Maybe’s he’s involved with murder. Maybe not.
Maybe he’s moved to Montreal, after being evicted from his home in the US northwest. Maybe not.
Maybe the software company he founded provided an invaluable product. Maybe not.
The mystery and controversy that surrounds John McAfee does not appear in any danger of disappearing. Nor does the man himself, for now!
In fact, he’s scheduled to appear in Toronto, at the annual Digital Media Summit, to be held May, 2014.
Software developer John McAfee’s travel writings and suggestions are often accompanied by iconic and somewhat foreboding imagery.
And while McAfee’s infamous life of eccentricity and scrutiny may not be the main topic of his presentation, his latest tech initiative will keep the conversation and controversy alive, for sure.
McAfee is slated to talk about Future Tense Central, a kind of technology incubator where a digital device to make virtual users anonymous and untraceable is being developed.
The so-called ‘D-Central’ gadget is said to enable encrypted connections and communications among users on an Internet that is impossible to hack, and so is great at thwarting known and unknown surveillance activities.
The $100 gadget has yet to appear on shelves, and it is somewhat similar in description to other strategies and platforms for securing online communications; D-Central builds upon ideas of localized, de-centralized wireless networks, and using them to create a kind of parallel Internet where safety and security are more robustly safeguarded.
McAfee is best known in and out of Silicon Valley as the founder of McAfee Associates, and for the computer antivirus that was suppose to keep users safeguarded, too.
The company was later sold to Intel $7.68 billion.
Earlier this year, McAfee posted a fun video on YouTube about how to uninstall McAfee Anti-Virus. He has been quoted as saying “the product was not of paramount importance” (in preventing computer diseases) and that he used “paranoia” to help market the product and increase its sales.
An interesting job offer from high tech inventor and entrepreneur, John McAfee.
The same marketing strategy could surely be used today to attract and entice those who feel online surveillance has moved beyond the pale, and who are looking for a more secure way to communicate online.
Perhaps old-fashioned media – books and movies — are the best way to share a story these days (before they are inevitably posted online): in fact, a Montreal-based film and TV production company has secured the rights to McAfee’s life story, currently being worked on under the title No Domain.
Impact Future Media actually says it intends to license, publish or develop the McAfee project across multiple platforms, including film, print, television and digital media.
“We are very excited about working with John McAfee on this initiative,” said François Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Impact Future Media, based in Montreal, said in a statement.
McAfee’s story – whether he tells it at the Summit, or Garcia captures it on film – should include not only references to anti virus software and Caribbean retreats, but also to his first job as a programmer for NASA; the first company he founded, called Tribal Voice, and one of world’s first instant messaging programs, and his pioneering work on the first voice recognition software.
He has also dabbled in yoga, ultra light aircraft and the production of all natural antibiotics and herbal medications, which he may describe during his talk in Toronto.
Or maybe not.
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submitted by Lee Rickwood
