Unblocked scanner

Anyone knows how to unbanned or unblocked website? My back up pc has been blocked. Not all websites are blocked, only some of them. When visiting one of the websites like spirit airlines I got this error:
The IP Address was associated with the following malicious activity: Web Scraper
I have never web scrapped and no one in this household has done it. we just bought a used computer from ebay and coincidentally 1-2 days later we were blocked from a variety of websites. It could be something malcious on this ebay computer. but we ran malware bytes and kapersky virus scanner on it and we found no malware and no viruses. Could be something attached to this computer like an address or association caused us to be blacklisted? Could there still be malware or a virus on this computer that is causing issues? like maybe it is scrapping in the background and we just dont know it and no virus or malware is catching it.

Anyone knows how to unbanned or unblocked website? My back up pc has been blocked. Not all websites are blocked, only some of them. When visiting one of the websites like spirit airlines I got this error:
The IP Address was associated with the following malicious activity: Web Scraper
I have never web scrapped and no one in this household has done it. we just bought a used computer from ebay and coincidentally 1-2 days later we were blocked from a variety of websites. It could be something malcious on this ebay computer. but we ran malware bytes and kapersky virus scanner on it and we found no malware and no viruses. Could be something attached to this computer like an address or association caused us to be blacklisted? Could there still be malware or a virus on this computer that is causing issues? like maybe it is scrapping in the background and we just dont know it and no virus or malware is catching it.

Anyone knows how to unbanned or unblocked website? My back up pc has been blocked. Not all websites are blocked, only some of them. When visiting one of the websites like spirit airlines I got this error:
The IP Address was associated with the following malicious activity: Web Scraper
I have never web scrapped and no one in this household has done it. we just bought a used computer from ebay and coincidentally 1-2 days later we were blocked from a variety of websites. It could be something malcious on this ebay computer. but we ran malware bytes and kapersky virus scanner on it and we found no malware and no viruses. Could be something attached to this computer like an address or association caused us to be blacklisted? Could there still be malware or a virus on this computer that is causing issues? like maybe it is scrapping in the background and we just dont know it and no virus or malware is catching it.

⟳ f-droid.org from Mon, 15 Apr 2024 08:45:15 GMT updated on Thu, 18 Apr 2024 08:36:21 GMT contains 4368 apps.

Added (3)

• Life Counter: Life Counter for Magic The Gathering
• Stendhal Game: Stendhal is a multiplayer adventure with classic 2D graphics. It is completely o
• JMP SIM Manager: Companion app for the JMP eSIM Adapter

Updated (47)

• Eat Poop You Cat (version 1.4.0): Eat Poop You Cat is a bit like telephone with writing and drawing.
• Planetario (version 2.0): Solar System in your Phone
• Standard Notes (version 3.193.2): An end-to-end encrypted note-taking app for digitalists and professionals
• Träwelldroid (version 2.7.3): Free check-in service for recording journeys in public transport
• Activity Launcher (version 2.0.2): Create shortcuts for apps and activities
• JS-Dict (version 1.2.1): Japanese-English dictionary app powered by Jisho.org.
• HeliBoard (version 1.3-beta1): Customizable open-source keyboard
• WallFlow Plus (version 2.5.0): Beautiful wallpapers from wallhaven.cc and Reddit with object detection feature
• Binary Eye (version 1.63.6): Yet another barcode scanner
• baresip (version 60.2.0): VoIP User Agent app for Android based on baresip SIP library
• SerialTest (version V0.3.5): A cross platform debugger for Bluetooth/TCP/UDP
• Nextcloud Dev (version 20240414): Synchronization client
• RiMusic (version 0.6.30): A multilingual Android application for streaming music from YouTube Music.
• Podcini - Podcast instrument (version 4.8.0): A feature-rich open-source podcast manager and player
• Casio G-Shock Smart Sync (version 12.7): Add smart functions to your Casio square BT G-Shock (B5600, B5000, B2100)
• ESBDirect (version 3.4.1): Access substitution plans
• FluffyChat (version 1.19.2): Chat with your friends with FluffyChat.
• Inure App Manager (Trial) (version Build100.4.0 (Final)): An elegant multi-purpose app manager for all rooted and non-rooted devices.
• Obtainium (version 1.1.3): Get android app updates directly from the source
• WallFlow (version 2.5.0): Beautiful wallpapers from wallhaven.cc and Reddit
• AutoDND (version 3.2): A simple tool to toggle DND automatically when using specified apps.
• mLauncher - Minimal and Clutter Free launcher (version 1.5.2): Forked from Olauncher, +minimalization, +customizability
• QuickWeather (version 2.6.9): Weather at a glance for anywhere in the world!
• Trireme for Deluge (version 1.4.3): Deluge thin client
• Myne: Download & Read eBooks (version 3.4.0): Android application to download & read ebooks from the Project GutenBerg.
• Podverse (version 4.16.0): Podcast app with clips, video, livestreams, playlists, profiles, and cross-platf
• Mysterium VPN — Next Gen VPN (version 2.1.13): Decentralized VPN for Web 3: Anonymous, secure and unblocked internet
• Money Manager Ex (version 2024.04.15): Manage your finances on-the-go, encrypted for security, sync via your own cloud
• PReVo (version 0.26): Esperanto dictionary
• openHAB Beta (version 3.12.2-beta): Vendor and technology agnostic open source home automation
• Jami (version 20240412-01): Audio & Video Calls / Chat Take Control of your Communication!
• Timed Silence - Dont let your phone rattle you! (version 3.0.2): An app that manages your phones volume. It will mute your phone for you!
• Ceno Browser: Share the Web (version 2.1.0): Access any website, then share it peer-to-peer.
• ente Photos (version 0.8.79): None
• osm2gmaps (version 0.4.3): Convert coordinates to shareable links for various mapping services
• Pie Launcher (version 1.19.2): Control your phone with a dynamic pie menu instead of fixed positioned icons.
• Cuppa - Tea Timer (version 2.7.1): Time your tea as it steeps
• OpenTopoMap Viewer (version 1.15): Online client for maps from OTM project, import GPX and show own location
• open2share (version 1.7): Enable sharing files from every app (like WeChat)
• Apollo (version 1.4.4): Apollo Music Player
• Tailscale (version 1.60.1-t2caffeeb4-g6f7ae79a31c): Mesh VPN based on WireGuard
• microMathematics Plus (version 2.23.2): Computer algebra system
• Voyager for Lemmy (version 2.4.0): Join the discussion
• Gauguin (version 0.24.2): A Sudoku-like logic game
• Status Bar Speedometer (version 3.6.0): Display your current speed as notification
• Flux News (version 1.4.2): Newsreader for miniflux backend
• Cuscon (version 4.0.1.9): Icon pack with varied shapes

^{2024-04-18T08:52:29Z}

11-minute read.

Armenia is getting closer to EU: EU's foreign ministry spokesman

REPORTER: Last year PM Pashinyan declared during his speech to the European Parliament that Armenia is ready to get as close to the EU as possible. Does this mean the ball is in the EU's court?
PETER STANO: The April 5 meeting in Brussels proves that we are getting closer to each other.
REPORTER: How close? CEPA, Partnership Agenda (CEPA+), or EU candidacy?
PETER STANO: The work continues around CEPA while we prepare the new Agenda, which we agreed to do in February. We are taking it to a new level. We want to work more closely and on broader issues and other fields.
REPORTER: France announced in October that it would urge the EU's foreign ministry to authorize Armenia to take advantage of the European Peace Facility for defense aid. Why has the progress slowed here?
PETER STANO: This is a strict area that requires the approval of all 27 EU members. They are working on it. Discussions continue around support with the European peace fund, and a decision will be made at some point.
REPORTER: Why are the talks around visa liberalization being delayed? Is it the bureaucracy in the EU, the disapproval of certain EU members, or the failure of Armenia to meet the requirements?
PETER STANO: First, there is no delay because there has never been a strict schedule for it. The visa liberalization process, just like other processes in the EU, requires meticulous and technocratic work, and finally, the approval of member states. It's taking a long time because EU members need to find the reassurance that every standard and guarantees are met so the visa regime won't be abused. The member states make a decision based on technical, security, and other considerations.
REPORTER: We heard about providing additional support to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, but not a word was said about their right to a safe and dignified life in their homeland. Is this question closed for Brussels?
PETER STANO: This question is still on the table. We know how important this question is for Armenia and Azerbaijan. These people are from Azerbaijan, from Nagorno-Karabakh. We have always considered Nagorno-Karabakh as a de jure part of Azerbaijan. This is an issue left from a very complicated past so we were offering to resolve it around a negotiating table. Unfortunately, this didn't happen because of Azerbaijan's unilateral actions. The EU quickly provided additional aid to people who fled from Nagorno-Karabakh. And we are committed to continue helping Armenia in solving this problem. This is one of the issues on our agenda, and it is not closed, as it concerns a large number of people.
REPORTER: Will you demand Azerbaijan to guarantee the refugees' rights upon their return?
PETER STANO: When the problem and the mass exodus began, we made it very clear to our Azerbaijani colleagues that the right of these people to return and live in safety must be guaranteed. We continue to appeal to our Azerbaijani partners to provide assurances and tell these people very frankly and clearly that they can return without any threat and without any concern, that their property must be respected, and cultural and religious symbols and personal property must be respected. This issue is not closed, and we raise it every time we have the opportunity.
REPORTER: You said Armenia still has some homework to do to strengthen relations with the EU. Is it about leaving CSTO and EAEU?
PETER STANO: No. The EU is not forcing Armenia to make a choice. We're not saying you have to get rid of the Russians if you want to receive more from the EU. If you think it is beneficial for your interests to have some kind of cooperation with Russia, you can have it as long as it doesn't contradict our interests or sanctions. Our statement on "homework" was more about domestic reforms. We need to bring Armenia politically and economically closer to the EU. Armenia has done a great job. We value this. There are of course things that need to be improved.
source,

Azerbaijani army opened fire at residential houses in Armenia over the weekend: VIDEO/PHOTO

Several houses, cars, and other civilian objects were damaged by bullets. The residents were home but weren't injured. The Azerbaijani army also opened fire at Armenian army positions.
OFFICIAL: By opening fire in different parts of the border, and moving dozens of military vehicles, Azerbaijan clearly pursued a provocative goal to incite the Armenian army to take similar countermeasures in order to obtain facts that “substantiate” the recent Azerbaijani misinformation.
We also consider Azerbaijan’s evaluations regarding the creation of defense structures in the sovereign territory of Armenia unjustified, because the reforms of the army and army infrastructures are the sovereign right of Armenia.
At the same time, we remind that Armenian proposals for the mirror withdrawal of troops from the AM-AZ state border, the introduction of mutual arms control mechanisms, the signing of a non-aggression pact, and the demilitarization of the territories adjacent to the state border remain without respond. //
Last week Moscow warned Armenia that the situation on the AM-AZ border will escalate if Armenia continues to strengthen ties with the West. Many in Yerevan perceived it as a direct threat from Moscow. When asked to comment, Armenia's NatSec Armen Grigoryan expressed concern that the level of tensions on AM-AZ borders could "depend more on Russia than on Azerbaijan".
photo, photo, photo, video, source, video, source, source, source,

list of recent "fake news"

(1) Armenia's public television released a video report accusing Moscow and Baku of lying and spreading misinformation about the EU's border monitoring mission. The report dismantles "false claims" by Moscow about the EU mission being a "NATO" or "military" mission. The report repeatedly highlights the similarities between the rhetoric coming from Russia and Azerbaijan. The report mentions how the EU mission has refuted the disinformation coming from Azerbaijan and Russia about Armenia supposedly accumulating forces at the border. The content on Armenia's public television channel was once "pro-Russia" but it has significantly shifted the tone since 2023.
(2) Fake: Someone claimed Azeris stole the statue of Jesus from a church in Paravaqar, Tavush. source,
(3) Fake: Someone claimed the interior ministry was "mobilizing" a large number of police forces. The ministry said there was nothing out of the ordinary.
video, source, source,

