#top life hacks 2017

[saturdaymournings]

DS tour :)

Hiiiiiiii y’all :) I’m finally making this after putting it off for ages! It’s not going to be completely coherent and I don’t care because I’m making it purely for the pleasure of myself and bestie jay xiaomiao on spacehey <2

I have a New Nintendo 2DS XL in white and orange. I’ve had it since September of 2017, making it almost seven years old! It’s held up really well in my opinion, especially seeing as it has been thoroughly abused and enjoyed by me since the age of 11. A particular incident springs to mind that occurred on a school trip— I dropped the damn ds on the floor and it slid around the aisle of the coach I was on until we stopped Dx

This is the top and bottom half of my ds. As you can see she has been stickered to fuck, I have no shame and if you’re going to be like bitches on Reddit and start bitching about it getting all sticky then I’ll have to inform you that 1) you are like bitches on Reddit. Embarrassing for u and 2) I have used alcohol wipes to get gunk off of this fucker a concerning amount of times before and I’ll fucking do it again. Isn’t she beautiful tho don’t we think so

This is my splash screen I just think it’s a vibe don’t u. It is a good reminder to see this pop up every time I open my ds

This is my theme it’s Miku admittedly I’m not big into the miku I like to listen to like three of the songs, simp over kaito and play the 3ds game that’s about it but the theme is cute and it plays one of the three songs I really like

Some examples of my games!!! I originally took pictures of every single game but it was too many files for tumble to handle lol. The games I’m currently like super duper playing are Ace Attorney Investigations 2 (fan translation), miitopia and animal crossing new leaf! Casually tho I will occasionally pick up tomodachi life, project mirai dx and ofc I do my daily wordle on the ds lol.

My Bluetooth headphones broke a while back so I was exclusively listening to music on my disc Walkman, but I managed to get an mp3 player on my ds and now I can use this for all my music! It’s very handy and it works with the clam shell hingey thing shut :) plus because I have the rainbow light mod I can look at the rainbow light while my music is playing it’s kinda silly but it makes me happy idk if the reason is goofy lol. Also admire my sick ass taste in music!!!! You WISH you had as good taste in ska as me

I also have an mp4 player chock full of Dan and Phil and Shelbizleee videos for on the go which is fun especially seeing as I can no longer get YouTube working on my ds because they fucked up the app and the other app and the website :( thirdtube works for a lot of people but not me unforch

I also do most of my drawing on my ds nowadays purely for 1) the gimmick and 2) the chunky glitter pens that I hacked into swapdoodle. It’s nice to be able to do more drawing for fun again because I totally fell off last year and it’s good to enjoy things

BONUS: archive of our own is more than functional on the 3ds browser. It is a thoroughly enjoyable experience to use it on my ds! Purely for research purposes I have also found Pornhub is difficult to navigate but ultimately useable. And for once I haven’t actually been utilising this feature I literally just get curious. Rare lack of perversion from silly girl we ball <2

anyways tysm for reading this! Jay tysm especially for allowing this to happen in the first place, you rock 🎸 peace

[serge-starr]

My take on the Melanie allegations

Melanie is my favourite musician and has been for almost a year now. I know I'm very late to the fandom because she's been making music for over a decade. I've been saving up and preparing to buy her merch, which is SO DAMN EXPENSIVE. However, lately there's been a bigger issue than just the money.

🍃🩷🦋🩷🍃

Another musician called Timothy Heller, who I believe is her "ex-best friend", has accused Melanie multiple times of sexual abuse. She's posted on her tiktok page talking about how speaking up about it ruined her life because a lot of Melanie's fans completely hammered her, bullied her, created hate pages for her because they believed she was lying for attention or trying to ruin Mel's life, etc.

I've watched both of Timothy's videos and she sounds really upset and desperate as she talks about how she and Melanie did something together that Timothy didn't want to do, or something like that? I don't know the details of how everything went down, but there have been pictures leaked that are either related to Timothy's past or the allegations specifically.

Timothy first accused Mel in 2017 but I think nothing happened as a result because somehow she didn't get much attention for it. Either people didn't believe her or they just didn't care. She spoke up about it again somewhere around the 2020s.

Sorry, I need to correct myself. She actually DID get a lot of attention in 2017. In fact, it was so bad for her that she got "run-off the internet", according to herself. I don't know what she meant by this but I ASSUME (correct me if I'm wrong) that it means she got bullied so bad that she either quit or she just got cancelled??

🍃🩷🦋🩷🍃

Timothy, in her video, said that Melanie admitted that they did something together but also said that Timothy "didn't say no". Timothy denied this and said that she DID say no.

Timothy said that 2015 is when it happened but she didn't remember the exact date. In an interview she revealed a photo she took the day after it happened and discovered the date the abuse happened through that method. After all this was revealed online, Melanie's fans looked at all of Melanie's posts on that very date. The conclusion of this was that Timothy and Melanie were in different states on that date. Some believed this meant Timothy was a liar. However Timothy argued that for some reason the photo appeared multiple times in her camera roll (she could not explain why). My comment on this is that this technically means Timothy STILL cannot be sure what date the occurance was because this photo appeared multiple times.

This understandably drove Timothy insane and made her really angry because Melanie had ALREADY admitted that they had done something together but as soon as her fans revealed they were in different states at this UNCONFIRMED date, Melanie thanked them for revealing that Timothy's statements were false. In my opinion, there is definitely something off about this. On top of that, some of Timothy's accounts/details have been either hacked or leaked which has really scared her and affected her mental health (made her low self-esteem even lower). Eventually Timothy gave up on her music career, deactivated all her public accounts and lived in private for many years. In her first video, she expresses how distraught she is that she has been unable to live the life that she's dreamed of just because of this. Timothy's lost all hope and confidence with herself and her entire life. I honestly feel so bad for her. She also explains that some "photoshopped" (according to her) images revealed that she "admitted to lying", "accused other celebrities" of the same thing, etc. She said that these are all false and were made to make her look bad. Timothy says that she is exhausted and embarassed from begging people to believe her and begging people to care.

🍃🩷🦋🩷🍃

I wanted to make a paragraph about Melanie's side of the story but I don't think Melanie has really done a proper explanation or clearup on what happened herself. I feel like Melanie's either tried to avoid the topic, pretend it didn't happen, forget it, move on, etc. In my opinion, this was a very dumb move. If I were to get accused of something as serious as that, I would speak up about it immediately, whether I'm a celebrity or not.

She has allowed her fans to treat Timothy in such a horrible way, literally ruining her life. I understand that Timothy's allegations have caused trouble for Melanie too but what I don't understand is why would Timothy CONTINUE to defend her point knowing she's going to get a ton of hate and DEATH THREATS when she could easily just "admit" she's lying and allow the world to move on and leave her alone. She's chosen the harder option, clearly because she's probably not lying and has no choice but to pick the more difficult route, and continue to accuse Melanie until she gets her justice.

Admitting that she and Timothy did something together but then thanking her fans for proving they did nothing together makes absolutely no sense, isn't logical and doesn't connect any dots together for me.

Many people have accused Melanie of taking advantage of her talent, her fandom, her power, etc. Honestly, if these allegations are true, I won't be surprised. There are a lot of disagreements and arguments over this matter but a point that has stood out to me personally is that Melanie probably does not care about her fans, and only cares about making money.

From what I know, Melanie probably doesn't want to let her guard down or reveal/admit to anything because not only would she lose her power, reputation, wealth, etc. she would lose basically EVERYTHING she has worked for. She wouldn't want to speak out because her method of staying quiet is working in her favour. In my opinion, she is sitting back, relaxing, and allowing her fans to do her dirty work. Destroying/silencing/bringing Timothy Heller down, while allowing herself to continue to thrive and make money.

Of course, I don't know much about Melanie's side of the story so I don't want to say too much. This is mainly opinion-based and me just saying what I think based on what I know.

