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The Evolution of Video Game Music
History, mechanics and philosophy of music for video games

Reading time 13 minutes

Soundtracks have become such an interesting newspaper topic that even the composers are awarded an Oscar for their products. Of these, video game tunes get less attention, although they mainly do contribute to the game’s immersiveness¹.

Background

Pong - the first successful game with sound, 1972 — Pong – the first successful game with sound, 1972

In the 1950s, programmer Jeff Hill created digital music recorded on the CSIRAC computer². Released in 1972, Pong was the first arcade game with sound t a commercial success. In 1979, the first-ever digital audio disc was presented. This phenomenon was noted “chiptune” since the soundtrack was created by an audio chip, usually inside a game console. The first such devices had the very limited sound processors. It was most commonly made with 8-bit music. This 8-bit processor created the melody in real time. In the early 1980s, the IBM personal computer appeared, and a couple of years later, sound cards and synthesizer modules came out. Each module has its own function: some generate sound, others act as a sequencer, others are various sound effects that played and created music in several channels.

In the 1950s, programmer Jeff Hill created digital music recorded on the CSIRAC computer³. Released in 1972, Pong was the first arcade game with sound turned into a commercial success. In 1979, the first-ever digital audio disc was presented. This phenomenon was noted as “chiptune”, since the soundtrack was created via an audio chip, usually inside a game console. The first such devices had very limited sound processors. It was most commonly made with 8-bit⁴ music. This 8-bit processor created the melody in real time. In the early 1980s, the IBM personal computer appeared, and a couple of years later, sound cards⁵ and synthesizer modules[/A synthesizer module is an electronic instrument divided into separate components (modules, blocks)] came out. Each module has its own function: some generate sound, others act as a sequencer⁶, others are various sound effects that play and create music on several channels.

In 1999, when the first music cartridge⁷ for the Game Boy was released, an updated genre of 8-bit music appeared – post-chiptune. It sounded less monotonous and simple, but technically differed little from the first experiments with digital music. Today, 8-bit is a separate genre that exists at the center of the subculture. Thanks to some bands, such as Crystal Castles, this music got a second chance in the 2000s. The creators of such tracks use special programs – trackers. They imitate the sound of chips from old set-top boxes. And 8-bit styled music can be made using modern synthesizers and sequencers.

The monotonous sound did not clash with the simple pixelated graphics of the first Dendy and SEGA games. The monotonous melody was quickly remembered and made the game recognizable. For example, the theme from the Guinness World Records best-selling game, Super Mario, became a symbol of the first console games⁸ of the 1980s. The same thing happened with the Tetris melody, which evokes nostalgia for those born in the 1990s. It is noteworthy that the Russian folk song “Peddlers” was used as the basis for the soundtrack for Tetris, but it became known abroad only in the context of the game as “music from Tetris”.

When discs appeared, the CD partially displaced audio chips, as it allowed tracks to be recorded and transmitted in advance. Sound designers had control over the process, as they could evaluate the finished compositions before they were combined with the game. The track was played directly from the disc, so the limited amount of memory on the set-top box itself is not a problem. Initially, the creators could use well-known songs. By the time, the stricter the licensing became, the stronger the power of composers in the game industry got.

Details

During game development[⁹, it was difficult to turn music into an accompaniment to the player during a chase, gunfight, or secret mission. The sound design also includes background sounds that accompany the action, the audio interface (e.g. in the main menu or when in danger), and character voices.

Music has a particularly important role in evoking emotion for game players. Hence, it must be more adaptable than the soundtracks. The theme of the game should not only set the mood, it must match exactly with the pace of the gameplay¹⁰. You can go through the same episode at different speeds, so writing a finished album from finished tracks will not work. And then the musical units accompanied by games are smaller, which means they better adapt to each player.

The hero of the game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in the club

Most games are unlikely to have time for slow and harmonious scenes and soundtrack transitions. The transitions from one rhythm to another must be done in a couple of seconds, depending on the user. For balanced transitions between episodes of the game, there is a horizontal and vertical convergence. The first occurs quite abruptly, for example, changing the research theme of the battle. The second involves modifying one main theme by speeding it up or slowing it down, increasing or decreasing the volume, and adding instruments. This is more often used not for abrupt movement between locations or tasks, but, for example, as a hint on the way. So, as you approach the nightclub in the game Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, the sound of dance beats will increase, new parties are added.

Composer Gustavo Santaolalla in The Last of Us II cameo

Since the game requires dynamic adaptation, the amount of material that the composer needs to write also increases. If this is about 50-70 minutes in the film industry, that is, half of the total running time¹¹, then the duration of the passage of the game varies more, and the amount of sound accompaniment changes along with it. Hence, for The Last of Us II, composer Gustavo Santaolalla wrote about three hours of tracks.

Process

Music for a film or game is more frequently perceived as an accompaniment or an additional design element. Consequently, it seems paradoxical that work on soundtracks begins even before filming, at the stage of the script, or after the creation of a storyboard by game designers.

Once the composers have become familiar with the concept and the intended atmosphere of the game, they choose the direction in which they will develop the sound design. If this is vertical mixing, then you need to set triggers by two properties: at what parameter does the music change and how it changes. It can be affected by location, weather, time of day, level of fatigue or health of the character. Individual musical phrases in vertical mixing, on the other hand, are highly simplified, lack structure, and are sometimes too chaotic. However, this mixing variant, which is most similar to the ambient music genre, is well suited for travel, occasionally interrupted by short fights or tasks. With horizontal mixing, the composer and editors already work with whole compositions, which are divided into several scenes and alternate with each other. As a rule, their triggers are associated with an emotion or a central event in a game sequence. This is a less harmonious way of mixing, since the transitions between musical phrases can be sharp, and the melodies themselves are too long.