Foreign Minister Mirzoyan about the April 5 AM-EU-US meeting

REPORTER: Let's talk about the results of the Brussels meeting.
MIRZOYAN: I believe the format of this meeting was unprecedented. It was part of an ongoing process to deepen Armenia's relations with the EU and US. The most important part of the joint statement was the support for Armenia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, followed by support for democracy and economy.
REPORTER: ... and support for Armenia's nuclear energy sector.
MIRZOYAN: Including but not limited to nuclear. The statement also mentions Armenia exporting electricity to Europe through the Black Sea cable project. There was talk about various customs regimes and Armenia's economic resilience and food security.
REPORTER: What will the additional €270 million and $65 million be spent on?
MIRZOYAN: It's on top of the €2.6 billion project that's currently underway. The new aid will help raise standards in Armenia and accomplish other things.
REPORTER: Did you discuss security?
MIRZOYAN: Military component was not discussed on April 5 but a stronger economy and resilience will improve Armenia's defense as well.
REPORTER: What agreements do you have with Joseph Borrell?
MIRZOYAN: We have CEPA but we want to deepen the relations in new directions not currently in CEPA.
REPORTER: Prior to the meeting, some figures claimed Armenia was going to discuss defense and bring NATO to Armenia during the April 5 meeting.
MIRZOYAN: It's interesting to observe how certain figures in Armenia acted synchronously with circles in Azerbaijan and Russia in peddling those narratives. They knew very well defense wasn't a topic but they claimed it was, so they could later portray the April 5 meeting as a failure. Their narratives are laughable.
REPORTER: But why would they do that?
MIRZOYAN: To tell the public that the government was unable to secure defense assistance, or to form an atmosphere of disappointment around the West.
REPORTER: Russian FM Lavrov complains that Armenia is ungrateful to CSTO, "which has defended Armenia during difficult times".
MIRZOYAN: Lavrov mentions the Prague meeting quite often, so let me remind you of the chronology of events again. In August 2022 Russia proposed delaying the discussions around Nagorno-Karabakh's status indefinitely. Armenia supported this Russian proposal. Azerbaijan rejected the proposal in late August and invaded Armenia in September. Armenia requested the members of its military-political alliance to acknowledge the invasion of Armenia and provide diplomatic support. In response, they told us they do not know what the AM-AZ border looks like therefore they couldn't acknowledge the attack. Armenia did not receive assistance. Armenia began taking steps to reaffirm the existence of the internationally recognized AM-AZ state border. That is what we did in Prague in October. This is not a complicated chain of events; the process between Russia's August suggestions, the attack, and the October Prague meeting is not complicated.
REPORTER: Very recently figures from CSTO acknowledged that CSTO's zone of responsibility is only valid in areas where Azerbaijan and Armenia have reached an agreement on their border. In other words, the existing AM-AZ border is not part of their responsibility.
MIRZOYAN: I'm not even sure if a CSTO leadership was allowed to make such a statement, but if this is the official CSTO stance, then things are a lot worse, a lot worse. In other words, CSTO is saying it doesn't recognize Armenia's borders and it doesn't have a clear zone of responsibility in Armenia. Does this mean CSTO will not help its member if a non-CSTO country attacks the member and forces it to change its border?
REPORTER: Does it mean there is no state border if there is no delimitation?
MIRZOYAN: Absolutely not. Just because the border has not been delimited that doesn't mean the border does not exist. What are you delimiting? The border, right? So it exists. Armenia and Azerbaijan have a border and they recognized it in 1991 [Almaty] among other ex-Soviet republics. The Soviet-era administrative borders became the state borders.
REPORTER: You said we might have a new customs regime with the EU. We might sign new agreements, receive help with standards, etc. Can we do all of this while remaining part of Russia's EAEU trade bloc? Can we develop the army with the help of France while remaining part of Russia's CSTO?
MIRZOYAN: Armenia supports the strengthening of economic and political ties with various countries and groups.
REPORTER: Russia is saying your pro-West policies are not in the best interests of the Armenian people.
MIRZOYAN: They should allow Armenia to decide what its interests are. I would advise them to read public polls before making assumptions about the [anti-Russia, pro-West] mood in the Armenian public.
REPORTER: Russia is saying that Armenia and Azerbaijan were very close to opening the borders and that the process was derailed by Armenia under the influence of the West.
MIRZOYAN: Armenia's stance is clear and public: we are ready to open the borders and we would love to be part of international routes. We are ready to sign a document to unblock the communications as long as it respects Armenia's sovereignty and laws and it works under the principle of reciprocity. Armenia should be allowed to transport cargo through the territory of Azerbaijan. We are ready to guarantee the security of foreign cargo and passengers passing through Armenia. We even created a dedicated NSS division for this purpose.
REPORTER: So why do they claim Armenia doesn't want to open the communications?
MIRZOYAN: Because they envision something different. If they expect soldiers of a 3rd country to be deployed along the route, if they expect not to go through border crossing procedures while entering or exiting Armenia, then we are far from having an agreement. Armenia is ready to simplify the transport procedures, for example, through many technologies used around the world today to check cargo through electronic scanners, and modern tools for identification of persons, so we won't force them to wait in lines for many hours while crossing. We want to simplify, expedite, and rule out any artificial obstructions. We are also ready to take special measures to guarantee the safety of people and cargo. We will not tolerate the deployment of 3rd party forces or evasion of customs procedures. Armenia is prepared to sign this agreement to unblock the routes right now.
REPORTER: How are you balancing between the West and Iran? Have you been able to convince Iran that our decision to strengthen ties with the West is not being done against Iran?
MIRZOYAN: We have great relations with Iran and effective dialogue. There are no misunderstandings between us. Iran has not made any negative remarks regarding the April 5 AM-US-EU meeting.
REPORTER: How close are we to signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan?
MIRZOYAN: We have reached an agreement around several topics but there are disagreements around 2 main topics: territorial integrity and future delimitation, and the unblocking of communications.
REPORTER: But Azerbaijan has publicly supported the 1991 borders and Almaty.
MIRZOYAN: It's strange because they have repeatedly expressed their support, including during the recent phone call with Anthony Blinken, yet they are hesitant to include it in the peace agreement.
REPORTER: Wasn't Turkey supposed to send an envoy to Armenia shortly after the Antalya Summit?
MIRZOYAN: In Antalya we reaffirmed the decision to open the AM-TR border for the citizens of 3rd countries or diplomats. We also have a joint project to rebuild the historical bridge in Ani, and a few other things. Rubinyan and Kılıç are in touch. They will organize a meeting so we can move forward.
REPORTER: Are we going to see a visa liberalization with the EU in our lifetime?
MIRZOYAN: The visa liberalization is part of CEPA. It's an important part of the AM-EU dialogue. We are discussing it. I can tell you that the support in the EU has significantly increased. I don't want to make premature predictions but yes, I think we will see it in our lifetime.
source,

US and Armenia discuss cooperation in civilian nuclear energy - US State Department

JAMES O'BRIEN: The European Union has already begun working closely on the diversification of Armenia’s nuclear energy. It includes safety and efficiency in the existing nuclear energy sources in Armenia.
The U.S. and Armenia are exploring opportunities in the area of civil nuclear energy cooperation. It builds on an agreement that was signed in 2022 on civil nuclear cooperation. And this will create the possibility of identifying a few specific projects that we will work on as we go forward.
So in the beginning, as Armenia weighs its replacement options (for the operating nuclear power plant), we’ll fund feasibility studies and engage in scientific exchanges to identify new opportunities and begin to explore financing options for Armenia’s diversification.
Our new $8.6 million program will improve Armenia’s ability to access and integrate increased renewable energy. Further, contingency planning will provide Armenia a coordinated response in the event of supply disruptions, while improving energy efficiency. This funding will also strengthen Armenia’s ability to better manage critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities to the country’s energy infrastructure. //
source,

Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan simplify the customs procedures for railway traffic

Erdogan signed to approve the trilateral agreement to simplify customs procedures via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway through the exchange of customs data in advance. The agreement was reached in August 2022.
source,

active construction is underway on an Ashtarak-Talin section of the strategic North-South highway after years of delays caused by corruption and prosecution: VIDEO

Tranche-2's 42 km section of Ashtarak-Talin is being built. It will bypass the Agarak Historical & Cultural Reserve. They are also building a bridge. This road lies between Yerevan and Gyumri.
The fastest route between Yerevan and Gyumri is to fly above Mt. Aragats but PM Pashinyan has issued a decree prohibiting any Armenian from looking at the holy mount from above.
video,

April 7 is Motherhood and Beauty Day so reporters asked random women in Yerevan how much they spend each month on beauty salons and products

RESIDENT: Around ֏30K ($75) if we include hairstyle but not the clothes.
RESIDENT: It depends. Occasionally I buy cosmetics worth $150-$200, then spend $130/mo on nails, hairs, and skin salons.
RESIDENT: Around $90 for hair and cosmetics.
RESIDENT: I'm a student and don't have much time for it but it's around $50.
RESIDENT: Mostly around $260 for everything.
RESIDENT: I don't use it a lot so it's around $40.
RESIDENT: Not much. We barely make ends meet. Up to $10 to dye the hairs.
RESIDENT: Up to $50 but not every month.
RESIDENT: I'm a senior so I dye my own hair after finding a product discounted to $2.
Last year there were 4848 beauty service providers who paid ֏1.7B ($4.4M) in taxes.
source,

Device Pixel 6a. I am observing this issue recently may be after the march update but not sure about it. Few time the fingerprint scanner stops working on lock screen. Then I have to unblock it using pin. Only way to make it work again is use some other app where fingerprint is used. There after it work normally but after some time I am facing the same issue. Now it has become the repeating cycle.

Hello everyone! I just spent one month solo in China and want to give some tips for those who plan on visiting.

• Get a Chinese number. The new iPhones from the US don’t allow physical sim cards. Yes, it’s possible to get around China without a Chinese number, but having one would’ve made things much easier. Public Wifi, Meituan and other Chinese apps and ability to register for some attractions on my own. Next time I will bring an extra phone that supports physical sim cards.
• Get a WeChat account. Some hotels will ask for this to be able to get into contact with you if they need. Also super helpful for booking attractions (your hotel can help with that if not) and using Chinese applications. I registered for a WeChat account and had everything set up, but shortly after my account became “restricted” and I was unable to unblock it as I had no friends added. Apparently WeChat is very sensitive, so if you do get it set up, make sure to have at least one or two friends added who can un-restrict your account if need be.
• Make sure to have Alipay. I wasn’t charged any transaction fees using my American bank. The hassle of using cash is not worth it if you can avoid it, which I did my entire trip.
• There are separate lanes for foreigners when taking a long distance train. When you enter Chinese train stations you will see everyone tapping their ID card to gain access, however, if you don’t have a Chinese ID, make sure to find the lane with an employee manually scanning IDs. Also, upon entry of each station you will need to put your belongings through a scanner and pass through a medical detector like in an airport. Make sure to leave a little extra time as it can be a bit chaotic.
• E-sim - I used Airalo ESIM throughout my stay. This allowed me to bypass the great firewall and use western apps without a VPN if not connected to wifi. However, sometimes it would turn off randomly and I would have to switch airplane mode on and off to get it to turn back which was a bit frustrating when making payments or trying to navigate.
• Language barrier - Most people I encountered did not speak English, which is what I expected. However, I’ve seen some people write that in Beijing and Shanghai people speak English. This was not true in my experience. Make sure to have translate apps ready. I found the Baidu Translate voice function very helpful(especially with cab drivers) when trying to have a conversation or ask for directions. People in China will help you if you translate what you need!
• Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) is similar to Instagram. It’s all in Chinese, so you’ll need to use translate, but it’s not that difficult once you get used to it - I found it very useful. One night I was in Chongqing and was craving hotpot, so I translated into google translate “Chongqing Hotpot for one person” and was able to find a really amazing hotpot spot in an old converted WWII bunker that caters to single diners. Diangping is like Chinese Yelp and has more detailed food options than Apple Maps shows. You can also book a massage, spas and other things through the app if you have a Wechat, but it’s only in Chinese.
• Taxis are cheap in China. Download Didi or access it through the Alipay Miniapp. Also, if you book a yellow taxi through Didi they will want to confirm you’ve paid at the end of the ride.
• Use taobao to order things to your hotel if you’re not sure to where to find them in the city.
• Traveling within China(planes and trains) is not as cheap as I expected it to be, make sure to factor that into your budget. Try to plan ahead if possible for cheaper flight prices.
• There are many people at all times in most attractions. I went to many attractions on weekday mornings and things were still crowded. Be prepared for the crowds.

I highly recommend visiting Harbin if you’re in China during the Ice Festival. Hands down one of the highlights of my trip. Yes, it’s cold, but I had 5 layers and honestly felt fine. Just make sure to have good gloves and a face covering. Try to avoid Yellow taxis in Harbin when possible as they rig their meters. Check out The Door Pub, some of the employees speak English and are super kind! If done differently, I would’ve stayed 2-3 more days in the area and gone to the Snow Town 5 hours away from Harbin.
Spend more time in Chongqing exploring the city and go to Wulong Karst.
I wasn’t obsessed with Shanghai itself, but I loved exploring Longjing tea village outside of Hangzhou on a day trip. I would’ve stayed overnight in Hangzhou if I did things differently.
If you go to Mt Emei, make sure you know where you’re going and have a route planned. I went in blind and didn’t reach the top as the route I took would’ve taken more than a day lmao
Zhangjiajie is so beautiful and absolutely worth 3 days at least. Stay in Zhuiyi guesthouse. They’re super friendly, helped plan my route each day, and drove me each morning to the bus station each morning.
Overall, I had a really great time. It was the most challenging solo trip I’ve ever done. At times, I felt really exhausted and needed to take extra time to just rest as the language barrier is significant and being one of the only foreigners around can be exhausting. Even with the language barrier, I was able to connect with people through the translate app and have really nice discussions. Allow yourself the time to recharge and don’t pressure yourself into doing something out of fear of missing out. China is a country unlike any other and I’m so happy I was able to spend time there.
If you made it to this point, I hope you found this info helpful! <3 If you have any questions, feel free to message me.

