#drone spg

[spacejunker]

been awhile since i drew my fanbot so here is new and improved Drone (and his hawk Mister)

[saturday-byte]

(first let's all pretend it's still Friday , ok? Ok.)

I'm still being annoying about fanbots so y'all get this 💥 some of the artstyles in the ogs were pretty different to mine so I had to make Choices (and fully design Sparky. Omg) but I hope it's still ok

(Mainframe belongs to @butterbolted-automaton, Octavia to @galaxystargurl110, Sparky to @hummingbirdspark, Drone to @spacejunker, Stripy and Starry to @tealares/@asmogorna and Rose to @thoughts-and-lovely-illusions !!)

[dreamii-krybaby]

BRASS GOGGLES BY STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE IS LITERALLY MURDER DRONES'S THEME SONG, NO I WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND AND I WILL FIGHT YOU.

no but seriously it fits so well, the thing is this song has gone through many different versions it can fit the show in different ways.

like the song can be told in multiple POVs, but I think some version fit some characters better. For example the most current version of brass goggles (I think) is the one that includes "tea time", (for context some version aren't officially in platforms as it has only been performed by the band at their concerts/live shows but you can listen to it in youtube since a lot of their live performances are posted there) fits CYN as the main singer so well! ( I also feel she can fit as "upgrade"s part in the 2008 version)

tho yes even tho the song in all of it versions has a very old timey vibe (which honestly in that case fits the CYN and the whole creepy manor fiasco) lyric wise it fits a lot of the characters.

tho i think the 2013 version gives it a much more energy so gives it a different vibe (am talking the walter robotics expo and the one at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego) and I think it fits Uzi better bc the instrumentals and vocals go HARD in those performances of that version.

honestly any version of brass goggles can be sung by multiple characters from Murder Drones, each having their part.

there are so many songs from SPG that can fit murder drones so well, mostly lyric wise.

honestly we need sci-fi vibe songs about robot singing about the experience of living.

btw if u wanna know how many versions this song has its around 5 i think:

-album one (2009 version) this version of the album had the backup vocals of Erin Burke who portrayed "Upgrade" before she left the band in 2011

-album one (2012) the most known one

-"2013 version" - in this "version" which was performed at the Walter Robotics expo and at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego had much more energy and intensity and had an added drum solo.

-Music from SteamWorld heist (2015) - this version made for the game had a more upbeat but not necessarily an intense instrumental, and according to the SPG wiki,the developers game team sang alongside the band in the chorus.

btw in the 2013 and 2015 version had the backup vocals of Samuel luke, who was the og drum player before he joined as "Hatchworth" taking over the role of "the Jon" (who was portrayed by jonathan sprague, who left the band in late 2012)

-Tea time/Tea break (2014-present in performances) this version contains a "tea break" between before the final chorus and bridge of the song.

also in 2015 in performances the drums where no longer presented and instead was replaced by a keyboard and went HARD when the song had the "tea break" part (I think I know why this was made but GOD the history of the changes inside the band is hella long)

and btw in some performances you'll see a different member of the band, which is zero who joined the band in 2016 after Hatchworth/sam luke left

oh and in some version some lyrics of the song change, although most of the time they are minor ones and are mostly present in the the backup vocals.

anyways thank for reading me going down a rabbit hole of a pantomime-robot-band-lore-song named after a steampunk website

(also pls check out Steam Powered Giraffe, they are seriously super talented people, and just in case ALL of their albums and songs follow different vibes, like you will not find a song similar to brass goggles in their other albums. )

(Oh and btw Rabbit (the character) and isabella/"bunny" (Rabbit's performer) is trans and uses She/Her pronouns, but she started the band before she transitioned, so in some older performances you'll see rabbit with an outdated design and pronouns, am just saying this so some of yall dont get confused when watching their old content. Also Rabbit has the tendency to constantly change her design (which makes sense why this song has so many versions since its sang by rabbit and contains heavy lore of the SPG storyline))

[dreamii-krybaby]

MURDER DRONES AND STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE MENTIONED?!?!?!?

