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aaronsw.com

33 pointstwampss14 comments

Just another reminder that success is not transitive - e.g. he was arguably involved in RSS 1.0/Reddit's formative days (though he was fired), it does not translate to being successful at confidently meeting women.

A classic blog post of his from his Stanford days.

"Although I have not even seen her face nor had time to recognize her, somehow my body knows she is The Girl In Question (hereafter TGIQ). She turns back for just a moment to make sure her friend his behind her and while I don’t even have time to recognize her face, my heart explodes again. I later realize it must be her by going over the image in my mind and seeing her trademark stylish brown coat."

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001448

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001449

I also think that liberating government documents is not really a 'bad boy/alpha male' action the type and quality of woman I assume (maybe) he is seeking is seeking..

"It’s not even about a $200 dinner,Ms. Petrus said. It’s that he’s an alpha male, he’s aggressive, he’s a go-getter, he doesn’t take no for an answer, he’s confident, people respect him and that creates the whole mystique of who he is."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/nyregion/28daba.html

...though he was fired...

Are you referring about his leaving Condé Nast after they bought reddit? That seems more of a failure of their corporate structure than Aaron.

I also think that liberating government documents is not really a 'bad boy/alpha male' action (the type and quality of woman I assume (maybe) he is seeking) is seeking

I don't think this post is as serious as you take it to be... and although I don't really know him aside from his writings, I can't imagine Aaron liking a girl who doesn't appreciate his political work.

OK, just re-read it. It is not-caring-what-people-think/humorous. It takes a certain amount of confidence to put yourself out there. I think that might be attractive to the attractive, poly-math chick he may be seeking.

Recall the story of a guy who saw his dream girl on the train in NYC: http://abcnews.go.com/technology/Story?id=3828525&page=1

http://www.nygirlofmydreams.com/

I don't really think that Aaron was actually trying to get chicks. I think he might have had tongue firmly planted in cheek.

The only thing interesting about that was the photo. Michael Francis McElroy did a fantastic job of capturing what I would think Aaron is--a man behind a computer, in a dimly lit room.

Here's the NYT piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13records.html?scp=1...

does this guy ever do anything else but talk about himself? HN is going downhill when narcissists are now on the front page.

Dating seems like a good way to make use of having a NYT article written about you.

The thing is, if you just get out and hang out with fun people (girls) you won't need the NYT coverage.

On the other hand, if fame is your primary attractant, you might not like what gets attracted.

Is he ruining it for everyone by abusing the service?

I once requested my FBI record (I'm British). There was no file on me.

More interesting, I also asked for deceased film producer Don Simpson's file - to my surprise, he has no record.

>I once requested my FBI record (I'm British). There was no file on me.

Congratulations. There is now. They start a file on you when you request information from them.

Even if I'm not a U.S. citizen?

That's kind of worrying...

If true, I find this more amusing than anything else.

I'm considering sending a letter once a year, requesting my file. I'll randomly include odd references, and maybe the occasional Haiku. Sometimes I'll type using all caps, other times I'll hand write in my admittedly poor cursive. Should be amusing to someone 20 years from now, or if I ever commit some interstate bank robbery. Its very important to plan for potential conspiracy theories.

transparency is crucial to a free market and democracy.

that said, there are times when privacy should be considered, such as health records (as long as insurance is private) and criminal records.

fortunately, privacy isn't always at odds with transparency (eg, anonyminity)

Speaking from some experience with the whole New York Times / government computer security thing (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5DB173FF...), it sadly doesn't make for the best pickup lines. Talking about whichever federal agency (or agencies) ended up coming after you might make for a good story once you already have a date, though.

Either way, what's really important is that Congress reforms 18 USC 1030 to make it safe for people who know something about computer security to report problems without the threat of being investigated by the FBI, USAO, etc.

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