blyat's blog

topcoder wtf
By blyat, history, 3 years ago, In English

actually i haven't even visited topcoder website

but i condemn canceling (bela)russians and banning accounts, which is happening according to many residents of these two countries

i'm wondering why hasn't anyone posted about it yet? i can understand if nobody cares about losing their profile, but the problem itself is pretty interesting

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Comments Comments (76)
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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it -101 Vote: I do not like it

Is there actually any evidence of people being banned for being from one of those countries? (Please provide it if so)

You supporting a famous troll with #FreeRotavirus who got banned for saying racist things makes me very doubtful.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +33 Vote: I do not like it

    Literally read TCO round announcement threads here.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +38 Vote: I do not like it

    being clown is hard, people always doubt your words, i hate the irony.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +36 Vote: I do not like it

    actually that #freerotavirus was some kind of trolling based on self-contradiction because i’ve always hated rotavirus’s posts

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +38 Vote: I do not like it

it's a matter of shame if topcoder is doing this

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -144 Vote: I do not like it

I think russian authorities reached out to topcoder or something to prohibit russians to participate in it. If that is true, it is not Topcoder’s fault, they were just following orders.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +65 Vote: I do not like it

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +277 Vote: I do not like it

    I'm having a hard time believing anyone in the world would reach out to TopCoder, much less authorities.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -74 Vote: I do not like it

      Read this comment. Maybe they were contacted, maybe it is a new law and they were just following it, but obviously they didnt do it because they thought it was a good punishment to the russian people.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

        obviously they didnt do it because they thought it was a good punishment to the russian people

        It obviously could've been the reason. That's the problem with unexplained and hidden policies: it makes malice a much more reasonable explanation. In fact, more reasonable than your 5000 iq idea that TC, a US-based company, would freely listen to Russian authorities.

        If there was a law banning Russian online accounts, we would've heard of it.

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it -387 Vote: I do not like it

I have some bad news for you. If you stay in Russia, this will keep happening. You won't be invited to international competitions and conferences. You won't go on vacation in Europe. You won't get an internship or a job outside of Russia. Enjoy your new life and don't forget to thank your leader for that.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it +207 Vote: I do not like it

    Your comment is useful as always. orz orz orz oh big great kostka

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +80 Vote: I do not like it

    Wait, I had leader all this time?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +71 Vote: I do not like it

    nice arguments, you’ve almost convinced me! i’m pretty sure in russia such people as you are now posting an interesting english letter on their profile photos!

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +187 Vote: I do not like it

    I've never been on vacation in Europe lol. I've never participated in any kind of votings/elections as well(too young), so which leader of mine I should thank for me being banned on topcoder lmao? What is even the point of targeting O(1) Russian participants out of O(1) Topcoder userbase?

    You sound like a 35iq troll, as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn said: "the ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent".

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +125 Vote: I do not like it

    Russian competitive programmers are a very bad demographic to target. Half of them are too young to vote or participate in politics in any way, and those who do are 95% anti-militarist.

    IMO, a good solution for a CP platform that strongly feels the urge to do something is to:

    1. stop giving cash prizes to contest winners from problematic countries until they relocate (this is not limited to Russia and Belarus — TopCoder seems to be completely okay with users from North Korea, Cuba, and Iran);
    2. add white-blue-white and white-red-white flag options.

    What TopCoder chose to do is not helping end the war; it's just discriminatory and plain racist. The right response from the community is to boycott TCO and finally put a nail in the platform's coffin.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

      Regarding TopCoder being "ok" with other problematic countries: (from here) "Unless otherwise stated in the rules of a Competition, you are not eligible to participate in any Competition if you are in the Quebec province of Canada, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk Regions of Ukraine, Sudan or Syria."

