Put your tin hats on ....

[macdoc]

What an odd story

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/afbddb44 ... z2LCQ1Ojwk

[cronus]

Knowing you should bail out of a dodgy situation and doing it can make the difference between life and death.

[pErvinalia]

wtfl;dr




(way too fucking long; didn't read)...

[Seth]

What's odd about it? He got roped into working against the US and for the Chinese, made the mistake of expressing his concerns, which triggered the Chinese to murder him. Singapore police and government are probably in on it too, given how much money Singapore gets from China.

It's industrial espionage and murder. Nothing strange about it at all. Perfectly predictable. So predictable that it wouldn't even make a good screenplay or novel.

Moral: Don't work for the fucking Chinese Communists. Derp.

[Thinking Aloud]

To summarise:

All-American kid working for hi-tech company in Singapore. Company works in conjunction with Chinese tech company. Kid starts to worry that his project is compromising the security of the US and is getting stressed about it. Kid quits job and is about to move back to the US. Has his farewell lunch with colleagues, and is in the process of selling his stuff pre-move. Same day (or soon after) kid is discovered hanged in his apartment by girlfriend, with uncharacteristic suicide notes on computer. When family arrive from US, apartment shows no signs of the suicide, no sign of police investigation, except that his computers have gone. Family clean up a bit and take a few bits and pieces home. One of these is a hard-drive containing a copy of his work, which is of military interest according to experts. Singapore police say very little. Employer says nothing. Chinese tech company won't comment. FBI prevented from getting involved. Lots of stuff about technology. Cursory inspection of dead body suggests possibly not suicide. Seven months later, the Singapore police decide they want to interview his neighbours.

[cronus]

One of his neighbors arrested and discovered hanging in his cell the next day...case closed.

[Rum]

It is rare, it seems, for these sorts of stories to actually come to light. It does seem to be an extraordinarily poor cover up though.

[pErvinalia]

The only problem I have with this is the fact that the conspirators missed the external hard drive. All great conspiracy theories always seem to rely on some inconceivable mistake. I wouldn't doubt that the general thesis here could and does happen. But in this case, what is the explanation for the missed hard drive?

[cronus]

The only problem I have with this is the fact that the conspirators missed the external hard drive. All great conspiracy theories always seem to rely on some inconceivable mistake. I wouldn't doubt that the general thesis here could and does happen. But in this case, what is the explanation for the missed hard drive?

Passport drives are still relatively new, easily overlooked.

[pErvinalia]

bollox. They're at least 5+ years old. I don't buy it.

[cronus]

bollox. They're at least 5+ years old. I don't buy it.

Yes technology wise, the style has improved recently so they look like passports.

[pErvinalia]

bollocks.

[cronus]

bollocks.

OK. So what's your alternative explanation then?

[pErvinalia]

It's a beat up? I don't need an alternative explanation to anything. Conspiracy theorists are the ones who need to explain. If this guy was working on technology that important that it would require his murder and a cover up, do you think they'd send in some Luddite boob who couldn't identify a common external hard drive? Sure, it could have happened that way, but what's more likely?

[cronus]

It's a beat up? I don't need an alternative explanation to anything. Conspiracy theorists are the ones who need to explain. If this guy was working on technology that important that it would require his murder and a cover up, do you think they'd send in some Luddite boob who couldn't identify a common external hard drive? Sure, it could have happened that way, but what's more likely?

Yes, but even hit squads and detectives rise to their natural level of incompetence according to The Peter Principle.