🍃🩷🦋🩷🍃

I'm trying to make this make sense. This has been very hard to process because Melanie is my favourite singer and was one of my favourite people in the world. I WANT to believe the allegations are false, but honestly I'm just not convinced sorry guys. I want to say I will always love her music, but not her as a person since I don't support the actions she's been accused of and NO ONE should. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE FOR R*PE. I don't even know if I should consider myself a Melanie "fan" anymore.

I also don't want to assume the allegations are false because I am extremely worried about Timothy.

I'm technically a fan, but I don't support these actions at all. I want to say I'm against what I'm against but I still admire her talent and the inspiration she's brought to the world. Honestly, the Melanie fandom has been SO TOXIC when it comes to the Timothy Heller situation. So many of them are reacting in such wrong, damaging ways.

Sending either of them hate won't do any good. It'll either put them through pain/self-hatred or make them hate each other even more. This will put more pressure under the situation and eventually everyone will have a mental breakdown at this rate. This is a time where we need to be open-minded, understanding and spread as much love as possible. There is no confirmed proof that Melanie did it, and there is no confirmed proof that Timothy is lying. So until we have something INDENIABLE, we need to stay calm and neutral about this, while sending support to the correct places (Melanie's music career and Timothy's safety/mental health).

I also feel like we need to try and be a bit more smart and considerate about this. Don't support Melanie 100% just because you like her music. You know her songs, you know her style, you know her aesthetic, but you DON'T. KNOW. HER. AS. A. PERSON. You can't assume Mel is innocent just because you like her. Yes, you like her, but you don't KNOW her. The same goes for Timothy as well. Don't bash Melanie just because you're very confident that Timothy is telling the truth. If Timothy is somehow lying, then we've basically been bashing, upsetting and damaging Mel for no reason (while she's already coping with these statements). If Timothy is telling the truth, do you think bashing Mel is going to magically erase something she did in the past or make her feel remorse for what she did? Probably not. You're just going to make her hate Timothy even more if that's the kind of person she is. We need to think about the evidence rather than JUST what we think of these people.

In general, I feel like the Melanie fandom is SUPER TOXIC. There are so many fake Melanie fans it's crazy. And by a fake fan I don't mean someone who doesn't know all her songs. I mean someone who claims to be a fan but then casually bodyshames Melanie, insults her outfits, calls her new album cringe/weird, etc. I get that people can have their own opinions, dislike particular outfits, etc. but bodyshaming is where I cross the line. There is no excuse for bodyshaming. I know this is besides the main topic of this post but I just want to point out that the Mel fandom is trash in more cases than just Timothy Heller. This fandom has done fucked up things multiple times. Bodyshaming Mel is so wrong and unnecessary. We all know damn well there is nothing wrong with her body. She doesn't need to change it. I don't want to associate myself with these kinds of people. While I could stand up against these people, for this particular case I would like to just consider myself NOT part of the fandom. At this point, I'm wondering if buying her merch is a bad idea because I don't want to support this kind of thing.

Before I end this I want to add that a lot of people who are particularly fans of Melanie are toxic and a lot of the things they do are very weird and questionable. I don't care how much you like Mel. There is no excuse for shaming people only because they don't know every song, like/prefer different albums/EPs to you, dress a certain way, have different opinions to you, different merch to you, etc. Finally, there is DEFINITELY no excuse for sending Timothy literal death threats. It's unjustifiable to send death threats to ANYONE.

That's all. Thanks for reading!

[zeldamomoe]

Happy .hack day 🥺💗 A series that forever changed my life! In Japanese, the month comes before the date, so 8/9; 8 can be read as "hachi" from which the first syllable is taken, so "ha", and 9 can be read as "ku", which gives us "haku" making it .hack day!

I will probably never change my profile photo from my BlackRose cosplay from .hack//IMOQ! I first made her in 2015 but only post my 2020 version now since I learned so many better skills. I even designed the tattoos in Illustrator and printed them out on tattoo paper so that I don't have to paint my body anymore 🤣

I made Tabby from .hack//Roots in 2017, and although it's SO uncomfortable to wear, I'm very proud of it especially since I'm one of the only Tabby cosplayers! I loved her sooo much as a teenager when I'd DVR the show and quickly watch through it before getting too far in the GU games (I got the box set eventually though LOL). I also got a Sakisaka costume for my partner together and we have had such cute photos taken!

Elk from .hack//IMOQ is the newest addition to my repertoire this year; thanks to my friend @royalspacefish for gifting it to me! The scepter top is INCREDIBLE ;_;

📸 Z is Eternal (Tabby & Sakisaka) & my partner Raph (BlackRose, Elk); all edited by me

[the-stray-liger]

Where do you recommend someone start out with the .hack franchise? 'cuz there's a lot of stuff and it's kinda intimidating to get into

RUBS MY GAY HANDS TOGETHER a friend just asked me this on discord lol

OKAY so there's a ton of games and a lot of anime and manga to read and I'm kinda trying to remember it as I go because it's been years

ok so the first wave of games that you should check out in chronological order is infection, mutation, outbreak, and quarantine. Along with those came 4 episodes of the Liminality anime which goes along the game but happens outside of the game in real life. Liminality is very worth checking out if you play the games in that order.

Then you can give a spin to .hack//SIGN which happens in the same version of The World as the first games, it's super interesting and emotional and I highly reccomend it. It includes a parody episode called GIFT that actually used to put me on my ass as a kid.

I didn't like legend of the twilight, it's an anime that even to me in my peak anime cringe moment was very anime cringe, but I guess you can check that out too.

Then we have G.U. which happens in a different version of The World for reasons that I won't spoil, and revolves around a different character. These were my fav games: Rebirth, Reminiscence and Redemption, the third one being my fav out of the whole saga because it made me cry a lot.

There is an anime prequel to G.U. called .hack//ROOTS. I believe there's also a cd drama that I had my abusive exboyfriend rip for me back when we were together and he used gifts to demand physical affection for me but I have no idea what it is about so if you don't speak japanese you can skip that. Roots is very interesting too, I feel like it gives you a lot of context for Haseo (the MC of G.U.). But I did watch the anime after playing the games so I dont feel like you need to do that in chronological order.

There's also the G.U.+ manga which is like a G.U. alternate spinoff and honestly I really really really loved it and I think it's worth checking out

This is where it gets complicated for me because I stopped paying attention to .hack// for a few decades following a really bad breakup in 2010-11. I think .hack//Link came out next but I didn't keep up and I'm not sure of what comes next.

G.U. Last Recode came out in 2017 I believe, I own the game but haven't played it; I think it's like a remake/summary of the G.U. saga with a few things added in and others taken out. Liek I said I haven't played it yet so I can't speak for it.

But that's all of the .hack// knowledge I can provide at the top of my head. Hope that is helpful! And I really hope you can give the .hack// franchise a chance, it has some really beautifully thought out lore and some characters that even 13 years after playing it for the last time still live rent free in my head!!!

[drama-suggestions]

Rom-Com Dramas

Extraordinary attorney Woo (2022) (16 episodes)

9/10 rating on MyDramaList and 8.7/10 on IMDb

Extraordinary Attorney Woo is the story of Woo Young-woo, an autistic lawyer raised by her single father. She graduates at the top of her law school class and obtains her first job at Hanbada, a large Seoul law firm. Her intelligence and photographic memory help her become an excellent lawyer, but her communication is initially seen as odd and awkward. She also encounters people who are prejudiced against her and others with disabilities, such as her fellow colleague Kwon Min-woo, who often tries to sabotage her. Her approach is often unique and helps resolve cases in unexpected ways.

2. Business Proposal (2022) (12 episodes)

8.7/10 rating on MyDramaList and 8.1/10 rating on IMDb

Shin Ha-ri goes on a blind date with Kang Tae-moo, CEO of Go Food, but it goes awry when her date turns out to be Kang Da-goo, the chairman of Go Foods parent company. Young-seo tricks Ha-ri into meeting Tae-moo at his request. Ha-ri lies to Tae-moo and bribes him into pretending to be his fiancée in exchange for 800,000 won per date. Despite feeling betrayed, Tae-moo still loves Ha-ri and they become a couple. Young-seo moves out of her father's house and finds out that she is now Sung-hoon's neighbor. Sung-hoon is upset with her for deceiving his boss, but eventually realizes his growing affections for Young-seo and they get together.