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +139 Vote: I do not like it

    Most likely, you're right — American and European companies will be sanctioning us for this war, no matter if we actually support our government or just happen to be born and live in Russia. Nevertheless, the tone of your comment is just awful.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it -133 Vote: I do not like it

      "just happen to be born and live in Russia" and not trying to change current government is kind of sign that you do accept it (despite not support). Unfortunately, that's enough for it to keep doing what it's doing.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
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        We can't put all the blame on the Russian people for not overthrowing their government (not saying that you are doing that), it's very hard to do and the consequences can be very bad if they try. But you are right in the sense that sanctions will continue to take place if the government won't stop or the people won't act.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it -48 Vote: I do not like it

          Don't tell me about the consequences, the people of Ukraine know what they can be. It's just a question of choice, do they want to keep being isolated from the entire world (that's already bad consequence, isn't it?) or they will start doing something about that. Because the government itself not gonna stop (as far as I see). And as you can tell — I'm not blaming all Russian people for that, but it's kinda weird to not do anything about the situation and complain here about the sanctions at the same time.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +96 Vote: I do not like it

    kostka What do you think about the fact that in your backward medieval country a woman cannot freely do an abortion?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

    I checked your submissions and comments, do you come back to codeforces after nearly half a year just to express your anger to Russia in a programming website?

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +32 Vote: I do not like it

      I wonder what reason there could possibly be why kostka wasn't able to take part in contests for the last three months...

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +6 Vote: I do not like it

    I commented on a comment here that was afterwards deleted, but I feel that since there's lot of anger directed at kostka here, I should repeat my two points, to hopefully calm the conversation down:

    This is not an attack on the Russian people. even if kostka's comment could've been phrased better with a nicer tone, I'm sure he didn't mean it as an attack on the Russian people — especially the Russian part of the codeforces / topcoder community — I also didn't see it as very aggressive, and in any case I can't blame him for being angry. The point still remains that sanctions aren't about hurting the people, it's about hurting the government by making life harder for everyone surrounding them (including the government itself), and causing defiance.

    My second point doesn't apply to all comments here, but please don't legitimize the Russian government by comparing it to other governments and saying stuff like: Ukraine has propaganda, Ukraine is medieval and so on... War is war, and war is terrible, and war must be stopped.

    Please good people, don't hate each other, there's enough hate in the world right now :/

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
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      Fully agree with you. You explained it very well.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
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      Thank you for your wise words (the best comment so far in this conversation, in my humble opinion)!

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -66 Vote: I do not like it

    I have been watching with similar statements about all Russians for 20 years. It was because of this attitude that denazification was initiated. I hope that at least this will teach you to be aware of the consequences of your actions and statements.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +26 Vote: I do not like it

      Dear StarCuriosity, please take a moment to consider what you just said here.

      1. You state that the justification for bombing a country with over 40 million inhabitants into the ground in a brutal war of aggression is their "attitude". So you advocate for killing people whom you don't like? How do you suppose will this murderous invasion improve the attitude?

      2. You`re speaking of "denazification". I don't want to compare anyone to nazis, but I recall history somewhat differently. It would be news to me that Hitler was calling for trade sanctions or embargoes to dissuade other countries from aggression. Instead, I do remember him marching his army into neighbouring nations with their elimination as his goal. One of the reasons for his popularity was because he stoked the feeling that Germany was being disrespected and should teach the world a lesson about its actual superiority. Luckily, he was defeated, because the world united against the nazi aggression.

      It's fair to argue about access to a coding plattform. But please never advocate for killing people. Even if you feel like they are mean to you. There is nothing more dangerous than disregard for human life.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

    Most of the time, government decision have nothing to do with citizens, is it ok to ban american citizens for iraq/afghanistan? no,right? Then you should think similar for normal russian citizens. Hate is not the answer !!

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +12 Vote: I do not like it

      Most of the time, government decision have nothing to do with citizens, is it ok to ban american citizens for iraq/afghanistan?

