions, but that's apparently OK, as long as it's the 'party of fiscal responsibility' doing it.

      --
      Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  2. Little did we know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The neighbor was a CSI agent who confirmed he was dead for quite some time...

    1. Re:Little did we know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't have to be a CSI person to know when a body has been dead for "quite some time". If the house was warm (i.e. the heater was working) a body will decompose pretty quickly.

      Moron.

  3. 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    When is this country going to stop passing out opiate pills like candy and threating in to kill heroin dealers while young people die in droves?

    1. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When are people going to stop making stupid decisions knowing full well the consequences?

    2. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Aighearach · · Score: 2

      Every time my wife goes to the doctor, I warn her: "Don't let them give you any zombie pills!"

      They often try.

    3. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      When are people going to stop making stupid decisions knowing full well the consequences?

      I dunno, but you're right, the doctors already know that it is stupid to keep prescribing the pills. But their patients are whiny, so they just turn them into zombies anyways.

      The patients, OTOH, do not know the consequences at all; patients who understood the issues were already not whining about the pain, they already understood it hurts because life is unfair, and the ability to sense pain is an adaptive trait.

    4. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "and the ability to sense pain is an adaptive trait."

      Sure, but don't tell that to anyone who had major surgery like back surgery or had their wisdom teeth yanked out. You simply can't adapt to that. And it's an amount of pain that is staggering, not helpful in the least.

    5. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have had lower back issues for 20 years and have to constantly tell doctors not to prescribe opioids to me.

      They actually have to ask your current pain level when taking vitals now, so when I tell then I am at a pain level of 6 (I do know what 10 feels like) they are ready to pull out their Rx pad and turn me into a zombie as well.

      The pharma companies pushed the change with their assertion that untreated pain was a serious issue, now you cannot walk down the street without seeing an orange needle tip laying in the gutter. It really takes some shit to miss the good old days when crack and meth were issues.

    6. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When are people going to stop making stupid decisions knowing full well the consequences?

      When they die. That seems to be the universal time of life, no matter what their personality attributes, when everyone just sort of settles down and stops making a fool of themself.

    7. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by arth1 · · Score: 1

      They actually have to ask your current pain level when taking vitals now

      Yes, but you are not under any obligation to answer.
      I prefer being seen as uncooperative to being mistreated.

    8. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Rewrite your will. Improve your funeral plans.

      I'm going to be made into frozen chum blocks. Then my friends/family are going deep sea fishing/drinking/smoking. Make a nice slick out of me.

      The will calls for a clandestine diver to put my junk onto someone's hook, (likely one of the drunker ones, using a bobber) then yank like a fish striking.

      There is some question of legality. Something about 'giving the fish the munchies', not sporting.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    9. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Compassdetox.com we are trying to help. It's harder than it sounds.

    10. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When is this country going to stop passing out opiate pills like candy and threating in to kill heroin dealers while young people die in droves?

      Heroin dealers aren't lacing heroin with fentanyl and carfentanyl - they want repeat customers.

      The fentanyl is made in China, shipped to Mexico, and cut there with heroin made in Afghanistan (Taliban operations supported by the US Army). The CIA imports the heroin, and they get exactly the desired effect - dumbasses like you calling for more power for the government to engage in extrajudicial killings domestically.

      End the drug war, sell clean heroin at Walmart, and divert all the money into treatment centers, and you'll clean up both the crime and the body count. This experiment has been run and it works everywhere it's tried. At this point people who support the drug war are either making money on it, useful idiots, or those who just enjoy seeing people die.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    11. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Sure, but don't tell that to anyone who had major surgery like back surgery or had their wisdom teeth yanked out. You simply can't adapt to that.

      Sure you can. People had teeth pulled (even canines, which is a hell of a lot more painful than wisdom teeth), bones broken and passed kidney stones long before there were pain killers. And women give birth without medication even today.
      In short, we're sissies due to our culture, unable to grin and bear it. We fear pain almost as much as we fear death.

    12. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Rewrite your will. Improve your funeral plans.

      Why? It won't make any difference to you whatsoever. The only reason to do so would be to make others happy enough that you benefit more now than the headaches of doing it.

    13. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      I'm ok with killing opiate dealers as long as we start with big pharma CEOs.

    14. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree! We have shown multiple time that bans do not work. Bans do not get rid the item being banned and only creates new problems and a new criminal element to provide it.

      Same will be true for a gun ban.

      --XYZZY--

    15. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, I must be a mutant then. When I had my wisdom teeth out they gave me Vicodin, took one, decided it was awful and decided IB profein would be good enough. The pain wasn't that bad.

    16. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 1

      "After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea"

      https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/sunday/surgery-germany-vicodin.html

      Every day, my body felt a little better. I drank mint tea. I drank fennel tea. I drank homemade chai with ginger, cardamom and pepper. I drank coffee slowly, enjoying every sip. I lingered in that in-between space.

