5 ms·

Ask HN: Why no black bar for John McAfee?

17 points by hownottowrite 5y ago

Sure he was a bit of a nut and perhaps a criminal but it's hard to dispute his contributions to the field.

donohoe 5y ago
You kind of answered it yourself. For one thing he is wanted in Belize for questioning on suspicion of murder of his neighbor, Gregory Faull. Then arrested in Spain over U.S. tax evasion charges. Should I go on?
- rvz 5y ago
  So Marvin Minsky got a HN black bar and it was revealed that he was part of Epstein's.... Well you can fill in the blanks. I think at that point, no one should get a HN black bar since it is an empty gesture.
  - sgt101 5y ago
    Was it? Or did he go to a conference that Epstein staged? Can you be specific -the man is dead so he won't sue.
    - rvz 5y ago
      > Was it? Or did he go to a conference that Epstein staged? [Strong citation needed] Is this really the hill you want to die on? Maybe you also should ask Ghislaine Maxwell as to why Marvin Minsky was on Epstein's private jet log.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - rvz 5y ago
      My following argument and claim (That was flagged): > So Marvin Minsky got a HN black bar and it was revealed that he was part of > Epstein's.... Well you can fill in the blanks. Is still not refuted (with strong citations / evidence), after 7 hours. You are unable to challenge my claim, yet you present a baseless one with ZERO evidence, yet I get downvoted, flagged and silenced by those who can't refute my argument. Gave plenty of time for you to present some links. I thought this site was for those who can present reasonable arguments with the facts involved. Seems like I am mistaken once again by the fanatics of this site. Unsurprised and very disappointed. As for me, a very easy and well documented list of attendees in Epsteins "private jet log" which has the name and profile Minsky, Marvin: MIT professor and pioneer of artificial intelligence. documented. [0] Undeniable fact there, and he got a HN black bar, which is why I don't think anyone should have one if everyone is going to be held to such high standards. No angels are in that black book. Now the burden of proof is on YOU to prove that it was "staged". Unless you and the attendees know something that everyone else doesn't. How's that for "specific"? [0] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high-society-contacts.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high...
      - muzani 5y ago
        I downvoted not because of what was said but because the tone was unnecessarily rude.
        rvz 5y ago
        The evidence here stands strong and firm over the tone, emotion or reaction I'm afraid. The claim is either backed by reliable sources or not and claims can be simply dismissed if there is little to no evidence presented. In this can, the grandfather comment failed to provide any and can be instantly dismissed.
PaulHoule 5y ago
It's not clear to me that "anti-virus" was a contribution. For years the only anti-virus product that wasn't worse than the virus was Kaspersky and since things went south with Russia that's been indefensible.
h2odragon 5y ago
What were his contributions, exactly? He's been an entertainer for the last decade, before that you've got to go back some ways before he contributed... And that contribution, while personally valuable to me (and others), is of arguable social value: There's no denying the early antivirus business drove the early virus business to the point of mostly being the same people. I made money using McAfee's product for others, and so did many others. But he gave us that opportunity through selling fear, and that was not a good thing for greater society.
- muzani 5y ago
  Creating viruses to sell anti-virus? That sounds like something McAfee would do, ironically.
- truffdog 5y ago
  I don't know- who among us has never wanted to quit working, move to a tropical paradise, and "live life to the fullest".
IfOnlyYouKnew 5y ago
The only field McAfee has contributed to is wherever they bury his charred remains. That, and getting away with murder.
- Bluestein 5y ago
  > The only field McAfee has contributed to is wherever they bury his charred remains. That's a ... tad harsh?
psyc 5y ago
Is that really a serious question? He wouldn’t be notable if not for those aspects of him that involve being “eccentric” or whatever you want to call it. A lot of software people take a dim view of anti-virus software.
let_me_ask_this 5y ago
Some misanthropes get inspired by his general lack of giving a fuck, but I personally do not think we should look up to the man. He did no good and possibly quite a bit of evil.