⟳ f-droid.org from Sun, 17 Dec 2023 08:05:16 GMT updated on Tue, 19 Dec 2023 09:46:22 GMT contains 4251 apps.

Added (4)

• Li-Ri: Li-Ri is a arcade game where you drive a toy wood engine.
• EHHelper: Ehang helper to use Douyin
• Paperless Mobile: An (almost) fully fledged mobile Paperless client.
• Hammer [ALPHA]: A simple tool for building stories.

Updated (55)

• wX (version 55856): Weather app geared towards storm chasers, meteorologists and weather enthusiasts
• Tailscale (version 1.56.0-tf51793b90-g49ed1df6cc9): Mesh VPN based on WireGuard
• Ltt.rs (version 0.4.1): Simple and maintainable Android e-mail client
• SMASH — Smart Mobile App for Surveyor's Happiness (version 1.8.1): Digital field mapping app for geodiaries, fast surveys and GIS data collection.
• JS-Dict (version 1.2.0): Japanese-English dictionary app powered by Jisho.org.
• Migraine Log (version 0.10.4): A simple headache diary that respects your privacy
• Tusky (version 24.0): A multi account client for the social network Mastodon
• Boxcars (version 1.1.9): Play backgammon online via bgammon.org
• neutriNote CE (version 4.4.9b): A hub of written thoughts in fast searchable plain text
• Keep Screen On (version 1.15.0): A screen timeout quick settings tile
• PipePipe (version 3.1.10): An alternative Android streaming frontend of BiliBili, NicoNico, YouTube, etc.
• Safe Space (version 1.2.2): A safe space for your digital valuables.
• Infomaniak kDrive (version 4.3.1): The most secure cloud in Europe for SMEs and private individuals.
• Petals (version 3.20.0): Take control of your weed consumption
• TorrServe (version MatriX.128.2.F-Droid): Download torrent files
• Jerboa for Lemmy (version 0.0.54): An app for Lemmy, a federated reddit alternative.
• Podverse (version 4.15.3): Podcast app with clips, video, livestreams, playlists, profiles, and cross-platf
• Infomaniak Mail (version 1.1.2): The secure messaging service for your emails
• PlainApp: File & Web Access (version 1.2.19): Manage your phone on the web! Access files, contacts, videos, music & more.
• Fennec F-Droid (version 120.1.1): Browse the web
• Hydra (version 3.6.2-open): Hydra gives you access to Ghent University wherever you are.
• Activity Launcher (version 1.15.2): Create shortcuts for apps and activities
• Gallery for PhotoPrism (version 1.22.0): An unofficial convenient gallery for your PhotoPrism library with plenty of usef
• Kotatsu (version 6.5): Manga reader with online catalogues
• GraphHopper Maps (version 1.4.0): Online route planner and experimental GPS navigation
• Jami (version 20231215-01): Audio & Video Calls / Chat Take Control of your Communication!
• Omni Notes (version 6.3.1): Note taking open-source app simple to use and with killer features!
• Orgro (version 1.35.2): Live your life in Org Mode? Take it with you on your Android device.
• Linwood Butterfly (version 2.0.0-rc.2): Powerful, minimalistic, cross-platform, opensource note-taking app
• EinkBro (version 11.0.0): lightweight, fast, but powerful browser designed for Eink devices.
• Immich (version 1.91.0): This is a client app for the self-hostable Immich Server
• Mysterium Dark — Next Gen VPN (version 2.1.11): Decentralized VPN for Web 3: Anonymous, secure and unblocked internet
• Sapio (version 1.1.3): Android Open Source API compatibility
• Voyager for Lemmy (version 1.32.1): Join the discussion
• Vespucci (version 19.3.2.0): Edit geodata and contribute to OpenStreetMap project on-the-go
• Pagan Music Sequencer (version 1.3.6): A Moderately Esoteric Music Sequencer
• ParkenUlm (version 2.3): see the current usage of the parking garages in Ulm, Germany
• OpenVK Legacy (version 1.2.232-f): OpenVK Legacy is mobile client for retro devices running Android >2.1.
• Drinkable (version 1.45.1): Explore and create cocktails with ingredients from home.
• Binary Eye (version 1.62.3): Yet another barcode scanner
• Flux News (version 1.3.2): Newsreader for miniflux backend
• Oinkoin (version 1.0.29): Oinkoin Money Manager makes managing personal finances easy and secure.
• Audile (version 1.2.1): Music recognition app
• DetoxDroid: Digital Detoxing as Your New Default (version 2.0.3): Get rid of attention-grabbing and manipulative features.
• Dash Wallet (version 10.0.1): Keep Dash in your pocket, on your own phone
• floccus bookmark sync (version 5.0.4): Sync your bookmarks privately across browsers and devices
• openHAB Beta (version 3.8.1-beta): Vendor and technology agnostic open source home automation
• Unciv (version 4.9.9): Open source 4X civilization-building game
• Forkyz (version 49): Crossword puzzles application, download and play.
• KitchenOwl (version 0.4.20): KitchenOwl helps you organize your grocery life.
• Amethyst (version 0.82.3): Nostr Client for Android
• Mattermost Beta (version 2.11.0): Secure, self-hosted workplace messaging
• Nextcloud Dev (version 20231216): Synchronization client
• Seal (version 1.11.1): Video/Audio downloader designed and themed with Material You
• Metronome (version 1.4.5): Simple and beautiful metronome

^{2023-12-19T10:10:44Z}

Welcome to the Oct/30/2023 edition of Daily Transcaucasia. This is a 9-minute read. Կարդա որ Լենին պապին չպատժի․

PM Pashinyan about a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, relations with Turkey, and the unblocking of roads:

Pashinyan visited the parliament to discuss the 2024 budget. He began the speech with calls to strengthen Armenia's sovereignty and independence, adding that strengthening state institutions is an act of patriotism. "The state is your homeland. Do you love your homeland? Then strengthen the state." Pashinyan said it's necessary to protect Armenia's 29,800 km^2, to equate the "state" to "homeland", and to have normal relations with all neighbors.
Pashinyan said that the main 3 principles necessary for the normalization of AM-AZ relations are present and that a peace agreement is within reach if Azerbaijan respects the agreements reached in Europe: (1) Mutual recognition of territorial integrity on specific km^2, (2) Delimitation of borders based on Almaty Declaration. "Armenia and Azerbaijan already possess the necessary maps and we can move forward if there is political will." [Russia goodbye?]. (3) Unblock the communication routes without violating the sovereignty of states.
Pashinyan says Armenia and Azerbaijan should each install border checkpoints on their side of the border and guarantee the safety of traffic passing through their territories. The government is in the process of forming a new special unit within the NSS (National Security Service) tasked with the protection of international communication routes passing through Armenia. The newly established Patrol Police will also help protect the traffic.
Special envoys of Armenia and Turkey had earlier reached an agreement to open the AM-TR border to citizens of third states and diplomats. Pashinyan hopes that this agreement will be implemented soon, noting that Armenia recently renovated the Margara infrastructure connecting to Turkey.

Pashinyan about the economy:

We expect at least 7% economic growth for 2023. The inflation has been stable so far: +2.8%.
In September we had a new record number of registered jobs: 726,056. That's +178,067 compared to May 2018.
In 2023, for the first time in history, the minimum pension matched the minimum food basket. The minimum pension +125% vs 2018 (more than double).
2024 planned budget revenues are over 2x the 2018 planned budget revenues.

Pashinyan about education budget:

Education budget for 2024: +130% vs 2018, +39% vs 2023. It will be ֏289B [$722 million]. That's 2.8% of GDP (+0.6%).
We have made amendments to the new program that raises teachers' salaries if they pass an attestation/certification process. Initially, only those who scored >69% qualified for a raise. Their base salary would first increase from ֏125K to ֏200K, followed by an additional % raise (up to 50%), the size of which depends on how high they scored.
Teachers scoring 60%-69% did not qualify for any raise: it was a "pass" score. After the amendment, their base salary will also rise from ֏125K to ֏200K but they won't receive an additional % bonus. This will be applied retroactively. If you've already scored >60%, you will get a raise.
We have a plan to build or renovate 300 schools and 500 kindergartens:
2023 budget: $97 million
2024 budget: $279 million
Our concern is we might not be able to find enough construction firms. Almost every construction company in Armenia is either busy or overloaded. Forget about the company being owned by a friend of this or that official. We need every company we can find. Everyone's friend and family, regardless of whether they are from the ruling or opposition party, is almost guaranteed to win a construction tender. We are the ones pursuing them to take part in auctions for the construction of roads, schools, bridges, etc.
Relevant agencies have been tasked with contacting foreign companies to encourage their participation. To make the job more financially attractive for foreign companies, we want to separate the projects geographically and grant licenses in a way for a single foreign company to be able to build multiple schools or roads.
The foundation of the Academic City has entered the implementation phase. We have selected a German company to design the plan in cooperation with Armenian architects.

Pashinyan about healthcare budget and the establishment of "universal healthcare" in Armenia:

The healthcare budget has doubled since 2018:
2018: ֏84B
2024: 2018 + ֏87B
In 2024 we will begin the implementation of the new healthcare system. This is a very important event. It should become one of the most important institutional reforms in Armenia. We have held numerous discussions with various parties in preparation. A reform like this requires a very strong political will. My cabinet has that. We will present the plan to parliament. Hopefully, the plan will move forward.

Pashinyan about capital expenditures in 2024:

Capital expenditures: +310% vs 2018; 23% vs 2023 (over ֏695B in 2024; 6.6% of GDP; some 40% of capital expenditures will be aimed at defense)
We plan to have >500 km of new or renovated roads in 2024.
There is major progress in the construction of the North-South road. An agreement was recently signed to build the Agarak-Kajaran section in Syunik.
The Sisian-Kajaran section is giving us some problems. There were some misunderstandings with our foreign partners, causing delays in the tender process. Negotiations continue with the company. We hope they will release a statement soon on their decision to launch the project.

Pashinyan cabinet about defense budget:

2024 defense budget: +125% vs 2018 (over double), +7% vs 2023.
In 2024 it will be ֏555B [almost $1.4 billion]. That's 5.3% of GDP.
We have also created a new foreign intel agency, which is still being developed, to help protect Armenia from external threats.
To establish the Patrol Police, we allocated ֏20B, the U.S. gave ֏6B, and the EU gave ֏3B. Russia will help us with the Water Patrol in Lake Sevan by donating motorboats. This was the single largest investment in police in Armenia's modern history.

Finance Ministry's predictions for 2024:

Copper prices -1.9% (was -5.4% in 2023)
Oil prices will decrease
Food prices -2.8%
We will export less
We will receive fewer remittances
We will host more tourists: 2,570,000
We want the economy to grow by 7%

"real" exports slightly decreased in 2023

Total exports +48%
Re-exports to Russia: +3x
Exports of goods made in Armenia: -0.8%

Finance Minister about unemployment:

Unemployment has reached a record low: 11.7%
However, our foreign partners are expected to have economic difficulties. We must take steps to reduce the negative impact on our economy and to take advantage of new opportunities.
Number of workers in 2023: +5.5%
Number of workers in 2024: +2.7% (expected)
Real wages in 2023: +13.6%
Real wages in 2024: +8.8% (expected)
source, full video, source, source, source, source,

Armenia has sent 10 experts to Cambridge to study cryptocurrencies and blockchain

The emperor of the Central Bank says the move was necessary because Armenia must have experts in this area to explore opportunities and manage risks.
source,

Armenia's Police Forces will be demilitarized and converted into Police Guard

The Police Guard will protect public peace and security, government and important buildings, accompany foreign diplomats, etc. They will be equipped with new types of weapons per international standards. The staff will be retrained. The bill will be discussed in parliament soon.
source,

crime rose double-digit because of drug busts and a new reporting methodology

Overall crime is up by 12% this year so far.
Out of the additional 3.2K crime incidents: 2.3K drug-related, 0.3K weapons circulation, 0.3K bribery busts.
Authorities allocated more resources to fight drugs in 2023.
Under the newly amended crime code, sudden deaths are initially filed under the "possible murder" category, which has skewed the statistics. The growth in this category is 0.6K.
source,

ruling party MP wants parents to pay more attention to their teenage sons and use over-the-counter instant drug tests to prevent them from going down the rabbit hole

MP ALEXANYAN: I've been informed about a shortage of OTC drug tests in pharmacies. These allow you to check for drugs at home. The Interior Ministry should encourage parents to buy such tests and check their sons regularly to ensure everything is alright in their lives. It's better to prevent because once the teenager becomes an addict your Ministry won't be capable of dealing with it anymore.
KOCHARYAN ANDRANIK, ruling MP: Unannounced tests are quite popular abroad, especially in the army and defense sector. Let's all get tested at a random date without our knowledge. Don't we want to know whether officers who arrest drug users are themselves drug users or not? Testing the members of authority who combat drugs would establish a more restrained atmosphere. We saw a very troubling picture caused by drugs during the army draft. Hopefully human rights organizations won't object to widespread tests.
INTERIOR MINISTER: No objections from us. We already have a mandatory drug test for attestation applicants. There have been 2 disqualifications so far.
source,

