John McAfee dies in Spanish prison following extradition order to US

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 54
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    Hard to know what the truth is.  However, suffice it to say, we need LESS government in our lives and less taxation and spending by government so we can have MORE freedoms.  
    He writes, using the government-developed and government-subsidised digital communications network. 
    right_said_frednadrielsconosciutoretrogustoauxiomknelsondrdavidroundaboutnowdysamoriaargonaut
  • Reply 22 of 54
    qwerty52qwerty52 Posts: 367member
    Beats said:
    DAalseth said:
    Beats said:
    R.I.P.
    This man’s virus alerts nagged all Windows machines across the world.
    I don't know about early on, it might have been good at one time.  When I was doing IT support though MacAfee AntiVirus was a plague. It was one of the thinks we nuked new machines to get rid of.

    When I remember Windows, I remember McAfee always nagging about software updates, security risks and viruses. I remember every Windows machine having it (pre?) installed.

    Yes, after many years Atari, I remember my first Windows PC - “Gateway”.
    McAfee was even a selling point: “ One year free abonnement of McAfee antivirus software “
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 23 of 54
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    petri said:
    FWIW, he came out with a social media post late last year (edit: maybe in 2019 actually) showing a tattoo spelled “whackd”, I think, and warning ppl that he would never commit suicide, so if he mysteriously died of suicide, it wasn’t him. Pretty strange stuff. To his credit, he seemed to have called it. Makes me more curious about whatever he was getting into. I didn’t follow him so I’m not really sure. 
    Did he “call it” or was he cornered, suffering paranoid delusions and reacting publicly to his own private thoughts of suicide?  Governments don’t kill people for tax evasion.  
    From his messages on twitter it sounded more like prison wasn't how he wanted to spend the rest of his life and he probably wanted to leave an anti-government sentiment behind:













    https://twitter.com/officialmcafee

    It's an interesting twitter feed to read through, there are some insightful messages. He was strongly opposed to paying income taxes and refused to file his returns:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9718647/The-tax-evasion-securities-fraud-charges-against-John-McAfee-killed-himself.html

    He invested in cryptocurrency to avoid taxes and likely has millions in crypto somewhere. There's something strange about libertarian types who would rather go to prison and ultimately die than pay taxes. In his tweets, he even criticized the super-rich from gaining so much wealth during the pandemic while the poorer classes suffered.



    Being greedy is not paying taxes, which goes to support people worse off, supporting right-wing interests against the environment, against inclusion, promoting greed and self-interest. This seems to be lost on libertarians who think that looking after themselves ahead of everyone else means a better world for everyone and who would rather give up their life than give up any of their possessions.
    NumNutsavon b7qwerty52sconosciutoMplsPretrogustouraharaCraig_Mackauxiodrdavid
  • Reply 24 of 54
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    Marvin said:
    Being greedy is not paying taxes, which goes to support people worse off, supporting right-wing interests against the environment, against inclusion, promoting greed and self-interest. This seems to be lost on libertarians who think that looking after themselves ahead of everyone else means a better world for everyone and who would rather give up their life than give up any of their possessions.
    This is the first time I've noticed a moderator expressing political views. Is this the view of all AI staff?
    firelockjust cruisinwatto_cobra
  • Reply 25 of 54
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Hard to know what the truth is.  However, suffice it to say, we need LESS government in our lives and less taxation and spending by government so we can have MORE freedoms.  
    How does one block a poster of off-topic rants on AI these days?
    sconosciutodewmemknelsondrdaviddysamoriaargonautkurai_kagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 26 of 54
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,622member
    Marvin said:
    Being greedy is not paying taxes, which goes to support people worse off, supporting right-wing interests against the environment, against inclusion, promoting greed and self-interest. This seems to be lost on libertarians who think that looking after themselves ahead of everyone else means a better world for everyone and who would rather give up their life than give up any of their possessions.
    This is the first time I've noticed a moderator expressing political views. Is this the view of all AI staff?
    That's irrelevant. He has many hats. Replying to a comment in this way is clearly his personal opinion and doesn't have to tie in with anyone else's view IMO. 
    edited June 2021 sconosciutoMplsPmuthuk_vanalingamdrdaviddysamoriaargonautkurai_kage
  • Reply 27 of 54
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Hard to know what the truth is.  However, suffice it to say, we need LESS government in our lives and less taxation and spending by government so we can have MORE freedoms.  
    Which has exactly NOTHING to do with this article. 
    tomasulu said:
    I have never gotten any virus on any of my computers the last 20 years. Not sure why people would spend money on anti virus software. 
    You've been lucky. Or your system is massively infected, is mining crypto in the background, logging every keystroke, and sending all your personal information to who knows where. I have Sophos on all my systems and it regularly intercepts malicious packages.  
    sconosciutoMplsPuraharadysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 28 of 54
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    qwerty52 said:
    Beats said:
    DAalseth said:
    Beats said:
    R.I.P.
    This man’s virus alerts nagged all Windows machines across the world.
    I don't know about early on, it might have been good at one time.  When I was doing IT support though MacAfee AntiVirus was a plague. It was one of the thinks we nuked new machines to get rid of.