17 points by hownottowrite 5y ago

Sure he was a bit of a nut and perhaps a criminal but it's hard to dispute his contributions to the field.

You kind of answered it yourself. For one thing he is wanted in Belize for questioning on suspicion of murder of his neighbor, Gregory Faull. Then arrested in Spain over U.S. tax evasion charges. Should I go on?

rvz 5y ago
So Marvin Minsky got a HN black bar and it was revealed that he was part of Epstein's.... Well you can fill in the blanks. I think at that point, no one should get a HN black bar since it is an empty gesture.
- sgt101 5y ago
  Was it? Or did he go to a conference that Epstein staged? Can you be specific -the man is dead so he won't sue.
  - rvz 5y ago
    > Was it? Or did he go to a conference that Epstein staged? [Strong citation needed] Is this really the hill you want to die on? Maybe you also should ask Ghislaine Maxwell as to why Marvin Minsky was on Epstein's private jet log.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - rvz 5y ago
    My following argument and claim (That was flagged): > So Marvin Minsky got a HN black bar and it was revealed that he was part of > Epstein's.... Well you can fill in the blanks. Is still not refuted (with strong citations / evidence), after 7 hours. You are unable to challenge my claim, yet you present a baseless one with ZERO evidence, yet I get downvoted, flagged and silenced by those who can't refute my argument. Gave plenty of time for you to present some links. I thought this site was for those who can present reasonable arguments with the facts involved. Seems like I am mistaken once again by the fanatics of this site. Unsurprised and very disappointed. As for me, a very easy and well documented list of attendees in Epsteins "private jet log" which has the name and profile Minsky, Marvin: MIT professor and pioneer of artificial intelligence. documented. [0] Undeniable fact there, and he got a HN black bar, which is why I don't think anyone should have one if everyone is going to be held to such high standards. No angels are in that black book. Now the burden of proof is on YOU to prove that it was "staged". Unless you and the attendees know something that everyone else doesn't. How's that for "specific"? [0] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high-society-contacts.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-high...
    - muzani 5y ago
      I downvoted not because of what was said but because the tone was unnecessarily rude.
      - rvz 5y ago
        The evidence here stands strong and firm over the tone, emotion or reaction I'm afraid. The claim is either backed by reliable sources or not and claims can be simply dismissed if there is little to no evidence presented. In this can, the grandfather comment failed to provide any and can be instantly dismissed.

PaulHoule 5y ago

It's not clear to me that "anti-virus" was a contribution. For years the only anti-virus product that wasn't worse than the virus was Kaspersky and since things went south with Russia that's been indefensible.

h2odragon 5y ago

What were his contributions, exactly? He's been an entertainer for the last decade, before that you've got to go back some ways before he contributed... And that contribution, while personally valuable to me (and others), is of arguable social value: There's no denying the early antivirus business drove the early virus business to the point of mostly being the same people. I made money using McAfee's product for others, and so did many others. But he gave us that opportunity through selling fear, and that was not a good thing for greater society.

muzani 5y ago
Creating viruses to sell anti-virus? That sounds like something McAfee would do, ironically.
truffdog 5y ago
I don't know- who among us has never wanted to quit working, move to a tropical paradise, and "live life to the fullest".

IfOnlyYouKnew 5y ago

The only field McAfee has contributed to is wherever they bury his charred remains. That, and getting away with murder.

Bluestein 5y ago
> The only field McAfee has contributed to is wherever they bury his charred remains. That's a ... tad harsh?

psyc 5y ago

Is that really a serious question? He wouldn’t be notable if not for those aspects of him that involve being “eccentric” or whatever you want to call it. A lot of software people take a dim view of anti-virus software.

let_me_ask_this 5y ago

Some misanthropes get inspired by his general lack of giving a fuck, but I personally do not think we should look up to the man. He did no good and possibly quite a bit of evil.