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So, I went to college with Ross. He was a year ahead of me. I didn't know him personally, but several of my friends did. I had a few friends in college (some o
by amyjess 12y ago
So, I went to college with Ross. He was a year ahead of me.
I didn't know him personally, but several of my friends did. I had a few friends in college (some of whom I still talk to) who were good friends with him. When he got arrested, I looked up his Facebook page, and I found we have 5 mutual friends listed (and I know a couple of others who knew him but didn't have him on FB). Also, when he was arrested, my then-officemate looked him up, and it turns out he met Ross at a party once and had a conversation with him (though they didn't know each other beyond that). Small world.
That stunned me, but what stunned me more was when I found out Richard Bates did most of the technical work. I knew Richard. We were in a few of the same clubs, we had a class or two, we hung out in the same friend groups, and we were almost friends for a while. Richard was a... peculiar person. He had no people skills whatsoever, and he managed to be both shy and condescending at the same time. He treated people horribly. I ended up having a falling out with him in my senior year after he cut me out of his life for trying to patch things up between him and one of my best friends, who he suddenly cut out of his life with no explanation whatsoever (that is, Richard cut my friend out of his life). IMO, he wasn't a good person. Certain... nicknames for him based on his name began floating around as people got fed up with how he treated them. I'm still absolutely gobsmacked that this guy I personally knew and disliked built the Silk Road of all things. It's still hard for me to believe (and, yes, I know for a fact that this is the same Richard Bates because his email address was published in the trial, and I recognize it as his).
UTD was a special place.
(For the record, I changed my name last year, and I seriously doubt Richard knows my new name. I have to wonder if he'll read this and think "who the hell is this person?", because there's nothing about my username here, which is based off my new name IRL, that he'll recognize.)
- gwern 12y ago> That stunned me, but what stunned me more was when I found out Richard Bates did most of the technical work. 'Most' is a gross exaggeration. Bates helped troubleshoot a few problems by fielding some questions. The trial transcripts and exhibits don't show he wrote any, much less 'most', of the SR1-related code; he had so little contribution that he had to be told what the project was by Ross. Other people like 'Variety Jones' or especially the hired coder 'Smedley' contributed way more. (They just managed to avoid their real names coming up, as far as we know, and avoided lying to federal agents.)
- amyjess 12y agoFrom what I rememeber of the trial, Ross wrote the first version himself and then after he told Richard what it was, Richard ended up rewriting the whole thing because Ross's code was godawful.
- celticninja 12y agoGwern probably followed the trial a lot more closely than you did.
- gwern 12y agoNo. That was Variety Jones, I believe, and it's unclear to what extent VJ wrote it himself or just pointed out all the problems and code-reviewed the new version; some of the journal entries points to the latter (Ross doing it himself).
- celticninja 12y agoor he would just have to think which of the people he once knew in college has had a sex change.
- pavel_lishin 12y agoI knew them vaguely as well, sharing some friends. (I'd wager we've probably met in real life at UTD a few times.) Was Richard the guy who went as a flasher at a Halloween party? Because every time I read about him testifying in court, I'm imagining him doing so in that costume, which was ... graphic.
- amyjess 12y agoOh, we did. I recognize your name. I remember hanging out with you at AFS (I miss the Abbey...). And yeah, that was Richard. I was there. Oh god, that floppy dildo hanging out of those briefs. There are probably still pictures floating around on Facebook...
- fistofjohnwayne 12y agoUTD forever.
- pavel_lishin 12y agoWell, I mean, if you want to, I guess. I went ahead and graduated.
- abawany 12y agoI never knew UTD had such goings-on, probably because I was just an evening student who attended business classes there :) (FYI: I have been a developer most of my life - just wanted to broaden my horizons re. business.) I think I also know a Richard Bates from UTD, as a co-worker (but I am not real sure that it is the same person so I won't be too specific as to company and etc.). I found this Richard Bates to be a hard worker who was detail oriented and focused on doing the right thing.
- pavel_lishin 12y agoYeah, there was a fair amount of stuff happening at UTD when I was there - it was easy to miss if you didn't live on campus, or if you only attended in the evenings. Sorry you missed out on the fun! Although, to be fair, some of that 'fun" was actually pretty regrettable in hindsight. But them's part of learnin'. I didn't know Richard well, but nothing I learned about him made him seem like he would be a bad employee, except I guess the possible personality clash, which can be true of anyone.
- tindrlabs 12y agoRoss lived above me my Freshman year. UTD was a special place.
- tindrlabs 12y agoI actually remember him crawling from our porch up to his apartment because the door was locked. They also had a recliner with a bong built into it.