Jack Recider

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It was great to have someone on my team when it comes to privacy. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for my listeners, you can get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and use promo code DD20 at checkout.

The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and enter code DD20 at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries code DD20. I'm really excited about this episode because I think this is one of the most requested episodes I've been asked to make.

The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and enter code DD20 at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries code DD20. I'm really excited about this episode because I think this is one of the most requested episodes I've been asked to make.

But even though a lot of you have sent me article after article about this story, the problem is the main guy in this story, Gary Bowser, has been unreachable. Until now.

But even though a lot of you have sent me article after article about this story, the problem is the main guy in this story, Gary Bowser, has been unreachable. Until now.

You're good. I'm recording when you are, Jack, anytime. Great. Thank you. Hi, Gary. Hello, Jack. Good to hear from you. What is it like being on the outside?

You're good. I'm recording when you are, Jack, anytime. Great. Thank you. Hi, Gary. Hello, Jack. Good to hear from you. What is it like being on the outside?

1984, is that right?

1984, is that right?

So Gary is in his 50s now. But to properly tell this story, we need to go back in time to the 80s. At this point, Windows wasn't even a thing yet. Apple was just tinkering around in their garage. So who was the big player in the personal computing scene? Texas Instruments. They built this little machine that you could play a few games on and type on and do some basic tasks.

So Gary is in his 50s now. But to properly tell this story, we need to go back in time to the 80s. At this point, Windows wasn't even a thing yet. Apple was just tinkering around in their garage. So who was the big player in the personal computing scene? Texas Instruments. They built this little machine that you could play a few games on and type on and do some basic tasks.

Gary loved it and thought it was really cool.

Gary loved it and thought it was really cool.

Gary would program software using the basic programming language, assembly, and Texas Instruments' own proprietary language called GPL. He'd make little programs on it to make the computer do more stuff. But then on top of that, he was also creating replacement parts for this computer. Because if something were to go bad, Texas Instruments wasn't making replacement parts.

Gary would program software using the basic programming language, assembly, and Texas Instruments' own proprietary language called GPL. He'd make little programs on it to make the computer do more stuff. But then on top of that, he was also creating replacement parts for this computer. Because if something were to go bad, Texas Instruments wasn't making replacement parts.

And Gary loved this little machine and he knew how. So he would just get the parts and solder them together and make new parts like graphic processors and other hardware.

And Gary loved this little machine and he knew how. So he would just get the parts and solder them together and make new parts like graphic processors and other hardware.

He was manufacturing computer parts. And I find that fairly impressive. I mean, he was certainly ahead of his time to be a startup computer part maker in the 1980s, right?

He was manufacturing computer parts. And I find that fairly impressive. I mean, he was certainly ahead of his time to be a startup computer part maker in the 1980s, right?