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After all the mud-slinging that's been going around, I thought it would be good to have a chat with the elusive Sonny Vleisides so I spent a bit trying to get in touch with him and much to my surprise he responded and gave me an excellent interview.

http://codinginmysleep.com/interview-with-sonny-vleisides/

Thanks for the interview.

Two thoughts.


Taken at face value the information regarding the corporate structure of BFL does offer some reassurance that BFL's corporate account balance would not just simply disappear.

Attempting to establish risk of doing business based on -any type- of convictions of high level exec's or co-founders is not a solid argument.
Comparing Bill Gate's conviction of driving without a license with the large mail fraud operation, where Sonny was a major operator, and suggesting that there should be some similarity in the reactions to each is not a solid argument.  Attempting to equate a minor misdemeanor with multiple counts of Federal fraud charges is both qualitatively and quantitatively way, way out in left field - maybe somewhere around Alpha Centauri.

Valid point. I should probably find a better example for comparison there.

It also does no-one's credibility any good to dismiss a very long-term, aggressively marketed fraud as "a youthful indiscretion".  You regain trust by owning up to what you did, not by trying to minimise it (it sure as hell wasn't "jurisdictional arbitrage" which got Sonny into trouble).

That said, the information is now out there and people need to make up their own minds.  There's no point in those who choose not to deal with BFL mounting a crusade to try to convince others to boycott BFL.

The hiding of the fraud conviction of a primary company officer is just the next item in a long list of questionable activities.


No comparison. Microsoft is a public company, and as such is under far stricter rules than a private company. For example, the entire list of Microsoft board of directors is:

Steve  Ballmer
Dina  Dublon
Bill  Gates
Raymond V.  Gilmartin
Reed  Hastings
Maria M.  Klawe
Stephen J.  Luczo
David F.  Marquardt
Charles H.  Noski
Dr. Helmut  Panke
John W.  Thompson


And what are the names of the individuals on the board?

I feel the need to ensure it's clear that "youthful indiscretion" were my words, not Sonny's. Poorly chosen? Perhaps.

It's an issue that a lot of folks have become very emotional about and I thought it deserved the closest thing to fair and unbiased reporting I could give it. You know my conclusion and you're free to draw your own.

While being publicly traded certainly does add new stringent criteria on how you run the show, I was more speaking to anyone's ability to take the money and run. Incorporation still requires such measures in most states and whether it was required of them or not, they have indeed taken those measures.

I don't know the names of the board but I'm sure some BFL employee out there does and would have no problem giving up that list. It's not really my question to answer.

Where's the interview? All I see is the journal of a giddy schoolgirl.

I lol'd

I love how he cannot share any details with us.....but trust him.....everything is good. 

I am not crying scammer, it's just that this "interview" provides approximately zero new information. 

How's this for new information? http://codinginmysleep.com/first-look-at-bfls-asic-hardware/

Sonny felt bad about the crap I've been taking so I got the go-ahead to post a little something ;D

Notably, the rendering of the board has some chips hanging off the board. While theoretically it's possible to have at least the uppermost one hang off, it is still bad board design.

Rebuttal?

It's a drawing,

Actually, this is a lot better.

That's great news! Should have ordered some SC singles, LOL.

I like the part where they have bore holes in the back view (light green upper middle) that are not in the front view.

Good. Hugely more informative than your first BFL post. Any actual electrical engineers available for comment?  :)

Assuming that the three hour called took place this morning as Josh stated on my thread, I'm really taken aback at all the posting he was able to do doing that time frame (this morning) according to his post logs on this forum. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=112832.msg1221072#msg1221072

Also, why does the surrounding area of the other two pics need to be grayed out? Surely snapping a pic of the board(s) sitting on a table--any table--is a hell of lot easier. I understand the graying out of the info on the components, but come on.