      After a week, I took the tram to the doctor’s office to have my stitches removed. My doctor, with her usual cup of chamomile tea in hand, remarked on my progress. “I rested,” I told her. Normally, I would have said, “I did nothing,” but I didn’t say that. I had been healing, and that’s something.

      I did say that this story is not about the benefits of universal health care, but for the sake of accuracy, let me add that this hysterectomy was not without cost. After my surgery, I had to pay $25 for the taxi ride home.

    17. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe your doctor is a piece of shit?
      Mine would never treat me that way.

    18. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We have often disagreed, but Bill has this right. (Except, perhaps, for the CIA importing heroin... that's so 1970s. But they still could be, for similar perverse reasons.)

      Basic economics has shown, and by real-world experience: end the drug war, and you also solve the other problems.

      Drug use does not go up, compared to other countries.

      Addiction rates go way DOWN. Without criminal penalty, more people seek treatment.

      Disease rates go way DOWN. No incentive to share needles (or other means of transmission) and spread disease.

      ALL LOGIC AND EXPERIENCE OVER MANY DECADES says that just like alcohol prohibition, the War On Drugs is not just a failure, but the cause of most of the problems.

      The majority of the non-suicide firearm deaths in the US are "criminal-enterprise-related". That means, almost always, something drug-related.

      Remove the underground profit motive, and you remove most of the related crimes and deaths.

      It's not just logic, we have 100 years of practice saying that is so.

      The status quo benefits BOTH sides: law enforcement, and drug dealers. Both have bigger budgets, and better weapons compared to before.

      And that won't stop. Until we eliminate the need for a black market.

      It's really pretty simple economics.

    19. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have often disagreed, but Bill has this right. (Except, perhaps, for the CIA importing heroin... that's so 1970s. But they still could be, for similar perverse reasons.)

      The CIA hasn't changed its ways and if anything is less accountable to and controllable by even the president. That has nothing to do with mr. Orange being a complete and utter idiot, for once; Oklahoma Bahamas was able to do diddly squat about them either.

      Basic economics has shown, and by real-world experience: end the drug war, and you also solve the other problems.

      But that'd cause the TLAgencies all sorts of problems. No more black ops revenue streams for CIA. And the DEA kids no longer get to play with guns in Latin America either.

      It's really no coincedence that the CIA is big in Heroin, and the Taliban is too. In a very real sense, the latter is a creation of the former. They've pulled that trick so often I no longer think the inevitable backfiring is at all coincidental.

      ALL LOGIC AND EXPERIENCE OVER MANY DECADES says that just like alcohol prohibition, the War On Drugs is not just a failure, but the cause of most of the problems.

      For the common people, yes. For USG agencies, drug problems are a boon, a revenue stream, and a convenient source of manufactured legitimacy. And for politicians... you do the math.

    20. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by jawtheshark · · Score: 1
      My wife had a smashed ancle, an external fractured tibia and a broken back. While after surgery she always had drip morphine, they always got rid of it as quickly as possible. After that paracetamol and ibuprofen. Massive amounts, I admit. She was in pain for years, until she got a phrostetic ancle. Destroyed joints is one of the most painful things you can have.

      Yes, we live in Europe.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    21. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yes, but you are not under any obligation to answer.
      I prefer being seen as uncooperative to being mistreated.

      Then they classify you as defiant, uncooperative and hostile, pathologize you and force you into mental health care.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    22. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know why do dealers keep forcing pills down peopleâ(TM)s throats?

    23. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by arth1 · · Score: 2

      Addiction rates go way DOWN. Without criminal penalty, more people seek treatment.

      More is needed than that. With so many states being right-to-fire states, I suspect that many people do all they can to hide their addiction, so they don't lose their job. Becoming unemployed is likely more of a problem for someone who has an expensive addiction and cannot afford CORBA, cannot afford to pay for rehab, and has no chance of passing a drug screening test to land a new job until the addiction is beaten.
      In other countries, social stigma and shame are bigger problems, but here in the US, the economical impact is likely the biggest hurdle.

    24. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The CIA never imported heroin - that was a KGB propaganda story, alongside the "CIA invented AIDS to kill blacks" story.

      As for heroin and opiate usage's effects on countries, why don't we ask our friendly Chinese neighbors what they think about it? Since, you know, the English forcing opium sales on the country tore it apart and lead to millions dead.

    25. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > This experiment has been run and it works everywhere it's tried.

      Yes, it's been so successful with alcohol that no one has died from drink driving, or kidney or liver damage from excessive alcohol consumption in at least 50 years!

      How the fuck did your post get modded up, China, the drug cartels, the US army, the CIA, and the Taliban all working together? You realised such an intricate conspiracy involving sworn enemies would be outright impossible to keep secret right? The reason you want this shit legalised is because you're a blatant crack head, yet we can see from the utter absurdity of your post exactly why it shouldn't be legalised, because we don't need more people in the world whose drug abuse has driven them to such absurd levels of paranoia - seriously, we need less people who have fucked themselves up with drugs like you, not more.