Azerbaijan filed a lawsuit against Armenia in the ICC ICJ (?) regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Armenia is also preparing a case against Azerbaijan. Any verdict is expected to take several years.
source,

an opposition figure from Nagorno-Karabakh disputes some of the claims made by Nagorno-Karabakh President Shahramanyan

Read Saturday report for Shahramanyan's interview.
REPORTER: [Nagorno-Karabakh opposition leader] Samvel Babayan says it was possible to avoid the bloodshed. He was separately negotiating with Azerbaijan. Moreover, [another opposition figure] Hayk Khanumyan says Babayan had offered you his services as a mediator on the first day of the war.
SHAHRAMANYAN: Khanumyan called me on September 19 and informed me that Babayan was ready to assume leadership and launch negotiations with Azerbaijan to stop the war. I asked Babayan to present his plans for our consideration. He refused to share it with us. //
Khanumyan says Shahramanyan was never serious about hearing out Babayan and considering his services as a negotiator.
KHANUMYAN: On that day, Shahramanyan said he would meet Babayan but never did so. He said he decided to use Russian mediation to hold talks in Yevlakh. The following morning, while we were still at war, Shahramanyan summoned a National Security Council meeting. They invited everyone except Babayan - the leader of the largest opposition faction. They made the decisions during that NatSec meeting.
REPORTER: Shahramanyan says he asked Azerbaijan if sending Babayan would make any difference and received a negative response.
KHANUMYAN: What else can I say about a leader who has to ask for Azerbaijan's permission to decide who his negotiator should be? Shahramanyan was woefully underqualified for this job. Who was Shahramanyan? Why did a group of ex-leaders push his candidacy? Shahramanyan claims he assumed the role because no one else was ready to take the responsibility. This is false. Babayan had been campaigning in provinces since December 2022 and urging the president to appoint him as the State Minister, and later offered to become the leader and assume the responsibility. Babayan's initial proposals (installation of weapons scanner in Lachin, jointly operating the mine with Azerbaijan), which were promptly ignored and deemed as treacherous, later became the desired goals. This was before the Lachin blockade when the conflicts began around the mine and on the road to Shushi. After the Lachin blockade and Azerbaijan's insistence on opening the Agdam road, Babayan proposed the creation of a market [with food safety labs] on the Askeran-Azerbaijan border to conduct trade via the Agdam road in exchange for opening Lachin. Nothing was done by the weak government to implement these middle-ground solutions. They were only responding to Azerbaijan's actions instead of taking proactive steps suggested by Babayan to have a more favorable outcome. //
source,

British press: Armenia is launching a charm offensive in London to attract UK investment, intends to raise trade turnover to £1 billion

Economy Minister Kerobyan, a former HSBC banker, has visited London to meet banks "as [Armenia] looks to pivot away from Russia".

Armenia is looking to boost its connections with Western financial centres and shift its geopolitical alignment following war in Ukraine.

UK-AM trade is growing rapidly: +156% YoY. It's only £0.09b right now. Armenia wants to raise it to £1b within the next three years.
The delegation has already met HSBC and also arranged a meeting with US banking giant JP Morgan.
KEROBYAN: We really need to diversify our economic ties. //
Armenia is looking to regain the tech crown it had during the USSR, writes the British press. Nvidia, Oracle, and Cisco have a presence in Armenia. Armenia has lots of copper, a key for electrification and renewable energy.
original source, source,

Russian military blogger WarGonzo gets fact-checked after claiming that Russia is protecting the Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Pashinyan to Wall Street Journal: I don't see any benefits of having the Russian military base in Armenia amid Russia's inaction to Azerbaijan's invasion of Armenia since 2021.
WarGonzo: Russian soldiers are helping Armenia protect its eastern borders with Azerbaijan. They are deployed alongside Armenian soldiers.
FIP fact-checker: [shares satellite images showing the location of Armenian, Russian, and Azeri outposts] Russian forces are located in the rear. They have never engaged with Azeri soldiers during clashes. Only Armenia is protecting the eastern borders with Azerbaijan.
source,

Armenia's pro-Western National Security chief held a meeting with the chief of staff of Vladimir Zelensky

Armen Grigoryan and Andrey Yermak met in Malta to discuss AM-UA relations. They emphasized the importance of the brief exchange Pashinyan and Zelensky had during their first-ever meeting in Granada earlier this month.
Yermak thanked Armenia for sending First Lady Anna Hakobyan to take part in the humanitarian summit held in Kyiv, and for providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian students.
Yermak said Ukraine is committed to strengthening cooperation with Armenia, in particular in matters of Euro-integration.
Armen Grigoryan also met the representatives of the U.S. and France to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh and AM-AZ relations.
source,

these are the countries that send the most tourists to Georgia

(1) Russia: 1,140,000
(2) Turkey: 1,080,000
(3) Armenia: 736,000
Azerbaijan gets a participation trophy with 147,000.
source,
Շնորհակալություն։ Լենին պապին չի պատժի։

Asking because I lost my wallet on Monday night which leaves me only with my Visa debit card on Apple Wallet that I can use for paywave purchases (so I long as I temporarily unblock the card). I haven't taken the time to notice paywave scanners on any of the ATMs around the CBD.

The group of astronauts on a mission to Mars look at their consoles. A ship 50 light years behind slowly getting closer.
Blaze sighs in annoyance. "The Syndicate must be after the scientist to. Didn't think they would be as close as we are...Woah!". He exclaims.... "They just jumped 50 light years ahead of us!"
Rarr shakes his head. "What does that mean for us Jane?"
"We can't go back if they capture or kill him. They will be waiting for us when we return to our home here to."
Blaze powers up the warp drive and starts charging the Jump Core. "We have to go faster and jumo further then!" He says.
Jane looks at him glareing. "How can we, the jump is too far a distance!"
Blaze stares back at her. "We have a ship that can make the jump easy!"
She sighs. "The SJ is not in good shape and the core needs maintenance.... The cooling system has been acting up when we go over 1/5 of our possible power output. Cruising at 4 times light speed is even running hotter than usual."
Blaze crosses his arms. "Sounds like it's got a blockage somewhere." He says bringing down the power.
Rarr hisses... "We would have to stop and power down completely just to unblock it."
Jane let's out a stressed huff. "Yeah, which will make us easy pickings for the Syndicate if they notice."
Rarr fidgets with his tail. "There must be something we can do!"
Blaze looks at the slowly falling temperature reading. "We have to or we won't be able to beat them. Then we're stuck here and our universe dies." He says.
Jane stares at the a holographic display.
Blaze turns his attention to the Jump Core Power Control and Monitoring as he begins to drop the cores energy output.....
In the core panels of a special alloy begin to encroach on the brightly glowing exotic matter, the energy collection nodes receive less and less energy as the panels move closer. The slabs of hexagon shaped shielding connect and the flow of power stops completely.... The panels putting the core in a stable nearly zero output state.
Outside the ship a red glowing heat sink drops down and extends towards the rear, Compromising the ship's stealth characteristics...
In the control seat Blaze looks around as the stations and lights begin going dark. Quantum batteries take over powering vital systems and displays.
The ship falls from it's localized bubble of space with a jolt as they drop to sub light speed.
The ship begins decelerating as it's inertia canceling field still receiving power.
Rarr hisses and looks over his shoulder at Blaze. "It's like we are falling in the void again!" He says as they free float in their seats, the artificial gravity having shut down.
Jane's mind tenses from the feeling....
...
...
On the Syndicate ship the Shadow Jumper appears as a red blip on the quantum scanners.
The armored humanoid reptile at the screen hisses in disgust. "Sir, a ship has just been picked up on our scanners. It's energy signature is a close match to the Shadow Jumper." He says looking over his shoulder.
The blonde haired human male seated at the main console shrugs. "It could be them. Hm... Let's get a closer look and find out before we change course." He says shifting his cap.
The Reptilian adjusts the sensor settings and the scanners focus in on the energy signature.
The Reptilian smacks the top of his station in excitment and dents the material. "Signiture is a perfect match for the Shadow Jumper! What will be our course of action Sir?"
Suddenly there's a bright flash and sound like a mini lightning bolt.....
The Reptilian drops to the floor with a smoking hole in his head as the captain sits holding a plasma pistol.
He stands up... "This... Ship... is to be Respected... Raphdahl our Quantum Scan Technician has been relived of duty and will stay there to serve as a reminder to always act in line with our rules.... Navigator Langley, take over the Quantum scanners. Helmsman Stanford, change course to intercept the Shadow Jumper." He says then sits down putting away his weapon.
The wide eyed crew seemlessly transitions to follow orders. The navigator presses a few commands that pop up as the captain types. The information from the scanners appears as a 3D hologram in front of Langley as Stanford changes course...
...
...
Blaze opens the airlock and the empty void of space appears. The shapeless black, lit by miniscule pin pricks of light from stars overpowered by isolating darkness.
Their radios crackle. "Opening the cooling fins now" Jane says.
Fins splay out to expose maintenance access points and cool the system faster. Further compromising the ship's stealth.
Blaze and Rarr wait till the ship is motionless relative to the objects in the star system. High speed impacts with hydrogen atoms near light speed being a bad day for a space walk.
The light signal turns green after several minutes and they exit the ship heading towards the top right cooling fin.
The other three wait a few seconds before exiting.
The ship's lights begin to blink on leading to the access hatch.
Blaze pauses... "Temp inside the cooling system?" He asks Jane.
She looks at a holographic read out. "Cooling system is negative 270 degrees. And reading zero pressure at the sensors."
Blaze grabs the hatch mechanism and pauses a moment. "Good. Space is 270 degrees Celsius, no temp difference, and there isn't any pressure inside at the sensors."
Jane comes over the radio... "Blaze wait! We use imperial it's not Celsius! There's still coolant in where the temp sens..."
Blaze tries to push away from the hatch. "Not good!" He thinks to himself in a fraction of a second as the mechanism disengages.
The hatch burst open as remnants pressurized coolant from the blockage explodes out of the opening. Two of the back up personnel are killed as Blaze and Rarr use their energy to shield themselves.
The third backup having fallen behind the others watches as the scene unfolds in silence.

France will attempt to pass a UN Security Council resolution to create conditions for the safe return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians

FRANCE: Azerbaijan is responsible for the exodus of 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. This serious crime cannot go unanswered.
article,

Russia-Azerbaijan alliance reaches new heights

Russia's NatSec Nikolai Patrushev visited Azerbaijan to meet President Aliyev. They discussed the results of the RU-AZ agreement on the strategic alliance that was signed days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
PATRUSHEV: Greetings and best wishes from President Putin. The ties between our states have expanded even more after the signing of the RU-AZ agreement. //
ALIYEV: The activities proceeding the signing of the RU-AZ strategic alliance have shown that our bilateral relations are truly allied. This is manifested in all spheres. //
The two discussed regional issues and topics relating to the North-South trade route passing through Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia.
Russia and Azerbaijan signed a new agreement to cooperate in the area of information security. They discussed areas of cooperation between their intel agencies.

... president of Azerbaijan praises Russia, criticizes the West

(Context: Armenian prime minister Pashinyan has rejected the Russian-backed negotiations in Bishkek, days after Azerbaijan rejected the Western negotiations in Granada. Azerbaijan is against France's participation.)
ALIYEV: If Armenia rejects the Russian mediation, an alternative could be direct negotiations between AM-AZ. Azerbaijan will analyze the expediency of [Western] platforms while taking into account their attitude [towards Azerbaijan]. We gratefully accept the mediation offered by Russia, who is an ally of both countries, unlike [Western states] that are located thousands of kilometers away. Unfortunately, Armenia rejected this [Russian] meeting [in Bishkek]. Pashinyan can spend 6 hours to fly to Granada, but doesn't have 3 hours for Bishkek?

... Azerbaijan wants to join the newly proposed Turkey-Russia gas hub that allows Russia to bypass Western sanctions

Russia and Turkey want to build a new gas hub in Turkey and sell Russian gas to European countries. Azerbaijan wants to join the project, said Putin today.
article, article, article, article,

October survey in Azerbaijan: do you support a peace agreement with Armenia?

