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Timothy Patrick Farley (born August 12, 1962) is a computer software engineer, writer and instructor who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an expert in
computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...
and
reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
as well as a
skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then th ...
. He was a
research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
of the
James Randi Educational Foundation James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of ...
. Tim Farley is the creator of the website What's The Harm?, a resource where stories are documented and categorized about the damage done when people fail to use critical thinking skills. Farley was also instrumental in the apprehension of spammer "David Mabus."


Early life

Farley was born in 1962 and grew up in
Edison, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It ...
. He later lived in
Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2021 had ...
and in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
. While in high school and college, Farley was involved in Star Trek fandom and wrote for and edited several
fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...
s. Most of his writing was non-fiction, examining the science of
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...
such as the technology shown. In 1985 Farley created the ''Star Trek Historical Calendar'' which related science, cartoons and historical facts associated with the series. This venture in college he credits with guiding his later interests in his "This day in skeptic history" project. He was also president of two different Star Trek fan clubs at different times: VISTAS in Valdosta and ASTRA in Atlanta. Later he worked on the staff of several Atlanta-area conventions including
Atlanta Fantasy Fair The Atlanta Fantasy Fair (AFF) was a multigenre convention which took place once each summer in Atlanta, Georgia from 1975 to 1995. Organized by A.C.F.F., Ltd., the convention was a nonprofit entity designed to promote the fantasy genre in the Ame ...
and
Dragon Con Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000, ...
.


Professional career

His professional career has been in
software development Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development inv ...
, specializing in network communications, computer security and reverse engineering of binary software. He has worked for several Atlanta-area software companies including
SemWare The SemWare Editor (TSE) is a text editor computer program for MS-DOS, OS/2, Windows and Linux. Starting in November 1985 as a shareware program called Qedit, it was later modified to run as a terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program, and ...
, Magee Enterprises, Internet Security Systems, and SPI DynamicsSecure Web Application Development Environment
by Caleb Sima and Tim Farley. U.S. Patent Application# 10/908,520
among others. He has written a number of articles for computer periodicals about programming, computer networking and other topics. He has also written a chapter for a book on computer networking. As an expert in reverse engineering he has been quoted in
BYTE Magazine ''Byte'' (stylized as ''BYTE'') was a microcomputer magazine, influential in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s because of its wide-ranging editorial coverage. "''Byte'' magazine, the leading publication serving the homebrew market ..." ' ...
and contributed material to the book ''Undocumented DOS'' (xviii+856+vi pages, 3.5"-floppy) Errata

/ref> and other books. He has participated in computer industry standards committees and has presented at computer industry conferences. He has received three patents for his work in computer security. Farley has also worked as an instructor for commercial computer security training, including
reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
and Secure by design, secure application development.


Career as a skeptic

Farley is the creator of the web site What's The Harm? which documents the damage done by mistaken beliefs, misinformation and pseudoscience. In an interview with Richard Saunders on the Skeptic Zone podcast, Farley discussed how he wanted to try to stay focused on "concrete stories of people that actually got hurt" that he could cite with some kind of "decent documentation". He stated that he wanted to keep the format simple so that anyone could comfortably access the stories, on any browser with no flashy videos. He hopes to expand the site into longer feature stories of some of the more documented or popular stories. Saunders stated that the site "has a wealth of information, if someone asks you "what's the harm?", you can run to this website and see that the harm is... lack of critical thinking." Farley has written on skeptical topics at his Skeptical Software Tools blog and elsewhere. He also been published in
Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...
. Farley has spoken at local skeptics meetings such as
Skeptics in the Pub Skeptics in the Pub (abbreviated SITP) is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and social networking among skeptics, critical thinkers, freethinkers, rationalists and other like-minded individuals. It provides an opportunity ...
in Atlanta, Boston, Reno, Nevada, Washington, DC, Manchester, New Hampshire and Madison, Wisconsin. He presented at several
SkeptiCamp SkeptiCamp was founded by Reed Esau in 2007 and is small grassroots conference where scientific skeptics come together and participate and present. Skepticamps are held in varying formats worldwide and are operated in the style of an unconferenc ...
s including Atlanta in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and New York City in 2009. Speaking at TAM 2012, Farley urged the audience of skeptics to become more involved spreading critical thinking on the Internet, just a few minutes each day. "We need more tools... we need people welding these tools, we need to be the army that is using these tools as weapons against the quacks and the psychics." He cautions skeptics not to get too comfortable thinking that science will always win, because it is right. "We may delude ourselves in thinking it ciencedoes not need our help." He listed many new software tools that are available on the Internet for free and are relatively easy to use, and he reminded the audience, "Our opponents are doing everything they can to push nonsense on the general public." In his final advice to attendees he stated "Spread out – Pay attention – Stop wasting your online time." Farley was named one of the Top Skeptics of 2012 by the podcast
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'' (''SGU'') is an American weekly skeptical podcast hosted by Steven Novella, MD, along with a panel of contributors. The official podcast of the New England Skeptical Society, it was named to evoke ''T ...
.