    26. Re: 90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was recently in hosp for asthma attack. Every patient I met was given some form of opiate... every one!

      They even tried to hook me when I asked for an expectorant. They were going to give me an opiate based cough medicine without informing me!. They only way I caught it was asking for them to leave it for later since I didn't need it when it arrived. They said they couldn't because it was narcotic.

      So they are quite clearly over prescribing the stuff, which f's everyone, especially the people who do need it.

    27. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fentanyl is made in China, shipped to Mexico, and cut there with heroin made in Afghanistan

      You forgot to mention that it was invented in Belgium.

    28. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe you can work on your reading comprehension skills.

      My point was that what we are doing now is not working.
      The President calling for more war on drugs isn't going to work either

      What WAS starting to work was treating addiction as a behavioral health issue and sending people to treatment over incarceration.

      I think that America needs to look at the positive results that Portugal has gotten through decriminalization and court ordered treatment after becoming a public nuisance

      One thing that you have DEAD WRONG is allowing commercialization of heroin by Walmart, or any company that would have a profit margin based on addiction.
      That is the reason for the huge problem with pharma opioids in America right now, and the reason that there were two opium wars in China a century ago.

      Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it

    29. Re:90% chance of opioid overdose by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The thought of the horror of your friends, makes you happy enough to justify the effort.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. suspicious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His death should be treated as a homicide until the coroner's report. Details are sparse. Canoed? OD? Heart attack? Poison?

    1. Re: suspicious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks, Iâ(TM)m sure the district attorney reads AC comments on slashdot

    2. Re: suspicious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any halfassed DA or ADA won't need my input. Not many slashdotters have been involved in death investigations, which is why I chimed in.

    3. Re:suspicious by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Perhaps he did the honourable thing.

    4. Re:suspicious by Megol · · Score: 1

      Why would it be honorable? And why don't you do it if it is?

    5. Re: suspicious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was probably the Russians.

  5. Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope a thorough investigation is being done. There have been far too many suspicious deaths of those who have exposed corruption recently. Including a doctor who somehow plunged a knife into his chest in the bathroom ruled a suicide? Someone shot in the back of the head on a park bench with no weapon found ruled a suicide?

    1. Re:Suspicious? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      Well, do you know how much paperwork is involved in a suspected squirrel murder? Plus those little fuckers get all their acorns in a knot if you accuse one of them of something.

      I mean; we all know the guy was in the park, feeding the ducks; and then from behind, one of those bushy tailed little shake-down artists whispered in his ear
      "Mr., gimme all your acorns. Now." (Despite the fact that humans almost never carry around acorns...)

      When he refused to pay up, they shot him, then hid the weapon (This is also where the saying "squirreled away" comes from by the by).

    2. Re: Suspicious? by guruevi · · Score: 0

      All of them exposed corruption during the Obama regime, this one in particular had the nerve to go after a trans woman and got her locked up in a male prison.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    3. Re:Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Louisiana, a handcuffed young man detained in the back seat of a police cruiser shot himself twice in the back of the head, according to he coroner and cops.

    4. Re: Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Bradley Manning is a man not a woman. No amount of hormones, genital multilation or feelings will change that. You are what is between your legs at birth.

      Donâ(TM)t like the truth? Then you can fuck off to your safe space.

    5. Re:Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that's dedication to the cause right there.

    6. Re: Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you care so much?

    7. Re: Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you care so much?

      Some of us don't like sick twisted people.

      Some of us are god damned tired of seeing the people who do NOT keep society going asking for special treatment and asking
      for tolerance when their lifestyle makes many in the majority want to vomit.

      You CANNOT FORCE PEOPLE TO LIKE STUFF THEY FIND SICKENING. And the sooner you quit trying to force your twisted lifestyle
      on others, the better for you.

    8. Re: Suspicious? by Megol · · Score: 1

      Why do you care so much?

      Some of us don't like sick twisted people.

      Most of us don't. Most of us limit that dislike to actually twisted sick people.

      Some of us are god damned tired of seeing the people who do NOT keep society going asking for special treatment and asking
      for tolerance when their lifestyle makes many in the majority want to vomit.

      You should seek medical help for that, seems like a big problem for you.

      You CANNOT FORCE PEOPLE TO LIKE STUFF THEY FIND SICKENING. And the sooner you quit trying to force your twisted lifestyle
      on others, the better for you.

      But it's fine when you do it Mr. Hypocrite?

    9. Re: Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This comment is spooky once you realize undercover agents call themselves "Secret Squirrels".

      Almost like one mocking us out in the open...

    10. Re: Suspicious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why does your post sound like something a SENILE OLD LADY would write?
      So interesting that there are suddenly so many stupid people on this forgotten and out of the way site.

