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Is anyone else interested in Usenet kooks? I mostly read newsgroups related to computers (comp.theory, comp.lang.*) and cryptography (sci.crypt). I'm not sure if other groups are the same but it seems these topics attract a lot of hardcore delusionals and schizophrenics. Usually, these types have a novel understanding of mathematics that allows them to disprove some fundamental proof or other. Some examples:
Peter Olcott (a/k/a P.O., Olcott, etc.):
Olcott believes he has created novel software for Microsoft Windows on Intel x86 processors that disproves Turing's proof by accurately deciding if any program halts. He posts about this endlessly because he feels he needs "Software Engineers" to verify the validity of his result. He has long multithread arguments with an entourage of people who, I assume, are also delusional about whether or not his work is correct. Anything posted to comp.theory seems to get derailed by Olcott and his entourage of detractors.
Wij:
One of Olcott's occasional detractors on comp.theory. Wij posts frequently about an alternate mathematical system he is developing based on a misunderstanding of the term "real number". He also misunderstands limits and has redefined infinity. Wij believes that 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 < 1.
Phillip White (a/k/a B.H.):
Phillip is a semi-medicated schizophrenic. He believes that CVS Pharmacy, the CIA, and his parents are out to get him. Phillip posts frequently about his many patentable ideas, politics, and his imprisonment by the CIA. He believes the CIA is working to undermine him by subtly altering his environment (e.g., by removing songs from his iPod), convincing his caretakers to harm him (e.g., pharmacists, psychiatrists, and his mother), and threatening anyone who would do business with him (e.g., patent lawyers). Phillip knows that someday he will be able to make billions of dollars off of his inventions (one such invention is a C compiler that can optimize any algorithm to run in linear time). He seems to believe that comp.theory is his personal blog. He dislikes being called Phil. Otherwise, he's a nice guy.
Austin O'Byrne (a/k/a A.O.B., Adacrypt):
Austin used to be a frequent poster on sci.crypt. He believes that he has developed an unbreakable encryption scheme in the Ada programming language. He has gone through a number of schemes to prove this but, as far as I'm aware, they are all forms of what he calls "Vector Cryptography". Austin doesn't understand how computers represent data and so his encryption programs inevitably only handle 7-bit ASCII text. Additionally, Austin believes that the conventional 8-bit byte is an NSA scheme designed to weaken cryptography. He has had at least two terrible websites (adacrypt.com and adacrypt.co.uk) and was trying to sell his cryptography software on it.
Do you read any newsgroups? If you do: do they attract any good kooks?
Peter Olcott (a/k/a P.O., Olcott, etc.):
Olcott believes he has created novel software for Microsoft Windows on Intel x86 processors that disproves Turing's proof by accurately deciding if any program halts. He posts about this endlessly because he feels he needs "Software Engineers" to verify the validity of his result. He has long multithread arguments with an entourage of people who, I assume, are also delusional about whether or not his work is correct. Anything posted to comp.theory seems to get derailed by Olcott and his entourage of detractors.
Wij:
One of Olcott's occasional detractors on comp.theory. Wij posts frequently about an alternate mathematical system he is developing based on a misunderstanding of the term "real number". He also misunderstands limits and has redefined infinity. Wij believes that 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 < 1.
Phillip White (a/k/a B.H.):
Phillip is a semi-medicated schizophrenic. He believes that CVS Pharmacy, the CIA, and his parents are out to get him. Phillip posts frequently about his many patentable ideas, politics, and his imprisonment by the CIA. He believes the CIA is working to undermine him by subtly altering his environment (e.g., by removing songs from his iPod), convincing his caretakers to harm him (e.g., pharmacists, psychiatrists, and his mother), and threatening anyone who would do business with him (e.g., patent lawyers). Phillip knows that someday he will be able to make billions of dollars off of his inventions (one such invention is a C compiler that can optimize any algorithm to run in linear time). He seems to believe that comp.theory is his personal blog. He dislikes being called Phil. Otherwise, he's a nice guy.
Austin O'Byrne (a/k/a A.O.B., Adacrypt):
Austin used to be a frequent poster on sci.crypt. He believes that he has developed an unbreakable encryption scheme in the Ada programming language. He has gone through a number of schemes to prove this but, as far as I'm aware, they are all forms of what he calls "Vector Cryptography". Austin doesn't understand how computers represent data and so his encryption programs inevitably only handle 7-bit ASCII text. Additionally, Austin believes that the conventional 8-bit byte is an NSA scheme designed to weaken cryptography. He has had at least two terrible websites (adacrypt.com and adacrypt.co.uk) and was trying to sell his cryptography software on it.
Do you read any newsgroups? If you do: do they attract any good kooks?
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