Yes: 81%
No: 18%
Men: 85% yes
Women: 77% yes
Survey by Center for Social Research.
article,

Nagorno-Karabakh politician Hayk Khanumyan discloses details about Russian FSB's ties with Nagorno-Karabakh leaders before the coup

Context: Nagorno-Karabakh opposition leader Samvel Babayan had earlier revealed that Russian special services FSB had a "5th Department" tasked with instructing Nagorno-Karabakh's pro-Russian leaders and ex-leaders. Babayan said Nagorno-Karabakh leaders had received reassurances from Russia that Azerbaijan would not attack, so they felt safe to maintain their "maximalist" position (nothing less than full independence, equal party during negotiations). Another opposition figure, Hayk Khanumyan, has revealed more details.
REPORTER: Self-critique: Did Nagorno-Karabakh fall because of our mistakes? Or was it exclusively because of external factors?
KHANUMYAN: Both. Our elites weren't fit to manage the state. They lacked a strategic mentality. They couldn't plan anything whatsoever. This led to the collapse of state management.
There was also a problem with political infantilism.
REPORTER: Explain what that means.
KHANUMYAN: Shortly before the resignation of President Arayik, when it became clear who his successor was going to be, I met Arayik and the parliament MPs to convince them not to vote for Shahramanyan as the new president. I advised them to take a different direction.
They said Russia had given them reassurances that the road would open after the appointment of Shahramanyan. I asked them if they actually spoke with someone from within the Kremlin. They said no. I said then how do they know Russia would help? They gave me a name of a person, which I will not disclose right now. It turns out this person was in touch with a Karabakhi businessman who owns a restaurant in Russia. Russian FSB generals frequently visit this restaurant for "talks". They gave the reassurances.
REPORTER: Is this real?
KHANUMYAN: Yes. That is their explanation of how they received the reassurances. This is the level of infantilism and their contact with Moscow. These are the people who then convinced the population that Russia was going to protect them.
Back when I was still a minister [1-2 years ago], President Arayik held several direct meetings with Azerbaijani representatives [in a settlement located in Nagorno-Karabakh]. During one of these meetings with the head of Azerbaijan's special services Ali Nagiyev, the latter conveyed Aliyev's message to Arayik: Do not rely on Putin, Macron, or Biden, none of them can resolve the conflict, let's sit down and resolve this together.
REPORTER: What impact did the coup have on subsequent developments?
KHANUMYAN: Azerbaijan did not want to negotiate with anyone who was an "agent" of Russia or another state. They viewed the [ex-regime in Nagorno-Karabakh who came to power] as Russian agents.
On September 8, on the eve of appointing Shahramanyan as the new president, the regime summoned Samvel Babayan for talks. Babayan later shared the details of their meeting with me. The regime told Babayan that they had received an ultimatum from Azerbaijan, that Azerbaijan would attack if Stepanakert proceeded with Shahramanyan's appointment. Babayan wasn't the only person present at the meeting. Many other officials knew about Azerbaijan's ultimatum.
The regime said they would assume full responsibility and proceeded with Shahramanyan's appointment. They were confident they had Russia's backing. They asked Babayan not to organize street protests.
On September 19 I called President Shahramanyan and urged him to allow Samvel Babayan to lead the negotiations with Azerbaijan, because they viewed Shahramanyan as a Russian agent.
REPORTER: Why didn't Russia help?
KHANUMYAN: Russia was weak even before the war in Ukraine. The latter made things worse. I saw this and decided to take steps during my tenure as a minister. We increased our fuel and other reserves. There were other officials like me who took steps urgently, sometimes by "bypassing" rules. This is what allowed us to have electricity during the winter.
But all these officials were fired. Everyone who spoke about the need to have new defense mechanisms was fired.
Officials who supported direct negotiations with Azerbaijan [bypassing Russia] to resolve local problems, were fired. They were replaced with "Facebook patriots" whose policies led to an escalation.
Samvel Babayan became active in February 2023. He proposed bold and courageous plans, something that only he could dare to attempt by using his firm background and popularity. For example, when Azerbaijan demanded the closure of the mine, Babayan offered to cooperate with Azerbaijan to run the mine jointly, sell all the output to Azerbaijan, and build a factory together.
REPORTER: That's "treason".
KHANUMYAN: It was called a "treason" at the time. Before the Lachin blockade, Babayan was also in support of installing a scanner on the Lachin corridor. It would be run by Russian peacekeepers, who would share the data with Azerbaijan [to verify Armenians weren't smuggling weapons]. That was also considered "treason" at the time. They didn't listen to Babayan, so 3 months later they were forced to deal with something much worse.
REPORTER: Who authorized Samvel Babayan to hold separate negotiations with Azerbaijan?
KHANUMYAN: President Arayik Harutyunyan. Babayan spoke about these negotiations during the August 28 parliament session. Prior to this, he was urging other parliamentary parties to jointly draft that document. When no one agreed, he did so by himself.
REPORTER: How were you able to cross the checkpoint to reach Armenia? Wasn't your name on the arrest list?
KHANUMYAN: Yes, but they didn't check the passports, just the content of vehicles and bags. My whole family was in the car. We crossed without an incident. I know several MPs whose passports were checked but they crossed without an incident [not necessarily on the arrest list]. The agents weren't checking everyone's passports. Leaving was easy.
video,

interview with ex-PM Aram Sargsyan Meghri railway Pashinyan's interview Rome Statute Vector-Shmector

Context: During yesterday's interview, PM Pashinyan said Armenia hasn't officially withdrawn from any Russian-led organizations, and that Armenia's current pro-EU vector is a result of the CEPA agreement signed by Armenia's former leader, so technically Pashinyan himself hasn't "changed Armenia's vector".
REPORTER: Pashinyan's statement wasn't pro-Western enough according to pro-Western forces in Armenia. What's your take on that?
ARAM: Obviously Pashinyan should have answered "no" when asked whether he has changed Armenia's foreign vector. After all, Armenia has respected its allied obligations, whereas Russia did not. That is what Pashinyan said. Russia's refusal to carry out its duties is why Pashinyan and FM Mirzoyan canceled their trips to the Russian-led summit in Bishkek.
QUESTION: What about the ratification of the Rome Statute?
ARAM: No matter how much Pashinyan says the timing is a "coincidence", many in the West do not see it that way. The West views this as a step against Russia.
I consider the ratification of the Statute and Armenian leadership's refusal to attend the Bishkek summit as satisfactory steps towards the efforts of breaking free from Russia.
Armenia has 3 types of political forces: (1) Pro-Russian forces who want to strengthen ties with Russia to "solve" Armenia's problems. Sure, we could solve our problems by surrendering part of Syunik to Russia, having leaders handpicked by the Kremlin, and deploying CSTO troops who would always tell us that there are no incidents on the AM-AZ border. We would have a status lower than Belarus. (2) The pro-government forces. They are attempting to balance between Russia and the West. (3) Our wing. We are fully pro-Western. We believe the West is Armenia's real partner, not Russia.
REPORTER: About the unblocking of communication routes and Meghri railways.
ARAM: Armenia should sign a contract with a non-Russian company to operate railways through Meghri. Armenia should join this international trade route. Today Iran is competing against us. Iran wants this international link to pass through northern Iran instead of Armenia, so they can be the beneficiary of the transfer payments: $300 per vehicle. It also gives Iran leverage over Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Second. Armenia needs this railway link. Today our mining companies sell raw materials and concentrates. We don't have a copper smelter. We don't have one because operating one produces high amounts of sulfuric acid. The transfer of sulfuric acid over a vehicle road is prohibited, we must have a railway for that. The railway used to pass through Nakhijevan and Iran. We should restore this.
Today we transfer our copper concentrate to Iran with vehicles and dump it somewhere. Iranians pick it up and transfer it to their Sarcheshmeh copper factory.
Unblocking railway links would allow Armenia to connect to Iran. Armenian and Iranian railways are similar, both are Soviet standards. The Turkish railway is narrower because it's European. We can export our cargo straight to Iran via railway.
REPORTER: But Iran and Azerbaijan have already agreed to build a new trade route bypassing Armenia.
ARAM: Azerbaijan would still want a "backup" route via Armenia.
REPORTER: Pashinyan revealed yesterday that we can't use the [northern] Ijevan railway link because of the risk of landslides near Haghartsin. He said we could spend $500 million to try to address the landslides without any guarantees.
ARAM: The landslides aren't news to me. During my student years, they drove us to the Ijevan-Hrazdan highway and instructed us to dig canals near the railways to allow the waters to pass without damaging the tracks. So yes, there is a very serious landslide issue there today, and its behavior is unpredictable. But I wouldn't mind spending $500 million if that meant fixing that route. We need as many transport links to the outside world as possible. Launch the Meghri route ASAP. It will improve our economy and security.
QUESTION: Would Azeris agree to travel through Meghri if customs agents are Armenian?
ARAM: Remember two years ago when Armenian soldiers retreated to the internationally recognized AM-AZ borders near Shurnukh? At the time, Azerbaijan installed a customs checkpoint on the section of the Vorotan road that went under its control. Aliyev said they installed gas stations on that road with prices 50% lower than in Armenia, but he complained that Armenians still didn't want to use the road because they didn't want to pass through Azeri checkpoints on the road. Azeris claim they don't want to encounter Armenian customs agents on the Meghri road for the same reasons. Europe has offered a solution: front office (person who takes the documents) and back office (agents who actually control the process). The idea is to hire an international company to act as the front office, while Armenians would manage the process from the back office.
Iran won't mind if the front office is managed by a French company. They view other Western countries as a threat, as an attempt to manage Iran itself. This AM-FR cooperation could pave the way for possible IR-AM-EU gas transfers in the future. //
full,

Yerevan's newly elected mayor is issued a $60 fine for driving a microbus with passengers without the appropriate license

During the electoral campaign, Tigran Avinyan published a video of him driving Yerevan's "last Gazel". The city is replacing all small microbuses with more spacious buses. Avinyan was issued a citation for driving the microbus without a class D license.
article,

World Population Review: index places Armenia as the 9th country out of 133 with the lowest crime

(1) Venezuela (highest)
(43) France
(47) Iran
(55) USA
(61) Moldova
(84) Russia
(86) Turkey
(101) Azerbaijan
(124) Georgia
(125) Armenia
(133) Qatar (lowest)

Հանցավորության ընդհանուր մակարդակը հաշվարկվել է՝ բաժանելով ցանկացած տեսակի հանցագործությունների ընդհանուր թիվը երկրների ընդհանուր բնակչության թվին, այնուհետև արդյունքը բազմապատկելով 100․000-ով

article, article,

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I moved away from MFP when they made barcode scanning premium only which led me to look for a new app that suited my needs and the overwhelming recommendation was Lose It!
However, after I signed up I noticed that the barcode scanner was behind a paywall which was never mentioned in any of the comments I had seen. I emailed the Devs and they told me that randomly they lock features as premium only for new users and I had just been unlucky.
However, I was able to get around the block using a VPN to the UK and explicitly mentioning that I am migrating from MFP in the feedback portion of the initial sign up as I have a suspicion that this was why my new account's scanner is unblocked (Devs may know that many as coming from MFP purely for the barcode scanner and so leave it unblocked)
TLDR: Certain new accounts for Lose It! don't get the barcode scanner in the free version and are instead locked behind premium.