  6. Narc of the highest order. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    He came to the Sac 2600 meeting a few months before his parole was up, carrying a cellphone (under a tech ban as part of his parole!) and schmoozing the group. It didn't last long since another friend of his started shit with the group that remained on 2600's #916 IRC leading to them not coming back after that. I was somewhat annoyed by the whole affair, but didn't have any particular reason to dislike Adrian until after the Manning affair, when it became apparent he was an FBI narc back then too. Good thing nobody left at the time either publicly discussed or was into illegal activities (the OGs had either disbanded or moved to private get-togethers, rather than looking over their shoulders for narcs with n00bs every time someone new showed up.)

    Won't miss the guy.

    1. Re:Narc of the highest order. by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 1

      Oh no, a sociopath didn't obey the omerta ... that sure makes him so much different from the other ones (main difference, they didn't get caught yet).

  7. Check for Nerve Gas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just saying...

  8. whistleblowers have a hard road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    i think this is something most people don't get and most takes on whistleblowers end up romanticizing - whistleblowers have it very very hard. it's not something one should ever do lightly because likely the full brunt of it is going to fall on your own shoulders. whether you end up doing the world any good or not, you're not going to be the beneficiary of any good yourself.

    lamo whistleblew on a whistleblower but he's part of a community that predictably would not have sided with him or THE MAN which is the government and would see him as a traitor of sorts himself.

    1. Re:whistleblowers have a hard road by RazorSharp · · Score: 2

      lamo whistleblew on a whistleblower

      That's not whistleblowing, it's acting as an informant.

      --
      "From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
    2. Re:whistleblowers have a hard road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Lamo is not a whistleblower. Charitably speaking, he's a witness or informant. Uncharitably, he's a narc, or rat.

    3. Re:whistleblowers have a hard road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Adrian Lamo was not a "whistleblower." Please don't lump that asshole in with people who have accomplished so much in showing to us what the governments of the world would keep in the shadows. Adrian Lamo was a paid government informant. I can only imagine that it weighed rather heavily on his mind once it became public knowledge and he wasn't the hero that he pretended to be.

    4. Re: whistleblowers have a hard road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have no idea who he is, but good on him for blowing the whistle on that traitor.

    5. Re: whistleblowers have a hard road by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, a traitor. A traitor who revealed that US military personnel were essentially killing people for sport. No trouble telling you're a Trump voter, admitting from the very start that you have no idea who is even being talked about, yet you know enough to judge them as a "traitor" for revealing the war crimes of the Bush administration.

      You know what? You're a traitor, not Manning. You're a traitor with your MAGA hat and your foam hand that you wave at Trump rallies. People like you, ignorant, self-serving pieces of shit like you are ruining this country. You are the traitor.

      And you know what we do with traitors in this country, little man who was afraid to troll using the account he's already posted in this thread with? Look it up, you might want to consider your position and how much you enjoy your life not ending in an execution chamber. Which is exactly what a worthless traitor like you deserves. Death.

  9. Re:DNC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh boy, what a maroon

  10. Love From Putin by Templer421 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please accept this special Russian Air Freshener.

    1. Re:Love From Putin by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Please accept this special Russian Air Freshener.

      You have on proof that the Russian military nerve gas---made only in Russia and used to poison an enemy of Putin after Putin made a public threat to poison his enemies---was Russian.

      Leave Russia Alone!

      Funnily enough, an AI (Anonymous Ivan) yesterday tried to persuade me that it cold have quite easily been Assad or Saddam Hussein. I think Comrade Putin has been skimping a little too hard on the troll training budget recently.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Love From Putin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mean nobody else would've been able to mix two common chemicals to produce that poison, in particular not since the whole country was engrossed in the huge U.K. government pedophile scandal at the time. It's as clear evidence as if a pistol of Russian origin had been found at the crime scene -- who else would possibly have a Russian pistol but the Russian government spies? Clear as day.

    3. Re:Love From Putin by Cederic · · Score: 1

      There's a very significant difference between acquiring a firearm (trivial) and creating a lethal nerve agent (bloody hard, especially if you want to live long enough yourself to then use it on someone else).

      Right now the only person defending Russia is Comrade Corbyn.

    4. Re:Love From Putin by squiggleslash · · Score: 0

      I mean nobody else would've been able to mix two common chemicals to produce that poison.

      No, because it's not that simple, Ivan.

      in particular not since the whole country was engrossed in the huge U.K. government pedophile scandal at the time

      Yeah, Ivan. I'm not sure I should actually be helping you with your skills here, but FWIW, when you check the "Include some whataboutary" box on your checklist of things to include in your trolls, make sure it's something that doesn't reveal you're a Russian troll. I'm not going to tell you why, but even if a UK government pedophilia scandal (which has literally been in the news on and off for about 30 years now. No, really.) were somehow a reasonably on-topic thing to bring up in a discussion about Putin trying to murder enemies with chemical weapons on foreign soil, a non-troll wouldn't do it that way.

      In other words, busted!

