Brandon Vedas
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Brandon Carl Vedas (known as ripper on IRC) (April 21, 1981 - January 12, 2003) was a member of the Shroomery.org website and community who died of a prescription drug overdose while chatting in an IRC channel (#shroomery @ irc.shroomery.org) and broadcasting himself live via a webcam. His death led to considerable debate about the responsiblities and roles of online communities in life-threatening situations.
Vedas had consumed cannabis, Inderal, Klonopin, methadone, Restoril, and 151-proof rum. Although some chat room users initially cheered him on, others feared for his life as his words become less coherent, and pleaded with him to stop. When Vedas lost consciousness, users of the chatroom considered informing the police and asking that they trace Vedas's cellphone, the number to which he had posted so that they could call him if something went wrong. The members of the chat were hesistant to contact the police, fearing an investigation. One user says he or she began to call the police, but talked his or her way out of the phone call after other users told him or her to hang up. According to Brandon's brother, who maintains the site BrandonVedas.com, the information Brandon gave to the users in the chat, as well as the address in his domain name registration would have been enough for the police to locate Brandon. He confirmed this with the local police.
His mother discovered the body in the afternoon of January 12, 2003.
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Quotes
Stated Vedas, shortly before he passed out:
- "I told u I was hardcore."
This line has become somewhat of an internet catchphrase and is perhaps Vedas' most famous.
Other famous things he said were "I got a grip of drugs" when he started the binge, and "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~shoa" and "I'm fukcin" soon before his demise.
Stated Vedas' brother, regarding the chatroom:
- "It seems like the group mentality really contributed to it. These people treat it like somehow it's not the real world. They forget it's not just words on a screen."
External links
News reports
- NY Daily News - "He takes fatal OD as Internet pals watch" (http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/56667p-52905c.html)
- azcentral.com obituary (http://www.legacy.com/azcentral/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=725033)
Chat logs
- Chat logs hosted at BrandonVedas.com part 1 (http://www.brandonvedas.com/ripperlog.txt), part 2 (http://www.brandonvedas.com/post-ripperlog.txt). Please note that these logs have been modified slightly, presumably by the Vedases. In the authentic logs, ripper says "my mom is stupid thought" immediately after Pnutbot says "here is a view of my bed". There may be other differences.
Other
- Memorial site maintained by his brother (http://www.brandonvedas.com) - includes transcript of the fateful chat
- Shroomery.org (http://www.shroomery.org), a site dedicated to stop the spread of dangerous misinformation about hallucinogenic mushrooms and community that Vedas belonged to
- Klonopinz.com: Ask Ripper! (http://www.klonopinz.com) - Parody site. Communicate with ripper from beyond the grave.
- Google for "ripper #shroomery" (http://www.google.com/search?&q=ripper+%23shroomery)