scholarly journals Usernames on a Finnish Online Marketplace for Illegal Drugs

Names ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lasse Hämäläinen ◽  
Ari Haasio ◽  
J. Tuomas Harviainen
Keyword(s):  
Online Communication ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Online Marketplace ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Online Reputation ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Drug Sellers

Usernames play a major role in online communication by providing a vital first impression and including clues about the identities and personal characteristics of users. Usernames are extremely important in the online trade of illegal drugs, which carries several risks and therefore requires a high degree of trust between the transaction parties. This study examines how sellers and buyers of illegal drugs represent themselves in their usernames. Data on 1,654 usernames collected from a Finnish darknet marketplace, Torilauta (2017–2020) are analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The usernames are mostly in Finnish and often feature slang and spoken language expressions. Many names include clues about a user’s age, gender, and location. References to various illegal drugs in usernames were found to express a close relationship with the substances. In contrast, they only rarely utilize typical real-life marketing strategies, which suggests that the users do not seek publicity and do not wish to enhance their online reputation. Differences between drug sellers’ and buyers’ usernames are minimal, possibly because of group overlap. Overall, it appears that the users aim to blend in with the drug user community rather than stand out from it by building distinctive images of themselves.

The economic analysis of rationality in the tradition of Harvey Leibenstein

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-38
Author(s):  
Ivan V. Rozmainsky ◽  
Yulia I. Pashentseva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
External Information ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information Constraints ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Market Capitalism

The paper is devoted to the economic analysis of rationality in the tradition of Harvey Leibenstein: the authors perceive rationality as “calculatedness” when making decisions, while the degree of this “calculatedness” is interpreted as a variable. Thus, this approach does not correspond to the generally accepted neoclassical interpretation of rationality, according to which rationality is both full and constant. The authors believe that such a neoclassical approach makes too stringent requirements for the abilities of people. In real life, people do not behave like calculating machines. The paper discusses various factors limiting the degree of rationality of individuals. One group of factors is associated with external information constraints such as the complexity and extensiveness of information, as well as the uncertainty of the future. Another group of factors is related to informal institutions. In particular, the paper states that the system of planned socialism contributes to less rationality than the system of market capitalism. Thus, in the post-socialist countries, including contemporary Russia, one should not expect a high degree of rationality of the behavior of economic entities. The paper mentions, in particular, the factors of rationality caused by informal institutions, such as the propensity to calculate, the propensity to be independent when making decisions and the propensity to set goals. The authors also believe that people who live on their own are usually more rational than people who share a common household with someone else. This assumption is verified econometrically based on data on young urban residents collected by the authors. It turned out that the behavior of people included in this database, in general, corresponds to what the authors believed.

AN EFFICIENT APPROACH FOR THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONTAINER PACKING PROBLEM WITH PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 279-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHIHONG JIN ◽  
KATSUHISA OHNO ◽  
JIALI DU
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Packing Problem ◽  
Utilization Rate ◽  
Benchmark Problems ◽  
Rectangular Container ◽  
Efficient Packing ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Practical Constraints ◽  
Inherent Stability

This paper deals with the three-dimensional container packing problem (3DCPP), which is to pack a number of items orthogonally onto a rectangular container so that the utilization rate of the container space or the total value of loaded items is maximized. Besides the above objectives, some other practical constraints, such as loading stability, the rotation of items around the height axis, and the fixed loading (unloading) orders, must be considered for the real-life 3DCPP. In this paper, a sub-volume based simulated annealing meta-heuristic algorithm is proposed, which aims at generating flexible and efficient packing patterns and providing a high degree of inherent stability at the same time. Computational experiments on benchmark problems show its efficiency.

scholarly journals Paesaggi d’acqua in territori fragili

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Maria Biddau ◽  
Gianfranco Sanna ◽  
Silvia Serreli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Landscape Design ◽  
Environmental Disasters ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Urban Transformations ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Climate Events

Environmental disasters and the high degree of exposure of cities to these risks are well known. What is evident is the close relationship between these disasters and urban transformations generated by sectoral approaches to landscape design that have made territories more vulnerable to extreme weather and climate events. With the aim of creating an open and sustainable spatial plan, the case study outlined in this article is intended as an approach to climate adaptation, even though in Sardinia the connection between climate change and flood risk has not been studied in depth and the evidence of this connection has not yet emerged.

scholarly journals Studies on the Decrease Mechanisms of Typical Complex Networks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhu Qiu ◽  
Tianyang Lyu ◽  
Xizhe Zhang ◽  
Ruozhou Wang
Keyword(s):  
Average Length ◽  
Shortest Paths ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Small World ◽  
Clustering Coefficient ◽  
Network Growth ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Complex Network Models ◽  
High Degree

Network decrease caused by the removal of nodes is an important evolution process that is paralleled with network growth. However, many complex network models usually lacked a sound decrease mechanism. Thus, they failed to capture how to cope with decreases in real life. The paper proposed decrease mechanisms for three typical types of networks, including the ER networks, the WS small-world networks and the BA scale-free networks. The proposed mechanisms maintained their key features in continuous and independent decrease processes, such as the random connections of ER networks, the long-range connections based on nearest-coupled network of WS networks and the tendency connections and the scale-free feature of BA networks. Experimental results showed that these mechanisms also maintained other topology characteristics including the degree distribution, clustering coefficient, average length of shortest-paths and diameter during decreases. Our studies also showed that it was quite difficult to find an efficient decrease mechanism for BA networks to withstand the continuous attacks at the high-degree nodes, because of the unequal status of nodes.