Y'all ever just hear a song that is so [CHARACTER] coded that you just have to

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyway this is how I feel about:

(THE REAL) Tessa - Half Past Three (Cosmo Sheldrake)

V - Winter: Will (The Arcadian Wind)

Uzi - First Love/Late Spring (Mitski)

N - Malfunction (Steam Powered Giraffe)

I just. COME ON. Obviously I have more examples but AAAAA

[captain-price-unofficially]

Ukrainian artillerymen use a 155mm FH-70 to destroy a Russian 2S3 SPG with the help of a drone spotter.

[rhodeybugg]

Cross-using an SPG OC!

In murder drones context, Willow was originally sent to copper-9 with the first testing group as a gardening drone, working with Angora in the greenhouse.

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

La minuziosa perlustrazione: l'occhio del drone Fpv : "Distruzione del lanciagranate ucraino SPG-9"

Filmato dai social di Mosca mostrano la soggettiva di un drone che perlustra “con accuratezza” il fronte innevatosource

[jloisse]

🇺🇦 Destruction d'un autre SPG (Self-propelled artillery) de l'OTAN à l'aide d'un projectile Krasnopol de 152 mm corrigé. Le tir est corrigé à partir du drone Orlan.

[theseventhoffrostfall]

The common perception is that Ukraine's irregular volunteer units are ordinary people rising up to defend their homes, and while that's a fine image I object to it because there isn't an ordinary man within a hundred miles. Strong evidence that our spotter is fucking his motorcycle, the XO is a metal vocalist, the SPG team leader keeps finding and hooking up with African crackheads, the drone operator refuses to sleep indoors because of "electromagnetic fields", our rifle team leader keeps offering to sell me women from his village in Chechnya, and I am still not convinced one of the two guys on the commander(himself a Khažad dwarf)'s PSD isn't a ghost

[nerdtlelovesart]

New SPG OC’s!!

Be getting inspiration left and right and started thinking of two new characters for SPG....again lol.

One is a Kazoolander and the other one is a fanbot, the fanot was inspired by NASA’s Mars drone ‘Oppertunity’ in fact that’s her name. I had the strange idea to make Oppertunity an SPG bot thinking it would be a cool idea. She’s the first SPG robot to go to space, but I was kinda debating what gets her to officially go to space, I was thinking either the Mars trip or the search and recover team for the crew of the Cosmo but it goes wrong.

As for the Kazoolnader, she’s an adult humanoid Axolotl princess from a far off reaction in Kazooland and her name is Eelou (ee- loo) kinda bases her off a little bit of my last Kazoolander OC Meev and Lilou from the Fifth Element. Her story is that the Waltors were experimenting with the blue portal again to try and get it to work and it does but they end up bringing Eelou into their world after she tried to run away from her kingdom (they don’t know she’s a princess till they try to send her back) and at this time all the previous Walter robots have come to stay and visit for a few weeks. So most of them have heard about the portal being in action again but don’t know what really came threw till the Jon found Eelou in his old room under his bed and thus start the beginning is something MORE than friendship 😉

So ya those are my two new oc’s hope you enjoy them and thnx for tuning in👍🏻❤️

[dreamii-krybaby]

Five nights at Freddy’s fan songs 🤝 Steam Powered Giraffe 🤝 The Cog is Dead

All of their songs fitting Murder Drones characters and/or lore

It also makes me really happy, bc I love FNAF,Murder Drones,Steam Powered Giraffe and I just recently got The Cog is Dead.

[micbergsma]

W Punta De Mita hotel in Mexico! My favorite hotel so far that I have worked at (🎥video shoot for commercial) 💥 Check out the video from this place! Video link in bio!💥 ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ 🎥 subscribe to YouTube.com/MicBergsma . Website: MicBergsma.tv ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ #mexico #micbergsma #dji #djiphantom #quadcopter #puntademita #w #whotels #whotel #spglife #spg #beach #beachhotel #phantom4 #phantom4pro #mavic #spark #djispark #drone #aerial #aerialphotography #pacific #travel #traveling (at W Punta De Mita)

[fapangel]

Do you think that SPAAGs still have a role in modern formations? I mean, proper ones like Gepards or the newer Shilkas; not Hiluxes with ZPUs on the back. Or does the advent of High-Alt LGB strikes being the new CAS invalidate them a bit? How about large-caliber SPAAGs like the OTOMATIC? Would they have a renewed role if they could function as C-RAM?