    When I remember Windows, I remember McAfee always nagging about software updates, security risks and viruses. I remember every Windows machine having it (pre?) installed.

    Yes, after many years Atari, I remember my first Windows PC - “Gateway”.
    McAfee was even a selling point: “ One year free abonnement of McAfee antivirus software “
    I remember Gateway PCs and their black and white "cow print" boxes. We used them a lot for a few years at work. 
    watto_cobraqwerty52
  • Reply 29 of 54
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    In another article his lawyer portrayed him as something as a martyr being unfairly persecuted by the government. No one likes paying taxes, but they are required by law. McAfee may have railed against the government and spouted conspiracy theories, but didn't pay his taxes (and bragged about it,) meaning he was a criminal, plain and simple.  I fail to see how prosecuting tax evasion qualifies as persecution. As someone who pays his taxes, I'm all for prosecuting those who place an additional burdon on the rest of us by not paying.
    edited June 2021 avon b7uraharamuthuk_vanalingamdrdaviddysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 30 of 54
    uraharaurahara Posts: 733member
    tomasulu said:
    I have never gotten any virus on any of my computers the last 20 years. Not sure why people would spend money on anti virus software. 
    How do you know?
    You seem to be very intelligent. 
     Could you please explain? So that we could follow the same procedures as you did and save some money. 
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 31 of 54
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Marvin said:

    Being greedy is not paying taxes, which goes to support people worse off, supporting right-wing interests against the environment, against inclusion, promoting greed and self-interest. This seems to be lost on libertarians who think that looking after themselves ahead of everyone else means a better world for everyone and who would rather give up their life than give up any of their possessions.
    Their argument against that viewpoint is that governments are more corrupt than private companies.  Which, like all blanket oversimplification statements, can be true in some situations and false in others.  My argument is that a lot of government corruption comes directly from those private interests trying to gain an upper hand/competitive advantage (e.g. lobbying and party sponsorship).  So, in essence, you're saying: "The government is corrupt, so don't pay taxes and instead allow the money to go to private interests which are often the source of that corruption".

    Wasn't MacAfee accused at one point of actually creating some of the viruses that the software he was selling was protecting against?  I seem to remember hearing that in the mid 90s.
    edited June 2021 crowleyDAalsethwatto_cobra
  • Reply 32 of 54
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Marvin said:
    Being greedy is not paying taxes, which goes to support people worse off, supporting right-wing interests against the environment, against inclusion, promoting greed and self-interest. This seems to be lost on libertarians who think that looking after themselves ahead of everyone else means a better world for everyone and who would rather give up their life than give up any of their possessions.
    This is the first time I've noticed a moderator expressing political views. Is this the view of all AI staff?
    What, you think they had a group chat to decide what the AI collective position on income taxation is?