3. Crash Course in Romance (2023) (16 episodes)

8.5/10 rating on MyDramaList and 7.8/10 on IMDb

Nam Haeng Sun, a former national athlete, now owns a side dish store and is attracted to Choi Chi Yeol, a popular and hardworking private instructor known as the "1 Billion Won Man". Despite his reputation, Choi Chi Yeol has become increasingly aloof and irritable due to his growing success. Nam Haeng Sun embarks on a new career in the private education field and discovers a deeper connection with Choi Chi Yeol. However, their relationship is not without challenges, as they must learn to confront their own shortcomings and trust in each other's strengths. It has a satisfying ending that resolves the issues of the characters.

4. I’m not a Robot (2017) (16 episodes)

8.4/10 rating on MyDramaList and 8/10 on IMDb

Kim Min-kyu lives a luxurious but isolated life due to a severe allergy to physical contact with other human beings. Jo Ji-ah is trying to create businesses based on her inventions. KM Financial owns the Santa Maria team headed by professor Hong Baek-gyun, who has secretly created an advanced humanoid robot called AG3. To convince Min-kyu not to sell the team, Baek-gyun sends the robot to him as a demonstration, but it short-circuits and Baek-gyun asks Ji-ah to pose as the robot, giving the team time to repair Aji 3. Ji-ah impersonates Aji 3 and Min-kyu falls in love with her, believing she is the robot. He is disturbed by this and "reboots" her, erasing the robot's memory. Baek-gyun then replaces Ji-ah with the real Aji 3, and Min-kyu discovers Ji-ah's deception and nearly kills him. Ji-ah confesses her love to Min-kyu and they rediscover their love. Aji 3's secret cache is hacked, revealing Min-kyu's illness, which is used to attempt a take-over of KM Financial and complete the sale of the Santa Maria team and Aji 3. Min-kyu manages to thwart the attempt and restores Aji 3 to the Santa Maria team. 2 years later, the Santa Maria team successfully launches a new robot and Min-kyu and Ji-ah are happily living their changed lives.

5. True Beauty (2020) (16 episodes)

 8.3/10 rating on MyDramaList and 8.5 on IMDb

Lim Ju-Kyung is a high school student who has been discriminated against by her family and bullied by her peers in previous school due to being perceived as ugly. She masters wearing makeup and quickly rises to fame. Su-ho is a student of Class 2-5 in Saebom High School who is popular for his handsome looks and being the top of his class. His dysfunctional family and a tragic incident from a year ago have turned him into an ice-cold boy who hates being the center of attention. He is formerly best friends with Seo-Jun and shares Ju-Kyung's penchant for horror comic books. This series, which has an entertaining bromance, explores Ju-Kyung's life and her aspiration to become a cosmetologist.

[thedoubleztv]

How Have I Survived?

The state of one's mental health isn't something to take lightly, regardless of their gender or other factors of who they are as a person.

I've been reflecting lately about my life over the last 7 years and wonder how I'm still going, despite so many setbacks that have had seriously negative impacts on my mental health.

My grandmother's heart attack in late-August of 2017.

My best friend passing away 5 days after I last heard from her in mid-September of 2017.

My trip to the ER for gastroenteritis (commonly referred to as the stomach flu) and serious dehydration in November 2017.

Struggling on getting results on dating apps, despite how many I was putting myself out there on for several years.

Having no personal life (social life and dating life) for years on end due to my 3rd shift schedule.

Nearly taking my own life in the Summer of 2019 due to a serious number of things that were happening at the time.

Losing my grandmother in October 2019, who had been there for me for my entire life.

Losing 3 of my biggest YouTube channels in less than 24 hours due to the MarkScan Enforcement debacle in April 2020.

Losing a lot of money due to an ex-best friend and his ex-girlfriend screwing me over in various ways between the Summer of 2019 and Fall of 2020.

The massive drama involving my ex-girlfriend named Red in 2021 and 2022, which messed me up for 2 years.

Struggling with my sexuality and coming to terms with it in August of 2022.

One of my YouTube channels getting hacked in July of 2022 (which I was able to get back through YouTube's team shortly thereafter).

Getting COVID-19 in May of 2022.

Getting my heart broken in September of this year after falling in love with someone who I had been dating for almost 5 months, who didn't love me back.

The panic attack that I was stricken with in February of 2021 at work.

Getting my personal information doxed by trolls who went after me in 2023 (and for a period prior to it) due to a person that I was friends with at the time, which also involved deliveries of pizzas and religious literature to my home.

Being stalked by an ex-friend (Alabama Stalker) since mid-2021.

I might be forgetting some other things within that period, but those are the ones that I can easily remember off the top of my head, even if some things are out of chronological order.

I look back at those things and wonder to myself, "How have I continued to keep going despite all of this?" Never sought therapy or any kind of mental health assistance, yet I'm still somehow going.

[head-post]

Durov still behind bars: FM comments, phone hacking and dinner with Macron

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, is still behind bars in France, which is a source of bewilderment and criticism for many of the world’s political and media figures. The French police and authorities are still unable to explain the many oddities of his detention.

Failed meeting with Macron

Pavel Durov told police officers during his detention at the French airport that he was to have a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, French media reported.

The media wrote:

Pavel Durov, the head of Telegram, told police officers who detained him as he exited the plane that he was supposed to have dinner with Macron.

Journalists sought comment from the Elysee Palace, where they were officially denied the information. Macron’s administration said:

The president was at Le Touquet’s that evening.

A few days after the detention of Durov, French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to the incident. He wrote on X:

I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov. France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.In a state governed by the rule of law.

According to Macron, he was confronted with untrue information about France after the high-profile arrest of businessman Pavel Durov. Paris is deeply committed to freedom of speech, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. These norms, Macron noted, will always apply. He also added:

In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within the law, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights. The enforcement of the law is entrusted to the judiciary, which has full independence.

Hacked phone and moving to Paris

Special services of France and the UAE hacked the phone of the founder of the messenger Telegram Pavel Durov in 2017, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The publication of the edition reports that in 2018 Pavel Durov had lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron. Sources told the publication that Macron offered Durov to move Telegram’s office to Paris, but Durov refused. At the time, the issue of granting him French citizenship was also discussed.

The publication also writes that in 2017, a year before the meeting with Macron, the French intelligence services pursued Durov in a joint operation with the United Arab Emirates. His iPhone was reportedly hacked at the time. The spying operation, which was also previously unreported, was codenamed “Purple music.”

French security officials were concerned that the Islamic State organisation was using Telegram to recruit fighters and plan attacks.

Telegram reportedly ignored subpoenas and court orders sent by law enforcement for several years after that. The source said the subpoenas were piling up on the company’s rarely verified email address.

The UAE “closely following”

The UAE Foreign Ministry said early Tuesday that it was “closely following” Durov’s case and that it had “sent a request to the French government to urgently provide him with all consular services.” The ministry said in a statement:

Taking care of citizens, safeguarding their interests, following up on their cases and providing them with all aspects of care is a top priority for the UAE.

Durov was born in Russia but spent most of his childhood in Italy. He is a citizen of the UAE, France, Russia and the Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis.

France and the UAE have a close military relationship: the French have a naval base in Abu Dhabi, and Emirati troops use French-built Leclerc tanks and Rafale fighter jets, according to reports. Russian government officials expressed outrage over Durov’s detention, with some calling it politically motivated and proof of Western double standards on free speech.

Russia-France relations at “lowest” level

Relations between Russia and France are at their “lowest” level since Durov’s arrest, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. France has brought “very serious” charges against Durov, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, warning against attempts to intimidate him.

Telegram defended its operations in a statement, saying it complies with EU laws and content moderation “meets industry standards and is constantly being improved.” Durov, the company added, “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”

French media reported that Durov was detained on an arrest warrant that said his messaging platform was being used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offences.