~Bruno~

Actually I believe it was an afternoon or evening interview. I'm at work right now but when I get home I can check Skype and probably get you an actual timestamp - not that it'll do much good to silence the conspiracy theorists.

I'm pretty sure it was this morning, for look at the following:


Therefore, since it's 100% authentic, the time stamp/zone is CST since Josh is in the KC, MO, and would have no reason to have it set for any other timezone.

~Bruno~

I'm failing to see what that timestamped conversation has to do with me? Am I some dude in Layfette CO who's making a company called Bitforce Consulting? WTF does this even have to do with my interview? You've got so many conspiracy theories you can't even remember who is involved in which ones...

Can you link to where Josh said that enmaku's 3 hour Skype call with Sonny took place today?  The interview based on that Skype call was published two days ago - apparently enmaku has developed the ability to time travel into the future.

https://i.imgur.com/lCmTx.png

Our call was on Saturday, Sept 22, 2012 5:26PM Pacific and lasted 2 hours 19 minutes.

Satisfied?

Probably not. Let the conspiracy theories continue.

You being a time-traveller would have been much more interesting. 

Can you point me to their business registration? What's their actual working offices address? Depending on how the business was formed there could actually be extremely loose governance. I'm just pointing out that more information is needed to have an idea of the business' actual organization. It may not be your question to answer but it is an important question to have answered. Other than the rendering you have posted here what is contained in your linked write up that you consider "fair and unbiased reporting"? Is it just the summary as a whole that you feel is reporting?

Edit: It seems the accusation post that this was a response to has some core information: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=110805.0
Such as business registration: https://wyobiz.wy.gov/Business/FilingDetails.aspx?eFNum=149144214231010201167112190255028042109060235081
I was under the impression their working office was in Kansas City, MO. Did they move?

That's a corporate registration. They are rarely in the same state where the actual business resides, and are typically set up in states with best tax laws and lowest annual fees.
As for the business, check the address. On good street view, you can actually see their names on the side of the building where they do their thing.

I, too, would like to see where I said that.  Maybe I time traveled, too... but backwards and made a post I don't yet know about.  Well, I guess with great stupidity comes great irresponsibility.  Meh.

Do you have a link for this street view of their address of operations? Their business name is visible?

Not offhand. It's in one of the other two BFL related threads. I'm on a tablet, so can't browse them quickly, but a screenshot was posted right to the thread.

This is probably the place you're referring to, dunno if it's their actual place of business / factory / offices:

https://i.imgur.com/DsShGh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IdUSA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zVIL6h.jpg

Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/y5Djk

---

Note: Since their address is simply a P.O Box, this could very well be the wrong location.

If so, perhaps Inaba could be so kind as to post a Google Maps link to the actual place of business?

Inaba had some trouble finding their place of business himself last year, before he joined BFL, as you can see:


So yeah, Inaba went in person to the Google Maps location on http://www.butterflylabs.com/contact/ and found a Mediterranean Restaurant.

Kinda funny! :)

This one is my error. I thought the three hour Skype conversation was the one Josh was in reference to yesterday morning to Sonny. The interview with Sonny via Skype for the interview article is a completely different interview, of which that interview is the subject of this thread: So I got an interview with Sonny Vleisides from BFL...

BTW, did Sonny Vleisides happened to mention who Sonny K of BF Labs Inc. is during said interview?

~Bruno~

Nope, he seemed to be way more interested in addressing the two big matters at hand which were a) the whole "mail fraud" thing and b) accusations that the ASIC line didn't exist and he was gonna run with the money.

Bruno... it's all your error, not just "that one."  You know what's messed up, though?  Even though I have disliked all your pointless posts and I think you are ditzy as hell, I've left you alone because you haven't bothered me, accused me of anything or been an ass to me for no particular reason.  You've stuck to your own nooks and crannies and for the most part, I think they've been in the appropriate places, unlike much of what other people post in various forums here.

