Azdeus
-
Posts
1293 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
22
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Posts posted by Azdeus
-
-
True, true. Tawney and granite are more suited to my tastes, autumn could work aswell. I think it's the three different colours like that that does'nt mesh well in my eyes.
-
1
-
-
I really have a hard time with that colour, I think it looks weird and hard on the eyes, but it does look more comfortable to hold it.
-
This ****ing weather. We got hit for anywhere from a little over a foot of snow to almost 3 feet of snow about a week and a half ago. We got hit with another foot a few days ago. It's snowing again right now and we may get another foot Sunday night through Monday. The snow banks are piled up so high that cars can't see traffic at intersections very well and there's nowhere left to put all the snow, and we're only starting February, there's still over a month before we're out of the woods, we may get hit 3 or 4 more times. I hate winter. I hate Connecticut. I need to get the **** out of this God forsaken hellhole.
I don't think this'll help, but... I envy you. ;_;
-
1
-
-
Pay to win, or is it an actual game worth money?
-
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/de-ar-putins-soldater-pa-natet/
Google translated, and I did some fixes to it where I noticed real bad translations while skimming.
St. Petersburg. On the outskirts of St. Petersburg is located 250 contracted "net trolls" and produces fake blogs and comments around the clock. They are soldiers in a global information war, with the mission to pay homage to Putin, saw Obama and mock the President of Ukraine Porosjenko. DN've met two of the trolls.
It does not look like much, a gray four-storey building in concrete not far from the metro station Staraya Derevnja in the north of St. Petersburg. Yet this is a frontal section of the global information war going on against the background of the real war in Ukraine - a Nygammalt cold war between East and West.
I walk quickly past the snow-covered sidewalk opposite and take a few pictures. Journalists are not welcome here, and inside the foyer are plenty of guards.
Here, to Savusjkinstreet 55, came Darya one day nearly a year ago. She had received tips about a well-paid and comfortable jobs.
- I had heard from friends of friends, but I did not really know what it is about, she told DN.
I meet her and her boyfriend Mikhail in a one-room apartment that Darya rent in another suburb of St. Petersburg. Even Mikhail has worked in the troll factory, that was where the two became a couple. They are both 25 years old and is actually called something else.
- The deciding factor was the money. It serves around 40,000 rubles a month (just over 5,000 kronor at today's exchange rate) and it is far above the average wage here, says Darya.
What job went out, she soon realized: to spread propaganda on the Internet, via the comment box and faked accounts on the blog portals and social media.
- I was three bloggers, two of them were men and one was a housewife. We worked twelve hour shifts. At least ten blogs you have to perform, and so comments on others' blogs, says Darya.
- I was hired just to comment. One would have to at least 126 comments per session, such was the norm, says Mikhail.
The aim was basically political, and on several occasions came an "expert" and lectured for trolls. But it was not about some very sophisticated thought. Mikhail summarizes the basic concept that everyone had to stick to:
- Putin good, bad Obama, Porosjenko poor. What Putin had done or said did not matter, it was good simply.
Meanwhile, the Heads sure that everything would look natural, that no suspicions were aroused. According to Mikhail worked all through a proxy server, which meant that it looked as if the posts and blogs written in the provincial city of Ryazan, south of Moscow. Bloggers and commentators were invited in addition to initially did not write about politics but focus on establishing themselves in different networks. Only after a few weeks you could begin to address topics that Putin, Ukraine and the United States.
- One would constantly take things from real life, like to tell you that you had baked bread in the morning, says Darya.
- Then you could slip into politics. For many it became very artificial.
Darya and Mikhail estimates that 250 people worked in the house during the time last year when they were there. They say there were several different professions, including cartoonists and video operators. Based on salaries and other expenses, it is a multi-million business.
Who pays the trolls on Savusjkingatan? Darya and Mikhail says that they got their pay cash in hand every week. Their immediate superiors, known as team leaders, they knew only the first name, and senior managers was never seen.
Operations in St. Petersburg operated by a company called Internet issledovanija. The company has approximately 600 employees, dealing with "information technology, systems integration and Internet" and search open employees at different job sites. These include the 'content manager at day or night shift ", illustrators and copywriters.
DN has contacted three different managers within the company by telephone. One of them hangs up when I introduce myself as a Swedish journalist. Another - with a rather unusual name - confirms first that he works for Internet issledovanija, but when I ask a question about "trolls operations" changes his mind and says I probably looking for another person with the same name. A third refused to comment but are anxious to know how I got hold of her number.
Several Russian independent media have investigated the Internet issledovanija. The local business magazine Delovoj Peterburg has revealed that, apart magic factory also underlies a number of faked Ukrainian news sites that pumps out proryskt angled news without their own journalists on the ground in Ukraine.
And the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta had last year a couple of journalists apply for a job at the company, which had its premises in Olgino, another suburb of St. Petersburg. They could reveal bands between the business and the now-defunct patriotic movement Nashi, sometimes called "Putin Jugend".