Sometimes the game’s sound design also uses stingers – stand-alone compositions that can appear in the middle of vertical mixing. They emphasize important player actions and evoke emotions quickly. Often, they come with replicas of the heroes with commentary on what’s going on.

Nowadays, it is not necessary to specify the time of the next knock of the wheel or the bell of the blade, or the place where the character will hear whispers or birdsong. To do this, there is procedural generation – an artificial intelligence system developed to generate a unique soundtrack for each game from a database of samples¹² created by the composers.

Sounds are selected depending on the scene, location and pace of the game, as well as the state of the character. For example, Rise of the Tomb Raider used Intelligent Music Systems’ dynamic percussion¹³ system for sound design. And in the game No Man’s Sky, for which the band 65 Days of Static wrote a track for 50 minutes, this composition is used as a dataset for artificial intelligence, which selects pieces from there to create a unique track.

Forms

In addition to background accompaniment, music can become part of the gameplay. For example, in Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, the character can play the instrument to advance to the next level. Buttons with notes on the screen have become a direct element of the game mechanics. In Genshin Impact, which became popular last year, players also have the opportunity to play the Lyre of the Winds by pressing the note symbols. Here, a musical instrument is not needed to complete missions, but serves as an addition to the main gameplay. Sometimes you can not play the music with the character’s hands, but just listen to it. For example, in the arcade¹⁴ game Gris, where the heroine begins to sing at the player’s click, accompanied by an ambient melody.

5 Foodie Films to Binge on This Weekend
A selection of films which inspire your inner chef

Reading time 5 minutes

Going beyond life-skills, cooking could be perceived as a source of pleasure and well-being. However, it can be complicated to master such a craft. We’ve put together a selection of movies for those who are still Googling how to cook pasta, but are desperate to develop their culinary skills.

1. Julie and Julia: Cooking Happiness by Recipe (2009)

Frame from the film "Julie and Julia: Cooking Happiness by Recipe" — Frame from the film “Julie and Julia: Cooking Happiness by Recipe”

The film revolves around an aspiring writer, Julie Powell, who works as a call center operator, and Julia Child, author of the cult book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. At the same time, the viewer can watch how the career of Mrs. Child herself begins in the 1940s and 1950s. It becomes obvious that the stories of the two women are similar not only in their love of cooking, but also in their attitude to difficulties and even to their own marriage.

2. Spices and Passions (2014)

Frame from the film "Spices and Passions" — Frame from the film “Spices and Passions”

A family of Indian immigrants, who live on wheels, decides to open a small oriental restaurant in the French province. However, the building where the restaurant is planned to be located is directly opposite the Weeping Willow restaurant, a Michelin-starred restaurant that regularly hosts the President of France himself for dinner. A cold but exciting war breaks out between the owners of the two restaurants. For guests, food and, to some extent, even for love.

3. Toast (2010)

Frame from the film "Toast" — Frame from the film “Toast”

4. Chief Adam Jones (2015)

Frame from the film "Chief Adam Jones" — Frame from the film “Chief Adam Jones”

A few years ago, Adams Jones worked as a chef in a first-rate restaurant in Paris, but drug abuse forced him to resign. Now he works in a small bar in the U.S., where his main duty is to pull oysters out of the sink. Tired of the meaninglessness of life, Adam decides to return to Europe and conquer the culinary world of London. From there he gets his 3 Michelin stars all at once.

5. Chocolat (2000)

Frame from the film "Chocolat" — Frame from the film “Chocolat”

This is an adaptation of the novel by British writer Joanne Haris. A young woman named Vianne Rocher arrives in a provincial French town. The appearance of new people in the city already excites the inhabitants, and when Vianne opens his own chocolate shop, they are completely lost in guessing what kind of strange guest has come to their city. Together with his daughter Anouk, the pastry chef is trying to establish a life in a new place, and at the same time introduce the locals to the exquisite taste of chocolate.

Holes in Invisibility Cloak
How metadata destroys your anonymity

Reading time 7 minutes

The previous article about information security focuses on how to be invisible on the Internet. In addition to the technical instruction, we also told about the errors of the «human factor». However, «torified» traffic, while preventing any IP-address leaks, does not save from other paths to lose data or giving yourself away. About one of the least obvious – read in this article.

Some significant points from the previous article

When a computer connects to Tor, a user’s actions on the Internet are (almost) impersonal. It becomes impossible to track the person’s location, IP-address and other data. However, there are a number of ways to find out where you are and what you are doing: the use of bank cards or phone compromise any information about purchases, movements, calls. Suppose you do not make errors of «human factor» and have successfully installed Whonix according to our instructions. The next step for secure communication or activity on the Internet will be to clean up metadata.

For what reason it is used and why metadata is dangerous

Metadata is an information about a file on your device inside the object itself. To make it easier to understand, let’s take a picture on your phone for an example. The picture has both data (information about where and what color the pixel is) and metadata (it helps to identify a device with which the photo was taken, geolocation at the time of shooting, the size of the image). Metadata improve the quality of information, as it can help to structure the data and set its context. It is used in different areas for analytics, increases the speed of systems and optimizes communication between computer software and files, establishes software licensing restrictions.

Metadata of the author of the article. With its help you can find out the location, model of the phone and even the height above sea level. Site suIP.biz was used to view the metadata.

Despite all the advantages, metadata is dangerous when you seek to anonymize your activities. The fact is that they provide much more personal information about the user than the IP-address. For example, you can find out where a person spends most time (home and place of work), geolocation, devices’ operating system, date of video shooting or creation of a text document, authorship. In Digital Security research «II Files’ metadata: Invisible information, revealing your identity», experts note that mail services, even Protonmail, which is considered the most secure, do not delete metadata at all. Messengers erase all metadata from photos, but files (including images sent as files), video and text documents remain intact. Therefore, anonymizing traffic with Tor makes no sense if you do not delete metadata from published or sent materials, as you become easy to track.