      It's as clear evidence as if a pistol of Russian origin had been found at the crime scene -- who else would possibly have a Russian pistol but the Russian government spies? Clear as day.

      If it were a common Russian pistol, then yeah. But this is like finding a special model of Russian pistol that only senior Russian agents are allowed to own, that have never been reported lost before, when none have been reported missing before the assassination attempt.

      This isn't some simple toxin that can be produced in weaponized form by mixing a couple of household chemicals, no. This is:

      - A chemical agent associated with Russia that's difficult to weaponize
      - An attack on an enemy of Putin
      - An attack in a country apparently considered an enemy of the Putin regime, as evidenced by Putins attempts to interfere with its governance and pit citizens against one another.

      The work you're doing, Ivan, is going to lead to calamity. Putin's a punk, he's clearly mentally unstable, and the actions he's taking are likely to lead to war sooner or later. If it comes to war, there's a good chance it'll go Nuclear, and you'll probably die in the aftermath (as will millions on both sides.) Take a long, deep, hard, look at yourself, and ask yourself if that's what you want.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re:Love From Putin by serviscope_minor · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your reply, comrade.

      On another note, It's nice that the KGB seems to think that slashdot is still important enough to be infesting with pro-russian sockpuppets.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re:Love From Putin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      made only in Russia

      Jan 1, 2017
      http://www.spectroscopynow.com/details/ezine/1591ca249b2/Iranian-chemists-identify-Russian-chemical-warfare-agents.html?tzcheck=1,1,1,1,1&&tzcheck=1&tzcheck=1&tzcheck=1

      The Iranian researchers synthesised five ‘Novichok’ agents, along with four deuterated analogues.

      With Iran's capability, it's not ruled out that other countries could.

      PS: calling others Ivan make you stupid. While I quite like your posts about EmDrive, does this comment made me your enemy!?

    7. Re:Love From Putin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going to say the US did it. Well, the US provided the Novichok, and then perhaps UK services used it or the spy poisoned himself with a (potentially) less than lethal dose.

      Why? Because I say so, and the US and UK would be perfectly able and willing to do that. It's great war propaganda, reminds of the DPRK doing something very similar last year, allows to smear Putin and Russia with alleged use chemical weapons (echoing the non existent ones in Syria and the suggestion of Russian complicity in their use)

  11. Died of loneliness? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He burned his entire career's worth of bridges by not only narcing on Manning, but impersonating a journalist while he did. Combined with the NYT Nexus Lexis bill and the time he did for that, he'd burned both his corporate and hacker contacts and I imagine his FBI handlers no longer considered him an asset after Manning hit the news. As a result he had lots of people's attention to avoid and few prospects for the future. He also apparently could exploit code, but stated he couldn't program, meaning his penetration skills likely didn't keep pace with modern technology anyway.

    Who knows though, maybe he just finally got into witness protection and this is just the final nail in his old life's coffin.

  12. Learn the lesson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do not be a hacker. Simples as that. If you feel the urge to poke your nose where it doesn't belong, remove the means. Sell your computer, buy a tablet. Easy. No computers, no computer crime. Simple as that.

    1. Re:Learn the lesson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And dumpsters... stay out of dumpsters. Oh yeah don't try and open any door, somebody may have meant to lock it

      OK no dumpsters or doors... or books, books can contain forbidden (or copyrighted) information

      OK, no dumpsters, doors, books, or... well, maybe you are getting the point here

  13. Re:DNC by Lisandro · · Score: 1

    Are you for real?

  14. Rest in peace by Sarten-X · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And now to burn some karma with Slashdot's most unpopular opinion...

    The world runs on faith. We have faith that people will keep waking up, going to their jobs, and keep society running. We have faith that the people we trust will live up to that trust. We have faith that our observations of the world have been genuine.

    Adrian Lamo extended that faith to the government. He had faith that the people in government offices were true to their oaths, and he had faith that eventually a proper justice would be served. He had faith that talking to the authorities would lead to a righteous outcome.

    I do not know exactly what considerations Mr. Lamo had when he made his choices. I have faith that he was trying to do what was right for the world, and I have faith that were I in his position, having had his experiences and knowing what he knew, I would also understand his decisions.

    Rest in peace, fellow human. From my perspective, I may or may not have agreed with you, but that different perspective is what makes us all important.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    1. Re:Rest in peace by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2

      Hmmm, I'd replace the word 'faith' with 'trust,' then agree with you.

      If he was relying on faith, evidence to the contrary wouldn't bother him. If he was relying on trust, on the other hand, and that trust was betrayed, well, that can, and does, shatter people all the time.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    2. Re:Rest in peace by arth1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Adrian Lamo extended that faith to the government. He had faith that the people in government offices were true to their oaths, and he had faith that eventually a proper justice would be served. He had faith that talking to the authorities would lead to a righteous outcome.

      Or he was a narc because that was a condition of his lenient sentencing, and he chose to take it.

