Julian Assange's Online Dating Profile Leaked 334
Ponca City writes "The Telegraph reports that an online dating profile created by Julian Assange in 2006 has been unearthed from OKCupid disclosing that the WikiLeaks editor sought 'spirited, erotic' women 'from countries that have sustained political turmoil.' Writing under the pseudonym of British science fiction author Harry Harrison, Assange described himself as a 'passionate, and often pig headed activist intellectual.' Assange said he was seeking a 'siren for [a] love affair, children and occasional criminal conspiracy' adding that he was 'directing a consuming, dangerous human rights project which is, as you might expect, male dominated' and added enigmatically: 'I am DANGER, ACHTUNG.' Among Assange's listed interests were the 'structure of reality' and 'chopping up human brains' – although he added the caveat '(neuroscience background)' lest the latter put off potential admirers. 'I like women from countries that have sustained political turmoil,' Assange wrote. 'Western culture seems to forge women that are valueless and inane. OK. Not only women!'"
Re:And This Is What Happens (Score:5, Informative)
And moreover, he's unaware that for all his leaks, at least as far as government leaks are concerned, it's all for not. What's going to change? Security protocols and the methods by which they select who has access to data, where and when.
No, that is precisely his goal.
Ultimately wikileaks is not about leaking information. It's about fighting conspiracies. Back in 2006 Assange wrote some essays [cryptome.org] that explain the motivation for the creation of wikileaks. Assange's operational plan is a form of jiu-jitsu.
He has two core assumptions. First is that authoritarian organisations need secrecy to thrive. Second is that secrecy is a barrier to effective communication. He believes that demonstrating leaks to an authoritarian organisation will cause it to increase its secrecy. Pushed far enough, that secrecy makes the organisation cumbersome and inflexible, allowing opponents to easily get inside its OODA loop. [wikimedia.org] The end result is that the organisation must choose between curbing its authoritarian tendencies or collapse.
You may not agree with his assessments but to say he's unaware of the kind of response wikileaks will provoke is just a total misread of the situation. Understandable since so little of the news coverage bothers to do any better, but still totally off the mark.