      Government decisions virtually always have to do with its citizens. It's obvious in democracies, but also holds true in dictatorships. Even Putin is keenly aware of public opinion and pours billions into his propaganda machine, and gaining/retaining popularity through a successful conquest was/is likely one of his main goals. I'm not saying that you have to risk your life by protesting in the streets, but the public opinion at large has a huge role even in Russia. While I am not sure if sanctioning US citizens because of the Iraq war would have been a good or wise decision, it would certainly have been a legitimate decision. Similarly, I would understand if you were to sanction, say, Germans for our countries current contribution to climate change. As long as it's rational, proportional and follows a clear purpose (the latter is what seems to be more of the question in this post).

      I do agree that hate is not the answer.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
        ← Rev. 14   Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

        If you think it is okay to sanction the US for the Iraq war, why did not you guys do that?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +23 Vote: I do not like it

    And he told one day that we russians are propaganda affected, and i believed that he is just seeking a truth. Whatever, world is changing, who cares about topcoder now. And probably you should be prepared to new life too.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +1 Vote: I do not like it

      Please don't shoot the messenger here. I understand that you don't like what kostka has been saying, and his tone might not have been particularly polite. I assume that's due to living in a war zone for three months. But I'm very afraid the essence of what he's saying is true: by waging a war of aggression without regard for human life, Putin has severely damaged the future prospects of Russian people (and that's very sad in my opinion). He's continuing to hurt your (and mine and everyone's) future at this very moment.

      Just think about it: What do you want your future to be like? And how devastatingly does this war hurt not just Ukrainian, but also Russian people in the long run? It is a catastrophe for everybody. It you think that the effects are temporary, I'm afraid that's not true, quite the opposite. Healing will take time, and it has not even begun, people are still being bombed while we speak.

      There is a future where countries get along peacefully with each other. Just look at the EU: 27 countries in a dense area and no violent conflicts between them for so many decades. You can travel from any place to any other place in it, without even any paperworks. Living conditions and life expectancy have been increasing continuously. Because we've build a peaceful, democratic, interconnected union. I can confirm personally that it's pretty awesome. And Russia would be very welcome take part in this success story, to any extent that it wishes. Sure, kostka sounds a bit angry (not without reason...), but I can guarantee you that Russians are still welcome in most places in the EU. Virtually all EU countries are interested in good relations with Russia. Don't you, too, find this desirable?

      However, this is impossible while Russia is ruled by a gruesome, paranoid dictator who perceives any democratic society as a threat to his power and kills people whenever he feels like it would serve his agenda. We have no choice but to defend ourselves from the Russian aggression. Our common peaceful and prosperous future, which we all deserve, is being bombed right now. Everybody is loosing. And, to put it pointedly, you can thank your leader for that.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +67 Vote: I do not like it

        I assume that's due to living in a war zone for three months

        Yeah, I don't think kostka is anyhow connected with the warzone. Afair, he always had Poland flag in his profile, and I assume that he still works at Google as he posted a kick start announcement a month ago. Kostka, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it -44 Vote: I do not like it

          What do you mean? he is Ukrainian, even if he's not in Ukraine at the moment (Which I don't know, and which would be a very reasonable decision) he is still very affected directly by the war and I fully understand his anger, in fact I'm pretty sure a lot of people wouldn't have his restraint when talking about the war.

          Why has this thread become a wave of hate and anger towards the Ukrainians? They are the victims here! They are the ones being attacked, not with sanctions or impoliteness, but with actual tanks and weapons.

          let's think about the comment that started this: (with a bit of a rephrasing) "as long as this continues, you won't have a connection to the outside world, you can thank your leader for that" it's actually saying "it's not our fault, it's your government's". What about it screams I hate the Russian people?

          We can talk about effectiveness or moralities of the sanctions, but I think it's time to end this discussion, since it all started on a misunderstanding of each side's stance and only grew on the divide between both sides. I didn't see anything meaningful achieved here. let's get back to CP.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
          ← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

          I assume that's due to living in a war zone for three months

          Then my assumption about kostka might have been wrong. I can still somewhat understand if people throughout Europe (and especially in Poland) have strong feelings. There is a family from Kharkiv currently sheltering in my family's home in Munich, some out of over 14 million refugees. And if you listen to how their lives were torn apart, it is hard to stay calm. But generally speaking, it's important that we remain polite with each other, while forcefully standing up against this criminal war. I also believe that we are virtually all on the same side here – trying to prevent conflict and human suffering, striving for a good future for all.

