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Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

theguardian.com

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Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#231

Post by nkurz »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #87
dang wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We ban accounts that do that. It has never been acceptable on HN, not since the beginning, and not by a long shot. People have wildly varying ideas about what is "widely accepted in SV", largely imaginary I think, but in any case not in the section of the Venn diagram that HN overlaps with. (Btw, only about 10% of HN's community is in SV.) One case where we might not instantly ban someone is if they had a long histor…

>We ban accounts that do that. It has never been acceptable on HN, I think he meant that it was an acceptable methodology, not that the various platforms condoned it. I don't think any platform has ever condoned that sort of use, or at least none that I can recall.

> I don't think any platform has ever condoned that sort of use

I feel like Reddit came pretty close to condoning this sort of "growth hacking" when one of the founders confessed that they got the site off the ground by creating lots of fake accounts: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z4444w/how-reddit-got-hug...

I find this confession to be on a par with Zuckerberg's famous "dumb fucks" quote. While Reddit did go on to become a useful site, I consider their success to be permanently tainted. I applaud dang's efforts to ban users who attempt similar deceptions.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#232

Post by kortilla »

olau wrote: post #205
jdsully wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people, myself included, see Nuclear as inseparable from climate change and green energy. We could dramatically cut our greenhouse emissions now, with technology we've had since the 1960s. It's really hard not to point out when people start talking about better solar and battery storage that we could be solving this problem right now with tech we already have. Instead our solution to climate change keeps being p…

Well, then wake up. We didn't solve it with nuclear tech, and we won't. It is too expensive because it is so complicated and not very popular to boot. It won't happen. And it prevents you (here I'm not talking about you personally) from recognizing the incredible strides PV and wind turbines have made in the past decades. The IV generation plants people keep talking about didn't happen in time. With the current pace,…

> it is so complicated and not very popular to boot.

“People are stupid” is not a valid reason for not choosing a technology. It’s just something that needs to be overcome. Do you realize how complex and out of grasp a basic SCADA controller is to normal people? A modern turbofan? Yet people entrust their lives to these things every day wi the no issue.

> incredible strides PV and wind turbines have made in the past decades.

PV and wind absolutely do not matter. They cannot provide stable base load. Solar enthusiasts bury their heads in the sand when it comes to base load and hand wave about batteries, pumped storage, etc when in reality they are just signing civilization up for more gas turbine plants and coal while virtue signaling that they care about the environment.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#233

Post by kortilla »

RobertRoberts wrote: post #176
Teever wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's run with your idea and let's say that there are clandestine efforts to promote the idea of nuclear power generation in the public -- cui bono? Who benefits? Are there any major initiatives in the nuclear industry? Are any new plants starting to be built? All I've seen is a bunch of plants that have horrible cost overruns and no fixed time line for being finished. That doesn't sound like something that you'd wan…

I don't know, but maybe discussing it will bring some light to this subject? Maybe a system/method to determine who is a professional troll? ----- Pro-Troll Filter: (first draft) 1. Is the commenter able to rationally discuss the downsides of their position? NO? Possibly a pro-troll or an irrational comment. 2. Is the commenter willing to admit past errors in implementing of their ideal solution, and also consider th…

Your filter sucks. Pro trolls don’t become irrational. They just defuse or disappear.

Only fanboys dig in and defend a subject with senseless arguments once they become emotional.

If you’re trying to come up with a filter, decide: do you want to filter out trolls or just people that are fans of topics that hurt your feelings? Right now it just looks like a filter for any conversation with a human you disagree with.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#234

Post by kortilla »

SkyBelow wrote: post #182
Teever wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's run with your idea and let's say that there are clandestine efforts to promote the idea of nuclear power generation in the public -- cui bono? Who benefits? Are there any major initiatives in the nuclear industry? Are any new plants starting to be built? All I've seen is a bunch of plants that have horrible cost overruns and no fixed time line for being finished. That doesn't sound like something that you'd wan…

So I'll take a shot. Couldn't it be fossil fuel groups who benefit. They know there are groups who fight for green energy who are very strongly against nuclear and that by pushing for nuclear, it creates internal conflict which reduces the pressure being put on existing fossil fuels. It is also an easier target to focus on with propaganda. Nuclear has a certain level of fear in our social psyche that doesn't exist wi…

But there is no upside for them doing that. Solar and wind don’t even compete with fossil fuels.