Digital Security research found that mail, messengers, sources for photo and video, and cloud storage leave metadata in most uploaded files.

Security tools

You probably don’t need such a serious anonymization yourself in regular life, so this utility is related to Whonix (Linux’s distributive from the previous part). However, I cannot advise nothing to clean metadata ordinary users too. For laypersons online resources will be suitable, for example, imgonline. But this method has two obvious drawbacks. Firstly, information will be transferred to a specific site, and secondly, the number of file formats which metadata can be deleted is much smaller.

For Linux there is a special software to clean metadata: «MAT – Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit». There are two versions: MAT and MAT2. The last one is more convenient and easier to use. To download the software, you need to enter the command in the Whonix terminal:

$ sudo aptitude install mat2

To view all available commands, type:

$ mat2

Then the list of actions will appear:

Terminal window in Whonix. The screenshot shows all possible operations in MAT2.

To use any command, you must first write the tool name – mat2. The most interesting of the proposed commands is called «–inplace» which removes all metadata. Unfortunately, to address a specific object, you need to specify its directory, so to make this action easier, you should place the files in the system, for example, on the desktop. Write a request in the terminal line:

$ mat2 –inplace /home/user/Desktop/имя файла

We tested the operation of this method by cleaning the metadata from the picture from the gallery, comparing the size of the file before and after: 3.3 MB and 2.3 MB respectively. Almost a third of the information is «data».

Of course, photo does not take up much space on the hard drive, and if you take a larger file, the share of metadata will be insignificant. However, the most popular files distributed by people are images, video, audio and text documents. Together with them, a significant amount of information, however hidden from the average user, but confidential, is transmitted.

Uncommon New Year’s Eve Movies
A collection of pictures with the spirit of the New Year and Christmas that you might have missed

Reading time 6 minutes

We have always watched the same New Year’s films every year. However, sometimes it is necessary to put DVCs of “Irony of Fate” and “Home Alone” on the shelf and find something new. Here is a list of films in the New Year’s Eve and Christmas mood, which you might not notice when scrolling through the thematic collections.

1. “Trapped in Paradise”, 1994. Director: George Gallo

A scene from the film "Trapped in Paradise" — A scene from the film “Trapped in Paradise”

Bill Firpo arrives in the provincial town of Paradise on Christmas Eve. He’s an honest restaurant manager, but the brothers whom Bill picks up from prison on Christmas Eve morning aren’t. Convicts Dave and Alvin Firpo tricks Bill into robbing a bank. In the absence of an alarm and the ever-sleeping guard doing their job the crime can be committed successfully. But a problem immediately arises: how to leave a small town with a huge amount of money, if a snowstorm is raging on the street, and the police are already seeking after robbers?

2. “Klaus”, 2019. Director: Sergio Pablos

A scene from the film "Klaus" — A scene from the film “Klaus”

To educate a lazy and spoiled son, the owner of the postal empire sends him to Smirensburg, located in the far north. Jesper is instructed to set up a postal service in the city and process at least 6,000 letters a year to prove his independence to his father and return home. However, the city does not accept the new postman very cordially, and it seems that no one has heard of sending letters there. But everything changes when Jesper meets a mysterious lone lumberjack named Klaus. Who, as it turns out, keeps a lot of old toys at home and is willing to handing them out to the bored children of Smeerensburg.

3. “The Apartment”, 1960. Director: Billy Wilder

A scene from the film "The Apartment" — A scene from the film “The Apartment”

Baxter is a humble employee of an insurance company. To speed up his career progression, he lends the keys of his apartment to colleagues and even his boss to retire with their mistresses. Baxter’s plan works until he meets Fran, his boss’s secret lover. A new feeling is born between the characters, and Christmas night puts everything in its place.

4. A Very Murray Christmas, 2015. Director: Sofia Coppola

A scene from the film "A Very Murray Christmas" — A scene from the film “A Very Murray Christmas”

Bill Murray is planning a brilliant TV show for Christmas, with celebrity guests and a packed program. But the plans are thwarted by an unexpected snowstorm which led to the absence of the eminent guests. However, in the snow-covered New York hotel where the show is scheduled and where Bill is so unsuccessfully stuck, there are a lot of random people. And Bill still manages to throw a party, just for a different audience and with new entertainment.

5. “8 Women”, 2001. Director: Francois Ozon

A scene from the film "8 Women" — A scene from the film “8 Women”

The family gathers at an estate in the French outback to celebrate Christmas. But upon arrival, the guests find the owner of the house murdered in his bedroom. 8 women, each of whom is somehow connected with a dead man, begin their investigation. At the same time, they are all under suspicion, because each had the motive to commit a brutal murder. The darkest family secrets begin to unfold in the house, and the identity of the killer becomes the main Christmas entertainment.

From a black-and-white series to the Netflix’s hit
How has the image of Wednesday Addams changed over time?

Reading time 9 minutes

Wednesday premiered on Netflix on October 23, 2022. In the first week, he broke the English-language viewing hours record. Took away the championship from Stranger Things (season 4), Wednesday became the absolute leader of the platform. Many viewers and critics noted that Jenna Ortega (main role) played a key role in such a bright start. Her Wednesday Addams turned out to be a deep and atmospheric character, the personification of a mixture between canonical and modern image.

But what is this “canonical image”? And how much has it changed since the first appearance of the Gothic Addams family? Let’s figure it out.