On Sunday night, a French investigating judge renewed the warrant for Durov’s detention, French media reported, but he has not been charged and details of the investigation are scarce.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the order to detain Durov was extended for up to 48 hours on Monday evening. Under French law, Durov can remain in custody for questioning for no more than four days. After that, judges must decide whether to charge him or release him.

Countries save their citizen. Not France

Durov became a citizen of the UAE in 2021, after certain amendments to local legislation. This gave him the right to visa-free entry to 170 countries around the world.

According to international legal logic, any state, when its citizen is imprisoned in a foreign land, should try to get him out. The UAE has already asked French authorities for access to Durov. “Providing him with all necessary consular services is an urgent matter,” diplomats said.

“Russia is ready to assist Durov,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. But unlike Dubai, Moscow recognises a bitter truth for Pavel. Peskov added:

The situation is complicated by the fact that he has French citizenship.

France does not allow extradition of its citizens. Experts speculate that France may offer Durov cooperation with intelligence services in exchange for his freedom.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and the management of TikTok France should have detained even before the situation with Pavel Durov for the same violations in cyberspace, a French expert on information control said in an interview with French media.

Paris had more claims against X, while Telegram has never been subjected to such attacks. The more revealing is the French police’s personalised attitude towards Durov: there are no details on the charges, but questioning continues. Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said:

A number of the charges that may be brought against him are not related to specific violations of the law at all. We don’t even know what activity Durov was arrested for. The platform is simply not in a position to prosecute criminals because governments have very different ideas about who is considered a criminal and who is not.

Elon Musk wrote under the French president’s post in which he said the investigation against Durov was not political:

It would be helpful to the global public to understand more details about why he was arrested.

Durov and the EU-US information space

Some experts believe that the detention of Pavel Durov comes in connection with the need to introduce censorship into the information space of the EU and the US. This need arose after mass protests first in French New Caledonia, then during the riots in the UK and finally against the backdrop of the beginning of a tough informational campaign in the US presidential election.

And in all three cases Telegram, first of all as a messenger, can play a very big role, and in the US it can also have a strong impact as an information platform that is not controlled by the authorities.

In France, Macron banned press coverage of the ongoing protests in New Caledonia, due to social media, the UK riots are on everyone’s radar.

In the US, Biden and the forces behind him, as Kamala Harris’s initial impetus begins to burn out quickly, need to remove all incoming factors of informational influence, and Telegram is just such a factor, powerful and dangerous.

All the talk about “Russian interference” in the 2016 US presidential election was an attempt by the Democrats to justify losing. But now that they felt that some threat, virtually unrelated to Russia, was real, they are cracking down on it at once. And this is even more nuanced by the lies that have been spouted about “Russian interference.”

Read more HERE

[ijuswannacry]

Sickdog

 I think it was 2017 when I met Sick Dog and became a part of the group he was putting together. He'd posted a flier on a hackerspace board I frequented- a lot of people post wanting to gather some strapped talent whenever they need script kiddies to hack their cheating exes Facefuck and I didn't think much of it until he contacted me directly. 

He wanted the VR project I'd been working on for the last year and a half  Said he had a real use for it and could help me complete it. I'm shit at coding, I can't code to save my life so the project had hit a block that halted dev entirely and I'm slow to learn it. I thought he was just some kid trying to pull one over on me but that changed once he'd showed me his own work. 

He has skills I'd never seen before, a knowledge of shit I hadn't seen before or since. He could code an apple into being an orange if he could find a way to plug them in and I loved watching him work. You'd think it'd be boring as hell watching some guy slam lines of code on a screen but he had made a possessed art of it. 

On top of it all he understood me. I had grown up believing I was fucked up or crazy, but he was like me. He had a patron too, he was a wizard like me. We were friends hours after meeting and when he'd introduced me to the others it finally felt like I had found my own. We weren't together or anything, we loved one another the way someone loves a lion when they watch it outrun it's prey and eat it alive. It wasn't romantic, it was a passionate respect for the power the other had. I killed him, not directly but it's my fault he's dead.

[celineytumbles]

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you 'Be of good cheer!'" - Andy Williams 🔔

So, who still uses Tumblr these days?

Apparently I do. It's 'cause this is my only personal blog page still existing. I have a devotional blog. Just wanna plug that 'cause Jesus deserves it.

Speaking of the Lord, it's His time of the year. For Christians, the rest of their lives is God's, but for most of the world, December 25 is His day.

This year, to save me from tears… Sorry. The sentence started with "This year," so I had to continue the lyrics. OK, so this year, I'm writing a blog entry here on Tumblr as my birthday gift to Jesus and my Christmas gift to the world. I actually planned to record myself singing a Christmas song while playing the piano, but we couldn't find our webcam. It has a good video quality and a very capable mic, and with it, I can shoot from an angle I want, so I couldn't film without it.

So here we are in Tumblr, and it's fitting because this is a throwback post. I was reminiscing on what I've been doing for Christmas through the years beside the gift giving to classmates and teachers as a student and the festive family dinners. What I was thinking about was the things I do, like a Christmas project of my own. I had to go back to my saved files of my deleted Facebook account that got hacked. Then I thought I could go further back to the very first blog I had because I had those posts saved too. The blogs were removed and, unfortunately, the site was shut down in 2021.

Let me take you to a walk down my memory lane of Christmas projects.

It was the year 2007. I wanted to know about the episodes of Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and poof! I discovered TV.com, a website like IMDB where there are forums and users can blog. I started blogging, and I made some online friends.

Here was my Christmas post there. It's a poem.

"My Christmas Gift For You"

Happy Christmas This poem's for you Though it may not last These words stay true

This Christmas season Let us commemorate For the real reason It's Jesus Christ that we celebrate

He came to this world with humility He said goodbye to save our sins He'll come again for all humanity That's what Christmas means

I just want to give you something In a way that is different I chose to do this rhyming I hope you like this simple present

I can't give expensive things But I can still share what I have I share my blessings I spread the love

I was 14 years old when I wrote this. I think I didn't make it clear enough that Jesus' goodbye there was when He died on the cross, not when He ascended to heaven.

The next year, I made a picture greeting. I had to recreate it because the image in the saved file has watermarks.

Counterclockwise from the top left, that's Aly & AJ's Christmas album, the main cast of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Jessica Simpson's Rejoyce Christmas album, and of course, the Jonas Brothers.

In 2009, celebrities joined Twitter, so I did too. I connected my Twitter and Facebook accounts so that my tweets get posted on FB as well.

I tweeted one of my favorite Christmas songs. (How do we say that for X now? I x'd 💀) That Twitter account got suspended, so I generated this picture. I got the tweet from the FB posts saved.

In 2011, we had this laptop where you can draw on the screen, so I made the 5 squares you see here that are made digitally. The other 4 are drawn on paper.

2013 was the year I started writing many poems throughout the year, so, naturally, my Christmas greeting was another poem.

2014 had a miserable Christmas for me because I had school on Christmas day. We were in the Middle East.

I got severely depressed in 2015, so I wasn't using social media. But, of course, I still celebrated it with my family.

In 2016, my FB got hacked. That's why all the FB post pics above are just generated images.

I made a comeback in 2017.

In 2018, my family was all together in our Church's multi-generational choir. Obviously, this isn't a personal project, but I want to include it here anyway.

That year, I also started playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Our last Christmas in Bahrain was in 2019. It was our last time singing with the choir as a family.

2020 was our comeback to our home country, and after we got settled in our new house, COVID-19 was a widespread pandemic. It was a year of playing video games, making YouTube videos, and watching TikToks.

The posts below are from my Instagram. That's why there are hashtags.

2021 was a year of productivity. I released music videos of songs I composed and produced, started my Bible devotional blog, and joined a Bible study group.

I made this vid using Animal Crossing. This song's Phil Wickham's, not mine.

This is a screenshot of this blog post.

In November of 2022, God granted my desire to buy myself a piano.

There weren't any more new updates for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so my greeting for 2022 was from its ever-updated mobile game.

