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I must admit I don't get the appeal. What is there to learn from it? Seems like a pretty standard scenario (internet lure)?

by Tichy 14y ago

schiffern 14y ago
Not every piece of writing is an instruction manual.
- Tichy 14y ago
  On HN it tends to be, though. I think it is kind of implied by "news" which are things one didn't know before reading about them.
  - firefoxman1 14y ago
    Don't watch the "news" on TV then. It's the same stuff your grandparents watched when they were young.
    - Tichy 14y ago
      I don't
- njharman 14y ago
  No, but the best are (even/esp fiction). Retelling a tired, old, heard a million times plot requires superlative writing or at least something knew to be entertaining. (or I guess bad memory on reader's part).
npsimons 14y ago
Yeah, I felt the same. I can appreciate good writing, but from the first paragraph this screamed to me a story about how someone actually fell for one of those scams. Maybe I should be happy that it's so rare that people fall for them that it's noteworthy when someone does.
- danso 14y ago
  I think the unique thing about this story is that we don't know for sure that he "fell" for it...or, at least we don't know what he fell for, exactly. There's the simplest explanation: that he, like the archetypical older, single, naive man he seems to be, fell for an online scam. But most online scams don't end up with people in a foreign prison. The prosecutors argued successfully that he knew what he was doing, and the texts shown as evidence seem to indicate that he knew something. But how much was that something? Did he go through the scheme because he believed his online lover was real and that this was just a task to prove his worth to her (and get them some money)? Or did he know everything? That is, he needed money and he figured that, unlike all those other dumb drug mules, he could use his history of seeming like an aloof nerd and make the case that he "accidentally" smuggled drugs across the border. Layered on top of this is that we're reading this after he's been sentenced. He of course doesn't want to say anything revealing until he's out of jail, but he's retelling this crazy story even after it's failed in court. Which seems to indicate that he actually was bamboozled...and yet, what about those text messages? What about all those days in the airport, waiting for the e-ticket to Brussels that arrived too late? He never once was curious what was in the bag? Even the idiots in Dumb and Dumber looked in the bag. This story is fascinating because I'm sure anyone who knows the professor even on a casual basis could spend hours at the dinner table trying to untwist the WTFs. It's a particularly great story because there are so many loose ends, but they are ends that are loose for very understandable reasons.
  - liquidcool 14y ago
    I thought the article said he did look in the bag, it was empty and he filled it with laundry? Presumably it was in the lining, handle, etc. But I was thinking the same as you about the rest, hard to know what to believe.
    - sgfc 14y ago
      I was wary of the elderly on-line scam defence tactic. He spent a significant time on the internet and was familiar with electronic communications. And it took me only a few seconds to find out that lived in L.A. at the time of the scam. That was less than basic due diligence. His "greatest dream" was to win a Nobel by factually verifying "through experimentation" an amazing prediction. Any great scientist must balance the odds of failure against the price of failure and he seems to have forgotten basic methods during that step in this particular experiment.
205guy 14y ago
Or is the internet lure scenario so "standard" that it can be used as a defense when caught smuggling drugs?
- Tichy 14y ago
  Is that what the story suggests? My impression was that it concludes that the prof probably knew he was smuggling drugs, but was still doing it for his love interest?
ahoyhere 14y ago
If you didn't learn from an experience, chances are high the blame lies with you and not the experience. Here are some things you can easily learn from this article… "Smart" people are easily duped. Things which seem obvious at first are often less obvious -- did you originally assume he was innocent, a bumbling professor? What about after the texts? Did you believe he was innocent then? Did you WANT to? What is it that kept you reading the whole story? Something the author did? A technique you could use yourself? Etc etc etc etc. If you expect "learnings" to present themselves to you on a plate, labeled "Learnings," pre-selected and pre-digested for you, you will never become as wise as you could.
- Tichy 14y ago
  So basically everything is Hacker News?

