About
Ryan Sandlin was born in Detroit, Michigan and shortly thereafter, moved to Chattanooga,
Tennessee. He has worked as a writer and developer for several websites. Over the years Ryan
has had the opportunity to take several Advanced Criminology classes, and currently studies
Psychology at Lee University. He also has a podcast.
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What Is The Real Story of The Dark Web?
What Is The Real Story Of The Dark Web?
Ryan Sandlin
© March 24, 2022
Drugs. Weapons. Violence. Hacking.
These four things are the most associated terms when one is thinking of the dark web. For
decades, the dark web has inspired terroristic thoughts amongst the general population. However,
illegal online activities have been around nearly as long as the internet itself.
How It All Started
In 1969, the first version of the internet was released. The Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network, or more commonly, ARPANET, was created to link computers, mainly from
the Pentagon, over phone lines to other computers across the country. Throughout the
development of ARPANET, the service became more accessible for public users. Ludicrous
experiments by Ivy League universities demanded an instant informational transaction. In the
early 1970’s Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence program allowed access to the network leading to
the very first illegal internet transaction, a marijuana deal between Stanford students and MIT
students. Shortly after this transaction, ARPANET was divided into ARPA and MILNET
(military).
Data Havens
After the popularization of internet usage, data began to overflow, and the question
became: Where will all the data usage be stored? The answer was obvious, computer developers
were going to develop a refuge for the overflowing data by creating various servers used solely
for the storage of information. Hence the term, Data Havens.
The purpose of a Data Haven was to collect information and store it in a corresponding
server. The error with the conceptualized paradise is that it was just that: a paradise. The first
form of data mining came from early internet hackers combing Data Havens, experimenting with
public information, a quaint precursor to social engineering.
Tor & Freenet Release
Individual access to the dark web became popularized and encouraged in the early 2000’s
with the release of Freenet and The TOR Project. Freenet’s socioeconomic mission was to
provide private and anonymous access to the internet. Freenet did not gain widespread
popularity, but its successor, TOR, still holds the crown for superior anonymous browsing. Due
to blacklisting, sites deemed insecure or questionable were not available for viewing through a
standard search engine. This problematic roadblock was blown to high heaven with the release of
The Tor Project.
The developers of TOR made it their goal to cut open the underbelly of the internet with
precision and discretion. By using TOR, one could now gain access to virtually every website on
the internet. Soon after, the development of dark web marketplaces selling pirated music, drugs,
weapons, and illicit services became just as common as pornographic material was becoming on
the clear web.
In today’s time, the dark web has become a lot more serious. Information is sold daily,
putting people at risk of financial and reputational ruin, not to mention the ease of access to
illegal content merely a few keystrokes away. The dark web can be a truly fascinating place, but
as with everything in life, the thrill has a risk.
John Wayne Gacy: The Man Behind The Killer Clown
John Wayne Gacy: The Man Behind The Killer Clown
What Happened Before The First Murder
Ryan Sandlin
© March 24, 2022
John Wayne Gacy, most notably recognized as the killer clown, is among the most
notorious murderers in American history. Sexually assaulting and murdering 33 young men,
Gacy is regarded as a societal monster. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, Gacy came from a middle
class household, and despite having behavioral problems with his father, he managed to undergo
a relatively normal childhood. When questioned in regards to childhood trauma, Gacy openly
admits to verbal exploitation by his father, being called a “sissy” and a “pansy” at an early age.
Father, John Staley, was well known to beat his wife, Gacy’s mother in the home, sometimes
even in front of reputable audience .
It is widely accepted that trauma leads to deterioration of mental health according to
TARC (Trauma and Addiction Recovery Center) and trauma is certainly something that John
Gacy was never short of. At the age of five, whilst his mother was out on the town, an older girl
verbally manipulated Gacy, convincing him to join her in an upstairs bedroom, where she
molested him. Shortly thereafter, a family member took Gacy on various car rides, typically
resulting in further of homosexual molestation.
After the inconsistency of high school education, Gacy resolved to pick himself up by the
bootstrap and join the blue collar workforce. Occupationally, Gacy was a mortician’s assistant in
Las Vegas having left Illinois. The first major fiasco that was privy to Gacy’s mental
deterioration was the fulfillment of his sodomistic fantasies. However, he had religiously denied
his sickness ever since his early life trauma. Feeling deprived and lonely, Gacy saw an
opportunity to fulfill his fantasies of sodomy by sleeping with the cadaver of a teenage boy.
Overwhelmed with guilt, John Gacy would later continue into adulthood with mild success.
After the cadaver incident, Gacy was prompted to return back to Illinois in hope to attain
his normal life again. He finished college and became a manager at three of his father’s stores
located in Iowa. At this point in the recess from the mental storm which had been brewing
behind Gacy’s placating manner, he even managed to realize a lifelong passion which would
carry him into his disease: clowning. Twice a month, Gacy would dress up in clown garb and
attend banquets and charities at local hospitals and orphanages bringing the sickened youth hope.
Somewhere lost in the depths of Gacy’s mind, subterfuge was arising.
In 1972, Gacy claimed his first victim, Timothy McCoy. The two met after a family
reunion during the Christmastime holidays. Gacy was on his way back to his home in Illinois and
met McCoy at a GreyHound bus stop. At Gacy’s suggestion, Timothy McCoy came home with
Gacy to spend the night. Sitting on their couch, Gacy convinced McCoy to engage in a sexual act
which McCoy was not comfortable with. After forcing McCoy to comply with his own desires,
Gacy proceeded to murder the teen via stabbing. Gacy then buried the young man under his
house, in a crawl space that would later be the home to 33 children, all dead at the hands of
Gacy.
In the case of John Wayne Gacy many experts agree that for a psychopath, it is atypical
that his patterns show a background of compassion and charity when one has experienced such
intense psychological trauma. With an IQ of 118 and an expertise in strategic marketing, Gacy
had the capability of manipulation and creating a false sense of trust. The debate goes on: is
someone born truly evil? Plaguing the ages, it is an answer that humanity may never know.