They do - but their use is somewhat more restrained now. Witness the Russian Tor and Pantsir systems, which combine both short-range missiles and cannons. Autocannons simply don’t have the range, whereas even the best modern missiles can’t reliably engage something flying really low, and with modern electronics and sensors being what they are - to say nothing of small drones - the ability to engage zero-altitude targets is still important. 

The Pantsir system (SA-22 Greyhound is the NATO reporting name,) is explicitly designed to provide point-defense against inbound Precision Guided Munitions in addition to the usual SHORAD duties of warding off CAS/choppers. Clearly, they’re not obsolete just because of PGMs! With that said, AAA is still greatly inhibited by its limited range, something neither modern fire control nor modern munitions fuzing can really overcome. Without being combined with good missiles - even short-ranged MANPAD derived ones - such a system is best used as a dual-use anti-air, anti-surface weapon, carrying shells with multi-purpose fuzes that can be switched to different detonation modes to engage light ground targets. The effectiveness of the Shilka’s four ZSU-23s against ground targets is well known, after all, and there’s plenty of applications for a SPAAG as a light SPG, for applying direct fire to improvised fortified structures. Even tanks don’t like being saturated with shittons of 23mm HE; it breaks expensive things like sensors, periscopes and even track links.  

It’s interesting you mention the revival of larger-caliber AA like the OTOMATIC. There’s plenty of old 50s-70s era Soviet ZSU-57-2 SPAAGs left out there; they were originally meant to use their bigger 57mm gun to reach up and touch aircraft at the middle altitudes that the Shika couldn’t reach; the last huzzah of the gun-era of anti-aircraft defense. But it might be coming back to the fore. The OTOMATIC you mention’s just a SPAAG-mounted version of the very popular OTO Melara 76mm naval gun - which the Italian navy uses in combination with their guided DART projectiles as point-defense for their ships. It’s worth linking, because people should read it: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTO_Melara_76_mm#DART

Guided cannon projectiles bridge the gap between guns and missiles, and make high-caliber, low-ROF guns useful again. In Ye Olden Aircraft Guns, “heavy” AAA like 127mm dual-angle guns on ships, or the famous 88mm flak, was valuable because it was the only weapon that could reach out a good distance and/or to high altitudes, and the low ROF was compensated for by the large threatened space of the big fragmentation shell. Missiles conclusively kicked their ass at that, but steady tech advancement (for both guns and their munitions) made mid/low level AA, which was always about rapid fire at close range, much, much better. This kept them competitive and relevant, but still can’t enable them to replace the heavy AA guns of old - they still can’t reach like those weapons could. The Goalkeeper system is a fantastic example of the difficulty. It uses the famous GAU-8, which itself notable for being a 30mm autocannon that generates such insane velocities that its AP shells can actually penetrate tanks from certain angles. It’s also literally the size of a VW bug to achieve that performance, and rather heavier. It makes the Goalkeeper system very effective at point-defense by pushing out the effective range further -1,500 meters - but the turrets are terribly heavy and large. The coming age of the guided projectile is definitely going to bring medium/heavyweight AA back into relevance. 

As for C-RAM, that’s a good point, and highlights a further extension of the trend of naval point-defense systems being brought ashore at SHORAD systems. The Centurion C-RAM system is just a Phalanx 20mm CIWS on a trailer, with upgraded software and specialized ammo, meant for engaging mortar and rocket artillery. This is definitely going to be more relevant in the future, as mortars and artillery rockets aren’t just harassment used by insurgents - they’re gaining greater and greater prevalence in the armies of Russia and China. Not just as long-ranged rocket artillery, but as full-out SRBMs meant for tactical use. A missile designed to engage low-level targets like drones and choppers isn’t going to have the kinematic performance to engage something as fast and high-angle as an SRBM or artillery rocket - nor would a light AA gun, no matter how good - but a 76mm gun firing guided projectiles? Especially with hyper-sonic projectiles in current development? It could produce a useful gun-centric system, with MANPAD-derived missiles existing to back up and extend the reach of a very capable gun, rather than an adequate gun backing up very capable missiles. 