First appearance

Fragment of the original comic by Charles Addams

The Addams are a fictional family conceived and drawn in 1938 by American artist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine, which is still popular to this day. Addams’s idea was to portray a “perfect” American family through the lens of satire and black humor, which resonated with the magazine’s readers. Wednesday, who is the daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams, is obsessed with causing pain to others and surprisingly serious for her age.

In the original version of Charles Addams, Wednesday has not acquire her pigtails for a modern audience, and her famous school dress is completely pink. However, such an atypically “bright” image for a member of the Addams family began to crumble very quickly. The catalyst was the emergence of a television series.

First film adaptation: “The Addams Family”

Wednesday in the series "The Addams Family" 60s — Wednesday in the series “The Addams Family” 60s

The comic about Addams family was first adapted for television in 1964, then began airing regularly on ABC. Here Wednesday already acquired characteristic and recognizable features – two pigtails in the middle, a strict black school dress, and a heavy look from underneath. We heard the name “Wednesday” for the first time – Charles Addams picked up the name of his little heroine only when he received an offer to make a family TV show. As it turned out, the name was derived from an old English nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child”:

Monday’s child is fair of face

Tuesday’s child is full of grace

Wednesday’s child is full of woe

Thursday’s child has far to go

Friday’s child is loving and giving

Saturday’s child works hard for his living

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day

Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Since grief and misfortune are exactly what pleases the artsy American family, it was decided to name the girl Wednesday.

Cultural Phenomenon: The 1991 Addams Family Movie

The film “The Addams Family”, which released in 1991, gave the world the most famous image of Wednesday Addams performed by Christina Ricci. It’s an image about the girl look from a strange family, making two black pigtails and a black school dress with a high white collar one of the most popular Halloween costumes of the 90s. In the New Yorker comic and the 1960s sitcom, although Tuesday dressed in dark colors and had strange and characteristic Addams hobbies, she was essentially an adorable child, the standard image of a little girl in a family television series. Whereas 1991’s Wednesday is a heroine with a high intellect followed by a serious and sometimes stern demeanor, and all lines are delivered in a monotonous voice with a deadpan expression on her face. In the film, the character of Wednesday was revealed the most, she ceased to be “one of the two children” of the Addams couple and became an independent and bright character – with a memorable gloominess and cruelty.

Christina Ricci’s performance did not change much but finalized the canonical image of Wednesday Addams. Subsequently, the authors of all subsequent adaptations began to rely on it. This is because Wednesday of 1991 has become not just a minor character, but the main character in the eyes of the audience. Her feminist statements and honesty added depth to the heroine, and the external image became more in line with modern cinema than the version of the girl from the 60s.

Conquest of the world of animation

In 2019, the feature-length cartoon The Addams Family was released on the big screens. The animation exaggerated the image of Wednesday, adding to her pale, the ability to move silently (thus frightening unprepared characters), and the lack of a smile throughout the cartoon. Wednesday was voiced by American actress Chloe Grace Moretz, who did not look like her heroine in appearance, but talentedly conveyed the girl’s lack of emotions and gloominess verbally.

Wednesday from the animated film is naturally based on the image that the audience loves, embodied by Christina Ricci, so there were no significant changes in it.

The hit of autumn-winter 2022: A series on Netflix

The final stage of character development to date is Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, in the Netflix series. What immediately catches your eye is the appearance of bangs on the heroine. In an interview, Jenna admitted that she and the director of the project, Tim Burton, wanted to add something new to the famous image that could distinguish it from previous versions. The outfits for Wednesday have also changed. The classic school uniform was replaced by a black zip-hoodie, striped long sleeves, and rough black platform boots. But most of all, the attention of the audience was attracted by the dress that Wednesday wears to the school prom – yes, everything is just as frilly but elegant and not typical of previous generations of Wednesday.

Dress Wednesday in one of the episodes of the series

In addition, the series also changes the age of the heroine. In the Netflix hit, she becomes a teenager, which, although done rather develop the plot, nevertheless gives a look at the heroine from a new, previously unknown side.

One thing is for sure – a heavy look and love for black remain the eternal companions of the heroine. For more than 80 years, Wednesday has changed significantly on the outside, but inside she always remains a gloomy and mysterious girl, as Charles Addams intended.

(Not) to act against orders
Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority

Reading time 11 minutes

Why does a person, who causes suffering to others, only listens to orders from above? Perhaps it is due to the existence of an authority that cannot be resisted. Or is the whole point that a person is a sadist and he enjoys physical violence toward people? These questions were answered by Stanley Milgram, an American social psychologist who conducted a series of experiments on submission to authority.

Stanley Milgram was born in 1933 in the Bronx to a Jewish immigrant family. After World War II, his parents adopted relatives who had survived German concentration camps. Perhaps this fact explains why Milgram decided to conduct an obedience experiment in Germany. The scientist wanted to understand: “Why did German citizens participate in the extermination of people in concentration camps? Don’t they realize how cruel and heartless that is?” Milgram suggests that, for ideological or political reasons, Germans tend to be more submissive. However, before coming to Germany in 1963, Milgram decided to experiment in the United States. The results of the study show that there is no need to go far: submission to the authorities is not a characteristic of Germans, but of human consciousness in general.

Stanley Milgram. Personal archive of a scientist

Preparation and description of the experiment

Initially, the experiment took place in New Haven on the territory of Yale University. Milgram and his team sent the ads to city dwellers aged 20 to 50 working in a variety of occupations, from factory workers to hairdressers. To participate in the test, respondents were promised to pay $4 and 50 cents for the move. However, the subjects were not told the whole truth about the experiment: they thought they would help investigate how pain affects memory. The experiment involved the experimenter, the subject, and an actor acting as the second subject. One of the experiment participants (“student”) had to memorize word pairs from a long list until he memorized all the pairs, and the other (“teacher”) checked from scratch first and punish him for each mistake with a stronger electric shock. The two subjects drew a “vote”, and everything was arranged in such a way that only the actor was the student, and the actual subject was the teacher.