[Thank you to u/towerator who made the prompt I used for this story. I would also like to apologize that this is only chapter 1, something that I didn’t expect myself when I started writing.]
Memory transcription subject: Vairka, Corner Store Clerk
Date [standardized human time]: November 26th, 2136
My eyes follow the fissan customer as they look at the shelves. Their gait creates piercing steps, which cut through the background hum of the heaters, cooler, and bulbs around the store. I see them inspect our soda fridge for a few moments, before they decide on a larger can of sal-root soda. They place it on the counter, and look at me expectantly.
…
They clutch at their dark black mane as their eyes rapidly shoot on and off of me.
“Vairka.”
…
“VAIRKA, RING THE CUSTOMER!” My attention is pulled to Sherv, yelling my name. I quickly grab the soda and scan it.
“That’ll be 1.3 credits.” The fissan nods and taps their credit chip on the scanner, and quickly leaves the store with their soft drink. I gaze at them as they leave.
“Are you really going to act like this everytime the customer isn’t a venlil?” Sherv asks, looking up at me as he speaks.
“It’s so rare to see a fissan on Venlil Prime.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to gawk at them. You’ll scare them off.” My antennae twitch. I thought I did fine this time. I didn’t even ask any questions.
Sherv grumbles as he walks back to the box of cans he was stocking the shelves with. I look down at the counter in front of me, a bit disgruntled.
The holopad in my uniform’s pocket vibrates. After quickly glancing around the store I grab it. I check the notification and read a small, but official-looking, message on my mail application.
“Greetings Vairka. Your submission for entry into the earth exchange program has been accepte-” The phone slips from my hand and loudly hits the counter. It takes me a moment to get over the shock. I continue reading quickly. “-accepted. Please visit your provincial magistrate office to continue your eligibility screening.”
My mandibles chitter, sending cracking clicks through the store. Sherv twists his head towards me and his ears shoot up inquisitively.
“What’s gotten into you?” He asks, returning to his work. I manage to stifle my excitement.
“Sorry Sherv but I may need to take some vacation days soon.”
…
Today’s shift felt like it was longer than the 6 hours it actually was. Standing outside the front of the store, I feel the wind blow past my antennae. Sherv stands next to me, drinking a bottle of water. one of his ears flicks.
“Still a few days til you go, yeah?” He looks up at me.
“Yeah, I’m excited.” He sighs.
“Just be careful, around humans, y’know?” His tail turns down towards his legs, signaling his tone. We’ve never seen any humans run through this small town.
“Yeah, I’ve looked into ‘em. I think I’ll be fine.” My mandibles fidget and I look up at clear skies. In truth I was quite anxious, though it was buried under a mound of curiosity. The kind of curiosity that drags, kicks and pushes you towards the kinds of danger best left alone.
The risk of it all being true, humans being savages behind closed doors, weighed on me, though it wouldn’t stop me. That thinking doesn’t fly well. It's better to say you think there’s no risk at all. A gust of wind pushes my antennae down uncomfortably again. I place my driving helmet on my head, being careful that my antennae go into the sockets straight.
“Heading out then?” Sherv says as he notices what I’m doing.
“I suppose so.” I doubt I’ll be on the shuttle today. “Cya.” I start walking towards my tri-bike. No need for a big goodbye.
The engine starts and the large triangular platform vibrates up my legs. I place my hands on the steering handles and ride down the empty streets.
Memory transcription subject: Vance Bakker, Ornithologist
Date [standardized human time]: December 3rd, 2136
The door opens to reveal a sea of white across the entire facility. I stretch my back, my many layers feeling strained from the action. I take the snow shovel in gloved hands and begin to clear the porch. Last nights’ storm was hopefully the worst the winter will give.
I continue onto the concrete path between the house and the rehab center, then between the rehab center and the warehouse. The white ocean is only broken by the gray path, and deep green circles surrounding heated birdbaths. As I push the snow off the trail, I look up to the birdbath beside the warehouse. A few black caps and a mountain chickadee sit on the rim, unbothered by my loud scraping.
My back aches as I finish the path, barely wider than the head of the shovel itself. I let out a sigh with a wisp of steam in the cold air. The day had only begun.
I walk towards the rehab center and push open the front door, now clear of snow. I take off my jacket, scarf, gloves, boots and 2 of the 3 t-shirts I have on. My toque stays on, holding my hair back from my face. As I walk by the empty front desk, I grab my clipboard. Memorizing all the needs of the housed birds was a hassle, though I’m sure I could by now. My watch reads, 9:18AM, late for their morning feeding, my boots echo towards the feed closet.
…
The final chamber I enter is the waterfowl habitat. A large indoor pond which makes the air hot and humid. The only current inhabitant floats in the middle of the pond, a common loon. She was found frozen to the surface of a nearby lake, and injured herself in a panic to get out. Besides the physical injuries, she was also severely emaciated when she came in. Her head turns towards me, I grab a handful of feed and throw it into the water. Eventually she’ll be able to dive for fish, and she’ll need to. I’ve never dealt with the process of ordering the live fish before, something else I’ll have to figure out. Her striking red eye looks away from me before she eventually focuses on the food floating before her.
As she eats I look over the habitat. Our largest in the facility, domes roof, fake and real foliage. Typically quite busy when the seasons change, and migratory accidents occur, miraculously she’s the only one this year. Even if she healed enough to fly she’d likely still be too weak to fly the distance. She’ll be stuck here ‘til spring.
She pecks at the surface of the water, catching bits of feed. She’s been a great opportunity to learn about the mannerisms of loons, eating while I was present wasn’t a loon-exclusive show of comfort however. How quickly she’d dive, how high or low she’d float in the water, all shows of stress or comfort.
I muddle giving her a name for a moment. A sigh escapes my lips, not much point on getting too attached I guess.
My watch reads 1:42PM.
Memory transcription subject: Vairka, Corner Store Clerk
Date [standardized human time]: December 4th, 2136
The trees turn into a blur as I drive down hill towards the town center. The sun sits high, unblocked by clouds. Keeping my head low to avoid the worst of the wind, I eventually reach flatter ground. The streets are empty, common for this time of day.
It doesn’t take long before I’m parked outside the small provincial office. While Brightgrove was a small town, it was the biggest in the province, making it the seat of the provincial government. I leave my helmet on the tri-bike as its engine goes cold.
A slightly smaller venlil walks from the front doors, head turns up, staring. Our eyes meet as the automatic doors shoot open, and they break as I enter. A receptionist sits behind a short desk, focused on a set of documents. The lobby smells old and the air conditioning pushes the tips of my antennae.
“Excuse me.” The sudden clicks of my voice startle the venlil. Their calm returns in typical order, half a second later, enough for their translator to activate.
“Ah, you must be Vairka. Your exchange screening is in the office to the left.” She shoots a clawed finger towards a door labeled ‘102’. I lower my head to signify understanding, and continue towards the door. Very to the point.
The room is disorganized, a taller, disheveled venlil sits behind the desk. The name ‘Herik’ is engraved on the desks nameplate. The venlil opens his mouth, the translator struggles to keep up with obviously slurred words.
“Ahh, you are, uh. Vairka. You’re in the exchange program, congratulations.” The venlil holds his head up by a claw.
“I thought I was here to continue my screening.”
“Uh. Yes, YES,” he shoots up straight, “just a formality really. We need you to stamp a few forms, yes.” He slips a few sheets of paper in front of me. A file with the basic information I filled out on the exchange website, I quickly scan the sheet as I withdraw my stamp from my satchel.
‘Name: Vairka, Age: 23, Species: Venlil Height: 16-’ Ah— Venlil. I don’t remember species being a question on the website. I focus again on ‘Herik’ behind his desk, his eyes are closed as he balances his head on his palm.
A small red insignia is left behind by my stamp, my full name in traditional tilfish script. I hope no one actually screens these forms and sees the obvious give away. Herik’s head slams into his desk loudly
“BAH!” he yells, “YES, ok, thank you for your time that is all.” He quickly shoves the sheets into a folder as I start to leave. As I walk out, his head slams into his desk again.
The receptionist talks to another venlil, our eyes meet as I walk out.
My satchel opens and I see the large pile of slips, forms and documents I prepared. Was this actually ok? I look back at the office as my Tri-bikes engine ignites.
I look up at the bright pale-blue sky again, the sun beating down on my chitin. A few white birds fly by as I put on my helmet. Whatever.
The sputtering of the engine reaches a peak and I step on the platform again. The empty streets make me drive faster than I should, back home.
Memory transcription subject: Vance Bakker, Ornithologist
Date [standardized human time]: November 30th, 2136
A percussive beat rolls through the small gymnasium. The bag rolls forward and back again. Keeping a good routine was pretty much impossible since my workload increased by about ten thousand percent. Though the extra work was just more of a reason to stay in shape. My watch beeps and the bag falls still.
Not giving myself a chance to properly catch my breath I walk to the mess hall. My late lunch spins in the microwave, still cold.
My phone beeps, email notification. May as well check the pile of email addresses tied to the facility. A thousand things to do fill my eyes, but one stands out, tied to our administrator account.
“Congratulations! Your Venlil Prime cultural exchange has been confirmed."
What.
I skim the brief document. I curse aloud as I see the estimated date of arrival, in 2 days. The message was almost a week old.
I look around the mess hall, a dozen empty tables, an unmanned kitchen. The floors are unswept, there’s a pile of facility uniforms unwashed in the laundry room. Hell I trashed a few of the offices in anger just a week ago. My heart sinks and I chew my thumbnail.
The ding of the microwave sounds and I quickly start eating, I eat it too fast to taste and quickly throw the disposable container into the trash. I stand still, hair obscuring my eyes as I look down.
Does this mean UN staff’ll be coming here? To what? An empty birdwatching house? I imagine the disappointed look on some Venlil’s face when they realize it’s just me and a breaking facility. My watch beeps, feeding time. Whatever.
My footsteps clatter through the halls as I run for the front doors, the cold air blows past me as I shove the rehab doors open.
Memory transcription subject: Vairka, Corner Store Clerk
Date [standardized human time]: December 1st, 2136
The spaceport is almost empty, massive rows of seats stand empty around the docking ports. Thankfully the spaceport was busy enough to have seats fit for tilfish biology. It’s a bit unnerving, the state it’s in now, compared to its usual pandemonium.
“Port #13A, please enter the ship in a calm orderly fashion.” The autonomous message echoes through the large waiting area. I stand up, and begin walking to the docking port. I pass the large wall-sized windows, amber light floods from them, turning the narrow hall slightly ominous.
The ship is empty, but the engines vibrate, the pilots must be in the cockpit. I take a seat and wait. The trip is just to a UN station in orbit, where I’ll transfer to earth from.
The slight vibrations and the dancing light is all I have to keep my mind occupied.
My mandibles almost begin to click. With nothing else to think of, my excitement for landing on earth boils over. With no one around I don’t put up much resistance, and the chittering fills the room.
The cabin door slides open, an old venlil steps out a split second before I can stop myself. They scan the room with a blank expression, certainly pretending they didn’t hear me. Their tail swishes and they flip a switch near the cabin door. They retreat back in as a hologram of a chipper venlil begins describing safety procedures.
The ship begins to roll onto the launch ramp, the vibrations become much more fierce.
“In the event of an engine failure please…”
I can see the forest from my window.
“We understand you have many options when…”
The forest begins to blur, faster and faster, until it disappears from sight, replaced by the warm sky.
“Please have a safe flight, and thank you for choosing…”
I close my eyes.
…
The ship rumbles, shooting me awake in the middle of its docking procedure. I look outside of the viewport. I see the outer walls of a station approach the ship, until eventually going still.
The exit opens, and I stand up. I check my satchel to make sure I have everything. My holopad, my ID, and a (now warm) can of soda.
My 4 walking legs are disoriented from sitting too long. I almost stumble from standing too fast. The station’s artificial gravity is noticeably lesser than that of Venlil Prime’s, which doesn’t help my footing.
Immediately outside the ship, the station is high in activity. Humans pay me little mind, barking orders and moving cargo around from another ship.
I silently observe them as they run by the short hall I stand in. Long and short hair, only on the head and face. Clothes that cover almost their entire bodies. Urgent to learn more I try to get the attention of a passerby.
“Uhm, excuse m-” They’re already gone.
“Hello? Is it ok-” another, whose attention I could grab lets out a shrill scream as they see me.
“WHAT THE (explicative).” They drop a box they were carrying. A dozen pair of eyes shoot towards us and my antennae lay almost flat against my head.
“I uhm, what’s- are you okay?” I’m too panicked to speak properly. The same human flinches but, after a half second, they look at me again, an odd expression on their face. They quickly withdraw a holopad and turn it on for a single moment before saying something under their breath.
“Uhm. Please wait here.” They turn before I can speak and disappear down the hall. The rest of the people around stare at me for a few moments before continuing as well.
What was that about? My heart beat is still spiked from the shock and my joints swell. I wait.
Within a few long moments an older looking human comes back with the one who had just screamed. The older one looks at me for a moment with green eyes.
“Hell johnson, did you have to scream so loud? I heard it in my office, they’re obviously shocked.”
“Ah- uh, no sir.”
“Well get back to work, busy day today.” The human nods and grabs the box they previously dropped. I notice their face is much more firm now, they leave.
“Sorry about that, please come with me to my office.” They turn around before I can speak and begin to walk down the hall. Keeping up is difficult in the crowd, while the humans were much taller, I was certainly bigger. Being stared at isn’t new to me, but the amount of eyes is frightening.
The human walks into a room, an office. They throw their unfamiliar hat on the desk revealing short black hair. “Tanner” is written on the desks nameplate. He sits on the large chair behind the desk.
“Please take a seat.” I stare at the chair on the other end, obviously built for bipedal species.
“Ah.” they quickly catch on, “Sorry. Anyhow, what is your business on the station?” The question spikes my heartrate again.
“The exchange program?” They flinch as I speak, but, on que, their shock resides in half a second.
“Wasn’t aware we were gettin’ anyone for the exchange program today.” they open a laptop on their desk and begin operating it, “Name?”
“Vairka.” They type the name in.
“Huh. We never received news you were coming, but your files says you’d be here today. We usually receive notification from planetside after the exchange is confirmed.” My mind immediately shoots to the disheveled office, which was likely supposed to send such confirmation.
“This won’t be a problem, so don’t worry. But there’s just an oddity on your file. You’re,” They look at me and back at their screen, “obviously not a venlil.”
“That was never a question on the application process.” I say, half feigning ignorance.
“Well. It may cause some problems at first with your exchange partner. Er, partners, rather.”
“Why’s that?” one of my antennae twitch curiously.
“Well, given your exchange location is in North America, they may not react well to your,” they stop for a moment “physiology? Some humans are very scared of, uh, invertebrates.” The sting of this knowledge is almost instantly lost when the chance to learn more about human culture arises.
“You specified North America, are other regions more ok with invertebrates? Are you from one of these regions?”
“Well, not all of North America exactly, and no I’m actually from the place myself. You’re just not the only Tilfish I’ve run into. The first reaction is usually the worst, unless they’re particularly fearful of them.” He stretches in his chair.
“How bad is it? Their reaction?” I look down as I ask.
“I’ll tell you straight. Some people faint from seeing a spider the size of a coin. If they’re also expecting a venlil it’ll be an even bigger surprise for them. Of course, they may not be the type to be scared of, er, invertebrates at all. But I’m sure your exchange partners will warm up to you eventually, even if they are afraid at first. Most folk who join the program are open minded.” My antennae unfurl at that.
“I hope so.” Almost every time I met someone on Venlil Prime they’d be shocked. They almost always got over it, but some never dropped their guard. It never felt good seeing that look in their eyes.
“Speaking of, I noticed you don’t seem to mind humans. Usually it’s the participants on the other side screaming at first contact. You’ve had experience with humans before?” I put a lot of effort into making sure I’d not flinch when I first saw a human. My computer background would swap between pictures of various human faces. I spent an entire day browsing a database I found online. It took at least an hour before I could keep eye contact with a still image. Ah, the trouble I got in when an exterminator team showed up at my door with a transcript of five hundred human faces downloaded onto my computer. I realize I’ve not answered his question.
“Ah, no this is the first time I met one, first conversation as well. I’ve always had an interest in other species.” A half truth.
“Ahuh. Anyhow, since your arrival is a bit unexpected a proper shuttle won’t be here for about a day. If you want though you could hitch a ride on a cargo freighter. It’s going to the same port you’d be heading towards.”
“I’d love to start as soon as possible.” He nods and types on his computer. “Alright, you’ll be able to leave within a couple hours.” I nod.
Tension unravels as I realize I’ll be making it to earth.
…
The ride was uncomfortable. I was standing the entire time and most were too busy with work to speak to. The freighter didn’t even stop at the spaceport itself, only at a warehouse to drop off cargo.
The cold air of earth’s ongoing winter hits hard. Brightgrove was borderline tropical, the transition is shocking. Dredging through the snow I eventually enter the spaceport through a side door.
Tanner said a UN officer would be waiting for me. I scan the waiting area, a few sparse humans of all ages wait for their shuttles. But one stands out, a shorter human wearing clothes in the color of the UN flag. They stand in front of a kiosk of sorts, holding a cup in one of their hands. Their eyes meet mine.
A smile grows on their face, and they begin to walk towards me. Their voice sounds tired.
“Vairka I presume?” They extend a smaller than usual hand towards me. I accept the ‘handshake’ I read about in a primer Tanner gave to me.
“Yes, that’s me.” They don't flinch.
“Great. Sorry for the confusion getting here, just a few clerical errors. You’ll be at your destination within a few hours. I’m Heather.” As we walk through the spaceport I admire the human architecture. It’s nothing striking, nothing completely new, just different. I’m a little disappointed.
My thoughts are pulled to the burst of cold air that numbs my antennae as the automatic doors open. A black vehicle sits outside on a muddy road, contrasting the white everywhere else.
Heather’s eyes shoot between me and the vehicle a few times.
“Sorry, the ride may be a bit uncomfortable for you.” I already expected this and just dip my head in response. She opens the back door for me and I enter.
The car leaves the spaceport. I watch out the window in front of me. Like all worlds, nothing is completely foreign. Though seeing a forest of dead trees is not a sight I’ve had in a very long time.
“Do you know anything about where I’ll be staying?” I ask.
“Yes, you’ll be staying at a bird research and rehabilitation facility. The whole station is self-contained, the staff basically live there.” The thought of meeting so many people was exciting. Even if some couldn’t handle my appearance, I hope at least one will.
I look towards Heather. I wonder if she’s only tolerating my appearance.
The rest of the car ride is in silence, I do my best to lay down on the back seat.
I raise my head as I feel the car stop. The ornithology center is half buried in snow. The car stops in what I assume is a parking lot. Heather’s face settles in a scowl as she looks around.
“I’ll just be a moment.” Her face turns to a smile when she turns to me. “Just need to ask a few questions before you can head in.” She quickly opens and closes the car's door, and begins to drudge through the snow. Worry rises again, and I begin to wonder if any part of this exchange will go smoothly. She disappears around the building.
After a few minutes I step out of the vehicle. The cold sinks into my limbs rapidly and I almost instantly lose feeling in my antennae. Maybe the worry is making me act rashly, maybe I’m just bored. I begin to walk through the snow, leaving a path of small holes in the snow.
The front door is surprisingly open. The warmth of the lobby catches me and I stand under a vent for a few moments.
I see a large human stumble in the hall, facing away from me. They run into a room down a hall.
Memory transcription subject: Vance Bakker, Ornithologist
Date [standardized human time]: December 2nd, 2136
The cold air bites at my face. A cup of coffee keeps my hands warm as I sit on the porch. I’m already behind on my duties today, but I feel horrible. I pray I’ve not caught anything. I look down and see my face reflected in the black coffee, I look like shit.
Before I dwell too hard on how difficult the rest of the day is going to be, I look around the facility. A thin layer of white snow lays over the concrete walkways again. Someone is standing in the yard.
My vision shoots back to the figure in the field. The bright light of the sun on the snow obscures them.
“Hello!?” I yell across the field. The moment the words escape my mind an almost audible click forms in my head. The exchange program. The figure approaches closer, becoming clearer.
“Hello.” The small woman before me wears a thick jacket. A UN officer badge is pinned to her chest. “You’re a worker at the research center?”
“Yes I am. Well, THE worker you could say.” My voice sounds more nasal than usual. Her brow furrows.
“I was about to ask, where is everyone?”
“They ran off when the bombs dropped.”
“But you’ve still been sending proper reports for the past month.”
“Yeah.” She gets visibly annoyed.
“You’ve been here, running the station by yourself? I find that hard to believe. Where’s your ID?” Naturally, I have no reason to carry it around anymore, so I don’t have it on me.
“It’s probably in my room, would you like me to go get it?” She sighs.
“Sure, I’ll be in the parking lot out front.” I nod before I start to drudge through the snow back to the dorms. I don’t bother taking off my jacket or boots. I almost fall over in the halls from the snow packed deep in the bottom of my boots.
I dig through the drawers in my room, I’ve absolutely no idea where I kept it. I vaguely recall throwing a card off the side of a cliff one night and wonder if that’s what it was. No, that was my drivers license. Wait, shit, I threw that away?
I finally find it and open the door to my dorm. I step onto the tile of the hall— my heart stops. A large chitinous bug, the size of a wolf appears before me. It reels back and a rapid array of clicks come from its mandibles. I stop, too quickly. The room spins sideways and I feel my feet slip into the air. Before I can even scream, the back of my head crashes on the tiled floor.
My eyes close.