So yeah, you’re on-point with all of that - SHORAD is a thing, and guns are making a comeback. A final SHORAD-related thought: 

>RAM: Rolling Airframe Missile; very good point-defense missile for navy ships. 

>SeaRAM: RAM launcher combined with Phalanx’s radar dome to make a fully standalone system. 

>C-RAM: Standalone Phalanx gun mounted on a trailer to shoot down mortar shells on land.

Now put SeaRAM on a C-RAM mounting and...? 

[rhodeybugg]

We interrupt your regularly scheduled murder drones lesbians to bring you: Steam Powred Giraffe lesbians! Aspen [the right] is my oc, and her girlfriend, Echo [left] belongs to my unofficially adopted mother, @visceralvoid !

[Also i've re-discovered my love of SPG so that's gonna start appearing here too >:3]

[eddiejpoplar]

GEAR REVIEW: Feiyu Tech SPG Plus Gimbal Rig for iPhone

In the world of automotive journalism, photographers and videographers pull out all of the stops to get the right shot or capture the perfect moment. The sort of gear that these photographers and videographers have to capture that those moments is seriously impressive, with sliders, rigs and drones that look like they came off of a Spielberg set. However, one of the most commonly used piece of gear used in automotive journalism is also one of the most affordable and most effective — the gimbal. We recently tested one over the past couple of test drives we’d done and it turns out that a good gimbal can make me, an amateur at best, actually not half bad.

The rig we tested was the Feiyu Tech SPG Plus Gimbal Rig for iPhone. The SPG Plus is a three-axis stabilizing handheld gimbal rig and is designed to work with iPhones. It features two vertical handles on either side of the gimbal, both of which are covered in a grippy rubberized coating, so your hands never slip, nor do they fatigue from having to squeeze the handles harder to hold on. It’s also really well weighted in hand, so filming for long periods of time is a breeze. There are also 1/4-inch screw ports at the bottom of each handle, making hooking up tripods, camera flash or microphone very easy.

It also feels as if it’s built very well and feels high quality. The entire rig is made from solid-alloy aluminum, so it’s not only strong and durable but lightweight. And we can seriously attest for its durability, as it’s been in the trunks of cars that, well let’s say weren’t driven delicately. It’s also been on a lot of shoots and been properly used. Despite all of that, has nary a scratch or imperfection and every rotating axis works flawlessly. It’s quite impressive, actually.

The cradle which holds the iPhone in place is also very strong. In fact, it’s almost too strong, as it can sometimes be difficult to actually get the iPhone in there. However, once it’s in, there’s never a worry of it sliding or falling out, even when it’s rotated upside down or on its side. You can always have complete confidence in it holding your expensive phone. Once the iPhone is in the cradle, it comes time to balance the back axis. Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy. There’s a knurled knob on the back of the axis that unscrews and then the entire cradle slides left and right. So you just adjust the balance of the phone until it stays level and screw the knob back in. It’s a breeze.

Once the phone is balanced, you won’t need to adjust it again until you either change iPhones or add a heavy attachment to it. So you really only need to do it the first time, which is nice.

When you turn the Feiyu Tech SPG Plus on, the iPhone cradle swivels into place and it’s time to pair the phone to the gimbal rig. This is probably the most difficult part of using the SPG Plus, as the software can be a bit difficult to use. There’s a free app to download to your iPhone and that allows you to pair your phone with the gimbal. Once paired, the app acts like a typical camera app, where you can adjust different levels of exposure and focus. The app itself works quite well and is easy to use. The difficulty can come from its Bluetooth pairing, which can be a bit finicky sometimes. It will sometimes unpair from the phone inexplicably, which can be frustrating while trying to film a car.