The scarecrow’s head was been fastened to the chair, and the teacher sitting by the generator has 30 switches, each switch was responsible for discharge from 15 to 450 volts and was signed: “Fighting blow”, “Very strong blow”, “Danger: hard to beat”, etc.

Then the experiment began: the teacher read the words aloud and the students had to give the correct answer, if it was wrong, the teacher increased the voltage each time. It’s important to note that the actor was just pretending to be hit. At the same time, when the subject hesitated and did not want to discharge strongly, the experimenter asked to continue using 4 phrases:

“Please continue/Please go on”;
“Experiment requires that you continue”;
“You must continue”;
“You have no other choice, you must go on”.

Electric shock generator used in the experiment

The experiment ended if the subject refused to obey and left, or if he reached 450 volts and gave the student this current shock three times. After the experiment, the subjects were interviewed.

In the classical variation of the experiment, the student was in a room isolated from the teacher. The subject could not hear the victim, only when the current discharge was equal to 300 volts, the actor began defiantly knocking on the wall, and then showed no signs of life: he did not complete the tasks, and did not respond.

Experiment results

Before the exam, Milgram interviewed undergraduate and graduate students, as well as 39 professors and psychiatrists, who tried to predict how many subjects would refuse the experiment, and how many would complete the experiment. All respondents agreed that 20% of the “teachers” would stop at 225 volts and only one person in a thousand would turn on all the switches.

However, the results differ from the forecasts. In the classic variation of the experiment, 26 subjects out of 40 (65%) reached the end of the experiment, and five people (12.5%) stopped at 300 volts when the victim began to protest by hitting the wall. Four subjects (10%) stopped at a voltage of 315 volts, two (5%) – at 330, and one people each – at the next three levels (345, 360, and 375 volts).

The subject switches the switches on the generator

Why did people obey?

Milgram, in his book “Submission to authority. A Scientific View of Power and Morality”, explained this behavior of the subjects.

1. Obedience is human nature

Milgram said, “We are born with the potential to obey.” In the course of evolution, behavior that did not lead to survival disappeared. Behavior, including hierarchy, authority, and a special social structure, does not disappear, but on the contrary, develops. It is for this reason that submission is a natural process, especially for someone born into society. The moment an individual begins to obey authority, he acts as part of the general structure – his conscience recedes into the background.

2. Not my responsibility

People who obey authority are in the so-called agent state and act according to the mind of another person. For this reason, they do not feel responsible for their actions. To feel responsible, you need to understand that your “I” is behind all actions, while the subject thinks: “I have nothing to do with it.” This is especially noticeable in one of the variations of the exam, where the subject himself did not turn on the switches, but only noted the student’s mistakes: more people obeyed the authority since they did not feel that they were hurting the victim with their own hands.

The “teachers” shifted the responsibility to the experimenter, believing that he knew what was right. In situations where the subject had doubts, and the experimenter emphasized that he took full responsibility, the internal tension disappeared and the subject went through the experiment to the end. There were cases when people blamed the victim, called her stupid, and were unable to remember a few words. “He was so stupid and stubborn that rightly so,” said one of the subjects who obeyed. People reassured themselves that they did not feel sorry for such an unworthy person who could not do elementary things.

3. Disobedience causes fear

When the subject agrees to participate in the experiment, he sincerely wants to help scientists. The “teacher” wants to follow all the instructions, show himself on the good side, and be polite. It seems to the subject that by refusing the experiment, he will let the experimenter down, and also destroy his image as an authority – this is arrogant and rude. Insubordination in this context is psychologically worse than submission. After all, refusal will lead to social disapproval, of anomie. For this reason, in most cases, the subjects continued the experiment.

The victim is strapped into the electric chair.

4. Image of Authority

Subordination is possible only if there is the real authority. An ordinary person does not have such power. In one variation of the experiment, the victim and the experimenter switched places. Now they shocked the scientist, and the order was given by an ordinary person. All subjects stopped the experiment when the experimenter began to complain of pain. Thus, an authority must have a certain attribute, knowledge, status, and place in the social structure to be listened to. In the study, the authority was the experimenter – a scientist, an educated person who knows more than the subject. The “teachers” trusted the scientist and completely relied on his opinion.

The Milgram experiment does not seek to denigrate people, to present them as cruel and unmerciful. All subjects were nervous, and doubtful, but did not dare to disobey the authority. They tried with all their might to avoid the victim, not to look at her, denied their responsibility, and talked with the experimenter that it was inhumane to continue the experiment, but did not refuse to participate.

Milgram’s research showed an important thing: when people enter the social structure, their individuality fades into the background and they forget about humanity. This is the weakness of our nature. Nevertheless, it can be overcome, because there were people who refused to obey. Cicero said: “The power of nature is great,” but man is stronger.

The article is based on Stanley Milgram’s book Submission to Authority: A Scientific Perspective on Power and Morality.

233 degrees Celsius: what literature could not be read in the USSR?
Big soviet brother is watching you

Reading time 7 minutes

«It was impossible to find these two volumes on sale, only in libraries and without taking out» – say Kirill Sorvin, HSE sociology professor, about one book which he was looking for when he was a student in USSR. Some literature was banned in USSR due to official ideology. Very few people at the time knew about it. Nevertheless, such books were read and even distributed with Samizdat that was illegal in the country. However, the majority of citizens found out about banned literature only after the collapse of the USSR.