This year 2023, Blackpink released its mobile game, so here's my greeting:

I thought I would just be looking back at Christmases, but it turned out to be looking back at my life. The Lord has been truly faithful. He keeps on sustaining me and my loved ones. I'm just glad the world recognizes this holiday where we can all celebrate love, which they may not fully understand it's of God. We enjoy the season together whether it's through music, gaming, or even literature like poetry or books, which I haven't done yet, but I just recently finished listening to the audiobook of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Now it has become a new dream of mine to publish a Christmas book.

So, I ended up sharing myself. But what I want you to see is how Christ is the most important that I make effort every December to do something special.

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

- Isaiah 9:6, NJKV

A blessed Noël to us all!

With sugar plum love, Celine ❤️

[newsworld-nw]

Emily Ratajkowski's Dating History: From Romance and Marriage to Dating Comedian Stephen Buck

Picture credit score: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Emily Ratajkowski It is an open ebook with regards to most issues. And although she's all the way down to go deep in interviews, the mannequin or actress tends to be extra coy with regards to her personal relationship life. She stored her marriage along with her ex-husband Sebastian Beer-McClard Their four years together have been fairly low-key and have been fairly quiet since their 2022 divorce. Earlier, Emily even shunned confirming her relationship with different potential beaus. In late March 2023, Emily was photographed kissing Harry Types. She and the singer had been out in Tokyo, Japan, when the smooching occurred, and it instantly sparked romance rumors. Earlier than that memorable second, he discovered a buddy,It was everlasting, whereas his enjoyment of liberty was assured. Contact on it "New single" standingIn October 2022, the star stated, "I am principally newly single for the primary time in my life, and I really feel like I am having fun with the liberty without worrying an excessive amount about how I am perceived." Nevertheless, a brand new report in November claimed that She is already a relationship comic by Casanova Pete Davidson. In October 2023, she photographed a passionate lip lock with the actor in Paris, Stephen Buck. Rumors are rife that he could as soon as once more have a brand new chief. Able to be taught extra in regards to the mannequin's love life? Discover every little thing you must learn about Emily's relationship, historical past, and potential new beau!

Andrew Dryden

Emily and Andrew Dryden Reportedly, it dates from August 2013 to February 2014. She and the inventive director and menswear purchaser had been photographed collectively on varied occasions throughout their relationship, including an outing in New York. He first hinted at their breakup when he was allegedly Heard folks at a Tremendous Bowl occasion in 2014 saying he was newly single When Andrew was later requested in regards to the cut-up, he replied, "Sorry, I do not need to speak about it."

Jeff Magid

Emily Ratajkowski and Jeff Magid dated from 2014 to 2017. (MediaPunch/Shutterstock) Emily went on a date Jeff Magid From 2014 to the top of 2017. She and the musician, composer, and file producer went public for the first time in December 2014. Their relationship is believed to have begun when he comforted her after she handled a nude photograph hacking scandal, shortly after her separation from Andrew. They had been seen on and off numerous occasions until they cut up in late 2017 or early 2018, resulting from work commitments. They reportedly stopped being together for "weeks" in early January, according to New York Every day Information. "It was frequent data amongst her mates," however, "they did not publicly make a giant deal about them being collectively," the outlet claimed at the time. "They had been inseparable, although she tried to play issues off in public. Jeff is an extremely profitable music producer and works all around the nation.

Sebastian Beer-McClard

Sebastian Beer-McClard and Emily Ratajkowski were married from 2018 to 2022. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock) Emily and Sebastian, who's a producer and director, started a relationship shortly after she cut up with Jeff in early 2018. They got married in a New York courthouse shortly after beginning their romance in February 2018. The sweetness went on to disclose that they're anticipating their first youngster collectively in a digital essay for having fun with in October 2020. On March 11, 2021, she took to Instagram to announce the start of their son with an image of her breastfeeding her new child. Sylvester Apollo Bear joined our facet of the world. Sly arrived on probably the most surreal, stunning, and love-filled morning of my life on 3/8/21,” she wrote within the caption. In July 2022, Emily and Sebastian were reported to have separated. Emily then filed for divorce on September 8 in the Manhattan Supreme Courtroom. “They got separated just lately. It was M's determination. he's okay She is powerful and targets her son. She loves being a mom,” stated a supply of folks about division. It was additionally reported that the rationale for the cut-up had to do with Sebastian being untrue; however, nothing has been confirmed.

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt is reportedly in a relationship with Brad Pitt after she cut up with her husband. (Press Company/NoorPhoto/Shutterstock) In September 2022, it was reported that Emily and Brad had been in a relationship. The pair have allegedly "been out a couple of instances," a source stated on Web page six. “Individuals have been speculating about this for some time. Brad isn't in a relationship with anybody. They (Brad and Emily) have been noticed collectively in a couple of instances. The supply is additionally famous because Brad was "seen with different people" at a similar time, but he's not dating anybody in the meantime. Emily, then again, stated she was targeted on having fun with the only life as much as attainable. When requested in regards to the actor, he skillfully prevented speaking about his private life variety In October 2022. There he defined "unde Read the full article

[xtruss]

More Honest, Rational People Now Speaking-up Against Big Brother US' Monitoring, Surveillance

— Giancarlo Elia Valori | May 18 2023

Photo: VCG

Both Julian Assange (since 2010) and Edward Joseph Snowden (precisely 10 years ago) revealed secret information revealing that the US used the internet to steal secrets and also monitor its allies. Many countries - especially those most friendly to the White House - are unable to escape Big Brother's monitoring and surveillance.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acts covertly and it can even be said that there is no limit to its capabilities. By the end of 2016, there were already over 5,000 hackers in the hacking division - the Center for Cyber Intelligence under CIA alone.

The reason why such a complex branch is set up is because CIA's "tailor-made" monitoring and surveillance tools are adapted for various very common devices that would go unnoticed and never attract attention. In the case of household appliances, the CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB) created a hack called Weeping Angel, which targets Samsung smart TVs and puts them in a "fake off" state. People think the TV set is off, but a bug is actually on and records conversations in the room and sends them over the Internet to the CIA servers.

The CIA's Mobile Device Branch (MDB) has also developed a variety of attack "weapons" against smartphones. Infected mobile devices send the user's geographic location, as well as audio and text information to CIA and, without the users knowing it, secretly activating the phone's camera and microphone. In a nutshell, these things are seen every day in movies, TV series, etc., but naïve audiences consider them to be mere science fiction.

Many people might wonder why CIA needs so much information even from the life of ordinary people. One of the noticeable CIA aims is to instigate "color revolutions" in the sense of searching for and finding groups of people in advance, helping in the dissemination of fake information, promoting protests and continuously escalating internal conflicts in the chosen country. For decades CIA has at least overthrown or attempted to overthrow the legitimate governments of more than 50 countries. Also, the US also wants to strengthen its control over its allies.

On June 16, 2020, The Washington Post reported that the CIA's hacking tools were stolen in 2016. According to an internal report drafted for then-director Mike Pompeo and his deputy, Gina Haspel, the CIA's theft of top-secret computer hacking tools in 2016 was the result of a workplace culture in which the agency's elite computer hackers "prioritised building cyber weapons at the expense of protecting their own systems."

The breach - allegedly committed by a CIA employee - was discovered a year later, when the information was published by WikiLeaks in March 2017. The anti-secrecy group dubbed the release Vault 7, and US officials said it was the largest unauthorized disclosure of classified information in CIA history, forcing the agency to shut down some intelligence operations and thus alerting foreign opponents to the spy agency's methods and techniques.

Just consider that the breach occurred almost three years after Edward Snowden - at the time a contractor for the National Security Agency - stole and leaked classified information on the surveillance operations of the aforementioned agency.

After the incident was disclosed, the US was condemned by all walks of life in the country. The US continues to create hacking tools to attack others, but has never thought that one day it might be attacked by its own tools. This backlash causes not only economic damage, but also a loss of national credibility.

In April 2023, following an investigation into the removal and disclosure of hundreds of classified Pentagon documents, 21-year-old Jack Douglas Teixeira, an airman in the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested by FBI agents and charged with unauthorized appropriation and transmission of national defence information in breach of the Espionage Act of 1917 and with unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents or material.