So I question why you are now trying to lambast me on the forums for imaginary ties to people who were in high school ten years after I was slogging through the jungles of Panama, toting and M16 and a serious case of monkey butt. You are trying to disclose my personal information (which is readily available anyway, but you seem unable to find) publicly, without my consent only to satisfy your own ego and need for attention.  It's truly sad.

Hah, brilliant.

Dude, I think I'm starting to know what it must have been like to be you in the days before you worked for BFL - you know, after you went down to verify the FPGA product existed and the accusations started flying?

I'm actually thinking of having some BFL business cards printed for myself with the title "Paid Shill" to hand out when I meet Bitcoiners so I should probably thank the trolls for giving me such an awesome ice breaker. ;D

Welcome to the life man... La Vida Loca indeed. 

You can literally hand someone an FPGA and tell them to go do whatever they want with it and they will still believe it doesn't exit.  Franky1 et al are perfect examples... they literally have the entire device available to them to test in whatever fashion they want, but they *still* maintain it's not real.  It's absolutely mind boggling.  You just have to give in at some point and let the tinfoil hats rage until they are exhausted, because their whole Raison d'être is to complain and be contrarian just because they can.

I only engage with them because and when I enjoy it.  I love baiting people like Reese into situations where they start contradicting themselves or showing exceptional hypocrisy, it's kind of a past time of mine.  If you don't enjoy it, it will wear you down really fast.

Yeah, these guys are the very definition of "vocal minority" - I actually had to completely replace the "comments" functionality on my site with something that supported user voting and IP banning just for the handful of crazies surrounding the two posts in which I've dared to mention BFL. I want to encourage conversation about my posts but for a while there I was thinking of renaming the "Comments" header to "The Bridge" 'cause the whole area under it was infested with trolls.

I'd be lying if I said the personal attacks didn't sting a bit, but once you manage to filter out the vocal minority, reception has been good and now that I'm prepared for the onslaught, I'd absolutely post something controversial again. Comments are back open on that post, by the way, go ahead and bring the crazy - I'll have the banhammer warmed up and waiting for you the moment things get personal. I'm all for freedom of speech but that doesn't mean I have to let you insult me in my own house. ;D

Inaba/BFL Josh, can we get a confirmation of BFL's address of operations? I mean you started this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=112543.0 offering to fly people in to take a look at the operation, so I don't think my request is unreasonable.

Enmaku, instead of complaining about trolls perhaps you know this information?

Sorry, it wasn't discussed.

Because we are setting up our new manufacturing facility, I am not giving out the address until the contracts are finalized.

Seriously Inaba, thats fucking pathetic. Your just as bad as those lying thieving assholes down in D.C. when confronted about corruption in government, the first words that always come out of their mouths is lame line about ufo's and tinfoil hats.

Is that all you can do? Every single thread, no matter the topic, same re-usable tactic.

Thank CJ, I will expect your public apology when the ASICs ship.  Or are we going to hear crickets from you, too, when the time comes and you slink back to your hole and hide?

So, wait, this new manufacturing facility is necessitated by the ASICs production, I would guess. And you're talking about contracts, so it is not rented yet.

And you expect to ship in what? 3 weeks?

There are very few people who are on my ignore list.  He's one of them.  That "ignore" button in the left column profile area comes in handy ;)

As stated elsewhere, our first batch is going to be manufactured by the current pick and place house(s) we use.

Fair enough.

I'd love to just send out the first batch with your new manufacturing equipment, but the PnP machine we are getting is a newer model than our PnP expert (Ninja lady, if you're wondering) is familiar with, so we want to get the first batch done from the current place while we gear up and start cranking out our stuff.  We are changing only one step at a time to identify any problem areas we might encounter in the manufacturing process.

Since the ASICs are all new products, sharing essentially none of the components, boards, anything from the FPGAs, we have to be pretty stringent and careful on every single step.

Now that October is almost over, are you polishing an apology of your own for promising October shipments and failing to meet it?