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I'm an ASE master certified transmission rebuilder of the last 8 years. I've seen the ins and outs of MANY types of transmissions, and have seen MANY types of causes of failure. I just want to make a few things clear to educate people. Because the lack of knowledge skews the mindset when it comes to transmission flushes/services, and possibly causing problems afterwards.
Term knowledge and understanding is key here. (Flush...) We DO NOT "FLUSH" transmissions. EVER!!! IN ANY CASE, WHATSOEVER! That term can be used for "flushing" your cooling system. The machine at shops that pulsate the coolant to help unclog/unblock and loosen sediments. We will; however, "flush" your "transmission cooler" not a part of the transmission itself. It's just a small radiator in front of your vehicle for transmission fluid cooling, and it's needs cleaned when replacing/rebuilding a transmission. MOST REAL transmission builders WILL NEVER use any kind of extra chemical in your transmission ("flush" "fix in a bottle" "stop leak" etc). Some might use a modifying agent in some cases, typically only recommended by your transmission tech. But anyone reputable WILL NEVER use any kind of chemical in a bottle.
(For the remainder of this post, any "shop" as I call it, I mean a "transmission specialty shop" don't let Pepboys, Midas or any other "joe blow shop" tell you about your transmission. Independent transmission shops are great! Even conglomerates like AAMCO know more than "joe blow fix ya up." Those guys are good for general drivability/brake/suspension repairs. Same goes for engines... Find an engine specific shop when having engine problems.)
Onto services... Some shops will not service transmissions for the myth's liability reasons. Some will "service" transmissions by "EXCHANGING" the fluid and installing a new filter. THAT'S IT! Fluid change, NOT A FLUSH. It's just exchanging the fluid/filter (old and used to new). NO CHEMICALS! NO PULSATING! NO PRESSURES! Anyone who says "flush and transmission" in the same sentence does not know what they're talking about. TALK TO YOUR TRANSMISSION EXPERT! Find one, do your research, go in and ask questions, get to know them a little, see if they'll drive your vehicle and "service your transmission." Ask them if there is anything starting to go wrong with yours? We're not perfect, but we do our best for you. Ask questions about common problems with your transmission. Generally... DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE. I'm not selling you anything other than the TRUTH here. Find an expert you feel comfortable with and know they're not bullshxttxng you. Some will BS you. Do your research.
Short answer to the "service" debate/myth? IT IS POSSIBLE to experience problems after a "transmission service". I have seen it. It is possible, and even us as experts may not be able to detect it. I've only seen it a very few times in the last 8 years, maybe 5 out of a thousand. So, the slight chance is ALWAYS there.
More often than not, people "do their own service" and don't use the right fluid, don't properly check fluid levels, ADD CHEMICALS, and then they start experiencing problems with their transmission. SO DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! AT ALL!
I've heard many try to blame it on a fluid change/service. HOWEVER, the real cause of failure was lifetime wear, driver habits, and factory weak points that cause issues slowly over time. 80%-90% of the time, the customer has issues with their transmission, decides to "service" the transmission, and experiences MORE problems. The issues were ALREADY there and you were experiencing them when you decided to "see if a service would fix it". Transmission fluid is a good cleaner. It has detergents in it, and now it's cleaned built up grime and cause clearances to open up, causing the problem in GREATER degree now.
Their are cases where an unknown or undetected problem arise after "servicing" a transmission. NOT WIDELY COMMON, but can happen.
Bottom line... MOST transmission problems are OUT OF YOUR CONTROL, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. Most failures are due to design or usage flaws that need to be corrected. I cannot tell you if you should or shouldn't "service" your transmission, unless I drive it, put my scanner on it, and look at some data, and I know what your transmission is or what the specific case is. EACH CASE IS DIFFERENT. His fix won't cure your problem. Her fix won't cure his problem. All these transmissions have completely different sets of problems and fixes. Talk to YOUR transmission expert, and don't drive it like you stole it all the time. "joe blow fix ya up" and "carl.the.cucumber.sized.superman" posting here on reddit probably DON'T have a FULL UNDERSTANDING of TRANSMISSIONS, like we do.
I will answer common questions you have, maybe steer you in the right direction. I try my best to respond to everyone. But I cannot help you fix your car over the internet, and I'm not selling anything, or do any in-person inspections. Thank you for your time and the read. Just trying to be honest in this clutter of crap. Good day!

I'm an ASE master certified transmission rebuilder of the last 8 years. I've seen the ins and outs of MANY types of transmissions, and have seen MANY types of causes of failure. I just want to make a few things clear to educate people. Because the lack of knowledge skews the mindset when it comes to transmission flushes/services, and possibly causing problems afterwards.
Term knowledge and understanding is key here. (Flush...) We DO NOT "FLUSH" transmissions. EVER!!! IN ANY CASE, WHATSOEVER! That term can be used for "flushing" your cooling system. The machine at shops that pulsate the coolant to help unclog/unblock and loosen sediments. We will; however, "flush" your "transmission cooler" not a part of the transmission itself. It's just a small radiator in front of your vehicle for transmission fluid cooling, and it's needs cleaned when replacing/rebuilding a transmission. MOST REAL transmission builders WILL NEVER use any kind of extra chemical in your transmission ("flush" "fix in a bottle" "stop leak" etc). Some might use a modifying agent in some cases, typically only recommended by your transmission tech. But anyone reputable WILL NEVER use any kind of chemical in a bottle.
(For the remainder of this post, any "shop" as I call it, I mean a "transmission specialty shop" don't let Pepboys, Midas or any other "joe blow shop" tell you about your transmission. Independent transmission shops are great! Even conglomerates like AAMCO know more than "joe blow fix ya up." Those guys are good for general drivability/brake/suspension repairs. Same goes for engines... Find an engine specific shop when having engine problems.)
Onto services... Some shops will not service transmissions for the myth's liability reasons. Some will "service" transmissions by "EXCHANGING" the fluid and installing a new filter. THAT'S IT! Fluid change, NOT A FLUSH. It's just exchanging the fluid/filter (old and used to new). NO CHEMICALS! NO PULSATING! NO PRESSURES! Anyone who says "flush and transmission" in the same sentence does not know what they're talking about. TALK TO YOUR TRANSMISSION EXPERT! Find one, do your research, go in and ask questions, get to know them a little, see if they'll drive your vehicle and "service your transmission." Ask them if there is anything starting to go wrong with yours? We're not perfect, but we do our best for you. Ask questions about common problems with your transmission. Generally... DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE. I'm not selling you anything other than the TRUTH here. Find an expert you feel comfortable with and know they're not bullshxttxng you. Some will BS you. Do your research.
Short answer to the "service" debate/myth? IT IS POSSIBLE to experience problems after a "transmission service". I have seen it. It is possible, and even us as experts may not be able to detect it. I've only seen it a very few times in the last 8 years, maybe 5 out of a thousand. So, the slight chance is ALWAYS there.
More often than not, people "do their own service" and don't use the right fluid, don't properly check fluid levels, ADD CHEMICALS, and then they start experiencing problems with their transmission. SO DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! AT ALL!
I've heard many try to blame it on a fluid change/service. HOWEVER, the real cause of failure was lifetime wear, driver habits, and factory weak points that cause issues slowly over time. 80%-90% of the time, the customer has issues with their transmission, decides to "service" the transmission, and experiences MORE problems. The issues were ALREADY there and you were experiencing them when you decided to "see if a service would fix it". Transmission fluid is a good cleaner. It has detergents in it, and now it's cleaned built up grime and cause clearances to open up, causing the problem in GREATER degree now.
Their are cases where an unknown or undetected problem arise after "servicing" a transmission. NOT WIDELY COMMON, but can happen.
Bottom line... MOST transmission problems are OUT OF YOUR CONTROL, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. Most failures are due to design or usage flaws that need to be corrected. I cannot tell you if you should or shouldn't "service" your transmission, unless I drive it, put my scanner on it, and look at some data, and I know what your transmission is or what the specific case is. EACH CASE IS DIFFERENT. His fix won't cure your problem. Her fix won't cure his problem. All these transmissions have completely different sets of problems and fixes. Talk to YOUR transmission expert, and don't drive it like you stole it all the time. "joe blow fix ya up" and "carl.the.cucumber.sized.superman" posting here on reddit probably DON'T have a FULL UNDERSTANDING of TRANSMISSIONS, like we do.
I will answer common questions you have, maybe steer you in the right direction. I try my best to respond to everyone. But I cannot help you fix your car over the internet, and I'm not selling anything, or do any in-person inspections. Thank you for your time and the read. Just trying to be honest in this clutter of crap. Good day!