    Obviously it's a personal opinion, don't ask stupid questions.
    muthuk_vanalingamdrdavidroundaboutnowdysamoriaMplsPTRAG
  • Reply 33 of 54
    It seems that John Mc Afee had many strange relationships, starting with his new wife: https://wagcenter.com/entrepreneur-wags/janice-mcafee-5-facts-about-john-mcafees-wife/

    We will never know the truth. 
    macplusplusdrdavidwatto_cobra
  • Reply 34 of 54
    jeffharrisjeffharris Posts: 776member
    jdw said:
    Boo Hoo.
    We ALL die. So what?

    Curious if that is what you publicly declare at the funerals of your own loved ones.  If it is, may I suggest those two lines as the perfect inscription for your own tombstone.  It would certainly make your stone the most popular in the cemetery! :-) 
    I don't go to funerals. They're barbaric.
  • Reply 35 of 54
    dk49dk49 Posts: 267member
    Why is he called "software mogul"? I mean ok he created the antivirus software, but there are loads of other people who have created more popular, more impactful softwares. But I have never seen the term "software mogul" associated with any of them. So why attach that the term to this guy? Not against him or anything like that, but just curious.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 36 of 54
    XedXed Posts: 2,519member
    jdw said:
    Boo Hoo.
    We ALL die. So what?

    Curious if that is what you publicly declare at the funerals of your own loved ones.  If it is, may I suggest those two lines as the perfect inscription for your own tombstone.  It would certainly make your stone the most popular in the cemetery! :-) 
    I don't go to funerals. They're barbaric.
    So if/when your mother/father died you would just tell everyone to fuck off for being barbaric when they held a service to bereave the loss of a loved one? Wow!
    edited June 2021 DAalsethmuthuk_vanalingamdocno42drdaviddysamoriaMplsPwatto_cobra
  • Reply 37 of 54
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    tomasulu said:
    I have never gotten any virus on any of my computers the last 20 years. Not sure why people would spend money on anti virus software. 
    When I did run AV software all it ever found were Windows executables. The term ‘virus’ is grossly misunderstood by the general public. If anything goes wonky on their computers they immediately scream VIRUS! Malware they download and install themselves is labeled ‘virus’ every time. and they will NOT accept the fact that they allowed it to be installed. Oh no, not me, I didn't install that. I was hacked.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 38 of 54
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    jdw said:
    Is he REALLY dead? He had a lot of money…. 
    No doubt they have the same conversations at every Coroner's office...

    Q: Is this guy REALLY dead?
    A: Yes. He didn't have much money.
    You completely missed the point. He didn’t want to be extradited. He might have paid someone or many people to fake his death to avoid extradition. 
    Oh god almighty, here we go already with the conspiracy theorist wackos. McAfee isn’t dead. He faked his death and is now living on some island with Elvis, Hitler, and Tupac.
    dysamoriaDAalsethjdw
  • Reply 39 of 54
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    iadlib said:
    Another crazy rich person 🥸
    Yeah. Excessive wealth brought on by some skill and a lot of luck teaches all the wrong lessons to people who are vulnerable to ego inflation and logical fallacy. The same trend of human frailty is well observed in fandom (actors, music acts, etc).
    StrangeDaysargonaut
  • Reply 40 of 54
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Boo Hoo.

    We ALL die. So what?
    He was notable because of both computer industry fame and controversy. So, news.

    No matter what kind of a nutbag McAfee was, your comment says something about YOU.

    Suicide should be a right (otherwise what’s the point in the freedom to live?), but that doesn’t make suicide a casual thing. The guy had problems (self-inflicted, as they may have been after he attained some money and influence), and now he’s dead. It should be instructive, at the very least, about what wealth and ego does to people.

    We can question the taste of joking about tax evasion via suicide (I made the joke myself), but somehow your comment feels worse because it seems like a callousness toward humanity itself. Have you attended a funeral lately?
    argonautmuthuk_vanalingam
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