Novaya Gazeta has also found links between Internet issledovanija and Concord, a group of companies owned by catering king Yevgeny Prigozjin.
He Prigozjins career is almost unbelievable, but not untypical of Putin's Russia. In his youth he was sentenced to prison for theft, but was then accompanied by his stepfather first to sell hot dogs in his hometown of Leningrad, now St. Petersburg. It was in the 80s.
Today owns the same man an empire of luxury restaurants in the Russian cities. He handles the food in both the White House, the Russian government building in Moscow, as the Duma, the lower house of parliament.
Not for nothing is called Prigozjin for "Putin's chef". He is reported to have close personal relationship with the president, although this has never been confirmed.
During his time in magic factory involved Darya and Mikhail exclusively with Russian-language sites and blogs. The idea was to influence public opinion in the country in the Kremlin-friendly direction. But the business is also directed to foreign countries.
- I know at least one woman who wrote in English. And one who wrote in Ukrainian, says Darya.
Last spring there appeared clear signs that the emphasis in the Internet offensive has moved abroad. In May, warned the British newspaper The Guardian readers for a "orchestrated pro-Kremlin Campaign" in the comment fields.
A few weeks later published the Russian hacker group known during kodnamndet Sjaltaj Boltaj extensive material that suggests the magnitude of the project. Hacker group has previously released a couple of Putin's speech before they have been held, and have never proved wrong other than in details.
The material on several thousand pages has since been removed from the network. On July 23 ended Sjaltaj Boltajs blog on the State Monitoring Board Rozkomnadzors blacklist. This followed a court decision in St. Petersburg, then a lawsuit filed by a certain Igor Osadtjij. He Osadtjij singled out as a leading figure in the Internet issledovanija, the company that operates the business of Savusjkingatan in St. Petersburg.
DN through other channels come across parts of the now-removed material. There is extensive email correspondence between different persons connected to the Internet issledovanija - including Igor Osadtjij.
It also submitted résumé, sometimes written in clumsy English, from people looking for jobs in magic factory, there are invoices from the purchase of furniture for cleaning services. And this is especially a great strategy for how business should be expanded at the global level, primarily Facebook, Twitter and comment fields in the American media.
In a sort of preliminary studies establishes how media sites like Huffington Post and Politico works, and the screenshots shows how a test-trolls under the name Katarina has fared in the comment field debate.
"Are you against Putin? You know what he has done for his country and his people? The fact is that Obama is losing his footing, "she writes, and immediately gets attacked by US commentators.
The report concludes that in several cases that the Russian goblin's comments on US sites in the future must become "more provocative, more negative."
In a detailed plan of action in social media suggested that each control will create ten Twitter accounts, one with "a soulless thing as a cat or flower" that avatar. Three of accounts should be "master account" other "supportive".
"For each account purchase up to 1,500 followers, such as social proof. This is an unavoidable technique when opening a new account, because people are reluctant to interact with accounts that have few followers, "the report says.
The journalist Ilya Klisjin is web manager of the independent television channel Dozhd in Moscow. He wrote in late May in the newspaper Vedomosti of the international offensive in social media:
"According to sources close to the presidential administration began the preparatory work in the fall of 2013. Those who runs the project are the same people who have managed the domestic market."
When I contact Klisjin he remains convinced that the project has been initiated from the center of power in the Kremlin.
- It is a deliberate attempt by the presidential administration's departure kingdom department to take control of social networks and manipulate public opinion, he says.
- The fact that these structures are, there is no doubt, and they have many subcontractors. They look as advertising agencies or similar, and there are those who themselves employ control, such as those you have interviewed. The work of foreign media goes to similarly says Klisjin.
A famous Russian netizen confirmed to DN that the presidential administration is behind the trolls factories in several parts of Russia. He also points out a person as supreme head of the business: Timur Prokopenko, a former activist of the youth movement Nashi who is now deputy head of the Kremlin's foreign policy department.
Pavel Tjikov, lawyer and founder of the human rights organization Agora, also believes that the trolls is a project initiated from the highest level and that the leaked documents from Sjaltaj Boltaj have high credibility.
- These are facts that have been known for some time, and as confirmed by the documents. It is also not the first leak we've seen this, says Tjikov.
He believes that business must be viewed in context. First hit power to the independent media, since the freedom of assembly. Finally moved the whole community discussion to the Internet.
- The Kremlin's control, financed from the state budget, is a way for the power to fight back against criticisms that spreads online. It's a side of propaganda, the other we see in the major TV channels.
Neither Darya and Mikhail'm particularly interested in politics. They are not Putin supporters, not opponents. But that no one cared about the Savusjkingatan.
- Our team leader was a girl around 20 worst kind of careerist. She could not do much about anything. But she was loyal to senior managers, says Darya.
- They did not care what you thought, just what you wrote was, according to the template, says Mikhail.
After a few months got tired of both the working climate. The pay was reduced without justification, breaks were withdrawn. They did not even have a water bottle standing on his table.
- We complained well too much and finally we got fired both, says Darya.