Though, the app’s difficulties are seldom and aren’t too big a concern. Once paired and working, though, it works really quite well. On the right handle, there’s a joystick that can swivel the iPhone completely 360-degrees, on both its X and Y axis. So you have an infinite amount of control over where the iPhone is pointing, all from your right thumb. It’s really easy to use and it’s actually fun to use. If I has shown this gumbal to five-year old me, my younger self would pass out. Mostly because I would be seeing myself from the future, but also because this gimbal is a cool piece of tech. Where the Bluetooth pairing comes in handy here, though, is the fact that you can control the shutter button from the SPG Plus’ right handle. So no need to actually work your iPhone. Easy peasy.

It also has a few different functions. One of them keeps the iPhone facing straight ahead, no matter where you turn it. This allows you to just walk and point the camera where you want and it keeps it smooth and stable. The other main function is its ability to fix the camera on a certain object, like a car for instance, and as you walk around, the camera will continue to follow the subject. Which is a cool feature. It can also flip 180-degrees with the double tap of the power button, back and forth, so you can flip to selfie-mode and back very quickly.

There’s one other small criticism I have and it’s with the battery life, which can be quite short. So you don’t get a ton of filming time before it starts to die. I’ve only been able to get a little over an hour out of it, during heavy use. When you consider the fact that it’s working three-axis stabilizing equipment, it’s understandable that its battery dies pretty quickly. And over an hour of heavy use isn’t a small amount, but it can be problematic on a full day of shooting.

Having said that, though, the Feiyu Tech SPG Plus is an awesome tool for any automotive journalist. It works well, allows you to get great, smooth shots and it even looks good. But it’s not only good for car journalists, it’s just great fun to use and can capture some really awesome moments. The SPG Plus isn’t exactly cheap, at around $299. However, it’s a high-tech piece of kit and it’s made really well. It isn’t some plastic toy, it’s a solid aluminum, three-axis stabilizing gimbal rig and it’s good enough for professional grade use.

The article GEAR REVIEW: Feiyu Tech SPG Plus Gimbal Rig for iPhone appeared first on BMW BLOG

from Performance Junk Blogger 6 http://ift.tt/2EeNAy0 via IFTTT

[uniteordie-usa]

How Facebook’s Secret Unit Created India’s Troll Armies For Digital Propaganda To Influence Elections

http://uniteordie-usa.com/how-facebooks-secret-unit-created-indias-troll-armies-for-digital-propaganda-to-influence-elections/ http://uniteordie-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Mark-Zuckerberg-Internet-laser-drones-for-good-or-for-evil-2-600x400.jpg How Facebook’s Secret Unit Created India’s Troll Armies For Digital Propaganda To Influence Elections Just days after GreatGameIndia exposed how American and Japanese companies could be hacking Indian elections, a recent Bloomberg report has revealed how a secret unit of Facebook has helped create troll armies for governments around the world including India for digital propaganda to influence e...

Just days after GreatGameIndia exposed how American and Japanese companies could be hacking Indian elections, a recent Bloomberg report has revealed how a secret unit of Facebook has helped create troll armies for governments around the world including India for digital propaganda to influence elections. Under fire for Facebook Inc.’s role as a platform for political propaganda, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has punched back, saying his mission is above partisanship.

But Facebook, it turns out, is no bystander in global politics. What he hasn’t said is that his company actively works with political parties and leaders including those who use the platform to stifle opposition—sometimes with the aid of “troll armies” that spread misinformation and extremist ideologies.

The initiative is run by a little-known Facebook global government and politics team led from Washington by Katie Harbath, a former Republican digital strategist who worked on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign as well as 2014 Indian elections.

Since Facebook hired Harbath to run their secret global goverment and politics unit three years later, her team has traveled the globe (including India helping political clients use the company’s powerful digital tools to create troll armies for digital propaganda.

In India (many other countries as well) the unit’s employees have become de facto campaign workers. And once a candidate is elected, the company in some instances goes on to train government employees or provide technical assistance for live streams at official state events.

In the U.S., the unit embedded employees in Trump’s campaign. In India, the company helped develop the online presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who now has more Facebook followers than any other world leader.