    3. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would contend that as the cynical junkie that he was, he didn't have faith in anything but his own ego. Compassionate soul my ass. I don't like to frame things in terms of loyalty and treason (because sometimes disappointing your friends is the right thing to do), but this guy was not someone you should ever trust.

    4. Re:Rest in peace by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Not quite.

      He felt that Manning was toxic.

      He didn't give a flying shit about anything but protecting himself.

      I agree with his decision. Why should he go down in flames with Manning?

      It's an interesting story, though. Good read.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    5. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope some media organization like Muckrock files FOIA's with the FBI for info on whether Lamo was a confidential informant for them.

      FBI spent 15 months investigating him, and had leveled charges that could have landed Lamo in jail for 15 years if convicted, yet they pled him down to just 6 months house arrest in his parent's home with 2 years probation. Pretty sweet deal.

    6. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol karma's a bitch

    7. Re:Rest in peace by xski · · Score: 1

      Yeah, not a big fan of the F-word there.

    8. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually I remember this guy all too well from his Yahoo and Microsoft "hack" days. The guy was never a hacker in the technical sense, he was just a script kiddie that was wide open about what he did - like a kleptomaniac getting a buzz from stealing something, this guy got a buzz from "hacking" and telling the world about his exploits. He was always an attention seeker, that much was clear in his early days, long before the whole Manning incident. The Manning incident was just a classic return to form, when the press got bored of giving him the exposure he wanted he disappeared, it was fortuitous for him that Manning stumbled across him of all people to take to the authorities, because Lamo would've seen that as everything else - a way to return to the spotlight and get the attention he so desperately sought once more. Manning's biggest mistake was not recognising the threat Lamo posed as someone who would always put personal fame above confidentiality.

      I'm not saying he deserved to die so young, but we really shouldn't be surprised - this guy had a mental illness, he had a desperate need for attention and to be in the limelight, and he ran out of ways to do that. He gave script kiddies a face by carrying out script kiddie attacks to get himself in the media and the media lapped it up at a time they were desperately looking to put a face on the hacking movements of the 90s.

      But as is always the case, people like this don't need their addition to fame fed, they need real actual psychiatric help, this guy didn't get that, and the drip feed of fame ran out - and as a result, so did his time on this earth.

    9. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Faith", as you've used it, is just a shorter word for "expectations"; and the expectations involved are those based on exigent needs: need to eat, sleep, have clothes and stuff; need to have money for all that; need for a job or other means to have money, etc. All of this quickly boils down to existing paths of least resistance within any given socio-economic context. There's no magic, no spiritual forces, no karma, just a group of people all responding to their common needs, motivated by their biological functions, parental guidance, and societal expectations.

      While different perspectives are a valid distinguishing characteristic among individuals, the delta in and of itself is neither important nor does it make any individual important, just noticeably different. Whether Lamo's actions were indeed important is still up for debate, as the full and complete follow-on effects are still being played out. Your assertion that we are all important simply by virtue of having a perspective is practically tautological, and thus an empty statement.

    10. Re:Rest in peace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      funny.. hackers call them narcs, gangsters call them rats.

  15. Deep state, Russians, Trumpsters, FBI, NSA, CIA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who is going to make the conspiracy list on this one?

    How about pissed off people who were running a Pedophile support group in his basement? Or a Manning support group - er ah - slashdot trolls?

  16. Re:Snitches Get Stitches by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    Good Riddance. We don't need people like this in the community.

    First the Korean guy who promised to crack down on cryptocurrencies, now the guy who turned in Bradley Manning.

    Prediction markets were predicted decades ago but they were waiting for fungible cryptocurrencies to show up. 2018, perhaps?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  17. Nothing to see here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Carry on Citizen. Carry on.

  18. So much for editing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Somehow I doubt that the deceased had a wide circle of receipts. Perhaps you meant acquaintances?

    1. Re:So much for editing. by arth1 · · Score: 1

      This is not an editing error. It's exactly what Mario Lamo wrote. A [sic] might have been in order, though.

    2. Re:So much for editing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A [sic] might have been in order, though.

      So it is an editing error then.

  19. So he coulndt hack it no more? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes I wrote it.

  20. And he was trying to narc on his... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    fellow hackers long before Manning. He was at meetings before he even finished parole, running a fishing expedition.

  21. Stories like this illustrate a problem w/ slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's all well and good to let readers moderate but a case like this shows how quickly a post about a hacker can devolve into a political debate in which one person makes an assertion, almost completely unrelated to the story itself, or in fact COMPLETELY unrelated to it, which then will get modded up or down, (I suspect though obviously can't prove,) according to the feelings or perception of the person with mod-points, rather than ALL being modded down to -1 for being off-topic.

    If only there were some kind of system in place to mark a story itself as likely to devolve, and therefore subject to moderation by more responsible parties, rather than letting flame-wars erupt within a short time after a story goes live. In fact, despite having a slashdot login and excellent Karma, I think I'll post this anony, just so as not to get dragged into the mudslinging. Anyway, just a thought.