Now she muddles his way down the private lessons in the subject, she has been trained in. Mikhail has got a job at a factory. On the kitchen table is a computer, but it is seldom they log on to social media.
- No, I have had enough of it for a lifetime, says Mikhail.-
1
-
-
Me too. See the three peaks on the left? Its the Dachstein, the three peaks are called Torstein, Mitterspitz and Hoher Dachstein. Been there countless times climbing. I see it every day and every time I wish I could be there right now, climbing. So close yet so far away; but summer will come eventually.
But Sweden has wonderful locations too. I love those birch forests, especially in autumn.
Yes, true, there are some magnificient places here in Sweden, some very pretty views. There's mostly fir around where I am, but there are some patches where there is hardwood and you can walk under autumn leaves and enjoy yourself. But none of that is quite as majestic as those mountains.
Though I am pretty certain that if I tried to actually climb any of those peaks it'd be the death of me. ^^
-
I want to go there, werever there is, I don't care. Want to go. Like, really alots. Mmmm.... nice.
-
Aye, good luck Labadal.
-
1
-
-
I'd want to see Obsidian do an WH40K Inquisition (Dark Heresy that is, not Dragon Age like) themed game, but there's no option for that in the poll - so cyberpunk.
-
Is that why I've been seeing people with dirty hair and Flannel shirts again?
I don't know about you, but I never stopped dressing like that. /supafly
-
I can't, I'm making photos for a store which prevents sharing.I do hope you will share!
Awh, meh, shame.
Can you tell what store, so that maybe one can see the pictures from them?
-
Looking into start up costs of a new business venture. This will be selling/installing/maintaining elevated obstruction lighting. Tower lights, FAA compliance, etc.
Hehe, that sounds like fun. Tower lights. You've got enough time to write your memoirs and will before you hit the ground.
Hope you get it going
Photo session with Steampunk models at a really cool location, finally I can put my new camera through tis paces. I'd rather be in the mountains making panorama shots though, I hate taking photos of moving, babbling and arrogant subjects.
I do hope you will share!
-
Which is strange, I actually like him.
Hmm? in a cartoon evil kinda way like him?
He is kind of charming in the same way as Goldfinger. Not to mention all the "badass" meme's that surrounds him! He's a prick through and through though.
-
-
Some good stuff in there, never really heard of him before
-
Today when I woke up and looked outside, the world was completely white. It's snowing heavily in Tokyo today.
----Not that I'm a big weather person. But it's a good reminder to appreciate the little things in life.
I've taken two turns outside this night to keep the driveway clear, it's much easier to brush it away now than wait until tomorrow and have to shovel it instead.
But still, it's lovely to look at.
Now, some well deserved bedtime and gather energy, for tomorrow I GM Shadowrun and it has to be glorious!
The ol' water heater started leaking last weekend, reminding me yet again that it's overdue for replacement. It was dripping very slowly around the pressure relief valve, which had a fair amount of visible corrosion. The unit itself was 18 years old, which is a fair bit beyond the estimated lifespan of such things.
I got a local company to come replace it yesterday. I'm not daring enough to attempt this kind of thing myself-- I'm generally OK with simple plumbing stuff, but I get nervous when gas lines are involved. Plus, it's a 75-gallon unit, so just moving it is a 2-man job. So we got some recommendations from the neighborhood email list and picked a local company. I took the day off work and stayed home with the baby to supervise. As I think I've mentioned here previously, the little guy's daycare is in the building where I work. That's fantastically convenient on most days, but it means that, if I'm not going into the office, I have to either be watching him or find somebody else to do so. Also, my employer's leave policies are generally friendlier than my wife's, so a father-son play-day made sense.
I'm glad the heater we have is still working, and simple enough that I can mend it myself. It is terribly inefficient though.
-
-
It was a much better experience than DA2.
So is tapdancing on broken glass.
-
2
-
-
RPS talks about Battlefleet Gothic Armada http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/01/21/first-look-battlefleet-gothic-armada/
Nice, thanks for the copy-paste aswell. Shamefull that they did'nt ask the single most important question of all; Will there be nova-cannons?
-
Well that'd make you a
</lowbrow>
(I predict someone getting offended when they get this.)
Went straight over my head.
-
Much prefer this;
-
To be fair, there was quite alot of vapour wear, and the thongs of shielding were'nt quite up to it.
-
To be fair, I seem to remember that the mods had a debate wether or not to allow the thread from the beginning, so I'm not surprised about this - it was good while it lasted though.
-
1
-
-
The alternative is to grow a beard, then you can handle any cold, any where, any time.
Finally out and meningitis free - 10 days of IV and clean, boring hospital rooms have left me a little mentally unstimulated. Just glad I can read and play games etc without getting a massive headache.
Good to see you're out and about
What you did today
in Way Off-Topic
Posted
Aye, it's a lovely colouring for nature, that image makes me wish for a relocation
I don't know, it might be that I can't really recall seeing a triple colour like that normally so it looks really artificial to me. Or somethin', maybe I'm overanalyzing it?
I really did like the walnut (iirc?) stock that you had though.