"David Mabus"

In August 2011, Farley played a role in the identification and apprehension of Dennis Markuze. Markuze, using the name David Mabus, was responsible for a campaign of online threats against skeptics and atheists for many years. In June 2012, Markuze pleaded guilty "to uttering threats toward eight people" and received an 18-month suspended sentence. Farley, who had been threatened, stated for the
Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
that he believed Markuze had continued his threats against atheists right up to his sentencing. Markuze, through his attorney, denied it, but was soon re-arrested for violating conditions of his parole. Markuze received a sentence in June 2015. It includes three years during which he is required to follow the treatment of a psychiatrist and take and prescribed medications. He is also prohibited from communicating in any way with Farley.


James Randi Educational Foundation

Farley has been affiliated with the
James Randi Educational Foundation James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of ...
for several years. He gave a presentation at The Amaz!ng Meeting 6 in July 2008 entitled "Building Internet Tools for Skeptics." Farley was a featured guest at The Amazing Meeting 7 in July 2009 where he led a workshop titled "Introduction to Skepticism & the Skeptic Web" and also presented a paper with Christian Walters titled "How Are We Doing? Attracting and Keeping Visitors to Skeptic Web Sites." He also gave a presentation and sat on a panel during The Amaz!ng Adventure 4 and gave another presentation on The Amaz!ng Adventure 5. In June 2011, Farley was named a
research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
by the organization. He researched the information in the organization's Today in Skeptic History iPhone app and writes for JREF's blog. In February 2014, Farley's position as a JREF Fellow ended. At TAM 2012, Farley's lectures focused on improving activism (and reducing
slacktivism Slacktivism (a portmanteau of ''slacker'' and ''activism'') is the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or commitment. Additional for ...
) in the skeptical movement. His lectures included the workshop, ''The Future of Skepticism Online: Crowd-Sourced Activism'' and a panel ''Future of Skepticism'' with D. J. Grothe, Reed Esau, Barbara Drescher and
Jamy Ian Swiss Jamy Ian Swiss (born November 30, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American magician, author, speaker, historian of magic, essayist, book reviewer, and scientific skeptic. He is known for sleight-of-hand with playing cards. Magic Swiss is ...
.


Podcasting & other media

Farley has been interviewed on the
Skepticality ''Skepticality'' is the official podcast of The Skeptics Society's ''Skeptic'' magazine. Beginning in May 2005, the podcast explores rational thought, skeptical ideas, and famous myths from around the world and throughout history. Each episode ...
podcast three times. As of Skepticality #123 he regularly appears on the program to present a short segment called ''A Few Minutes of Skeptic History.'' He has also appeared on the
Skepchick Rebecca Watson is an American blogger and podcast host. She is the founder of the blog ''Skepchick'' and former co-host of ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'' podcast. She also previously co-hosted the ''Little Atoms'' podcast. Career Wat ...
podcast, ''Jeff Cutler's Bowl of Cheese'', Skeptically Speaking on CJSR-FM, ''American Freethought'', ''Nonsense Podcast'', ''The Reality Check'', ''
Point of Inquiry ''Point of Inquiry'' is the radio show and flagship podcast of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), "a think tank promoting science, reason, and secular values in public policy and at the grass roots". Started in 2005, ''Point of Inquiry'' has consist ...
'', ''Take 5'' on CIUT-FM, ''Skeptic Zone'', ''Meet the Skeptics,'' the Norwegian podcast ''Saltklypa'', ''Search Engine'' with Jesse Brown and WPRR's ''Reality Check''.


References, footnotes and selected bibliography


External links


What's The Harm?

Skeptical Software Tools blog

Twitter feed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, Tim American skeptics 1962 births American atheists American podcasters People from Edison, New Jersey Writers from New Brunswick, New Jersey Living people