From Assange to Snowden and Jack Teixeira, those exposing the truth about US surveillance around the world are getting ever younger. At the same time, an increasing number of former US officials such as Ms Karen Unger Kwiatkowski - a former lieutenant-colonel in the US Air Force - are coming forward to tell the truth, precisely because the values in which they used to believe are beginning to falter.

Internationally, the US is receiving increasing condemnation and even the United Nations has formally expressed its concerns. In the dispute between "reason of State" and democracy, we see an increasing number of honest and rational people continuing to stand up and speak the truth, starting with US citizens.

As increasing evidence is revealed, we should also be more vigilant not to enable technology to take its course and bring the world to the brink of danger.

European leaders have also been targets of US spying. The European ruling classes are fully aware that they are under US control, and the fear of retaliation - should they take a different direction from the one indicated by the US - turn them into the aforementioned assistant referees in football matches or servants to the national leader in power. Their only responsibilities are petty matters of domestic policy, and the struggle to protect, strengthen and extend their political terms of offices as guarantees of excellent economic prebends, sinecures and rewards.

— The author is President of the Foundation for International Studies and Geopolitics and Honorary Professor of Peking University.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

#20yrsago Alan Moore’s alternate history of the DC universe https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comics.alan-moore/c/_4ZX7TiexP4/m/tcgegKqWYWMJ

#15yrsago Daily Show writer explains writers’ strike — if digital content isn’t worth anything, how come Viacom is suing YouTube for $1 billion? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

#10yrsago Cufflinks that open hand-cuffs https://www.sparrowslockpicks.com/products/sparrows-uncuff-link

#5yrsago Congress’s spending proves the GOP believes life begins at conception and ends at birth https://theintercept.com/2017/11/15/new-mothers-program-miechv-republicans-congress/

#5yrsago Motherboard’s excellent, accessible guide to internet security https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3devm/motherboard-guide-to-not-getting-hacked-online-safety-guide

#5yrsago Senate Democrat is about to take the brakes off predatory payday lenders https://www.huffpost.com/entry/payday-lenders-democrats_n_5a0a211ee4b0bc648a0d5325/amp

#5yrsago Teardown of a consumer voice/location cellular spying device that fits in the tip of a USB cable https://ha.cking.ch/s8_data_line_locator/

#5yrsago Social media’s “engagement”-based algorithms are intrinsically hospitable to conspiracies and fake news https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/technology/social-media-disinformation.html

#5yrsago Consumer groups’ labs advise parents not to buy connected toys, claim risk of strangers listening and talking to kids over the internet https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/14/retailers-urged-to-withdraw-toys-that-allow-hackers-to-talk-to-children

#5yrsago 65 out of the top 100 most-cited scientific papers are behind a paywall, with a weighted average cost of $32.33/each https://web.archive.org/web/20171113213050/https://www.authorea.com/users/8850/articles/125400-65-out-of-the-100-most-cited-papers-are-paywalled

#5yrsago P2P downloaders spend more than non-downloaders on music, but pollster can’t do math https://web.archive.org/web/20121117233424/https://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6699/125/

[incorrect-lord-of-the-rings]

I posted 759 times in 2021

377 posts created (50%)

382 posts reblogged (50%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.0 posts.

I added 999 tags in 2021

#lotr - 158 posts

#lord of the rings - 144 posts

#lotr meme - 109 posts

#incorrect lotr - 104 posts

#lord of the rings meme - 98 posts

#incorrect lord of the rings - 91 posts

#the return of the king - 79 posts

#tolkien - 73 posts

#the fellowship of the ring - 72 posts

#the two towers - 71 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#so if you're wondering why im using a man for my reaction meme it's because aragorn himself would be like 'im sorry he's just a shitty guy'

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Since tumblr won't let me post more than 10 pictures, I'll tell you here. This post was my "Cast it into the fire!" Post+ meme about me hating post+ and tumblr's attitude about it (haha suck on that, tumblr)

1267 notes • Posted 2021-07-22 07:36:11 GMT

#4

Lord of the Rings as The Reductress Headlines

The first ones

1434 notes • Posted 2021-10-23 02:58:50 GMT

#3

Lord of the Rings Characters as Youtubers

Aragorn: Vlogs like once every other month, always out in the wild, maybe does a Q&A once, always shows his horse, has cinematic footage of mountains from a drone, philosophical voiceover, gets over 1 million views every time he posts

Legolas: Makes fun of Aragorn's vlogs, finds him in the middle of the woods, acts like Steve Irwin finding an animal in the wild, Gimli appears every once in a while, making weird comments and joining in making fun of Aragorn, Legolas also tries 5 Minute Crafts life hacks and tests them out with Gimli

Gimli: See "Legolas"

Frodo: Reviews books, teaches English language arts, also teaches other languages for free, talks about publishing his own book, very calm

Sam: Cooking channel, does a taste test every once in a while featuring Rosie, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin. Merry and Pippin weren't supposed to be there the first time they did it, but then they crashed the taste test and the viewers loved them so much that they had to be there for the rest of the time

Merry and Pippin: Commentary channel, they make fun of everything and crack the worst jokes, sometimes they do pranks just to make fun of the prank channels but Pippin enjoys them far too much, the weirdest editing, constantly reference Vine, they also make really stupid music videos about the weirdest subjects

Eowyn: Tests out weapons of all kinds, also rants about everything in her life, enters into Renaissance Faire duels and battles and films them, talks about what formal wear you can pair with a nice sword, weird editing, uses memes a lot

Faramir: Cozy vlogs with Eowyn, talks about meaningful subjects, talks about old poetry and goes into the deeper meanings of them

Boromir: Vlogs with Merry and Pippin, makes workout videos, constantly advertises Faramir's channel and links it in the description, very fun

Eomer: His videos are a lot like Boromir's videos, but with more horses, essentially a cowboy, does a lot of horseback riding and includes Eowyn a lot

Arwen: Fashion expert, models her clothes, makes her own, does a lot of Q&As and gets to know her fans with live videos

Gandalf: Posted exactly one (1) video and it was a blurry video of Pippin trying to ride a little Barbie car over a fence and crashing it and Gandalf being like, "Fool of a Took."

1684 notes • Posted 2021-01-16 23:26:07 GMT

#2

Legolas wears crocs.

5621 notes • Posted 2021-01-18 05:13:02 GMT

#1

I had to find a picture of this 2017 article again because it's just so iconic.

59905 notes • Posted 2021-09-05 21:01:11 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[mariacallous]

What is particularly worrying about the Orban government’s splurge on spooks and top-level surveillance technology is that it comes at a time when serious social unrest is brewing.

In recent weeks, millions of Hungarians received an official survey to fill out for the country’s decennial census. What followed on Hungarian social media was an outburst of anxiety, sometimes even outright paranoia. Why is Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government so meticulously inquiring about one’s housing, living standards, and so on? Should I admit I own two flat-screen TVs? And where will all this sensitive private data end up, anyway?

Censuses are the most regular tools in the hands of governments to collect essential data for research and policymaking purposes. In Hungary, however, this new census has not only tapped into a deep mistrust of anything government-related but also into underlying fears that Orban is building a surveillance state.

Last year, it was revealed that Hungary had been spying on its own citizens – including journalists, media company owners and politicians – with state-of-the-art Israeli spyware called Pegasus. Rumours of covert surveillance operations against journalists and the opposition have been swirling for years, but this was the first time that credible evidence was presented. That was when I also learned that I, too, had become a target of surveillance with this spyware technology.

As one of the journalists who then helped uncover the systematic abuses with Pegasus in Hungary, I received hundreds of requests from all kinds of people after the publication of our investigative stories. They all wanted me to find out whether their mobile phone had been hacked with this Israeli technology too. That was when I realised the main takeaway of our investigation was that, basically, “this could happen to anyone”.

So, while we might scoff at the recent anti-census sentiments in Hungary, it’s not because it’s outlandish to think the government has ulterior motives. Rather, the reality is that Orban’s intelligence agencies have tons of far more advanced and intrusive technology at their disposal than some annoying online surveys.