          The essence of what I've been trying to say (similar to kostka, but phrased differently): While Russian people should not be (and, I think, largely are not) blamed individually for it, this war is devastating for everybody. In particular, it will sadly also have catastrophic effects for the future prospects of people living in Russia. Not only due to sanctions, but also due to the repressive environment within Russia. I believe most coders here have been standing up against this war in order to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people in Ukraine. But other Russian citizens, perhaps with less access to information or in more difficult situations, might be more convinced if you show them how, unfortunately, this war harms their own future in profound and long-lasting ways. This war is an inconceivable disaster for everyone and it must be stopped!

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -133 Vote: I do not like it

    Since your comment enraged ruzzians, it looks like cf community doesn't agree with you. I have to support you to show that it's not the case. I upvoted your comment, I agree with it.

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +21 Vote: I do not like it

      it looks like cf community doesn't agree with you this time.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it -40 Vote: I do not like it

        Yes, because most members of it are either "enraged ruzzians" or people who are clueless/not affected by that conflict much/don't care. Nice thing here that Umnik never cared much about majority opinion and now I see why.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +153 Vote: I do not like it

What did you expect from cp platform with c++11?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    Hold up, Romanian Olympiad (from county level until TST) only used c++11

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +61 Vote: I do not like it

It's just a simple hate, and you can't really do anything about that. Not many people loved germans during WW2 as well. After the victory it will all, somehow, settle down. But, during the war, I don't see a way out for you..

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -11 Vote: I do not like it

    After whose victory?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

    indeed, but such a request "don’t cancel us pls" wouldn’t be actual 80 years ago, I hoped the world has changed quite enough to grow a generation of people with less hate ideas in their minds

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
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      In 3 month Russia grew a generation with a lot of hate ideas.. It's just social processes that are natural and can't be stoped with the request "don’t cancel us pls". The world has evolved, but basic instincts are the same, not much you can do about it.

      About Topcoder, well, there certain people standing behind the organization. They may suffer personaly or stuff like that. You can't really blame them for not providing you with the services, cause it's their right I suppothe.

      Also, this way you can argue about any sunctions, cause they harm innocent people. Also some russian soldiers are great guys, that are just scared to go against the orders right... so maybe we schould stop fighting. Well, if it's nessesery — it is. If anyone, you schould blame those, who started the war in the first place. See no point in blaming the natural reaction, caused by the horror that takes place right now.

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        3 years ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it -21 Vote: I do not like it

        The first sentence of your post is already nonsense. It's by definition impossible to grow a generation in 3 months.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it -28 Vote: I do not like it

          It's just arguing with words.. Obviously grow was not like actually growing the generation from childhood. What I meant was: the mind, the understanding of reality of the hole generation just changed. In a blink of an eye. Those are completely different people, than 3 month before. The literaly started their lifes from scratch. Understood which values really metter etc. Anyway, good job at fighting the words

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            3 years ago, # ^ |
              Vote: I like it -26 Vote: I do not like it

            Words have meanings. This one, in particular, arose from the ageless observation that it takes literal generations to change the beliefs of an entire nation. The meaning of your words is wrong — I'm sure the vast majority of Russians have nothing against Ukrainians and don't want a war, just like the vast majority of Ukrainians aren't like you.

            Go push your hate on someone else.

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              3 years ago, # ^ |
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              Lol, I didn't even mentioned that I am supermegahater, cause I am not..I just try to explain why those people are not that wrong. If you think that it take years to change beliefs of an entire nation then well.. you are wrong, not much else I can say about that. 10 millions of civilians were forced to live their homes.. If you think that 25-30% of the population leaving everything they had behind can't change the entire nation then there is no point in further discussion

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              3 years ago, # ^ |
                Vote: I like it +22 Vote: I do not like it

              I'm sure the vast majority of Russians have nothing against Ukrainians and don't want a war

              You are lucky to not have any personal connection to the war and thus you don't need to see all those Zombies.

              like the vast majority of Ukrainians aren't like you

              Yes, right now the vast majority of Ukrainians would kill all russians with their bare hands and would be morally in the clear, while Oleh here is being beyond nice and polite.