Sorry this is so long, if u don't feel like reading I would still love to hear any knowledge about what any commonly used methods of hacking/monitoring our phones are (and/or any device rly, thx i hate it here) Any info/knowledge is appreciated, even if it's something small. Thanks :)
I have been victim to what I identify as some sort of highly sophisticated cyber stalking/hack/monitoring whatever u want to call it. I am wondering what method they use for the cyber attacks & surveillance. What do they most frequently use? But in other words, for my situation specifically, what kind of hack is it that it can get through all of the most extreme security, vpns, firewalls, malware scans etc? Phone cloning? Sim card cloning? and what's the difference b/t any of the various commonly used methods?
(editing for typo cuz im using dictation cuz im lazy also want to clarify, for any of the possible hacks, I would also most importantly appreciate info or any kind of knowledge at all, even if u think it could just be the most insignificant detail about HOW they can do this, what tech, the scale, etc. thank you so much)
I know who one of the perpetrators is. Just figured it out last week. They also had access to my phone for an extended period of time one day, I "left it somewhere," (yup totally that's what happened 100% /s) but they got it back to me, almost 8 hrs later. My phone started acting really weird after that.

1. Noticed my voicemail wasn't working. At all, it would say that my number doesn't exist or something like that. Figured out that call forwarding was magically turned on, when I never turned it on. I turned it off and voicemail was working again.
2. Bluetooth would turn on, even though I had turned it off. This happens very frequently, and just in general I noticed that there were a lot of weird things happening with my phone, and somebody I know that I met at the Apple store actually a while ago, also confirmed that what was happening with my phone was at least a little sketchy.
3. I noticed the camera turned on randomly like I would go to pick up my phone, and the camera was turned on when I never turned it on.
4. Contact info that I had blocked was magically unblocked and I received a harassing/threatening txt from someone whom I had blocked (that was now miraculously unblocked wow I must b a powerful wizard or something, time travelled and went back to the timeline to one where she wasn't blocked yet omfg like so cool /s) the morning after this person had access to my phone.
5. I have very high security on my phone and all of my devices I have the highest level of security that the iPhone offers and is compatible with in its operating system. I have lockdown mode on and a couple of VPNs that just keep magically turning off it is impossible, almost impossible for me to keep the VPN on. Malware scans/protection (from the official, well trusted apps,)don't pick up on anything. So how are they able to bypass all of the security? And how are they undetected by the mail or scanner? When I have quite a high level of protection on my phone?
6. They were able to turn off a recording, a voice memo to send to my friend explaining the situation, (she had a sore throat and couldn't talk on the phone, I figured it out and wanted her input/any info she had because this person and her had a stalking fetish or something ----was a casual thing lol- and he stalked her so i thought it would be good to tell her what was going on,) and how I found out who it was. BUT, as I was explaining in the voice memo, something/someone cut the recording off... like somebody hit the stop button remotely and it wasn't me, before I could really start getting into the nitty-gritty of how I figured this out. So I was about to expose this person essentially, or something possibly made them panic or something about what I was doing. I hadn't even thought about gang stalking yet (maybe a little bit but nothing serious.) Just thought this person was pissed off at me or something.
7. Because this first recording was cut off, I immediately go to redo it w/ a second recording, as one would. And I mess up, so I stopped this second recording, but I go to listen to it, and there's one problem... you cannot hear me talking at all. But what you can hear, however, is a recording of something/someone else. I can hear what is going on on the perpetrators end. The one who stopped the initial recording remotely I guess. So I was able to hear them talking and the environment which sounded like a van or car or something as well as various background noise, and I have enhanced the audio and still in the process of doing so in order to sort of see what else I can hear there because it might give me a clue. And one thing I noticed, is that I can hear this persons voice (the same person that I thought was involved that I was telling my friend about that I had figured out was doing this. He seems very pissed or something because you hear an exasperated "fuuuccckkk," at the end, and then the recording stops.) But there is another person that you can hear in this recording. I can't identify the voice, I do not know them. An older lady I think. That's when it tipped me off that this could be some sort of gang stalking surveillance thing. Because this person wasn't alone.

And just a sidenote, it seems like my Apple Watch at least possibly my AirPods. My computer has been acting weird too but other devices might be impacted as well but the thing about my Apple Watch is weird because I haven't used it in like a year. I broke it out again and got it working again after I figured this out last week cause I knew that that was the only device that this person never had access to because it wasn't working for over a year and I don't even think this person knew that I had it. And then eventually not right away. It was fine right away but then like after a day. The Apple Watch also started behaving oddly, so how were they able to possibly infiltrate my Apple Watch based on what was happening with my phone? Does it have to do with like iCloud or something like that? How are they able to do these things, as in, what method do they use?
I am wondering what kind of cyber attack, heck, cloning, Sim card, tampering, etc. could possibly encompass all of the issues I have listed. (There were other issues too, that I just can't remember right now ) What kind of hack, clone, etc. that 1, can bypass all security, and 2. is possible if somebody physically has access to your phone, 3. that can control the camera and the microphone, and 4. that records everything you do,, so monitoring like that at least audio, (like constantly -i figured that one out too, long story tho haha) and idk if recording through the camera constantly, but definitely recording your conversations, whole life, etc. 4. That would initially have call forwarding to be turned off magically. 5. And how I could hear their end accidentally. There is definitely some kind of sketchy monitoring here, that is larger than just one person privately stalking/harassing someone for fun. I wonder what kind of hack enables what happened? Like that I able to hear then while I was recording myself talking. It may have glitched or something, and it's almost like it accidentally switched? Like both sides switch so, again, instead of me being recorded, it recorded them on the voice memo... this is the only time this is happened.
what tactics are commonly used for surveillance, or to hack/monitor victims? Like HOW IS MY PHONE HACKED -as in WHAT KIND OF HACK or method was used here? And/or is commonly used?

I have been victim to what I identify as some sort of highly sophisticated cyber stalking/hack/monitoring whatever u want to call it. I am wondering what method they use for the cyber attacks & surveillance. What do they most frequently use? But in other words, for my situation specifically, what kind of hack is it that it can get through all of the most extreme security, vpns, firewalls, malware scans etc? Phone cloning? Sim card cloning?
(editing for typo cuz im using dictation cuz im lazy also want to clarify, for any of the possible hacks, I would also most importantly appreciate info or any kind of knowledge at all, even if u think it could just be the most insignificant detail about HOW they can do this, what tech, the scale, etc. thank you so much)
I know who one of the perpetrators is. Just figured it out last week. They also had access to my phone for an extended period of time one day, I "left it somewhere," (yup totally that's what happened 100% /s) but they got it back to me, almost 8 hrs later. My phone started acting really weird after that.

1. Noticed my voicemail wasn't working. At all, it would say that my number doesn't exist or something like that. Figured out that call forwarding was magically turned on, when I never turned it on. I turned it off and voicemail was working again.
2. Bluetooth would turn on, even though I had turned it off. This happens very frequently, and just in general I noticed that there were a lot of weird things happening with my phone, and somebody I know that I met at the Apple store actually a while ago, also confirmed that what was happening with my phone was at least a little sketchy.
3. I noticed the camera turned on randomly like I would go to pick up my phone, and the camera was turned on when I never turned it on.
4. Contact info that I had blocked was magically unblocked and I received a harassing/threatening txt from someone whom I had blocked (that was now miraculously unblocked wow I must b a powerful wizard or something, time travelled and went back to the timeline to one where she wasn't blocked yet omfg like so cool /s) the morning after this person had access to my phone.
5. I have very high security on my phone and all of my devices I have the highest level of security that the iPhone offers and is compatible with in its operating system. I have lockdown mode on and a couple of VPNs that just keep magically turning off it is impossible, almost impossible for me to keep the VPN on. Malware scans/protection (from the official, well trusted apps,)don't pick up on anything. So how are they able to bypass all of the security? And how are they undetected by the mail or scanner? When I have quite a high level of protection on my phone?
6. They were able to turn off a recording, a voice memo to send to my friend explaining the situation, (she had a sore throat and couldn't talk on the phone, I figured it out and wanted her input/any info she had because this person and her had a stalking fetish or something ----was a casual thing lol- and he stalked her so i thought it would be good to tell her what was going on,) and how I found out who it was. BUT, as I was explaining in the voice memo, something/someone cut the recording off... like somebody hit the stop button remotely and it wasn't me, before I could really start getting into the nitty-gritty of how I figured this out. So I was about to expose this person essentially, or something possibly made them panic or something about what I was doing. I hadn't even thought about gang stalking yet (maybe a little bit but nothing serious.) Just thought this person was pissed off at me or something.
7. Because this first recording was cut off, I immediately go to redo it w/ a second recording, as one would. And I mess up, so I stopped this second recording, but I go to listen to it, and there's one problem... you cannot hear me talking at all. But what you can hear, however, is a recording of something/someone else. I can hear what is going on on the perpetrators end. The one who stopped the initial recording remotely I guess. So I was able to hear them talking and the environment which sounded like a van or car or something as well as various background noise, and I have enhanced the audio and still in the process of doing so in order to sort of see what else I can hear there because it might give me a clue. And one thing I noticed, is that I can hear this persons voice (the same person that I thought was involved that I was telling my friend about that I had figured out was doing this. He seems very pissed or something because you hear an exasperated "fuuuccckkk," at the end, and then the recording stops.) But there is another person that you can hear in this recording. I can't identify the voice, I do not know them. An older lady I think. That's when it tipped me off that this could be some sort of gang stalking surveillance thing. Because this person wasn't alone.

And just a sidenote, it seems like my Apple Watch at least possibly my AirPods. My computer has been acting weird too but other devices might be impacted as well but the thing about my Apple Watch is weird because I haven't used it in like a year. I broke it out again and got it working again after I figured this out last week cause I knew that that was the only device that this person never had access to because it wasn't working for over a year and I don't even think this person knew that I had it. And then eventually not right away. It was fine right away but then like after a day. The Apple Watch also started behaving oddly, so how were they able to possibly infiltrate my Apple Watch based on what was happening with my phone? Does it have to do with like iCloud or something like that? How are they able to do these things, as in, what method do they use?
I am wondering what kind of cyber attack, heck, cloning, Sim card, tampering, etc. could possibly encompass all of the issues I have listed. (There were other issues too, that I just can't remember right now ) What kind of hack, clone, etc. that 1, can bypass all security, and 2. is possible if somebody physically has access to your phone, 3. that can control the camera and the microphone, and 4. that records everything you do,, so monitoring like that at least audio, (like constantly -i figured that one out too, long story tho haha) and idk if recording through the camera constantly, but definitely recording your conversations, whole life, etc. 4. That would initially have call forwarding to be turned off magically. 5. And how I could hear their end accidentally. There is definitely some kind of sketchy monitoring here, that is larger than just one person privately stalking/harassing someone for fun. I wonder what kind of hack enables what happened? Like that I able to hear then while I was recording myself talking. It may have glitched or something, and it's almost like it accidentally switched? Like both sides switch so, again, instead of me being recorded, it recorded them on the voice memo... this is the only time this is happened.
what tactics are commonly used for surveillance, or to hack/monitor victims? Like HOW IS MY PHONE HACKED -as in WHAT KIND OF HACK or method was used here? And/or is commonly used?