Thread by @vmyths

@taco_x86 As a matter of fact I do! You're an "OG" CVMhp / Vmyths reader; you'll probably remember the column where I explained my Bacon Number to Roger Ebert is exactly 1:

https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1432518630454042624

@taco_x86 I continued conversing w/ Roger Ebert on CompuServe in the '80s & '90s. After his tirade re: "Highlander 2," I emailed him to explain how it broke the timeline for the sword Ramírez wielded. "Another reason to hate the movie," he replied! [paraphrased]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlande…

@taco_x86 The original "CVMhp" website followed a ... loose interpretation of what it means to be a critic.

Things changed in 1999 when Denise's career took her to Iowa. "As a consolation, why don't you take CVMhp to a new level? Make it profitable."

As if I needed a consolation prize 😃

@taco_x86 That's when @egrobichaud entered the picture. It was his vision of "Siskel & Ebert" that trumped my idea of a public library's vertical file.

I used my-- uh, I don't want to call it my "salary" (for IRS reasons iykwim 😉 to employ three more critics.

@taco_x86 @egrobichaud Am I the greatest critic who ever lived. "No." I trumpet myself as "one of the two most-feared critics in the antivirus industry."

But the record shows I was the *first* full-time salaried critic of the global cybersecurity industrial complex. And boy did they fear me! 😈

@taco_x86 @egrobichaud It was @Symantec's then-CTO, Enrique Salem, who in early 1998 told me I could move stock prices in the #antivirus industry. Which made sense -- I was getting calls from one stock broker or another pretty much every week back then.

https://twitter.com/vmyths/status/1245749186089431042

@taco_x86 @egrobichaud @symantec A true industry critic is NOT some wonk who works in the industry and blogs his opinions, e.g. @RobertMLee.

A true industry critic is NOT some gov't wonk who oversees gov't involvement in the industry and writes occasional op-eds for a prestigious news organ. e.g. @ncdinglis.

@taco_x86 A true industry critic *can* rise up from their previous employment, e.g. @gcluley (if he ever truly wished to be such).

With the right anonymization, a true industry critic *can* opine with strength from inside The System they critique, e.g. @SwiftOnSecurity and @Doctrine_Man.

@taco_x86 Yet in the final analysis, a #critic needs a certain willpower. They need a certain passion to fight when everyone is calling for unity.

And (sigh) they need to realize that sometimes their willpower & passion to critique an industry will lead to collateral damage:

@taco_x86 So! That pretty much sums up why I became a critic and why #critics will prove so vital in cybersecurity and, later, #cyberwar.

Did I spur any follow-up questions in your head?

@threadreaderapp please unroll