(ignore the signature from today, anyone could have done that in the brouhaha following today's disclosures)
Based on that, it looks pretty clear to me that Dorian Nakamoto decided to "latch on" to the Satoshi Nakamoto founder's myth, either as a way to boost his reputation/ego or as some practical joke (or both!).
That or Satoshi the Founder is trolling us all.
1. Originally noted a few moments ago by mpfrank on bitcointalk.
EDIT: Duh, it's fake. Obviously, it's possible to set your system clock back. I was so intrigued I wasn't thinking clearly, even after I pointed this very "attack" out during the Ed Snowden GPG affair. Sorry folks, maybe if it were timestamped in the blockchain.
I was wondering this as well. I ended up skimming the wikipedia article for John Titor[0].
/* I should note that "John Titor" is a fictional persona of a time travelling man. People made fake posts on multiple forums, some including elaborate diagrams of a "time machine" etc... */
If you scroll down to the "in popular culture" section it mentions that in 2006 none other than the very "Martin Pohlman" to whom your parent poster linked attempted to patent the time machine that John Titor claims to own...
So maybe this Martin Pohlman had something to do with(created?) the fake John Titor persona... Really renders the whole thing pretty un-comical.
Your parent poster could definitely have been a whole lot clearer though.
One possibility is indeed that Satoshi is trolling us hard. He may actually have based his pseudonym on this guy... but that's playing a dangerous game, as this is in fact one more datapoint to honing in on the real Satoshi.
A number of blackhats did this around Lulzsec time. They would adopt a second-level identity -- and drop very, very small hints to make people think they're some person X. Person X being a person the blackhat in question just chose randomly by, oh I dono, cruising around the web where people talk about IT security... choosing an interesting person, learning about them by googling around, and eventually starting to play that person (or rather, play that person playing to be anonymous). This was one of the suggested strategies in the helpdocs wiki, advertised on the irc channel where lulzsec members usually would be. But since Dorian is kind of an old guy, the real Satoshi would have had to know him in real life (hence my saying that it'd be a dangerous game for Satoshi to be playing).
But really, I think it's just a very funny coincidence. As others have pointed out, Satoshi Nakamoto is not that of an uncommon Japanese name. Too bad Dorian got dragged into all of this. He seems like a sweet old man, with a great sense of humour ("I want a free lunch", wonderful) and an awesome hobby (model trains are fun). I'll buy you a lunch Dorian!
> even after I pointed this very "attack" out during the Ed Snowden GPG affair
This is a strange and unhealthy response. What was so hard/uncomfortable about saying "I did not realize" or "I was wrong"? It is okay to be wrong or not know something.
He did say he was wrong. He was simply stating he was surprised he didn't realise sooner, given how he had already identified a similar method of forgery in an earlier affair.
No he did not. Unless you are 5 years old "Duh, I knew that" is not the same thing as admitting fault:
"Duh, it's fake. Obviously, it's possible to set your system clock back. I was so intrigued I wasn't thinking clearly, even after I pointed this very "attack" out during the Ed Snowden GPG affair. Sorry folks, maybe if it were timestamped in the blockchain."
He played it off and says the real answer is obvious. Then he provides an excuse for not recognizing this obvious truth. Finally to make matters super strange he informs us (w/o evidence) that he was the one that pointed this "attack" out to us during the Snowden affair.
You're reading something very different into jnbiche's words than I am. I'm reading it more like this:
"[Ooooooh,] Duh[!], it's fake[!] [forehead smack of realization and insight]."
You seem to be reading more of a dismissive "Duh, I knew that, why are you telling me what I already know?" into this, whereas I'm reading a much more realization-striken tone.
"Obviously, it's possible to set your system clock back."
Thinking out loud through the realization and insight as it occurred.
"I was so intrigued I wasn't thinking clearly, even after I pointed this very "attack" out during the Ed Snowden GPG affair."
Explaining the circumstances of and implicitly acknowledging and admitting to a mistake or fault, continuing revelation. An introspective done, not a defensive one, not offered up as an "excuse".
http://sks.pkqs.net/pks/lookup?op=vindex&fingerprint=on&sear...
(ignore the signature from today, anyone could have done that in the brouhaha following today's disclosures)
Based on that, it looks pretty clear to me that Dorian Nakamoto decided to "latch on" to the Satoshi Nakamoto founder's myth, either as a way to boost his reputation/ego or as some practical joke (or both!).
That or Satoshi the Founder is trolling us all.
1. Originally noted a few moments ago by mpfrank on bitcointalk.
EDIT: Duh, it's fake. Obviously, it's possible to set your system clock back. I was so intrigued I wasn't thinking clearly, even after I pointed this very "attack" out during the Ed Snowden GPG affair. Sorry folks, maybe if it were timestamped in the blockchain.