At meetings with political campaigns, members of Harbath’s team sit alongside Facebook advertising sales staff who help monetize the often viral attention stirred up by elections and politics. They train politicians and leaders how to set up a campaign page and get it authenticated with a blue verification check mark, how to best use video to engage viewers and how to target ads to critical voting blocs. Once those candidates are elected, their relationship with Facebook can help extend the company’s reach into government in meaningful ways, such as being well positioned to push against regulations.

That problem is exacerbated when Facebook’s engine of democracy is deployed in an undemocratic fashion. A November report by Freedom House, a U.S.-based nonprofit that advocates for political and human rights, found that a growing number of countries are “manipulating social media to undermine democracy.” One aspect of that involves “patriotic trolling,” or the use of government-backed harassment and propaganda meant to control the narrative, silence dissidents and consolidate power.

In 2007, Facebook opened its first office in Washington. The presidential election the following year saw the rise of the world’s first “Facebook President” in Barack Obama, who with the platform’s help was able to reach millions of voters in the weeks before the election. The number of Facebook users surged around the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East around 2010 and 2011, demonstrating the broad power of the platform to influence democracy.

Subramanian Swamy

I am writing a letter soon to PM detailing how compulsory Aadhar is a threat to our national security. SC will I am sure strike it down.

Julian Assange 

See http://gginews.in/cia-spies-access-aadhaar-database/ …

How CIA Spies Access India’s Biometric Aadhaar Database | GGI News

Read UIDAI and Cross Match’s reply to this story and our response to them here Foreign Firms Given Access To Your Unencrypted Aadhaar Data. Our international readers can read this story in French…

By the time Facebook named Harbath, the former Giuliani aide, to lead its global politics and government unit, elections were becoming major social-media attractions. Facebook began getting involved in electoral hotspots around the world.

Facebook has embedded itself in some of the globe’s most controversial political movements while resisting transparency. Since 2011, it has asked the U.S. Federal Election Commission for blanket exemptions from political advertising disclosure rules that could have helped it avoid the current crisis over Russian ad spending ahead of the 2016 election.

The company’s relationship with governments remains complicated. Facebook has come under fire in the European Union, including for the spread of Islamic extremism on its network. The company just issued its annual transparency report explaining that it will only provide user data to governments if that request is legally sufficient, and will push back in court if it’s not.

Facebook Troll Armies In India

India is arguably Facebook’s most important market recently edging out the U.S. as the company’s biggest. The number of users here is growing twice as fast as in the U.S. And that doesn’t even count the 200 million people who use the company’s WhatsApp messaging service in India, more than anywhere else on the globe.

By the time of India’s 2014 elections, Facebook had for months been working with several campaigns. Modi relied heavily on Facebook and WhatsApp to recruit volunteers who in turn spread his message on social media. Since his election, Modi’s Facebook followers have risen to 43 million, almost twice Trump’s count.

Within weeks of Modi’s election, Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg both visited India as it was rolling out a critical free internet service that was later curbed due to massive protests. Harbath and her team have also traveled here, offering a series of workshops and sessions that have trained more than 6,000 government officials.

As Modi’s social media reach grew, his followers increasingly turned to Facebook and WhatsApp to target harassment campaigns against his political rivals. India has become a hotbed for fake news, with one hoax story this year that circulated on WhatsApp leading to mob beatings resulting in several deaths. The nation has also become an increasingly dangerous place for opposition parties and reporters.

GreatGameIndia@GreatGameIndia

Replying to @GreatGameIndia

Shouldn’t SPG have tightened PM’s security when #seaplane he flew in came from Pakistan whose ownership details are mysteriously tied to Bank Trust involved in registering aircrafts for anonymous clients via shell companies one of whom is Russian oligarch? http://gginews.in/seaplane-shared-sovereignty/ …

5:40 AM – Dec 13, 2017

Seaplane Of Shared Sovereignty | GGI News

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ें – जलविमान में “सहभाजीत संप्रभुता” की सवारी Unrolled thread from @GreatGameIndia #seaplane #HomiBhabha #NewNormal #ParadisePapers

However its not just Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party who has utilize Facebook’s services. The company says it offers the same tools and services to all candidates and governments regardless of political affiliation, and even to civil society groups that may have a lesser voice.