              Go push your trolling on someone else.

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          3 years ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +4 Vote: I do not like it

          I played csgo for several years and met quite some aggressive ukrainofobic russians. But no one, before war started, wrote me smth like "I killed your mother with missle". So, maybe it is not "new generation", but looks like (probably) a lot of russians changed since last 3 months.

          To be more precise statisticaly, i should note that i write about csgo players that are different group from CP comunity.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +37 Vote: I do not like it

I wonder if Topcoder_Updates will ban tourist

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +55 Vote: I do not like it

i'm wondering why hasn't anyone posted about it yet?

I bet you are simply the first one from Russia who tried to participate in topcoder since then

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

    It's like Topcoder is trying really hard to encourage its <20 active competitors to abandon their platform for good..

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

imagine somebody who uses vpn get's banned because he used a russian ip.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +117 Vote: I do not like it

One thing I can't understand is why this was not announced anywhere.

If this is a form of protest then surely it would make more sense to actually announce that you're protesting? I'm a big fan of protests that issue a statement detailing exactly what they will do and explain how it will help. Silently banning people just makes it likely that your protest will go completely unnoticed. Topcoder is not the most reliable website in the world, logging in has in the past randomly broken for me. If someone hadn't reached out and asked, this whole thing might have been written off as a technical error. Not a great way to protest against the war.

Even if the request to do this "came from above", it would make sense to actually announce it.

In a similar vein the e-mail Golovanov got mentions "the new Russian Policy Enforcement". The phrase "Russian Policy Enforcement" (with quotes) gets effectively 0 hits in Google (it actually gets 3: Codeforces, some translation service and some spam site). So what is this policy, where did it come from and who enforces it?

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 5   Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

These "international communities" and "international organizations" are literally banning everything about Russia. It was interesting for me to see they showed their true colors.

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it -115 Vote: I do not like it

What kind of message can one write to say that because of all the injustice in the world, that you may not even be directly a part off, you are no longer able to come to Topcoder.

I wrote one and sent it to many of our most active members, it nearly broke my heart to be honest. Some wrote back hateful things, but most completely understood and were sad.

Should I have contacted everyone? Maybe? If you were not able to log in because of your country of residence, I am very sorry for that. It was my fault if you were not communicated to. It was an unavoidable action we had to take to protect our customers that was required by legal.

The message may have said they couldn’t log in until we made some changes or they were in a different country with different laws but it also said that once part of our community, always part of our community.

I’ve been actively working with the team to reinstate accounts for members who are no longer in Russia/Belarus as well as members who have no history of customer work. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

I've always been proud of our diverse community here — we rise above politics, religion, race, ethnicity, and gender. All are welcome at Topcoder even if you all can't participate fully at the moment. I do hope this is temporary and we are here to support you all.

This entire thread has gone off the rails so we will not post here anymore. If you’d like information on your account or want an update, please go here: https://discussions.topcoder.com/discussion/18399/new-restrictions-for-members

  • jmpld40
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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +122 Vote: I do not like it

    One need to sign in to comment there...

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +86 Vote: I do not like it

    Do I understand correctly that this all has to do only with the "freelance work" part on TopCoder and not at all with SRMs and MMs? Perhaps it makes sense then, if your customers have legal or moral problems with making payments yo Russia.

    However you have to understand that for competitive programmers TopCoder is a competitive programming website, visited for SRMs and marathon matches. All this freelance work/design/QA is seen as something to navigate past in the website. Thus you can hopefully understand that freelance work implications don't even occur to us.