Contradictions of Early and Late Marx

For the first time it became possible to buy «Economic-philosophical manuscripts, 1844» in the USSR only in 1983.

«The work is called Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts 1844, it was the 42nd volume of the Works of K. Marx and F. Engels collection or a separate volume From Early Works. This work was not presented in any other form. Western Marxists discovered in this book another Marx’s philosophy, they called it «Marx-humanist». There was a discussion about the contradiction of «Early and Late Marx», which, of course, was denied in our official philosophy». Accordingly, this work was not among the «canonical» books like «The Capital» which was close to Russian vision of communism.

As a student, Kirill Sorvin tried to exchange a two-volume book of the Strugatsky brothers, which was highly valued among the youth of that time, for «Economic and philosophical manuscripts», but such a book anybody from his classmates did not have.

Second volume of ‘Robinson Crusoe’

The Novel of English writer Daniel Defoe started publishing in Russian Empire in 1762. Only the first part of the series entered the treasury of world literature, which spawned a fashion for pseudo-documentary fiction. Nevertheless, people knew about existing of the sequel and even the book was popular among Europe readers. However, in Russian Empire the second volume was not published and in USSR from 1935 to 1992 it was banned.

Only In 1971, the publishing house «Pravda» published a retelling of the work with a limited edition. The main reason for this was that Robinson during his Siberian trip faced a lot of corruption and said that Moskovia is «barbaric, powerless and poorly managed mob of slaves».

«In the second part Robinson, among other things, travels in Russia, gives her not all the appropriate characteristics. Why did publishers have to take the responsibility to comment on «such» past of people?» – Kirill Sorvin explains.

George Orwell and Yevgeny Zamyatin

Yevgeny Zamyatin is considered a pioneer in the genre of anti-utopia. The novel «We» became the cause of serious criticism of the writer, and since 1929 his books have stopped at all publishing in the USSR. Zamyatin describes a society of rigid totalitarian control over the individual. Actually «We» is a critic of the Soviet system, with which the genre of anti-utopia began to flourish. Although, for example, Aldous Huxley, one of the first writers in this direction, categorically denied acquaintance with the work of the Russian writer.

Illustration to the novel E. Zamyatin «We»

The satirical story «Animal Farm, 1945» by George Orwell depicts the transition of the animal society from their freedom to the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon. According to playwright Arkady Bartov, «Animal Farm» is an allegory of the 1917 revolution and subsequent events in the USSR. Orwell wanted to portray how easily totalitarian propaganda could control people’s opinions and at the same time to condemn «Stalin’s distortion of socialist ideals». Last but not least fact about this book is that boar Old Major is an allegory of Karl Marx. And how you find out from the first paragraph: Soviet authorities couldn’t stand when somebody represented the idol of their philosophy in «wrong way».

The Russian aphorism «All are equal, but some are more equal» belongs to George Orwell. The complete version in the book «Animal farm» sounds like this: «All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal».

Subsequently, most of the books in this genre, including the Soviet ones, were banned in the USSR. Anti-utopias will appear in Soviet society only with the introduction of a policy of publicity near the end of the 1980s. For example, George Orwell’s most popular novel «1984» was declared anti-Soviet immediately after its release in 1949 and remained banned until 1988. The policy of publicity is a controversial process in the history of the USSR. Some believe that it has undermined the people’s belief in the system, while others thank Gorbachev for it. But the fact is that these books can now be read legally – both online and offline.

Snowden method: how to be invisible on the Internet
Complex instructions in simple words

Reading time 8 minutes

In June 2013, Edward Snowden shared classified information with The Washington Post and The Guardian. It said that the American secret services were doing total surveillance on people all over the world. «It is becoming more and more difficult to be anonymous» – hacker group Cicada 3301 declared this in 2012. But what if a person needs to hide, and he is not a computer geek? Read the step-by-step instructions in this article.

Anonymity and pseudonymity

Before diving into the technical part of the task, it is necessary to understand the purpose of hiding. Anonymity implies a single statement about any information, as in the case of Snowden: someone has told the world something and has «dissolved». To remain anonymous is simple: enough not to make mistakes, which will be listed below. Pseudonymity means creation of alter ego, to which the person plans to return a long period of time. «To keep a virtual» – this was called a pseudonymous activity – much more difficult, because the human factor every day increases the risks that the user will make a mistake somewhere.

Why are we not anonymous on the Internet

The digital footprint might be active and passive. Active one is a message or publication, for example, on a social network. A passive digital trace is created when information about the user is collected without his knowledge, for instance, during a visit to the site. The IP-address is a unique numerical identifier of a device in a computer network. It can be used to get approximate information about your location (country, city, zip code, ISP), restrict access to specific sites or servers, and run a DDoS attack. What should be done to completely anonymize activities on the Internet?

Invisibility Cloak

One of the most reliable ways is Whonix, which was used by Edward Snowden. Technically, a new operating system – Linux – appears on the computer, which exists separately from the main one and runs Whonix. Its system consists of two virtual machines connected via an isolated network. The first, Whonix-Gateway, runs exclusively through Tor and acts as a gateway or an artificial server. The second, Whonix-Workstation, is a workstation that connects to the Internet. Thus, all network connections are possible only through Tor: neither malware nor super-user rights can cause IP address and DNS leaks.

Installation

First you need to download VirtualBox and unpack the package. Next, you should install Whonix. It is important not to open the system after downloading, as it has an extension .ova what is the format of the virtual machine file.
VirtualBox’s main window
Starts VirtualBox and imports Whonix via the «Import» button.
Whonix is installed. It is important to specify that a unique MAC or WIN address for network adapters is generated each time.

