
NYT Personals - twampss
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/pacer
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wallflower
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>

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andreyf
_...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.

~~~
wallflower
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://abcnews.go.com/technology/Story?id=3828525&page=1)

<http://www.nygirlofmydreams.com/>

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

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apgwoz
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.

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jgrahamc
Here's the NYT piece:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13records.html?scp=1...](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13records.html?scp=1&sq=aaron%20swartz&st=cse)

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

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biohacker42
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.

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zandorg
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.

~~~
razzmataz
>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.

~~~
Brushfire
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.

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diN0bot
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)

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thinkcomp
Speaking from some experience with the whole New York Times / government
computer security thing
([http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5DB173FF...](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5DB173FF930A25752C0A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all)),
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.