    Can this freelance work part of Topcoder be properly separated from SRMs and MMs? I know there are signs that the competitive programming part of Topcoder is seen by management as an irrelevant component kept on life support, but still. Would it not make sense to then ban Russians and Belarusians from participating in freelance work, rather to deactivate their accounts altogether? Because this freelance work does not have anything to do at all with SRMs and MMs.

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      2 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +70 Vote: I do not like it

      AFAIK, Jessie is working hard behind the scenes to make this exact thing happen: accounts of people who just do algorithm and marathon tracks should eventually be unbanned.

      (I have no idea about the final shape and form of this, sorry. Specific questions can be sent as messages to Topcoder_Updates.)

      The original requirement to ban those accounts did indeed come from the "gig work" part — if USA has some embargoes on Russia, having American clients pay Russian freelancers for work via your portal does indeed seem like a legal minefield. And yes, "our" tracks were a casualty.

      Fingers crossed that our tracks will get back to normal soon -- or at least as close to normal as is currently legally possible.

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2 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -15 Vote: I do not like it

America and the rest of the world are losing their skilled customers. Prominent creators and big minds. { Indirect Bullying By USA, USA is mostly dependent on the migrated brains. The current war is a political situation created by the United States. Alas Volodymyr Zelensky became a pawn and got caught in the trap created by USA, to destroy russia since US wants to be a superpower. Zelensky and Putin both are thinking they will win, so no negotiation all thanks to USA. }

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    2 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 3   Vote: I like it -14 Vote: I do not like it

    Recently France also mentioned that currently US sanctions are extreme. So, a moment will come when all Russians will come together because of too many sanctions. They will be as if either die or kill because of situations. (Same with Putin — Once he will find okay no more sanctions are left. He will address the nation as see west is doing this & that. Now it's our time and nuclear war will start. For now he is waiting for this opportunity.)

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      2 years ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 4   Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

      The current war is a political situation created by the United States.

      How do you come up with that? Did the US force Putin to attack Ukraine with over 150,000 soldiers and to keep up this brutal attack for over three months? At this point, you must probably also think that gravity is a situation created by the United States with the sole purpose to keep Russia down?

      Volodymyr Zelensky became a pawn and got caught in the trap created by USA, to destroy russia since US wants to be a superpower.

      Nobody who is serious or holds any power wants to destroy Russia (of course, there are some outlandish politicians here and there, but nobody who actually has much say). Also, Zelensky is not anybody's pawn, please stop delegitimizing the Ukrainian people.

      Recently France also mentioned that currently US sanctions are extreme.

      This is a good example of a propaganda technique. I can see similar stuff about Germany all over the place whenever I look into state-controlled Russian news. You pick some statement from a fringe person far outside the general consensus and present it as "Germany thinks" or "France mentions".

      Just like here today, they did not even find some fringe politician, but instead went right ahead with anonymous internet user "Juergen4711HH". And then they publish an article titled: "He doesn't want peace – Germans about Zelensky's position on Ukraine", based on one guy. Look, I live in Germany. I can assure you that only fringe people here have such beliefs. Sure, such outlandish views make up perhaps 5%-10% of the population, and we have freedom of opinion, so it's easy to find such statements. You can even find similar statements from fringe members of Parliament or a small number of public officeholders and misrepresent them as German popular opinion. But if you have any feeling for actual German popular opinion, then it is absolutely clear that this is made up stuff. I literally know nobody who holds any such beliefs, not even close. And in Germany, people discuss politics quite actively. Btw. the "HH" at the end of "Juergen4711HH" already pretty much gives away the kind of extremists they cite, "HH" in most cases means admiration for Hitler.

      Moreover, such techniques are being used for pretty much any topic. Just looking at RIA news concerning Germany from today and yesterday:

      I'm not saying that everything outside of Russia is great or that everything inside Russia is terrible. Clearly, it is not. And I'm not an expert on Russia, instead the Russian people are. All I can tell you with certainty is that reporting from Russian state-controlled news about developments outside of Russia is almost entirely made up. Russian leadership is creating an illusion here of a world that is all terrible and hostile. Please don't fall for it.

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