Creating new MAC or WIN addresses is necessary to improve security. This setting forces Whonix to create a new network address for each site.
The menu includes two machines: Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation. You cannot access the Internet through the server: the gateway isolates the workstation, but it works with open Internet traffic. You must run the server part first, and then the working part.
Whonix system settings window. Here you can change the operating memory, graphics processor, audio input and output devices using by the virtual machine.

During the installation process, an error «Kernel driver not installed (rc= -1908)» may occur on MacOS computers. It is solved by admitting the «Oracle America, Inc» software in the system settings of security and safety. If you have any other problems, you should look at the detailed guide about installing Whonix.

To solve many VirtualBox errors on the macOS operating system, it is enough to open the emulator access to the system. — To solve many VirtualBox errors on the macOS, it is enough to open the emulator access to the system.

A window appeared on the computer with the system desktop. At this stage, Internet traffic is fully protected and isolated. Now you should pay attention to the factors that can compromise your security.

The Whonix desktop opens in a separate window as an application. The top right-hand tab has everything you need: an electronic cryptocurrency wallet and a Tor browser.

Basic mistakes

The phone collects personal information even in «brick» mode when the device is off. The device needs to be disposed of, and it is better to send a phone by courier to another city: it will help to confuse the tracks. Don’t turn on your new phone in places you’ve been before, especially at home.
You need to buy a corporate SIM card. Each smartphone has a unique IMEI-code, which is permanently registered in the database of the mobile operator after inserting the SIM card, so you need to use it only on a new device.
Do not set the password fingerprint or Face ID. In 2019, so unlocked the phone of the owner of the telegram channel «Prometheus». Biometric identification is much less effective than the password.
You can only use cash. Purchases made with bank cards give geolocation or just report online activity. If a person presents his documents anywhere, it will also compromise his location.

Russian Empire writers who was subjected to the cancel culture
Not new phenomenon in Russian literature space

Reading time 8 minutes

In modern space cancel culture is known as a «boycott» of a person, group or brand that has done or said something outrageous or offensive. It is believed that the socio-political term emerged recently in the United States and Europe among African Americans who ignored products that actively expressed racist views. In Russian culture and media, the use of «cancel culture» is perceived as inappropriate copying, but what if the cancelling as a phenomenon lies at the heart of Russian literature? Let’s consider writers who have been ahead of the trend by several decades.

Uspensky

Nikolay Uspensky began his writing activity in 1857 after publishing in the magazine «Son of the Fatherland» two debut stories: «Pig» and «Old Woman». The creativity of the young author was immediately warmly welcomed, since the realistic character of the works, which left the exclusively aesthetic narrative, and provided support for Uspensky from such prominent contemporaries as L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, I. Turgenev and especially N. Chernyshevsky. The latter, in turn, wrote a critical article about the work of Nikolai Vasilyevich «Не начало ли перемен». This was to be a turning point in the writer’s career, who was made to understand that his rightly revolutionary-democratic narrative should not be directed to ridicule the vices of the people, but to support the nascent break in the everyday life and culture of peasants.

However, Uspensky did not begin «rapprochement with the liberation movement». His «truth without a veil» turned into an outspoken «negative fiction», as later F. Dostoevsky reported in his article about the creativity of Nikolay Vasilyevich in the magazine «Time». There was criticism everywhere. Writers and literary scholars did not skimp on harsh words: – «Talentless fictionist with a tiny chicken world-view and a tiny chicken observation». The chanting of the folk became fashionable, and Uspensky’s vision of it was ugly: «… a man certainly or a thief, or a drunkard, or such a fool as the world has not ever produced; every woman is such an idiot that cannot be imagined», – as A. Skabychevsky wrote.

Critics and editors of literary magazines at that time had such informational influence that they were really able to «cancel» Uspensky and later Leskov. For the rest of his life Nikolay Uspensky wandered with his daughter and for a small fee told biographies of authors of Russian classics. For Pushkin took the smallest fee, and for those who were exiled to Siberia or were in prison – most of all.

Uspensky committed suicide by stabbing himself. The «cancellation» had such an impact on his status that many editions have not even printed the obituary.

Leskov

Most modern people know Nikolay Leskov as modest and harmless author of fairy tale «Lefty». This work appeared in 1881, when the writer had already tried on himself «cancelling» of the literary community. Leskov was active in politics until 1870. Nikolay Leskov, contrary to public opinion, was an outrageous author of provocative articles, held right-wing views. In 1862, the «Northern Bee» published the so-called «Article on Fires», where the writer mentioned and thus spread a rumor about arsons carried by revolutionary students and Poles. The left-wing critic took this as a denunciation, but also the emperor resented because of Leskov’s bold remark about administrative authority: «…to send firefighters to the fires for real help, not for standing up». That’s how Nikolai Leskov’s cancelling began.

The editor of «Northern Bee» had to send Leskov on a «long business trip», some kind of reference, after which he wrote the novel «Nowhere». The work is the radical debut of the author, where in a satirical manner he depicted the left-wing lobby of writers, whose criticism will accompany all Russian literature for a long time. However, Nikolay Leskov did not change his views and creative direction, on the contrary, he joined the editor of the right-wing magazine «Russian bulletin » – M. Katkov – and continued to write on the topic of the day. Subsequently, the writer so «crossed the line» that in the 1870 novel «On the Knives» depicted all revolutionaries as criminals. Leskov’s degree of «cancellation» reached its peak, and even his associates, Katkov and Dostoevsky, disowned him.

Illustration of the artist Nikolai Kuzmin to the story of Leskov «Lefty»

«Cancelled» Nikolay Leskov fell silent. The bold writer returned with much less provocative texts about the mighty folk and religion. Unlike Uspensky, Leskov managed to rehabilitate and earn fame thanks to the famous fairy tale «Lefty».