La partecipazione socio-politica e il consumo responsabile: tra dimensione collettiva e senso di efficacia

2009 ◽  
pp. 67-94
Author(s):  
Federica Volpi
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Cultural Consumption ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Responsible Consumption ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Degree

- Participation has been studied from different points of view. One of the possible ways to address the topic is to interrelate it with cultural consumption, con- sidering the relevance of both terms with regard to social cohesion and integration. The essay is designed to evaluate the interaction between participation and cultural consumption, leading to a definition of some citizens' groups with homogeneous features compared to both variables. Moreover, the essay aims to examine the groups' behaviour, compared with a phenomenon related to both cultural consumption and socio-political participation: responsible consumption. The groups' behaviour relative to this variable helps the understanding of some social dynamics and, above all, highlights the close relationship between a particular group (the actives) and alternative consumption behaviours. A thorough analysis of the relationship between a high degree of cultural consumption and a high degree of political participation underlines that responsible consumption is a collective action and, at the same time, finalised to and endowed with political efficacy.Keywords: Political Consumerism, Participation, Cultural Consumption, Collective Action, Political Efficacy.

Tales of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Saviours’

Hypocrisy ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 16-29
Author(s):  
Vincent Shing Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Willingness To Sacrifice ◽  
The Mass Media

This chapter, with examples from the mass media, outlines how the image of the police officers and prison officers is presented in party propaganda. Different ‘model’ officers are presented in ways highlighting their ‘exemplary qualities’, like their willingness to sacrifice self for public good, and emphasizing their heroic and benevolent personal characteristics. It examines how the party propaganda might affect drug detainees’ expectations of the police and prison officers in real life.

scholarly journals Talking a team into being in online workplace collaborations: The discourse of virtual work

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Darics ◽  
Maria Cristina Gatti
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Work ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Discourse Practices ◽  
Computer Mediated

Digital communication technologies led to a revolution in how people interact at work: relying on computer-mediated communication technologies is now a must, rather than an alternative. This empirical study investigates how colleagues in a virtual team use synchronous online communication platform in the workplace. Inspired by the conceptualisation of web-based communication platforms as tool, place or context of social construction, we explore the discursive strategies that contribute to the construction of the team’s shared sense of purpose and identity, a collegial atmosphere and consequently lead to effective collaboration. The close analyses of real-life data from a multinational workplace provide insights into the everyday communication practices of virtual team members. Our findings supplement organisational literature based on etic observations of the effectiveness of virtual work and provide a basis for further theorisations about how communication technologies affect the ecology of and discourse practices in computer-mediated communication at work.

scholarly journals The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR)

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias R. Mehl
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Mobile Sensing ◽  
Daily Behavior ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Audio Recorder ◽  
Momentary Assessment

This article reviews the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) as an ambulatory ecological momentary assessment tool for the real-world observation of daily behavior. Technically, the EAR is an audio recorder that intermittently records snippets of ambient sounds while participants go about their lives. Conceptually, it is a naturalistic observation method that yields an acoustic log of a person’s day as it unfolds. The power of the EAR lies in unobtrusively collecting authentic real-life observational data. In preserving a high degree of naturalism at the level of the raw recordings, it resembles ethnographic methods; through its sampling and coding, it enables larger empirical studies. This article provides an overview of the EAR method; reviews its validity, utility, and limitations; and discusses it in the context of current developments in ambulatory assessment, specifically the emerging field of mobile sensing.

scholarly journals Automated Multi-Sensor 3D Reconstruction for the Web

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arttu Julin ◽  
Kaisa Jaalama ◽  
Juho-Pekka Virtanen ◽  
Mikko Maksimainen ◽  
Matti Kurkela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Real Life ◽  
3D Models ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Close Range ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Web ◽  
3D Content

The Internet has become a major dissemination and sharing platform for 3D content. The utilization of 3D measurement methods can drastically increase the production efficiency of 3D content in an increasing number of use cases where 3D documentation of real-life objects or environments is required. We demonstrated a developed, highly automated and integrated content creation process of providing reality-based photorealistic 3D models for the web. Close-range photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and their combination are compared using available state-of-the-art tools in a real-life project setting with real-life limitations. Integrating photogrammetry and TLS is a good compromise for both geometric and texture quality. Compared to approaches using only photogrammetry or TLS, it is slower and more resource-heavy but combines complementary advantages of each method, such as direct scale determination from TLS or superior image quality typically used in photogrammetry. The integration is not only beneficial, but clearly productionally possible using available state-of-the-art tools that have become increasingly available also for non-expert users. Despite the high degree of automation, some manual editing steps are still required in practice to achieve satisfactory results in terms of adequate visual quality. This is mainly due to the current limitations of WebGL technology.

scholarly journals Does online anonymity boost illegal market trading?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 578-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Illegal Drugs ◽  
Illegal Market ◽  
Online Anonymity ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Drug Sellers

Anonymity allows the online trade in illegal products and services on cryptomarkets to flourish in spite of being enacted in a public location. Bolstered by the extensive media coverage of the cryptomarket trade in drugs, fraud and weapons, these platforms may function as a kind of criminal ‘gateway’, and in so doing facilitate – or indeed amplify – criminality. I argue, however, that researchers must establish – not assume – that the criminality facilitated by online anonymity will exclusively and uniformly produce more harmful outcomes. I consider here two possibilities in connection to the cryptomarket trade in illegal drugs: reduced drug market violence and reduced drug harms to users. Whether these potential ‘benefits’ are viewed as valuable will vary and depend substantially on the perspective and interests of the observer, including drug sellers, drug buyers, law enforcement officials, and academic researchers.

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