I must admit I don't get the appeal. What is there to learn from it? Seems like a pretty standard scenario (internet lure)?

by Tichy 14y ago

I must admit I don't get the appeal. What is there to learn from it? Seems like a pretty standard scenario (internet lure)?

schiffern 14y ago

Not every piece of writing is an instruction manual.

Tichy 14y ago
On HN it tends to be, though. I think it is kind of implied by "news" which are things one didn't know before reading about them.
- firefoxman1 14y ago
  Don't watch the "news" on TV then. It's the same stuff your grandparents watched when they were young.
  - Tichy 14y ago
    I don't
njharman 14y ago
No, but the best are (even/esp fiction). Retelling a tired, old, heard a million times plot requires superlative writing or at least something knew to be entertaining. (or I guess bad memory on reader's part).

npsimons 14y ago

Yeah, I felt the same. I can appreciate good writing, but from the first paragraph this screamed to me a story about how someone actually fell for one of those scams. Maybe I should be happy that it's so rare that people fall for them that it's noteworthy when someone does.

danso 14y ago
I think the unique thing about this story is that we don't know for sure that he "fell" for it...or, at least we don't know what he fell for, exactly. There's the simplest explanation: that he, like the archetypical older, single, naive man he seems to be, fell for an online scam. But most online scams don't end up with people in a foreign prison. The prosecutors argued successfully that he knew what he was doing, and the texts shown as evidence seem to indicate that he knew something. But how much was that something? Did he go through the scheme because he believed his online lover was real and that this was just a task to prove his worth to her (and get them some money)? Or did he know everything? That is, he needed money and he figured that, unlike all those other dumb drug mules, he could use his history of seeming like an aloof nerd and make the case that he "accidentally" smuggled drugs across the border. Layered on top of this is that we're reading this after he's been sentenced. He of course doesn't want to say anything revealing until he's out of jail, but he's retelling this crazy story even after it's failed in court. Which seems to indicate that he actually was bamboozled...and yet, what about those text messages? What about all those days in the airport, waiting for the e-ticket to Brussels that arrived too late? He never once was curious what was in the bag? Even the idiots in Dumb and Dumber looked in the bag. This story is fascinating because I'm sure anyone who knows the professor even on a casual basis could spend hours at the dinner table trying to untwist the WTFs. It's a particularly great story because there are so many loose ends, but they are ends that are loose for very understandable reasons.
- liquidcool 14y ago
  I thought the article said he did look in the bag, it was empty and he filled it with laundry? Presumably it was in the lining, handle, etc. But I was thinking the same as you about the rest, hard to know what to believe.
  - sgfc 14y ago
    I was wary of the elderly on-line scam defence tactic. He spent a significant time on the internet and was familiar with electronic communications. And it took me only a few seconds to find out that lived in L.A. at the time of the scam. That was less than basic due diligence. His "greatest dream" was to win a Nobel by factually verifying "through experimentation" an amazing prediction. Any great scientist must balance the odds of failure against the price of failure and he seems to have forgotten basic methods during that step in this particular experiment.

205guy 14y ago

Or is the internet lure scenario so "standard" that it can be used as a defense when caught smuggling drugs?

Tichy 14y ago
Is that what the story suggests? My impression was that it concludes that the prof probably knew he was smuggling drugs, but was still doing it for his love interest?

ahoyhere 14y ago

If you didn't learn from an experience, chances are high the blame lies with you and not the experience. Here are some things you can easily learn from this article… "Smart" people are easily duped. Things which seem obvious at first are often less obvious -- did you originally assume he was innocent, a bumbling professor? What about after the texts? Did you believe he was innocent then? Did you WANT to? What is it that kept you reading the whole story? Something the author did? A technique you could use yourself? Etc etc etc etc. If you expect "learnings" to present themselves to you on a plate, labeled "Learnings," pre-selected and pre-digested for you, you will never become as wise as you could.

Tichy 14y ago
So basically everything is Hacker News?