What is interesting is that Mark Zukerberg himself wants to be the President of US and has already employed in succession David Plouffe (campaign adviser to Barack Obama in 2008) and then Ken Mehlman (George Bush Jr.’s campaign adviser in 2004). He is currently employing Amy Dudley (Senator Tim Kaine’s former advisor), Ben LaBolt (Barack Obama’s former press adviser) and Joel Benenson (Hillary Clinton’s former campaign adviser in 2016).

Facebook’s Emotion Manipulation

A 2014 study titled “Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks” manipulated the balance of positive and negative messages seen by 689,000 Facebook users. The paper details the experiment running from January 11 to 18, 2012, in an attempt to identify emotional contagion effects by altering the amount of emotional content in the targeted users’ news feed. The researchers concluded that they had found “some of the first experimental evidence to support the controversial claims that emotions can spread throughout a network, [though] the effect sizes from the manipulations are small”.

The study was criticized for both its ethics and methods/claims. As controversy about the study grew, Adam Kramer, a lead author of both studies and member of the Facebook data team, defended the work in a Facebook update. A few days later, Sheryl Sandburg, Facebook’s COO, made a statement while travelling to India. While at an Indian Chambers of Commerce event in New Delhi she stated that: “This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that was what it was. It was poorly communicated and for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you.”

So what was this new revolutionary product for which Facebook was conducting psychological experiments on emotion manipulation of its users? These revolutionary products are called digital propaganda Troll Armies that spread Fake News like wildfire assisting its clients during elections.

Shortly thereafter, on July 3, 2014, USA Today reported that the privacy watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) had filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade claiming that Facebook had broken the law when it conducted the study on the emotions of its users without their knowledge or consent. In its complaint the EPIC alleged that Facebook had deceived it users by secretly conducting a psychological experiment on their emotions: “At the time of the experiment, Facebook did not state in the Data Use Policy that user data would be used for research purposes. Facebook also failed to inform users that their personal information would be shared with researchers.” Most of the guinea pigs for these emotion manipulation experiments were Indians.

Most of us don’t give much thought to what we post on social media, and a lot of what we see on social media is pretty innocuous. However, it only seems that way at first glance. The truth is that what we post online has a frightening potential. According to recent research from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Washington, the things we post on social media could be utilized by software to predict future events – maybe even the next Prime Minister of India.

In a paper that’s just been published on Arxiv, the team of researchers found that social media can be used to “detect and predict offline events”. Twitter analysis can accurately predict civil unrest, for instance, because people use certain hashtags to discuss issues online before their anger bubbles over into the real world.

The most famous example of this came during the Arab Spring, when clear signs of the impending protests and unrest were found on social networks days before people took to the streets.

The reverse of this is also true. Meaning that anger can also be manufactured on social media & once it reaches an optimum level be targeted on to real life events on the streets as we have been witnessing since atleast a couple of years in India with cases of mob lynchings and such.

How India’s Fake News Ecosystem Work

In India a massive fake news industry has sprung up exercising influence over traditional discourse of politics and has a potential in becoming a security challenge like the Arab Spring if not kept in check. As the debate over mob lynching in India is raging it should be understood that such incidents would not have had such a rapid and massive effect if the youth had not had access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media that allowed the fake news industry to organise and share made-up videos and information. The mob lynching since the past years are a direct result of the fake news industry spilling over from social media to the real world.

This takes a totally new dimension now that it has been revealed that Facebook & WhatsApp itself colluded with the establishment in creating such “troll arimes” for digital propaganda, resulting directly into violence on Indian soil. This is a clear textbook case of terrorism. Terrorism is defined as ‘the systematic use of terror or violence by any individual or group to achieve political goals’. In this case this terrorism is perpetrated by a foreign company Facebook on Indian soil using digital information warfare. What more are we waiting for to respond to such an act?

Fake News was used very effectively during US Presidential elections. It was part of the official campaign itself run in collaboration with tech companies and it is also being alleged that even the Russians also ran their own network. The same method was used to shape the Brexit debate as well. As we write this the fake news industry is spreading its tentacles in India as well. Many of India’s leading sportsmen, celebrities, economists, politicians have already fallen victim to this by disseminating such fake content. This is a dangerous trend and should be kept in check by our intelligence agencies to avert future disaster.