Spending spree on spying

Census mails started arriving around the time when, in late September, a Times of Israel report claimed that Israel’s Avnon Group is providing Hungary with military-grade technology “to track online discourse and analyze and understand public opinion”, and monitor social media. Orban’s chief of staff instantly denied that the government had contracted the Israeli company, but this could easily mean that an intelligence agency, not a ministry, actually signed the deal.

Tracking the social media activity of dissenting citizens is not anything new for the Hungarian government. In 2017, for example, it was revealed that one of Orban’s former state secretaries had helped Poland’s likeminded government in tracking, mapping and analysing the Facebook activity of protesting healthcare workers. The investigation was further proof of Poland closely following and learning from the Hungarian playbook.

It’s not just in the online sphere where Hungary’s government is levelling up surveillance these days. A few weeks ago, independent Hungarian outlets reported that Hungary’s equivalent of the NSA, the Special Service for National Security (SSNS), put out an open call for recruiting so-called surveillants – undercover secret agents whose task is to physically follow and spy on targets. This peculiar job offer was published just months after the government’s unprecedented 50 per cent hike in the intelligence agencies’ budget, allocating an extra 30 billion forints (70 million euros) to three civilian intelligence agencies. Half of it went to the SSNS, the operator of both real-life and digital surveillance.

Surveillance technology, especially cyber weapons, don’t come cheap. For example, I recently uncovered that Hungary had actually spent at least 6 million euros net on procuring the Pegasus spyware back in 2017-2018. It was roughly the same amount that another abuser of the tool from the EU – Poland, again – paid for Pegasus. In both countries, government agencies contracted broker companies owned by former Communist-era spooks to cut a deal with the seller, Israel’s NSO Group. For its millions in taxpayer money, Hungary acquired a Pegasus quota for monitoring as many as 50 mobile phone devices at a time.

However, Pegasus is just one of the many spywares out there. A few days before the so-called “Pegasus Project” exploded into the news last summer, in a detailed study the Canada-based Citizen Lab discovered traces of another Israeli spyware. They found that Tel Aviv-based spyware firm Candirou’s system – capable of not only infecting smartphones but computers and notebooks as well – has also been operated from Hungary, according to their analysis of internet scanning data. It is still unknown who that operator might be, as well as their targets. As usual, Hungary’s government did not care to comment.

More recently, the Balkans was rocked by its own surveillance scandal. In Greece, a third Israeli spyware called Predator was planted on the phones of one of the country’s top opposition leaders, as well as journalists. However, company registry data reveal that Predator’s manufacturer, Cytrox, is not only registered in Israel, but also in Hungary. Again, it is not known whether Hungary is just hosting some of the spyware firm’s operations, or if the Hungarian state itself hired them. (Cytrox is also present in North Macedonia, home to the company’s CEO Ivo Malinkovski.)

It’s not just about spyware

Last spring, when Amnesty International analysed my iPhone’s backup and found past traces of Pegasus infections from 2019, I had to instantly take a crash course in the world of cybersecurity. What fascinated me from the beginning was the dominance of Israeli technology.

Under Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest premiership (2009 to 2021), the Israeli state supported tech and cyber companies in every possible way, luring the best and brightest to this shadow industry. As an expert described to me, this is how Israel became one of the top players in cyber-espionage, joining the ranks of the US, Russia and China.

However, on the customer side, not everyone is able to enter into business relationships with all of these players. Take, for example, Hungary, where the country’s NATO membership is a serious obstacle to acquiring more advanced, military-grade Russian or Chinese technology. Regardless of the Orban government’s clear affection for those two countries, it is just not really possible due to formal NATO obligations. Furthermore, the US might be reluctant to permit its companies to provide Hungary with some of their surveillance tools, because of the Central European country’s ever-closer ties to Russia and China. Besides the great quality of its spying technology, this makes Israel the most obvious choice for any similar troubled democracy looking for a supplier but stuck between those great powers.

And tech companies from Israel have much more to offer than just spyware. For example, NSO Group, the company behind the Pegasus spyware, is also selling Circles, a product used for intercepting phone calls, SMS’s and other mobile phone data (targets’ locations and other phone records). And NSO is not the only one in Israel to offer such cutting-edge technology.

When I browsed all the open-source information I could find on the broker company importing Pegasus to Hungary, I came across one of its documents listing some of its most trusted vendors. The Israeli – and some American – companies briefly described in this document all seem to be ones that had already exported their technology to Orban’s Hungary. This is likely the stuff that has already been operating in the country for years, by different state authorities, and without the public’s knowledge.

Two of the most interesting Israeli firms are the Tel Aviv-based Corsight AI Ltd. and Viisights Solution Ltd. They are both in the business of providing artificial intelligence-enhanced video surveillance. When their products are hooked up to CCTV camera systems, what appears on screen is instantly scanned by a facial recognition algorithm. Corsight AI’s system then identifies and matches the individuals seen on screen, “and assigns them to predefined databases”, according to the document. Viisights Solutions’ product goes even further, as it “is able to recognize certain behaviors or events, such as a fight, a car accident or a person involved in an accident, depending on its use”. It is easy to understand how such technology could benefit Hungarian society. But it is no less obvious how they could be abused in, for example, the monitoring of organisers and participants of anti-government protests.

Another warning sign is that after winning Hungary’s parliamentary election in April, Orban completely overhauled the structure of the country’s intelligence agencies.

First, both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade were stripped of their respective security services – the counterintelligence and the foreign intelligence – which were then annexed by the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister. Second, a new, centralised structure was created with the establishment of the so-called National Information Centre, dubbed a ”super-intelligence service” in the Hungarian media. This new body was created to collect every single bit of information from all the different intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Now, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office can finally have quick and direct access to all the latest intel.

These are all concerning developments that remained relatively unnoticed by foreign observers. These days, the EU is wrangling with the Hungarian government mostly over anti-corruption measures, sometimes paying attention to certain rule-of-law, judiciary and media freedom issues. However, surveillance and national security have not become similarly discussed topics, as the EU has almost no authority and expertise in these fields.

What makes the Orban government’s apparently frivolous spending on its spooks and top-level surveillance technology particularly suspicious is that it is happening at a time when all other government spending is being trimmed and serious social unrest is brewing.

With the economy in a deepening crisis due to high inflation, rising national debt and soaring energy prices, a fresh wave of large protests is looking more likely by the day. There could soon be many angry Hungarians out there worthy of identifying and surveilling – and refusing to fill out an innocent census form will surely not save them from the government’s newly high-tech, all-seeing eye.

[dailydnp]

Daniel Howell on Depression and How to Get Through The Night

Daniel Howell is the YouTube star breaking boundaries about depression, who has now released a book to help people with mental health issues.

Daniel Howell is one of the most popular YouTubers out there, with millions of followers and a refreshing line in self-deprecating humour that has made him stood out from much of the braggadocio on that channel. He is also someone who dared to go beyond the jokes and gaming on his channel to reveal his battles with depression to his young audience a few years ago, producing a huge response from people. Now he has written a book about mental health, called ‘You Will Get Through This Night’. A mix of information, advice and laughs, the book is a welcome addition to the elevation of mental health as a national issue, and it manages to be so in a way that is going to connect brilliantly with young people. We grabbed a word with Daniel over Zoom to find out more about it…

When did you decided to write the book and what was the process like?

It was a very serendipitous journey I never planned. All this talking about myself and mental health, and sharing these quite intimate details about my own life, was never the plan. I started my career trying to be funny, just being a clown on the internet, but as time went on two things happened: one, a sense of responsibility creeping up on me where I realised anyone with a platform has an impact on people, and even if you think you’re just being funny, if you do share yourself, people relate to you and you end up resonating with them on some level.

Also just for me, I have always been so career focused, I’m one of those guys that pushes their well being to the back, and after years of me doing that it just got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore. It was not only affecting my ability to be good at my job, and be friends with people and nice to be around, but creatively it was this real hump where I felt like if I don’t sort my life out, and get on top of these problems that I know are lurking behind me, I’m not going to be able to go forwards.

