Testing The Troll

mock me. Ximena’s visions of the future have helped her achieve fabulous wealth, but her mind cannot handle the strain. She hides in her remote home, living like a hermit in the hopes of not having any more of the dooming visions that push her to the brink. When her friend Andromeda tells her that she is needed to save magic, she’s not sure that she can help. All she sees is doom. Martellus is a troll, a member of a dying breed. There are only ten trolls remaining in Dream, and no matter their power, their only hope for the future is finding compatible humans in the hope that something of their kind will be preserved. Equally important, at least to Martellus, is vengeance on those who trapped them in Dream at the start. Preserving all the races will spite them, and the woman the service matches him with can provide the power and wealth needed to do so, if she can be freed from the chains of her uncontrolled gift. Both goals align, at least at this. Martellus has one task: convince Ximena to help them. But if she does, will it be to help his kind, or love of Martellus himself?

While I peer into the future, it looks back at me and sneers. The universe loves to mock me. Ximena's visions of the future have helped her achieve fabulous wealth, but her mind cannot handle the strain. She hides in her remote home, living like a hermit in the hopes of not having any more of the dooming visions that push her to the brink. When her friend Andromeda tells her that she is needed to save magic, she's not sure that she can help. All she sees is doom. Martellus is a troll, a member of a dying breed. There are only ten trolls remaining in Dream, and no matter their power, their only hope for the future is finding compatible humans in the hope that something of their kind will be preserved. Equally important, at least to Martellus, is vengeance on those who trapped them in Dream at the start. Preserving all the races will spite them, and the woman the service matches him with can provide the power and wealth needed to do so, if she can be freed from the chains of her uncontrolled gift. Both goals align, at least at this. Martellus has one task: convince Ximena to help them. But if she does, will it be to help his kind, or love of Martellus himself?

This book constitutes the revised selected papers of the 14th Italian Workshop on Artificial Life and Evolutionary Computation, WIVACE 2019, held in Rende, Italy, in September 2019. The 13 full papers and 4 short paper presented were thoroughly reviewed and selected from 31 submissions. They are focused on the topics of information systems, design and analysis of algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cognitive science, modeling and simulation, collaborative and social computing, parallel computing, distributed computing. Chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The concept of using flexible, reelable pipe to transport liquids, gases, and vapours is not a new one. As early as the 1940s a steel braided elastomeric pipeline was developed for the Allied Forces in order to transport fuels to support the Normandy Beacheads. In fact, the longest flexible pipeline ever constructed is likely to be that laid across the English Channel as part of 'Operation Pluto'. The methodology used to handle and instal such pipe is also not new. Ellis (1943, London) in an early patent specification identifies three basic objectives for a flexible pipelining method. These are: prefabrication of the pipe onshore; coiling of the pipe on suitable drums or reels; and using such reels to lay pipe from anchored or motorised barges. The design concept for flexible pipe is also not a new invention given that flexible hoses and umbilicals have been in service for more than sixty years. A break-through was however achieved by the French Institute of Petroleum in the early 1970s when they developed an improved steel reinforced pipe structure having a high axial loading capaci ty which utilised corrosion and hydrocarbon resistant polymers to extend pipe service lifetime. This early pipe design utilised established cable making techniques to apply steel armour and axially and radially reinforce alternating layers of polymer sheaths. The pipe was primarily developed as a flowline for use in static seabed applications.

This book begins with a discussion of the danger of model instability which has received scant attention in the assessment of regression models; this leads to their frequent unsatisfactory performance when used in forecasting or in prediction. A main reason is a well specified regression model with statistically significant parameter estimates of relevant variables can still suffer from structural instability which comes from two sources: (i) a statistical source due to measurement error and variation in the bias due to unknown or known but unexpected exogenous factors, and (ii) the numerical source due to the ill condition of the data matrix. The two sources can jointly amplify the destabilizing force on the parameter estimates, then the model predictions or forecasts. This book exposes major tests for detecting instability of regression models with sufficient discussion and guidance to help the reader select the appropriate tests and apply them. An illustrative example provides a step by step guidance on how to implement those tests in TROLL, the econometric package produced by the MIT (USA). The book is prepared by Ngoc Luan Ho Trieu who holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Art from the University Of Western Australia; and his post-graduate qualifications include a Graduate Diploma in Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Econometrics, and a Master of Economics of Development (Australian National University).

"Imagine a strategy memo forecasting cyberattacks by Russian hackers, trolls, and bots designed to roil social discontent and damage the electoral prospects of a major party US presidential nominee, or, if she winds up winning, to sabotage her ability to govern by seeding allegations of Democratic voter fraud. Guaranteed payoff. No fingerprints. No keystroke record. No contrails in the cloud. To ensure that Americans would believe that disparaging messages about her were made in the US, use bitcoin to buy space and set up virtual private networks (VPNs) on American servers. Distribute hacked content stolen from the accounts of her staff and associates through an intermediary, WikiLeaks. Use identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers, and appropriated IDs to circumvent Facebook and PayPal's demand for actual names, birth dates, and addresses. On platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, register under assumed names. Diffuse and amplify your attack and advocacy through posts on Facebook, tweets and retweets on Twitter, videos on YouTube, reporting and commentary on RT, blogging on Tumblr, news sharing on Reddit, and viral memes and jokes on 9GAG. Add to the mix a video game called Hilltendo in which a missile-straddling Clinton figure vaporizes classified emails sought by the FBI. Employ "online agitators" and bots to upvote posts from imposter websites such as BlackMattersUS.com to the top of such subreddits as r/The_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison. Drive content to trend. To maximize the impact of your handiwork, use data analytics and search-engine maximization tools built into the social media platforms. To test and fuel doubts about the security of US voter information, hack the election systems of states. And, throughout the primary and general election season, insinuate the notion that if Hillary Clinton were to win, she would have done so by rigging the election, an outcome that would repay her assaults on the legitimacy of their leader's presidency with doubts about her own. Were she instead to lose, she would no longer be a thistle in the toned torso of the hackers and trolls' boss's likely boss. Every result but one produces desirable results for the Kremlin. Outcome one: Clinton is off the international stage. Outcome two: she wins but can't govern effectively. Outcome three: the former Secretary of State is elected and the country simply moves on, but the sabotage nonetheless has magnified cultural tensions and functioned as a pilot from which to birth later success - perhaps when she runs for a second term. The only eventuality that damages the Russian cybersoldiers and their commander-in-chief is the fourth in which, in real time, the cyberattackers are unmasked by a vigilant intelligence community, condemned by those in both major political parties and around the world, characterized by the media as spies and saboteurs, the Russian messaging is blocked or labeled as Russian propaganda, and, when included in media accounts, the stolen content is relentlessly tied to its Russian origins and sources. None of that happened. Instead, to the surprise of the Russian masterminds as well as both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, he won the Electoral College and with it a four-year claim on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Although countrywide she bested him by almost 2.9 million votes, he unexpectedly captured an Electoral College majority by running the table. By the end of the evening of November 8, Florida as well as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania were in his column. The ways in which Russian hacking and social media messaging altered the content of the electoral dialogue and contributed to Donald Trump's victory are the subjects of this book. To begin my exploration, this overview chapter will highlight key findings of the US intelligence community; preview my focus on the hackers and trolls and the synergies between them; justify casting the Russian machinations as acts of cyberwar; outline ways in which susceptibilities in our system of government and media structures magnified their effects; and note five presuppositions that will shape my analysis of the Russian trolls' work and one that will guide my study of the effects of the hackers."--