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Comment by ryanwaggoner | Hacker News Reader

I'm no spy, but that doesn't look anything like a bugging device. It looks like a large transformer (what kind of bug needs a 20-60W transformer??) and a crappy wiring job. It looks like maybe wiring for lights for a vanity mirror in the bathroom. I think the bottom of the image is a mirror reflecting a roll of toilet paper.

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Agreed. So that raises the possibility he may have a paranoid schizophrenic episode, which would certainly explain his disappearance. Hopefully he hasn't really left his apartment and is just hiding. Worst case, he is drifting aimlessly around the city as a homeless person.

Does he have a record of schizophrenia? And how far back does that record extend?

The peak age range for schizophrenia onset in men is teens through early 30s, it would not be unusual at Dancho's age to have not had a history of symptoms. If he has indeed become schizophrenic.

It might be worth pointing out that Dancho is far more intelligent and more educated than average, and so perhaps better able to moderate schizophrenia. Its symptoms may appear more subtle to observers, being filtered through a more rational intellect, which might make it more difficult to spot.

All of this is speculation of course and not terribly helpful without more information on Dancho's whereabouts and activities. I hope he's ok.

Assuming he is his own worst enemy here, the actual worst case is probably suicide. Confused and drifting as a homeless person is perhaps a couple of rungs up the ladder.

It is obviously low-voltage halogen downlights, to the extent that this kid is either a paranoid schizophrenic or is trolling everybody.

I scanned through his blog (which is a good read) and couldn't find anything that somebody would kill him or make him disappear over.

I would be more interested in knowing why it took ZDNet 6 months to report one of their bloggers missing?

Could it possibly be a Steganography?

If it is it would explain what to use his PGP key for.

The images are not originals. I think ZDNet scanned original photos

Yeah, agreed. I've seen bathroom and bedroom wiring all like this through Eastern Europe and South East Asia. Not the usual super clean lines and junction boxes like in regulation constrained countries. The transformer looks like a halogen step down transformer providing 11.5V at almost 5 amps. That's a crazy amount of juice for a bug. Which would operate on the 3V or less range and have a current draw in the milliamp range.

Also there is no way to corroborate if this letter is in good faith. This could be anyone sending this letter. It could be complete fabrication designed to send a "hes gone crazy" message.

I find this whole situation suspicious.

It's worth noting that Dancho says nothing about it being a bugging device, that's purely ZDnet's editorial.

As others have said, it's certainly not a bug in any obvious sense. There is some discussion in the dupe thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2105439) about the possibility of the image having some hidden meaning.

It's quite possibly a script kiddie successfully trolling the world, or a serious professional suffering some sort of psychotic break, or there may actually be something sinister going on. Better safe than sorry, I guess - I'm not entirely sure what to do with this information though besides continuing to raise awareness.

I would think that a bugging device would be much more discreet. :) That was a pretty ugly job. Must be something more to it.

A transformer is not a bad place to hide a bug. That's assuming there was a transformer originally and it was just swapped for a bugged version.

The more relevant question is why bug the bathroom?

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