The best thing for fossil fuels in the current climate is to keep everyone against nuclear. A solar/wind future without the fantasy breakthrough in cheap storage is actually just a solar/wind + fossils base-load future. Anti-nuclear == pro-fossils in any solution that doesn’t involve significant blackouts.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#235

Post by kortilla »

RobertRoberts wrote: post #58
Shivetya wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

anyone with a vested interest on any side of an argument is a candidate for these types of services. we can all go pick the groups we don't like, paint with that broad brush, but in the end we need to realize that all sides do this and we need to be aware. with the internet comes a lot of freedom and this is part of the price of having it because you can bet there is a politician waiting in the wings who will ask you…

I disagree that all sides do this. Some sides simply have no money or resources to hire professional trolls. For example home owners that do not want a nuclear reactor in their backyard are not likely candidates for troll farms, but huge energy companies (or whomever) are.

That’s hopelessly naive, there are significantly powerful organizations representing NIMBY movements. [1]

1. https://www.sierraclub.org/nuclear-free

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#236

Post by kortilla »

zajd wrote: post #155
mieseratte wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's well-understood by Marxists how the mode of production determines the cultural superstructure[1] (and vice-versa). It's not "understood," it's a sociological theory. Hardly hard science.

Who said anything about hard science? Just because something is well-understood by a group of people doesn't mean it has to have some sort of scientific basis to have any validity.

Well at that point, who gives a shit? It offers no predictive capability like real models.

Might as well talk about how it’s well understood by the Scientology community that it’s indicative of a required audit.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#237

Post by CamperBob2 »

momokoko wrote: post #194
president wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're absolutely right. It's frightening that there are so many wrongs happening in society today yet nobody seems to be able to stop them from happening. I'm not sure what has gone wrong here but I suspect it all stems from deep-rooted corruption in our leaders and institutions.

One of the unfortunate side effects of significantly reducing the power of democratically elected governments is that while the government has less power to do damage, it also less power to correct wrongs.

On the other hand, if you reduced the Federal government's power enough, it wouldn't matter who was President.

The staggering amount of power we grant to the executive branch is one of several elephants in this particular room that no one really wants to talk about.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#238

Post by ouiterestos »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #225
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say it surprises me. But I think by now every government is using such farms. I find it difficult to believe otherwise based on recent FCC issues ( https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jsvine/net-neutrality-f... ). Yes, sadly, I am invoking everyone is doin' it.

Speculation. The US government is not sponsoring Troll Farms. Private companies in the USA almost certainly are. That's what happened with the FCC.

Does Operation Earnest Voice and Project Mockingbird not count as government sponsored troll farms?

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#239

Post by ouiterestos »

nkozyra wrote: post #43

This really is a critical juncture for the internet; the moment wherein the democratization of information has empowered those with the resources to overwhelm the signal with noise. I wish I saw a way out.

Ironically TikTok, which some governments are afraid of, does this by learning of your viewing habits and only showing you what you might like.

Re: Undercover reporter reveals life in a Polish troll farm

#240

Post by ls612 »

naringas wrote: post #119
cortesoft wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, it is not a new problem, but we have to solve it again, and perhaps with a different solution given the new medium.

how was it solved in 18th century Paris? was it solved? I think that culture just sort of "evolves" out of the problem?

It was “solved” by the wholesale bloody massacre of those who lived in the upper strata of society and their families. Not the sort of solution you’d want replicated.
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