    Regarding the story itself, this seems to be developing, and apart from condolences, doens't seem to warrant a lot of commentary until more is known. In this case, the reported decedent was under 40 years old, which would indicate, I think most people would agree, a low degree of likelihood that the culprit is "natural causes," which means the remaining suspects are accident, (including internal accidents, such as CVA, MI / AMI, intracranial aneurysm, PE, etc., as well as externals, such as a slip & fall,) suicide, or some species of homicide, (i.e., murder, assassination, etc.) Obviously, without more information, it's probably not useful or helpful to anyone to start playing pin-the-diagnosis-on-the-corpse, at least until after the autopsy, inquest, investigation, or whatever comes next in the case.

    Just saying.

  22. deep nuance shit on this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Adrian Lamo was not a "whistleblower." Please don't lump that asshole in with people who have accomplished so much in showing to us what the governments of the world would keep in the shadows. Adrian Lamo was a paid government informant. I can only imagine that it weighed rather heavily on his mind once it became public knowledge and he wasn't the hero that he pretended to be.

    There has been so much news the past couple decades I haven't kept up with the details of Lamo. I did just read his wikipedia page. I would by default question whether any paid government enforment was effectively coerced unethically into the task. The devil being in those details amongst others.

    One could non-emotionally consider whether the whistle blown was with regards to the general perception of various wikileaks opsec issues. Remember the Collateral Murder stuff happened well before Snowden. Also it's important in debates/commentary such as this to remind younger people about 9/11, abugrhaib torture, et al. There were extenuating and exigent circumstances all around this and the wider story.

  23. Re:Stories like this illustrate a problem w/ slash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What have you got against plain text?

  24. In a just world... by SigIO · · Score: 1

    ...this obituary would make the cover of Time Magazine: Lamo's face with a bloody red X over it. Fitting for someone who'd finger his own mother for a few pieces of silver.

  25. Either suicide, opioid overdose or contraindicated by jd · · Score: 1

    When most celebrities die of an "overdose", what is really meant is the doctor screwed up and prescribed two meds that are known to react badly. It's called an overdose to avoid liability.

    Opioid overdose will sometimes fall into that category and sometimes it's a get-rich-quick scheme involving kickbacks and deliberate fraud knowing the patient will die anyway.

    Suicide is a third possibility. America has bugger all for mental health, on the pretext that Real Men never need help. Oh, you can spend a lot, and there's lots of Manly therapy where you're given the chance to give a moron lots of money for no help.

    Apparently, the solution to everyone being unhappy all the time is to move around lots of green pieces of paper. Which is odd, because on the whole it isn't the little green pieces of paper that are unhappy. See the Guide for details.

    There's nothing suspicious about it, there's lots suspicious about paranoid schizophrenics blaming Clinton, the CIA, and so on. These people need help, but Reagan shut down all the hospitals instead of fixing them.

    If you want something to get suspicious about, it's the homeless lunatics being armed by the Feds, under a plan currently under review.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  26. Won't be missed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This piece of shit turned in a whistleblower who was exposing US military's war crimes against children in Iraq (see Collateral Murder). In the video, one can see US soldiers raining fire upon journalists, good Samaritans, and children, and laughing about it as they carry out the atrocities. The whistleblower underwent torture under the Obama administration, according to UN.

  27. Maybe he died from marijuana overdose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    marijuana, not even once!!

  28. Lamo by name and by nature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Rot In Hell Adrian Lamo you piece of shit.

    1. Re:Lamo by name and by nature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed!

  29. Re:Stories like this illustrate a problem w/ slash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Type in italics and bold. Take that garbage to Tumblr or Facebook.

  30. CT are the worst by aepervius · · Score: 1

    The CIA imports the heroin, and they get exactly the desired effect

    While I agree with your opinion that decriminalizing would be better far a variety of reason, I can't condone CT. Do you have any evidence of this ? Because I certainly DO have evidence that drug dealer mix drug together to get a more potent effect (I grew up in a bad city where a few were they discussed it openly - you gotta love the 70ies) , or even a variety of dangerous and potentially fatal chemical to cut the drug and make more money. There is no evidence which I know of that the CIA mix fentanyl and heroin to get addict death and new drug policy. When you m,ix CT , falsehood, with interesting opinion, you poison the well. Just sayin'.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:CT are the worst by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      Why would you expect him to give you evidence, when that isn't even close to what he said?

      I admit to being puzzled by your assertion that he said the CIA mixed anything with anything.

      Maybe you need to read it again?

  31. This country is NOT passing out pills like candy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Grow the hell up. Be a responsible adult.