It was that which led me to talk about my experiences with depression in that YouTube video ‘Daniel and Depression’ that I uploaded in 2017, and that was a huge moment for me. Even five years ago, there was such a taboo around mental health. These days people go, ‘ aren’t we all open about mental health now?’ but just five years ago, it was a completely different world. I thought me bringing up a word like depression would destroy my career. ‘Are people not going to want to work with me? Are my friends going to think I’m strange?’

But I was honestly surprised, for the first time in my life, by the reaction I got from humanity. Because my upbringing led me to being very cynical, to be very defensive and to protect my vulnerability. Actually when I shared something that was so raw, people appreciated it. On some level people were like, wow you articulating it made me understand something I didn’t get about myself, or my mum’s been through this and I finally get it, or now I know what my friends are going through.

When you open yourself up, despite the fear, people appreciate it because this is how people think and feel. We’re all vulnerable, we’re all trying to protect ourselves, we’re all putting on this front, focusing on our careers, pushing everything to the background; but then it’s a truth that when you open up about how you really feel, not only is that a weight lifted for you but it lets other people in.

Then I became the mental health guy. I didn’t ask for it, it became my thing.

The book always had the question of what it might be. People always want to write their life stories, but firstly my entire life story is already out there on the internet, it was there in real time. I thought if I’m going to do this, I want to do a mental health book that just gets straight to the point, it’s not going to be too scientific, it’s not going to be too spiritual or flowery, it’s going to give you the information you need, the tools, the tips, the life hacks, the stuff that science has shown will make a difference, as bare as we can, in bullet point form. And then my job is to make it stupid and funny by using myself as a punching bag doing everything wrong in terms of managing your mental health. For me it’s the book I wish I had five, ten years ago.

Was putting it together enjoyable, once you’d given yourself permission to have fun with it?

Yeah writing a book and collating all these life saving tips on mental health, was good for me. The process of writing the book was like reading it. I needed the experience of putting it together so I could learn from it myself.

What I’ve learnt from just being funny is it’s a bit of an excuse to give yourself therapy. You’ve set yourself the task of telling this story, making this point or joke about something, and in the process of trying to find out whatever this point or joke you’re making, there’s a bit of a moment of self reflection in there.

So it’s fun to have an excuse to tell a story and be funny but for me it’s been emotionally cathartic too.

What are the main things you learned or that even changed you?

One thing was the 360 around your lifestyle. The book is structured practically into 3 parts. The first part is what are things you can do right now to change the way you feel, the second is lifestyle, what changes can you make, and then the third part is looking deeper, at more long term things about readjusting your mindset and working out what makes you as a person.

The process of going through the lifestyle for me felt a bit like a roast. Things like the importance of your social life, the importance of your nutrition, the importance of how often you move, and it was very difficult to be aware of what might just be my personality and preference. I’m an introvert, I’m a bit of a nerd, I like to stay inside, I don’t like to party a lot, and I just learned that if you don’t go jogging you’re going to have more anxiety than someone who doesn’t. It was good to have all that shown up.

A nugget that was quite profound is that you can always change the way that you feel. I was always having days where I was really stressed from what I was working on, or a period where I’d be really depressed, and sometime I would wake up and immediately know I’m not having a good mental health day. When I’m not going to be able to perform, I’m not going to be a very helpful friend. I just used to say to myself ‘this day is a write off’. But what I learned from this book is you can change how you feel by doing something. Your activity directly influences how you feel.

It got rid of the excuses because sometimes it was like, ‘I’m having a bad day I simply cannot do that task’  when you probably can. It’s empowering for yourself to say, ‘Actually if I eat something, if I get a change of scenery, if I talk to someone, if I problem solve to question my thoughts and readjust my mindset, you can change how you think and feel on any day.

With mental health so many people ego through their life thinking it’s this weird mysterious fog that they can’t impact on. Sometimes you feel bad and there’s nothing you can do about it. But actually we’re just weird hairless apes, we’re not that complicated, and there are little things we can do to snap ourselves out of it.

How do you think it’ll fit into the current times?

The idea that this book is coming out when our society is opening up again is almost a divine intervention! There is literally no better time to sort your life out. We’ve all gone through so much, this collective trauma, and the dent to our lifestyles and ability to self-care. Not only have we had all the joy ripped away from us, but people haven’t been able to go to the gym, to get support from friends, and this is a new chapter for everybody.

I’m seeing it as: can take this next step and not fall back into bad habits? This is a good time to put a pole in the ground and move forward in a good direction.

What are the key things you’ll be taking forward?

It’s not just the lifestyle stuff, it’s also about mindset changes. I’m a worrier, one of these people that thinks myself into oblivion. It means I’m analytical but I’m not very present, I spend a lot of time in my head prophesising my own doom. One of the things in the book is realising that you are not your thoughts. If you get a negative thought in your head actually that’s just your brain’s suggestion that you should feel stress about this, that and the other but we don’t have to stay fixated on these worries.

I’ve spent the last ten years in therapy, deeply going into myself asking questions about authenticity, confronting my sexuality, but also it’s been about just day-to-day having a better relationship with my own mind. That when I get these emotions that want to spiral into a panic, or make me feel very stressed, just to talk back to myself with the right attitude and say I don’t need to go down this rabbit hole due to this thought. I can just acknowledge it was an idea my brain had to think about and I can choose to do whatever I want with it. I can choose to solve the problem and break it down, I can ask for help I can give myself a reality check, or I can just acknowledge the thought and say ‘No thank you I’m going to do something else with my day.’

Back to the first depression video – are you aware of the difference between you then and now?

It’s profound, I would say me aged 26 was someone who didn’t question anything. You think you have a career priority and if I have any emotional baggage, it’s just not important right now.

Obviously there was the huge issue of my sexuality which had a huge impact on my mental health. My entire life story from childhood to how I was perceived as a public figure, how I operated day to day, and even my acceptance of a thing that I knew was true deep inside me, I had an incredibly toxic view of that at the time. I needed to understand it. I went to therapy and learned a lot about the way I would talk to myself, the way I would beat myself down and tell myself that things are the way they are and there’s nothing I can do about it. I should tolerate certain situations, and that was all wrong, so I’ve become much better at being fair to myself. Accepting my own vulnerability instead of building up a huge wall; letting it down, being honest with myself which is important if you ever want to change anything for the better. Also you get closer to other people when you feel like they can really see you.

How have conceptions of masculinity affected that?

The whole concept of masculinity was huge in my life. I had a very macho dad, he didn’t emote, he didn’t share anything, it was all jokes and all on the outside. I got to 16, 17, that age when you notice adults for the first time and cotton on to it. I could see the pain he was going through but he didn’t want to confront it. I also went to an all-boys school where there’s no vulnerability, you can’t give a small opening for someone to jab a compass in. That was the culture that shaped me. That continued into my late twenties when I had the moment when I realised being honest with yourself about something going wrong is bravery. It’s not weak to admit vulnerability if it’s going to help you grow. It’s not a sign of weakness to go to the uncomfortable place. Life is a series of uncomfortable obstacles that you put off, but every single time you go over them, you look back and go, ‘oh why did I waste so much time not doing that sooner?’

Is masculinity shifting do you think?

Definitely, roles in society have been so Neanderthal. If you have a personality with a stiff upper lip and it works, good for you, but someone else may feel pressured to hold things in and eventually they’re going to crack. It’s ok to ask for help and to let go of that, that’s what we’re learning in society. Conversations in mental health are so much more normal. There’s a long way to go in terms of judgment and misunderstandings, but I hope the book will spell it out for a lot of people. The book has been fact checked by a psychological professional, Dr Heather Bolton and all of the advice in the book is from evidence based practices that have been shown to have a good effect. It’s not just a nice sounding idea. We all have that friend on Instagram who’s like, ‘Positivity! Yeah here we go!’ And you go, ‘Wow that image had great graphic design it must be true.’ No it isn’t. So we’re in an age of people opening up but there’s also a lot of nonsense on Facebook so when we’re thinking about how we feel and making changes to our lives, we need to trust the experts.

[hassanaysherr]

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