The way it works in short is like this. Numerous websites and portals of varying degree of legitimacy and funding are floated. Specific news contents are generated for different groups based on their region, ideology, age, religion etc. which is mixed with a heavy dose of soft porn to slowly blend in with their objective. These fake contents are than peddled in social media and specific groups targeted via analytics tools developed by tech companies. As a lot of such fake content is generated slowly it starts getting a momentum of itself and somewhere down the line it is picked up by any unsuspected person of influence – celebrities, politicians and even journalists themselves. What happens after this point is sheer madness.

Whether by choice or by ignorance even the mainstream media starts peddling this nonsense, dedicating their entire primetime news shows in analyzing the fake news, who said what and why and blah blah… instead of identifying where the fake content was generated in the first place and getting it shut. Due to the nature and sensationalism of the generated content and also because its echoed by persons of influence with time this fake worldview has the potential to spill over in the real world with physical casualties, as we have seen in so many lynching cases. If not kept in check it could capture and take over the entire national discourse. We will reach a point where it will be very difficult to keep track of what is fact or fiction and the entire society would be radicalized into different opposing camps all based on lies.

Facebook & Indian Elections

Around the time of the Indian election in May 2014 a serious-headlined story began spreading which asked “Did Google affect the outcome of the Indian election?” Beneath the headline was an iceberg – If Facebook can tweak our emotions and make us vote, what else can it do?

Surprisingly, the Election Commission of India itself has partnered with Facebook for voter registration during election process. Dr.Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, said “I am pleased to announce that the Election Commission of India is going to launch a ‘Special Drive to enrol left out electors, with a particular focus on first time electors. This is a step towards fulfilment of the motto of ECI that ‘NO VOTER TO BE LEFT BEHIND’. As part of this campaign, Facebook will run a voter registration reminder in multiple Indian languages to all the Facebook users in India. I urge all eligible citizens to enrol and VOTE i.e. Recognize your Right and Perform your Duty. I am sure Facebook will strengthen Election Commission of India’s enrolment campaign and encourage future voters to participate in the Electoral Process and become responsible Citizens of India.”

GreatGameIndia@GreatGameIndia

Replying to @GreatGameIndia

Why did EC shared secret #EVMs code with foreign manufacturers Microchip & Renesas to have it fused onto microprocessors. BEL & ECIL could have done it in their own premises in a secure manner. Why did they do this in a foreign country USA/Japan? Threadhttp://gginews.in/hack-indian-evms-electronic-voting-machines-dummies/ …

4:47 AM – Dec 19, 2017

Are Indian Elections Hacked By Foreign Companies?

Just days after we reported this story on how American and Japanese companies could be hacking Indian elections, it has been revealed how a secret unit of Facebook has helped create troll armies for…

All 17 American Intelligence agencies have raised serious concern about the impact of this fake news industry on their election process and their society. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center a majority of Americans (a whopping 88%) believe that completely made-up news has left Americans confused about even the basic facts. And we in India are heading towards a worst scenario than this. Why? Because unlike India, the US Government and Intelligence community has publicly addressed this issue and are working towards resolving this menace. Will Indian govt address such meddling by Facebook in India’s internal affairs?

Committees after committees are being setup, senate hearings are being convened to reach to the bottom of this and new Units are being created to effectively counter this threat to their society. While Facebook is being investigated for meddling in US Presidential elections not much focus has been given to how Facebook’s secret unit has influenced elections in India. In light of these revelations Facebook’s interference in India’s elections should be thoroughly investigated. Ofcourse in order to do so first the Govt should have to acknowledge the existence of this fake news industry in order to take action against it.

Along with Facebook, American Microchip Inc and Japanese Renesas contracted by Election Commission for fusing secret EVM code should also be investigated for interfering in India’s elections and all those who colluded with them. It will be a grave mistake to take this threat of foreign companies interfering in India’s elections lightly.

Read More: http://gginews.in/facebooks-secret-unit-created-indias-troll-armies-digital-propaganda-influence-elections/