    If doc prescribes pain killers for a medical condition, take them exactly as prescribed and quit when the prescription is over and you'll have no problem. People who have actual physical pain and use them AS PRESCRIBED do not become addicted. I've had both the oxy and the hydro varieties after surgeries. Properly prescibed and taken you DO NOT "get high" and as a result you DO NOT get addicted. If you take enough to suppress pain to a tolerable level, you will be fine, but if you take enough to "get a buzz" or "get high" then you are abusing these drugs. If you lie to get them when you do not have actual pain severe enough to need them, or if you take more than prescribed or more often than prescribed, then it sucks to be you and you get no sympathy.

    I am all done listening to idiots who say they got some for a dental procedure or a sprain etc and decided to take extras and then a "friend" told them how to get a buzz by using them differently and then their "friend" introduced them to heroin and now they are another "victim" of the pharmacy companies. Nope, they're just idiots. If you get depressed and decide to take a PAIN PILL, you are a moron and deserve NO sympathy or pity.

    There are a large number of people in our society who NEED these pills for ACTUAL PHYSICAL PAIN who are now being subjected to all sorts of scrutiny and hassles getting their pills because there are jerks who abuse these substances and then shift the blame to doctors and drug companies. I have a family member who is living in fear that they will be soon forced to live in constant pain from a bunch of severe othopedic injuries because doctors and pharmacies are being attacked for prescribing these things and politicians are talking about new regulations. There are some people who can only lead a reasonable life with the aid of these pills and whose pain cannot be controlled with anything else. People with these levels of pain do NOT become addicted.

    Our society should not be governed by rules set because they have been deemed necessary because of the most dysfunctional people (people who will find ways around those rules anyway).

  32. re "faith" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's "blind faith", where you close your eyes and jump...
    and then there's "reasonable/reasoned faith" where your knowledge and experiences lead you to believe that jumping, even with your eyes closed, is the reasonable thing.

    If I close my eyes and step off of a pier with "blind faith" and plop into shark-infested waters, well, I learn a lesson but may not be around to benefit from the learning.

    If I see a boat tied up by the pier and I recognize the builder of the boat standing nearby and I know his reputation for good work and I then step off the pier onto the boat, I do so with faith in the designer of the boat and the boat itself. I do not *know* that the boat will support me and stay afloat, but I have faith and that faith is resonable, and all's likely to work out well.

    "Faith" in and of itself is not the problem. The word is a perfectly good word. Faith itself could be good, or dangerously silly; it's the type of faith that matters.

    "trust" and "consent" are similar words in this regard.

    1. Re:re "faith" by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      There's "blind faith", where you close your eyes and jump...
      and then there's "reasonable/reasoned faith" where your knowledge and experiences lead you to believe that jumping, even with your eyes closed, is the reasonable thing.

      That's the thing though. What kind of idiot learns to trust the government? It proves how untrustworthy it is every day. Probably his parents did him a gross disservice and raised him to trust authority. What rubes. Never trust authority. They have you over a barrel. Suspect them at every turn.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:re "faith" by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      That's not faith. That's confidence.

      Faith is 'belief without evidence.' Blind faith, what 'faith' often turns into for religious folk, is 'belief despite evidence.'

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  33. I dunno by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whenever I read about the death of people associated with controversy, I am inclined to want to see the body.

    I have ofc, no personal interest in all of this, so I am not too bothered, but the thought is still there, maybe the guy isn't really dead.

  34. Re:This country is NOT passing out pills like cand by Megol · · Score: 1

    Spoken as an entitled whining idiot that can't even stand for his opinion.

    If you aren't lying and actually was given opioids without becoming dependent it still doesn't say anything about the general case.

    We can say anything about the general case by reading up on the research and statistics about the problem and can see:
    . Opioids are overprescribed in cases where other drugs would be better.
    . Opioids are prescribed in high doses than necessary.
    . Opioids are prescribed for longer duration than necessary.
    . Opioids causes dependencies and different people have different chances of developing such.
    . Opioids are prescribed in cases where they obviously shouldn't be (people prone of developing dependencies++).

    But you and your know-it-all friends like to claim everything is easy. It isn't. Your claims doesn't correspond to research. It doesn't apply to the real world with real people.

    But I agree with your first line of text. I'd like your to grow up and be responsible. But people like you never do.

  35. Re: This country is NOT passing out pills like can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Found the heroin addict

  36. Re:Stories like this illustrate a problem w/ slash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    YUou are in on the conspiracy.

  37. Re:DNC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone here is a troll
    The orange haired turd on a stick brought them out of the closets.

  38. Re:This country is NOT passing out pills like cand by i286NiNJA · · Score: 1

    You said you think you won't get addicted if you don't get high. Those are famous last words. You won't believe anyone when they suggest that your pain is opiate withdrawal. I mean that's silly, you never felt high.

  39. Hero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The traitor he turned in should be the dead one.

  40. Re:Either suicide, opioid overdose or contraindica by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    im going to go with something more exotic

    aids, butt aids to be exact

  41. Funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for reminding me I'm a better hacker than this guy.

  42. I will piss on your grave by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Enjoy your place in hell.

  43. The only good snitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I said it.