Nabokov

The history of Vladimir Nabokov is an example of the influence of left-wing critics on Russian literature even after his death. The writer did not become a victim of the cancel culture, but his novel «Gift, 1938» lost a whole chapter. Instead of the text, readers could see this:

The Modern Notes 67, p. 69 (Paris, 1938). The first publication of the novel «Gift» by V. Syrin (Nabokov) with explanation: «Chapter 4, consisting entirely of «Life of Chernyshevsky», written by the hero of the novel, skipped with the consent of the author. – Ed.

One of the variants of the fourth chapter of the novel «Gift»

It is believed that the fourth chapter was a felleton on comrade Chernyshevsky, part-time one of Lenin’s favorite writers. Nabokov ridiculed primarily for his lack of aesthetic focus in his literary view of criticism, which, in his view, leads to Bolshevik ideology and repressions.

The cancel culture is present in Russian culture today. As before, it exists in two dimensions: aesthetic and political. However, the modern field for creative statements is rather visual content – movies and clips. Literature has ceased to be a forum for political debate. Individual authors, like Pelevin, still speak on sharp topics, but in the general masses – these are only exceptions.

The History of The “Lofi Girl”
How a continuous cult stream appeared on YouTube with an “eternal” student

Reading time 8 minutes

On March 18, 2015 a Paris student Dmitry created a YouTube channel called “Chilled Cow”. About two years later, on February 25, 2017 the channel launched its first live broadcast with music in the Lo-fi genre, the background being an excerpt from the anime “Whisper of the Heart” , in which the main character is studying. The channel was starting to gain popularity and with it came increasing copyright claims due to the use of an animated clip by Studio Ghibli. In 2018 the channel was blocked and with that, the stream stopped.

Fragment from the anime "Whisper of the Heart" used in the broadcast — Fragment from the anime “Whisper of the Heart” used in the broadcast

It seems to be a short history of an unremarkable channel. The live broadcast option appeared on YouTube in 2011 and by 2017 there were several dozen channels broadcasting music of different genres. The Chilled Cow is likely to be just one example of a media failure.

However, the key word here is indeed “seems”. Now the channel has more than 11 million subscribers and 1.3 billion views: its name is heard by almost all pupils and students. Let’s remember together how “Chilled Cow” turned into a cultural phenomenon called “Lofi Girl” and where the girl with endless homework came from.

In 2018, the channel was blocked for copyright infringement. Not wanting to give up the idea of a musical line, channel creator Dmitry decided to create his own heroine in a similar classic anime style and began to look for an artist. In September 2018, Dmitry’s announcement to the Emil Kohl School of Animation was responded to by Colombian artist Juan Pablo Machado. He was in his senior year when he received an offer to draw a new character for a musical genre.

Among Machado’s many sketches, one is particularly notable. This is how Jade came about (yes, lo-fi student with a name). She sat at her desk, flipping through the pages of her notebook and occasionally glancing out the window as soft lo-fi music played in the background. Notably, the Jade room window overlooks the historic center of Lyon, the city in France where Juan Machado spent five years studying the art of animation. A small nod to Alma Mater, thanks in large part to the famous student appearing online. And every few hours, the broadcast changes the time of day, which creates a sense of immersion for channel viewers. Especially those who live in the European time zone.

Machado himself has more than once admitted that he did not expect the 80-second animated film to be so successful. In early 2020, he was even contacted by a representative of a museum in Seoul who wanted to make the illustration part of a permanent exhibition.

Not only the Korean museum recognizes the cultural significance of “Lofi Girl”. From a background character for music programs, Jade has become a virtual icon of the digital space. Several dozen channels with a similar musical orientation began to feature their own characters, and fans of the original heroine kept coming up with drawings with a rethink of Jade’s image. Thereby, for instance, in 2020 artists from all over the world decided to paint the eternal student in the reality of their country.

"Lofi Girl" from Brazil / credits: @LeticiaEfing — “Lofi Girl” from Brazil / credits: @LeticiaEfing

"Lofi Girl" from Greece / credits: @arjunks — “Lofi Girl” from Greece / credits: @arjunks

References to “Lofi Girl” can even be found in popular culture. In the Steven Universe animated series: Future, one of the heroines – Connie – is depicted sitting in the identical “Lofi Girl” pose. And the game’s official YouTube channel World of Warcraft published a Jade-themed parody as part of a campaign promoting the Shadowlands add-on.

The heroine of the cartoon "Steven Universe" - above, Jade - below — The heroine of the cartoon “Steven Universe” – above, Jade – below

Jade has become a loyal companion and role model for those who are drawn to the flow while working or studying. She is concentrated, undistracted and constantly immersed in her studies. The stream goes on around the clock and is uninterrupted, so that anyone can connect to the “study session” with a student who never looks up from her notes. Many users admitted that the virtual girl helped them a lot to survive lonely evenings spent studying textbooks and even motivated them to spend more time on homework.

On February 22, 2020, an unexpected and shocking event happened to Lofi Girl fans: YouTube moderators blocked the channel with the broadcast for “violating the rules of the service.” And although after a couple of hours the platform apologized and restored the channel, the broadcast had to be restarted. The abrupt end of the stream was recorded, creating the longest video in YouTube history at 13,165 hours, or 548 days of non-stop streaming. Users calculated that during all this time of continuous study, Jade would have already managed to get several higher educations and learn seven of the most difficult languages of the world (on average, it takes 1750 hours to reach the level of fluent communication).

Many users have grown and learned with the anime girl, the audience has changed with each other, and Jade has always remained the same, opening up more and more new notes. Maybe one day she’ll be able to relax, like all those chilled out on her cozy lo-fi playlist.