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Alum Kills Over $58,000 in PC Gear With 'USB Killer' Device
The student in question is Vishwanath Akuthota. He graduated from [The College of St. Rose] in Albany, New York back in 2017. Yet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Akuthota "admitted that he intentionally destroyed the computers and recorded himself doing so using his iPhone, including making statements such as 'I'm going to kill this guy' before inserting the USB Killer into a computer's USB port." The video hasn't been published.
Akuthota also recognized that he caused more than $58,000 in damage to The College of St. Rose and has agreed to pay back that amount to the school. (And here we thought people only had to pay that kind of money for their alma mater when their student loans come due.) The DoJ said he "faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years" after sentencing.
Best advertising ever for USB Killer?
Also at The Verge.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Monday April 22 2019, @06:35AM (3 children)
Ha? When did I suggest that he was gay/straight? Why are you assuming all "hacktivist SJW feminist Millennia native speaker of a Indo-European declined language" that hopes to defy "defy patriarchal gender definitions" are gay? I'm pretty sure most are actually straight. I'm a little gray in the head but I certainly don't find man attractive in any way...
Survivor's bias. You don't engage in my other dozen or so threads on non-gender issues so you only know me for my sex-related jokes. To others I'm a racist; To others, a communist Jew hippy foreigner traitor. I can't really hold it against you. After all, if you knew me you'd realize I'm too much of a boring and stupid jackass to be anything but an old straight guy. Then again, you'd also realize when you're as misanthropic as me you end up using right-wing rhetoric to express radical left-wing anarchistic politics and then what would we have to talk about?
For the sake of simplicity and expediency, just assume everything I say or do is to undermine identity politics of all types and causes. If they're racists, I'll troll them. If they champion gay rights, I'll troll them. If they claim liberal views, I'll call them hippies. If they call for arms, I'll call them cowards.
In essence, I burn flags. Mine included. A pacifistic arm-chair Joker if you will. Just keep modding me troll and move on. I'd do the same if I didn't object to the moderation system as a principle.
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(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 22 2019, @10:52PM (2 children)
Oh Madokami, another permabulating nihilist...spare us the self-righteous justification and just admit you like to troll.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday April 23 2019, @06:01AM (1 child)
But I'm not a nihilist. Nihilists deny causes. I deny the flags people raise when they say they're representing one cause or the next. All those pretty ideals crumble to dust as soon as there's an organization and leader involved. And it's exactly what I tried showing here: You have this guy who destroys someone else's property for no declared ideology. Now, comes the leagues of reporters, each painting the incident their own colors:
1. The racists draw attention to him being a foreigner.
2. The anti-academia corporation draw attention to him being an alumnus.
3. The anti-hackers focus on the usb-killer.
4. The DOJ is showing how they're essential and doing their jobs.
5. The judge sentences too many years to show they're "tough on crime".
...
So, if you have all these interest group working against justice to advance their own gains, why not throw a little wrench in their cogwheel of institutionalized corruption and attach all manner of conflicting ideologies? Now the guy is a democrat hacktivist... Now he's a right wing freedom fighter... Now he's young millennia struggling to find a job and taking it out on the school... Now you charge him with rape... Now you charge him with treason... They do it to establish their status at everyone's else expense. I do it to screw up their agenda at their expense.
But sure, when you're at the opposite end, demonizing the people who object to your methods saying "you just like to see the world burn" / "just admit you like to troll" is about the best way to deal with it without addressing the elephant in the room. And yeah, I'm a coward that wouldn't ever do this sort of things in real life. Then again, strip the political power and security detail off a politician and have them march to their opposition's camps while hoisting their banners and see how they defend themselves while spewing their lies.
But yeah. I won't object to a troll mod. The action itself is trolling cause or otherwise.
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(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday April 23 2019, @10:18PM
Trolling has its place, though I think what you're speaking of here is best described as "Bayesian poisoning." Just make sure that you have a good and moral reason for throwing that monkey wrench in the gears before you do it; if all you have is "I don't like their tone" or even "all [of what I deem to be] identity politics sucks, I'mma break it," you may end up causing far more harm than you prevent...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...